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A TRANSSEXUAL THEOLOGY
So God created humanity in God's own image, in the image of God, God created
humanity; male and female God created them. -- Genesis 1:27
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is
neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. -- Galatians 3:28
He whose testicles are crushed or whose male members is cut off shall not
enter the assembly of the LORD. -- Deuteronomy 23:1
Let not the eunuch say, 'Behold, I am a dry tree.' For thus says YAHWEH: 'To
the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and
hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument
and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting
name which shall not be cut off.' -- Isaiah 56:3-5
For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who
have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves
eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive
this, let him receive it. -- Matthew 19:21
Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him
the good news of Jesus. And as they went along the road they came to some
water, and the eunuch said, 'See, here is water! What is to prevent my being
baptized?' And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down
into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. -- Acts 8:35-38
The subject of Transsexuality is not directly addressed in Scripture. The
six passages about Homosexuality and the one passage about Cross Dressing are
irrelevant since Transsexuality is a different condition than either of
these.
One might come to this issue with the perspective that where the Scriptures
are silent we are to make our decisions based on empirical evidence and
reason. Therefore, we would turn to Psychological research which indicates
that Gender Dysphoria is an actual condition, probably inherent, and that the
best treatment is a chemical and surgical sex change.
However, there are a few concepts in the Scripture which indirectly address
the idea of people of unusual Gender conditions and how we are to relate to
them within the church. This is the idea of eunuchs. What we have here are
not people who are transitioning from one sex to the other, but people who no
longer are true members of their original sex. Eunuchs have been a part of
society in many cultures since the beginning of recorded civilization. In
many times and places people who have been Transgendered have used the
category of the eunuch as a way for them to transition as much as they could
within their society. So it is not a far stretch to see a continuity between
eunuchs and Transsexuals.
Israel was surrounded by cultures that utilized eunuchs, especially as slaves
and for pagan religious purposes. One of the boundaries, placed on Israel to
shape its self definition as a separate people, was an exclusion of eunuchs
from the covenant worship. This was probably connected to the importance of
both maleness in ancient Israel, and to the importance of family and
procreation.
But this exclusion is envisioned by the prophet in Isaiah 56 as something
that will pass away when the new reign of YAHWEH arrives. In the new realm
the covenant people will not be limited to just those who are clearly male or
female, but will also include those who fall in between. The issue for these
people of unusually gender condition is not what their gender is, but whether
they keep YAHWEH's sabbath, choose the things that please YAHWEH, and abide
by the covenant. In other words the same thing that applies to persons of
clear male or female gender.
Jesus takes this concept one step further. He not only teaches that eunuchs
are included in the Kingdom of God, but asserts that eunuchs fulfill a
special role that others can not. Jesus also expands the concept of eunuch
beyond just those made by men to those who are born of indeterminate gender
and to those who choose it for themselves.
The first group of eunuchs Jesus speaks about expands the idea of Genesis
that God created Human Beings as male or female. Here we have Jesus saying
that God also created individuals who are born as eunuchs and do not fit into
the two categories of male or female. This is confirmed by modern science
which tells us that not everyone is born male or female. Indeterminate or
mixed genital/gonadal gender is much more common than most people are aware,
probably near 1% of 1% of all births.
The last group of eunuch Jesus speaks about are not the same as those made by
men, ie. those who have been physically castrated. These are people who
conceivably are still physically male, but by their life choices do not live
as men but as eunuchs. This is usually interpreted to mean celibacy.
However, this saying of Jesus is an unclear one and he might have meant
something quite different than celibacy. Whatever Jesus meant by this third
category of eunuch, his teaching should cause us to have an open mind toward
people with a different gender choice than what is considered normal. Jesus'
teaching here about eunuchs should move us from simple inclusion of those
with unusual gender conditions to celebration of these special folk.
We see this new inclusion and celebration in the unfolding of Salvation
History in Acts. Before the marvelous stories of the enfolding of the
Samaritans and of the Gentiles into the Church we have the wonderful little
story of the Ethiopian Eunuch. It is interesting that when he meets Philip,
the Eunuch, most likely a Jew who probably knew that Deuteronomy excluded him
from the covenant, was reading the prophet Isaiah, which envisions the
inclusion of eunuchs. Unlike Peter, who needed a vision from heaven to cross
the boundary of including Gentiles, Philip needed no prodding to know that
the Spirit was calling him to include eunuchs in the Kingdom of God. Philip
proclaims the Good News, the eunuch believes and is received into the family
of faith immediately by Baptism. Thus the first boundary that was broken
down in our Baptism in Christ was not one of religious differences or race,
but one of unusual gender conditions.
