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Gender Confusion
It finally happened! A friend of this writer recently went through orientation to teach in the Montgomery County School system in Tennessee. On the surface, this would not seem extraordinary but what happened during the course of the orientation was. You see, dear reader, he was in this particular session with a cross-dresser! To beat it all, this cross-dresser was scheduled to teach in an elementary school within the county.
I, for one, would be highly upset to find out that one of my children’s elementary school teachers was a cross-dresser. Whether he chooses to dress like a she during instructional periods is unknown. However, how does one answer when his child sees this teacher out in public dressed as a woman?
Just a few decades ago, men dressed like women to get a few laughs. Popular comedians dressed in female attire to illicit responses from audiences. Now, men dress as women for various reasons. Certain types of cross-dressers are considered to have psychological abnormalities. According to the American Psychological Association, people who practice this behavior are generally harmless, but this behavior still might create confusion among young and impressionable minds (Bryan Strong, et al. (2005), Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America, McGraw Hill: Boston).
It is amazing to consider the changes that have occurred in regard to gender roles in our great nation. There is confusion in the contemporary world and even in the church about the roles that men and women are to play in the culture, in the home, and in the church. While the cross-dressing phenomenon is an extreme example, it serves to underscore the fact that many do not know how to function in their gender roles.
The Bible has simple answers regarding the roles of men and women in the various facets of life. God created a man and a woman in the Garden of Eden. They were created in separate and distinct fashions. This would be true of their anatomy, psychology, emotional natures, and physical appearances. However, the trend that one sees in our culture is a blurring and erasing of the features that makes a person decidedly female or male. Men do not know how to be men, and women do not know how to be women. Romans 1:24 says, “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.”
God created men and women differently for various reasons. The idea of being a “suitable helpmeet” would include elements from a man and woman in a marital relationship that makes one whole unit, or as this writer’s wife would say, “I am here to smooth out your rough edges.” Genesis 2:20 tells us, “…But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”
Just last week, the state of Vermont legalized same-sex marriage. This is an attack on the sanctity of marriage and causes further confusion of the appropriate roles that men and women are to play in families. Men were created with the appropriate role of serving as husbands, and women were created with the role of serving as wives. Matthew 19:5 states, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” There is nothing wrong with one’s decision to remain single as evidenced in 1 Corinthians 7, but only a man and a woman can be scripturally married in God’s eyes.
One reason for creating two sexes was for the purpose of procreation. “…Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Genesis 1:28). If same-sex marriage became the rule rather than the exception, what would happen to the human race? It would cease to exist.
Men cannot do everything a woman can do and vice versa. This is not a stab at the intelligence of a woman or a man. God created the sexes different for good reason. There are things that are unique to the female experience and things that are unique to the male experience. A woman cannot father a child. A man cannot have a child through natural means. The differences that exist between the sexes are a blessing and we should thank God for the uniqueness of each sex.
Our society’s gender confusion has crept into the church where many are arguing for the expanded role of women in the public worship assembly. Women are taking on and accepting roles of evangelist or elder in some churches. It may not be considered a psychological abnormality for women to fill these roles, but the clear teachings in 1 Timothy 2:12 are being overlooked. How far will the church go to not teach proper roles for men and women? If clear teachings on leadership roles in the church can be overlooked, will the church one day be just as confused over crossdressering?
