Hullo, this is supposed to be a blog not a session on the psychiatrist couch! But the papers are full of this stuff. The gender-benders are out in force.
“Your identity”, they say, “is a social construct”! By which they mean you can choose to be male or female.
It’s not as if we hadn’t enough problems already. Growing up is a life-long process! It’s just that we are in the middle of a campaign to change the Constitution to permit same-sex ‘marriage’ and the media is feeding us with mind bending material to condition us for a Yes vote.
Long ago our identity was wrapped up in family. The question was who do you ‘belonged’ to and who are you related to? The answers gave you your roots. This provision of ancestry anchored you in an ever changing world. You knew who you were and you knew where you came from.
Later on secondary things were added. One was your job another, if you were good at exams, was your career. These became part of you. “What’s your name, what do you do?” These starter questions help others to identify you.
Changing social conditions, Celtic Tiger (long since dead) may bring materialism and you become known by what you possess. These sadly often end up by possessing you and clothing, food and drink take on an ever increasing role in who you have become.
Conversion to Christ disrupts the natural order by introducing a primary allegiance which overarches all others. St Paul argues that in “a dead man’s cross and a live man’s empty tomb” which the world sees as utter foolishness, is a gospel of the wisest of wisdom (1Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 18/25). It is the only lens through which you can see life accurately.
It is a wisdom which can satisfactorily answer the fundamental questions of life, enabling us to see our identity in terms of eternity and belonging to a new family with Christ as its head (Ephesians Chapter 5 verse 23).
At the centre of this message of wisdom is not a set of ideas but the person of Jesus Christ who offers not only answers but every grace you need to be what you were created to be and to do what you have been called to do.