When the Apostle Paul describes how our being one in Christ through our
Baptism breaks down the normal human boundaries that we see as barriers, he
is very explicit in including gender as one of these now irrelevant
conditions. Of course Paul is not saying we as individuals are no longer
male or female, just as he is not saying we as individuals are no longer Jew
or Greek. However, Paul clearly felt that this new freedom in Christ meant
that a Jew could now live as a Greek, abandoning the dietary and calendric
restrictions that separated them. It is consistent with the rest of Paul's
ministry to see this passage as teaching that men and women need not be
limited by the gender roles assigned to them. So Paul includes women in
leadership and conceivably would extend nurturing roles to men. It is not a
far stretch from this concept to see that in Christ those who are of unusual
gender condition have the freedom to live in the gender opposite from the one
assigned to them at birth if they find it necessary for the development of
their true selves.
Developing True Self
But this leaves us with a much more profound and deeper question. Is it
even appropriate for those who are in Christ to seek the development of their
true selves? Is the concept of self actualization consistent with the
Gospel? Didn't Jesus say, "He who seeks to save his life will lose it and he
who loses his life for my sake will find it"? Doesn't that mean that our
goal should not be finding a life of happiness, fulfillment and self
realization but having a life of service, sacrifice and self denial?
This is the paradigm offered up to Transsexuals so often by the Church when
they reveal who they really are. They are told that they are being selfish,
that they are focusing an immense amount of energy on their own needs without
a Christlike concern for those in their lives who have depended on them being
the gender they thought they were. Rather than changing their sex so they
can be right with themselves, they should accept the burden of being
uncomfortable in their gender so they can fulfill the roles that have been
placed upon them. They have a duty.
Of course this kind of Theology has been used as a weapon not just with
Transsexuals. It has been wielded against art, drama, music, literature,
sports, parlor games, and any other form of recreation. It has told Gays and
Lesbians it is their duty to attempt to be Heterosexual. It has told
individuals called into ministry that it is their duty to be celibate and
forsake any romance, love, sex, or family. It has told young people without
a call to missions and who love their community and have deep roots in it
that it is their duty to live as exiles in foreign lands.
This Theological paradigm would in the end remove all variety and richness
from the human existence. Everything that makes our lives enjoyable would be
stripped away in the name of duty. Simply because something is pleasurable
or fulfilling it becomes suspect. In the end the only legitimate way to live
would be the most austere form of monasticism.
A practical response to this objection would be to say, "I will accept it is
wrong to seek the development of my true self and a life of fulfillment and
happiness when you accept that the things you do for pleasure and recreation
are also wrong and you give them up. But as long as you watch Monday Night
Football, as long as you play golf on Saturdays, as long as you eat more than
the simplest diet, as long as you listen to music or have art in your home or
read fiction for pleasure, as long as you seek to fill your own life with joy
and satisfaction, then I will ignore you when you tell me that it is wrong
for me to have a goal to have a happy, fulfilling, life."
A more Theological response is to return to two important Historic
Presbyterian tenants. The first is the Reformed doctrine of Vocation and the
second is the Reformed doctrine of Creation. Together these teach us that
God gifts us to ministries by making them fulfilling and that God created the
world good and to be enjoyed. These give the lie to the idea that Christians
only must suffer for the Kingdom. Christians are to delight in their lives
and callings, and the creation that God has given them.
Restored to Rightness
Suffering may be an important part of living out our Christian life, but it
is not the beginning of our faith nor is it the end. Our faith begins with
the affirmation that God created us good. Before any concern with the
problems of sin and the problems of needing to be redeemed from sin, there is
the reality that God created us as creatures whom God desired to bless. In
the Genesis story, God tells the Human Creatures to be fruitful and to
multiply. God give them stewardship of the earth, that is a connection with
all creation and a role in the ongoing creation of the creation. Thus before
sin enters the story we have a picture of men and women enjoying who they
are, enjoying one another, enjoying their connection to creation, and
enjoying their spiritual connection to God.
Sin, of course, does enter the story and it wrecks havoc with this mutual
enjoyment. But the story of our redemption is a story of returning us to our
original blessings. The goal of the Christian life is not for us to feel
alienated from our True Selves, from one another, from all creation, and from
God, but instead to be restored to a state of connection and the original
sense of "rightness". Transsexuals, in seeing that the relationship between
their persons and their bodies is incongruent and in seeking to create a
congruency where one didn't exist before, are in a real sense fulfilling the
mandate of Genesis is a way that people without Gender Issues are not capable
of doing. Transssexuals are people who are able to continue the task of
creation and to take up the task of subduing the earth to make it fruitful
within their own bodies. In a real sense, then, Transsexuals have a direct
and powerful connection to the creation as creatures made in the image of
God, for this connection is within their own beings!
