http://thinkchristian.reframemedia.com/its-a-tbd

“identity depends on difference”

Great discussion in the comments.

Here is my comment

Thanks Karen for writing the piece and Kory for tweeting it so I found it. What a wonderful discussion.

Is identity received or achieved?

I’ve been doing a lot of teaching lately about glory and Isaiah 5:1-7, the song of the vineyard. This song becomes the basis of so much Biblical imagery. Wine requires the gardener and the vintner. The creator wants glory to be magnified and celebrated so we are not just invited in as passive audience but sub-creators of glory (Tolkien’s term).

Gender is glory laden.

Like most of the glory we sub-create it is disturbed and mixed with our rebellion. Yhwh was looking for gender glory but we’ve turned it into bloodshed and cries of distress.

We’re trying to figure out where those lines lie. The difficulty of our confused age is that living the life of God, (your well-being at my expense) incarnate in Jesus leads to blood on the cross so you can’t simply say “if it’s working for me right now it’s what God wants.”

The question of power always stalks this debate. Is it a coincidence that an individualistic culture deeply mistrusts communal power? Asserting of unique gender identity contrary to both what appears to be “nature’s gift” and communal assumption is likewise an act of power. Most testify to feeling its expression as empowerment. Ought we not to be similarly cautious with this assertion? When power corrupts it usually first and mostly corrupts the wielder.

We seek our sub-creation of gender to be glory laden and not filled with the anguish and violence that besets us. I think this discussion seeks glory too.