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How Should Christians Participate in the Debate About Gender and Language?

Lindsay Shepherd, a TA at Wilfrid Laurier University, was called to a disciplinary meeting for showing a video clip in which two University of Toronto professors debated whether the use of gender pronouns constitutes free speech or hate speech.

In this corrective meeting, traditional gender language was renounced as invalid and indefensible. The three-minute clip was branded as transphobic, bi-phobic, and homophobic, even though both sides of the debate were clearly presented. Shepherd, herself, was accused of personally “targeting” trans-students by willfully spreading transphobia.

This is a potent case-study in the ongoing discussion about gender, language, free speech, and hate speech; and it raises a serious question for Christians in Canada, which is this: How should we participate in this debate?

An answer to this question can be found in Peter’s first letter. Peter offered the Church in his day sound advice about how to live faithfully as exiles in a world opposed to Christ. In short, he exhorted them to be a blessing in all situations.

Bless Your Opponents

It is not natural to bless those who make us feel increasingly isolated and suppressed in our own country. Yet, even though it is more instinctive to fight fire with fire, we ought to fight fire with water.

We must be careful not to be too zealous for an intellectual culture war.  Christ calls us to be a blessing to all people in all circumstances:

“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).

Jesus Christ has enemies who revile the God we love, the Gospel we cherish, and the truths we espouse. The Bible would tell us that their understanding of gender and their use of language is evil, an assault on the One who created us male and female.

And yet, Jesus Christ commands us not to repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling. We are to bless our opponents. Practically speaking, how do we do this?

Keep Your Tongue from Evil

The way we speak about our opponents will reveal the condition of our hearts. We cannot bless our opponents while also speaking evil against them. In the heat of this debate we must choose words of love and not of hate, of kindness and not of vitriol, of reasonableness and not of insolence.

Peter reminds us, “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit” (1 Peter 3:10).

When we enter into the discussion about gender and language, therefore, let us choose our words carefully so that the things we say do not disqualify us in the eyes of Christ or the world.

Do Good and Pray for Your Opponents

Our goal should not be to win the debate about gender and language but to do good and to seek peace in the world. Winning the argument will not win more people to Christ, but doing good and seeking peace, might. Moreover, God hears the prayers of those who turn away from evil.

Peter continues, “Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:11–12).

As we actively do good to our opponents, let us also pray for them:

For Canada, that our freedoms will not be snuffed out;

For Laurier University, that both faculty and staff will use this media-imposed opportunity for self-reflection profitably;

For Lindsay Shepherd, that she might continue to demonstrate maturity and class in the face of both adversity and growing support;

For salvation to those who are currently depraved in mind and deprived of the truth.

Be Prepared to Speak the Truth

Even while we are careful with our words, active in doing good, and resolute in our prayers, we need to be prepared to speak the truth.

Peter exhorts us, “In your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

It is the saving grace of God that gives us hope, not the biblical definitions of “man” and “woman” or the pronouns we use for either. We are more likely to speak with gentleness and respect if we remember that Christ, being holy, saved us from our sin.

Thus, even while we speak the truth about gender and language without compromise, we do it with a keen awareness that but for the grace of God, there go I.

As we live as exiles in our own country, we will feel isolated and attacked at times. The current trends against a biblical understanding of sexuality, gender, and language are but examples of our very real alienation.

As we are marginalized and stifled, it is essential that we seek ways to bless our opponents. We can do this by being careful about what we say, by doing good to all, by praying for those who oppose us, and by being ready to speak the truth with grace, gentleness, and respect.

If we do this, then even when we suffer and are slandered, those who revile us will be put to shame (1 Peter 3:16–17). And God, in His great mercy and because of our witness, just might save some who, today, resist the truth of His Word.

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