The Calling of God
A very important part of Reformed Theology is the idea of Vocation, or the
calling of God. Most Christians recognize that God calls some to exercise
the Ministry of the Word within the life of the Church. The genius of the
Reformed doctrine is the idea that God calls all believers to various
ministries both within and without the Church. No calling is "higher" than
another. Some of these ministries are what those who do not hold the
Reformed doctrine of Vocation would call secular occupations. But to those
of us who hold the Reformed view, someone engaging in an "secular" occupation
of a doctor, or a farmer, or craftsman is serving God and God's world as much
as someone who is engaged in the pastorate.
Furthermore, this doctrine teaches that God calls us by gifting us in a
certain area. Thus God doesn't call someone to be an artist without gifting
that person with artistic talent. There are two very valuable ways to tell
where someone is gifted, one is that when they exercise their ability others
will recognize they have the ability. The other is that when the person
engages in the activity they are gifted in, they will experience joy,
satisfaction and an ongoing desire to continue to engage in that activity.
The Reformed doctrine of Vocation, then teaches that in our life calling we
will not primarily find sacrifice but fulfillment. Of course there might be
sacrifice in order to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. But the
fundamental idea of Vocation is that when God calls us to a ministry God also
places within us the desire to be in that ministry. When the desire is not
met, we will experience extreme distress, as when Paul said that he would die
if he could not preach. When the desire is met, we will experience a deep
sense of satisfaction.
If God calls us to be farmers, shop-keepers, house-wives, lawyers, craftsmen,
pastors, laborers, or whatever, God expects us to find fulfillment in that
calling. If something stands in the way of that inner fulfillment and
satisfaction, it stands in the way of our ability to serve God and God's
world well in our calling. A sense of Vocation would drive us to remove
whatever barriers make it difficult for us to fulfill our calling. If Gender
Dysphoria keeps one from being who they truly are and fitting into the
reality around them, then it keeps them from serving God to the best of their
ability. Vocation then demands that the individual do whatever they can to
change this Gender Dysphoria. We now know that the body's gender can be
changed to fit the mind's gender, but the opposite cannot be done.
Difficult Passage
So these two Reformed doctrines, Creation and Vocation, not only support
people with unusual gender conditions having a freedom within the Church to
change their outward gender, but in a sense they teach us that such folk are
actually engaged in a sacred and holy task when they undertake such a
difficult passage. Rather than attempt to see this passage as something
shameful and guilty, we must see it as children of God taking seriously God's
creation of them as creatures who are made in the image of God being
therefore co-creators with God and see it as children of God taking seriously
God's calling of them to ruthlessly remove any hindrances to their being whom
God desires them to be so they may serve God to their fullest.
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"When the Apostle Paul describes how our being one in Christ through our
Baptism breaks down the normal human boundaries that we see as barriers, he
is very explicit in including gender as one of these now irrelevant
conditions."
7 Concepts of
Transsexuality:
The 1st Concept:
"My true gender is determined by my mind and heart; only I can say what my
true gender is."
The 2nd Concept:
"There is no shame in having a diverse gender identity, instead who I am is
something to be celebrated!"
The 3rd Concept:
"Not everyone will accept me for who I truly am genderwise, but if I accept
myself fully and completely I will find all the power I need to live out my
gender the way I need to do it."
The 4th Concept:
"I not only have the power and the right to change the things in my life
which I determine I need to change, including my body if need be, I also have
a responsibility to myself to do so."
The 5th Concept:
"I truly am who I become through the changes I implement in my life,
including what sex I am.
The 6th Concept:
"Embracing who I am now does not negate who I have been and the journey I
have made, I always will be the person who embraced both celebration of my
true self and change of my temporal self."
The 7th Concept:
"Being a person of diverse gender is not a curse, but a gift! I stand
between worlds as a blessed one who, out of my blessing, blesses others
simply by being my true self."
"Transsexuals have a direct
and powerful connection to the creation as creatures made in the image of
God, for this connection is within their own beings!"
"If Gender
Dysphoria keeps one from being who they truly are and fitting into the
reality around them, then it keeps them from serving God to the best of their
ability."
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