He or She?

We recently started doing catechisms at our house. It was while reviewing these today's topic hit me hard. Question: How and why did God create us? Answer: God created us male and female in his own image to glorify him. See Genesis 1:27. 

I don't know about ya'll but all this recent politicizing of gender (or presumed lack thereof?) has got my head spinning and my heart hurting. How does a Christ Follower respond to this gender identity crisis our culture is encountering? Honestly, if you hear people talking in Christian circles there seems to be this shock, this disbelief. And I get that. But after pondering the above catechism another thought hit me. 

It shouldn't surprise us that Satan has sought a foothold here. 

There is something about being created distinctly male and female that displays the image of God, that glorifies God. So what therefore is the consequence or significance of men wanting to be women and women wanting to be men? What is the consequence of allowing our children with underdeveloped brains choose to change their gender identification? (My child can't decide what they want for lunch, much less what they want to be for the rest of their life!)

This is an attack at the very foundation of creation. Make no mistake, God is not a "victim" here, but this confusion has huge implications over time and through cultures regarding how the world sees God. Why is it Satan wants to cause trouble here or at minimum find satisfaction in this? What does he gain? I don't mean to be presumptuous, but if distinct characteristics of masculinity and femininity reflect the image of God to the world, what then does it reflect to the world when we as a society reject that masculinity and femininity attempting to embrace something we were not created to be? 

By disregarding gender we wreak havoc on man's view of God, the marriage relationship, and how we raise our children. There is something about being male and female (and relationships found therein) that glorifies God and when we strip that away we attempt to strip God of his glory. Can you see how Satan revels in this? Was not Satan's initial problem related to seeking his own glory instead of God's? He sought to rob God of his glory, and is that not what he is still doing when we rob our children of their biological gender? When we rob the world of our own biological gender? 

And robbing them we are. We are stealing something so precious. 

At the time I'm writing this I am about to go to a hair appointment where I hope my stylist will "rob" me of the hair I was created with, instead allowing me to identify as a fully brunette or blonde (instead of salt and pepper). We all know coloring hair is but a patch or an attempt to hide in a sense what I truly am. The evidence is there. I can try really hard to hide it, to suppress it, but it's still there. Isn't that what we are doing as a society? We can attempt to hide our gender, even change our gender, but despite efforts our DNA still reveals we were created XX or XY (minus a few VERY RARE genetic disorders). And those X's and those Y's speak of the glory, the goodness, the power of God. 

I'm a mom of young children. How do I parent my children through this changing culture? I don't have all the answers, but I pray. I pray the Lord builds my boys in masculinity, bibilical masculinity, and my daughters in the beauty of bibilical femininity. I pray Adam and I are intentional in encouraging and celebrating the gender they were created, in teaching them how they glorify God by being THEM. (And may we ourselves seek God's glory above all else as an example to them.)  I pray we teach them to love in spite of disagreement or confusion. I pray we have answers to their hard questions - I never imagined being stumped by a six year old. Parenting is hard. It's humbling. But aren't you glad we don't do it alone?