By Denise Shick

You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”? Isaiah 29:16 (NIV)

Can you imagine how shocked a potter would be if the pitcher she was shaping on her potter’s wheel suddenly shouted, “I don’t want to be a pitcher. I want to be a vase!” That’s impossible, of course. And maybe that’s one reason God used the analogy of a potter and a lump of clay several times in Scripture to emphasize that we humans have no right to challenge his design or purpose for us.

One potter-pot analogy is recorded in Isaiah 29. God is angry with his people because “these people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught” (v. 13). God’s people were so confident of their favored position as the descendants of Abraham that they assumed they could do whatever they wanted, and God would still bless them. God said, “[They] do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?” (v. 15).

At that point God reminds them that he is the potter and they are the clay. He is the Creator, and they are the creation. He makes the rules, he decides what is and isn’t acceptable worship, and he decides what is and isn’t sin.

What’s the connection between Israel’s idolatry and transgenderism? The idea that human beings make the rules, that we decide what is and isn’t sin, and that we can decide what is truth and what is delusion. Israel insisted on doing what they pleased, on living by “merely human rules.” And that’s exactly what transgenders do today.

Is Truth a Matter of Choice?

You’ve probably heard people on TV or social media or maybe in your living room say, “That’s my truth.” According to the Urban Dictionary, the phrase is a “pretentious substitute for ‘non-negotiable personal opinion. Often used by academics, this is a convenient phrase for avoiding arguments because people can contradict your opinion but not your ‘truth.”[1] Even Merriam-Webster now lists the definition of truth as “something that is true or held to be true.”[2] In other words, truth has become so subjective that it not only changes from person to person but changes with whatever a person thinks or feel at a given time.

The “my truth” delusion is symptomatic of a much more serious problem: rebellion against God.

In Isaiah 45:19, God says, “I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.” Human beings did not create truth. God did. Therefore, his judgment of what is true and what is false is the ruler by which truth is measured.

Biological Fact vs. Gender Identity

Our culture erroneously applies the “my truth” delusion to gender. We are told by government officials, educators, medical professionals, media personalities, and perhaps by our family members and friends that gender is simply a social construct—an idea created and accepted by a society. Gender is fluid, they say, based on someone’s gender identity, which is “a person’s internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female,” Merriam-Webster tells us.[3]

This version of the “my truth” delusion is simply rebellion against God, the one who conceived of and created gender. When he created human beings, he created them “in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). If people deny the biological uniqueness and complementary design of male and female bodies, they strip God of his rights as Creator.

When human babies born, the first evidence of gender is their external genital organs. An x-ray would confirm that child’s gender by revealing his or her internal reproductive organs. Yes, there are anomalies, but that doesn’t change the fact that the overwhelming majority of human beings are clearly male or female. In fact, in all God’s creation, the principle of male and female exists—in animals and in plants. To deny these observable scientific facts is delusional.

“My Truth” vs. The Truth

In 2022, a Japanese man paid a company more than $15,000 to create a dog costume to fulfill his dream of being a dog. Known only by his social media name, Toco, the man posts regular videos on YouTube chronicling his antics in the costume. He claims, “I wanted to be an animal, so I became a collie.”[4]

But he is not a dog. He is a man masquerading as a dog. In fact, when real dogs got close to him, they scurried away.[5] His human scent betrayed him as a fraud. Likewise, those who identify themselves as transgenders can dress themselves in the opposite sex’s physical features, but they cannot change their biological identity as a male or female. Their DNA betrays them. The same is true for those who identify as nonbinary, genderfluid, pangender, or any one of the other gender identities so-called experts claim to exist.

 

“My truth” is just another name for “my delusion.” The one who loves delusion most is the Father of Lies, Satan himself. In John 8:44, Jesus told the Pharisees, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Satan is also the father of delusion, and imprisoning people in their delusions is one of his favorite pastimes.

Respond with Truth and Love

Those who cling to the “my truth” delusion are playing by Satan’s rulebook. The best way to respond to a lie is to speak the truth. If a friend or loved one is using the “my truth” tactic on you, resist it. Speak gently and calmly, but firmly. Try something along these lines:

·      God created you and he loves you. He shaped your female (or male) body in the womb.

·      I understand you feel this way, but feelings change. Biological facts do not change. And God’s design for human gender does not change.

·      I’m sorry you don’t understand why I can’t call you by [name] or use your preferred pronouns, but I cannot say what does not reflect my heart or honor the person God created you to be.

Allowing people to live under the delusion that they can be their own creator is not loving. Telling them the truth and encouraging them to live according to truth is the loving response. If someone you care about is pressuring you to embrace their delusion, take the situation to God in prayer. Ask your Creator to show you how to speak truth and live in truth. Ask him to reveal his divine purpose and design to those who struggle with gender identity. Ask him to release them from the Father of Lies’ delusions.

[1] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=My%20Truth

[2] https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/truth

[3] https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/gender%20identity

[4] https://www.insider.com/japanese-man-spends-15000-on-lifelike-dog-costume-2022-5

[5] https://www.insider.com/japanese-man-spends-15000-on-lifelike-dog-costume-2022-5