It matters, first and foremost, because God created male and female. It's a beautiful distinction. It's a good plan. God's plans are always best when we embrace them and allow them to govern our lives.
It also matters because of the confusion, anxiety, substance abuse, depression and suicide attempts that go along with an absence of personal gender identity that's being cultivated in our culture. "Who am I? What am I?" I read an article today that advocates sexuality as a continuum from one gender to the other. Total, total confusion.
Helping people understand themselves does not lie in telling them that no one knows who or what they are, or that who or what they are today may not be who or what they are tomorrow, that they just have to figure out what feels good to them. No foundation. No building blocks. No sense of personal value being established. All of this only furthers the confusion. Advances the anxiety and stress. Deepens the depression. And devalues life itself.
But we don't have to allow the culture to push us or our children there. No matter what Target, or the media, or schools, or movies, or anyone else tries to program into our hearts and minds, we remind ourselves and teach our children that we are created in the image of God--male and female. Distinctive from one another. And God wants it that way. He said it's very good. Genders complement each other, reflecting characteristics of God. Gender neutrality does not.
The basic issue is this: the marriage of man and woman reflects the relationship of Christ and His Bride, the Church. It's the picture of redeeming love. Without male or female, there is no man, there is no woman. Destroy that, and you destroy the image. This is Satan's unending, unrelenting, ages old attack. Recognize it for what it is.
Remember, Target marketed "Holiday Trees" instead of "Christmas Trees" a few years back, and there was no "Merry Christmas" greetings allowed by their employees. This is a broader agenda for Target than gender neutrality. I tried to send a message to Target today on their website, but the 'submit' button had been deactivated.
Are you really neutral, Target?
