Manipulating science to control the universe that mismatched us

The transgender debate spotlights the inner groaning of a broken world and the struggle for meaning. The transgender experience is defined as “dysphoria.” The sense of unease a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and gender identity. At the very least, it captures the internal conflict in the search for the true self.

More importantly, do we have enough power in the human will and manipulation of science to control the universe that mismatched us? Can we appease the mismatching disorder and imperfections of the universe?

As a clinical psychologist with over three decades devoted to studying human behavior, my answer would be no. Not that we don’t have seasons of feeling complete or being satisfied with life, but at some point, the insatiable self raises its head above materialism and the temporal to ask, “What's next? Is this all there is? What is beyond? What happens to me when I die?”

As a psychologist, I haven’t observed sufficient redeeming qualities in anyone’s gender, sexuality, culture, or social status to perfectly satisfy one’s internal contradictions, need for self-fulfillment, navigation of life’s brokenness, imperfections, or death. The self is eventually pulled to the transcendent and never finds final rest in the temporal.

It is interesting how gender ideology and language reflect the nature of this insatiable self and its inability to capture me with one definition. It is poignantly reflected in the pronoun debate, which is an integral component of gender ontology. “Identity,” in this instance, is dissatisfied with human vocabulary and derides binary terms that are inherently not “fluid” enough. This pronoun insufficiency also includes “Neopronouns (a new category of gender-neutral pronouns used as an alternative to they/them/theirs) and Rolling Pronouns (pronouns that can be used alternately in a sentence or across separate sentences). In addition, some people prefer using different pronouns on different days depending on how they identify.

Is the person struggling with Identity saying, “To accept the world and its categories is to forfeit the real me.”

Did Jesus include this struggle when he spoke these words?

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9:25) 

Although Jesus was highlighting the loss of sacrificing eternal life in exchange for earthly benefits, it also includes the principle that the world (humanity) can rob you of your “very self” if you think that is all you are, or if you believe that the world can define the real you. The world’s definition of the “self” robs one of the true self that can be found in Christ.

I suggest that some, who are genuinely tormented by life’s internal incongruities and need for identity, are correct when they assume that the world’s categories cannot define the true self. Pronouns, gender, sex, or social status cannot capture our true identity as children of God or the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Christ creates the oneness of self. He completes and fulfills our Identity.

I realize that Identity politics and gender ideology is a much larger debate with profound social consequences. I know the Bible defines sexuality, gender, and specific roles in the Church and family. But let us not forget that the search for identity is painful, grueling, and ugly for all of us.  It cost Christ his life on the cross — and a cross we too must bear (Matthew 10:38). It is a battle of “selves”; one broken, alone, and alienated from God and one that longs to be healed. It is a process so painful that Paul described it as a crucifixion of the Self: “Our old self being crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6).

The search for self and identity is a spiritual war, not a cultural one. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

But thank God he fought the battle for us in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. As a result, our true self is a gift, not by works or earthly struggles, but by the grace of God. The true self is transformed, loved, and reunited with the Father who loved us first.