Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 02:2 (Fall 2020)
Article: Sameness And Distinction: Rethinking Assumptions About God’s Design Of Men And Women
Author: Jenn Kintner

Eikon 2.2 (Fall 2020) p. 22

Sameness And Distinction:
Rethinking Assumptions About God’s Design Of Men And Women

Jenn Kintner

and

Joshua Wester

Josh Wester serves as Chair of Research in Christian Ethics at The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and is a ThM student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Jenn Kintner holds a Doctorate of Education from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the Office Coordinator at the ERLC.

A father shames a ten-year-old boy for helping his grandma: “Get out of the kitchen; that’s a woman’s work!” A woman sits dejectedly during a Sunday sermon as her pastor preaches through Ephesians 4:11–13 and says, “Only pastors and elders were given the gift of teaching.” She thinks, “Am I abnormal? I don’t want to be a pastor, but I know God’s gifted me as a teacher. Was that a mistake?” These are real situations where individuals were confronted by a distorted view of sexuality that categorizes things common to humanity as distinctly male or female.

Beyond the church, the world is deeply confused about what it means to be male and female. As our culture’s view of sex has shifted rapidly over the last few decades, even the most basic patterns of living together in society as men and women have been called into question. As a result, pastors, parents, kids, and even spouses are presently facing challenges and rethinking vital questions about gender and sexuality that previous generations simply took for granted. As we’ve considered this issue, one thing that has become clear is that the church needs a better understanding of God’s design for men and women.

Eikon 2.2 (Fall 2020) p. 23

This is not the time to be wrong about sex and gender. If anything, the cultural moment we find ourselves in demands that the church articulate what it means to be male and female more clearly than ever before. We must embrace the fullness of what it means to be created as male or female and recognize that sin can distort God’s design in either direction (e.g. a male’s tendency toward either emasculation or hyper-masculinity).

In our tenacity to defend the patterns of God’s design in a culture that seeks to blur the distinction between male and female, it is crucial that we not forget that God made humanity (singular) in his image. But he has purposefully made us male and female (binary), and our distinctions are manifest in more than just physical or genetic traits. We must neither diminish biblical distinctions between men and women, nor create artificial categories to define masculinity or femininity that undermine our sa...