Psychology Doesn’t Trump Biology

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. – Psalm 139:14

In today’s society, we are constantly faced with the phenomenon of transgenderism. The percentage of people that identify as transgender in the United States varies somewhere between 0.3 and 0.6%.

I firmly believe this is an issue worth addressing from a biblical perspective, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do over the next couple of days. I’ve determined as a follower of Jesus that there are three things we have to consider as we talk about this issue: feelings, facts, and faith. Or to put it another way, you have to talk about transgender and psychology, transgender and biology, and transgender and theology. We’re going to look at all three of these, starting with psychology today and then addressing biology and theology tomorrow. Let’s dive in.

In preparing to write this devotional, I had just finished an extended email correspondence with a man who has transitioned into a woman. We had a very respectful conversation and from what this person told me, I believe this person truly does have a relationship with Jesus. This person let me know that if the transition had not taken place, suicide was the only other option because it was unbearable psychological torture.

The person attempted to make the point that many transgender Christians desire to be in the will of God, but they believe that the biological sex the Creator created them with at conception doesn’t correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. This person even made the further point that it was the Spirit of God that led them to make this transition.

The point I made to this person that I also want to say to you is this. The question is not whether people like this and feelings like this are real. They are. The question is, “Should psychology trump both biology and theology?”

There is a big problem with this idea. After all, why should feeling like a man make someone a man? Why is this the one area where psychology trumps biology? Our feelings don’t determine our age or our height. I may feel as good as I did when I was forty, but I’m not forty. I can act like I am seven feet tall, but I’m a foot short. Yes, we must acknowledge these feelings are real. We must not discount them, but we cannot allow the psychological tail to wag the biological and theological dog.

At the end of the day, we can trust that God knew what He was doing when He created us. He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t miss details. He doesn’t mess up. So regardless of what our feelings are telling us, we must learn to have the wisdom and discernment to lean first and foremost on the truth of God’s Word.

Dear Lord, thank you for being a trustworthy God. Help me to always remember that you made no mistake when you created me the way you did. Give me contentment and gratitude for the person you made me to be. In Jesus’ name, amen.