Let’s Talk: Identity

Just days before the May federal election was called, Professor Brendan Murphy, the leader of the federal Department of Health was answering questions at a Senate enquiry. Now you would expect that Australia’s top health bureaucrat would be ready for any question but he was not ready for this.

Senator Alex Antic asked this question: Can someone please provide me with a definition of what a woman is?

Professor Murphy paused for a few moments and then said: There are a variety of definitions […] I think perhaps to give a more fulsome answer we should take that on notice.” This meant that he was not prepared to answer the question but would do so at a later date.

Now for some of you this will no doubt come across as one of the most bizarre things you have ever heard. The Chief of Health being unable or unwilling to define a woman. Senator Antic labelled it hilarious. For others, you will understand the dilemma that Professor Murphy was in and call his response wise or measured, even shrewd given the world we now live in; because the way we understand everything has changed. 

What I mean is that in an increasing number of intellectual disciplines, the objectivity many of us were brought up on has been replaced with a subjectivity based on emotions, feelings and belief. This is the case in biology, psychology and theology just to name a few. So what something “is” is no longer based on the thing itself but how we think about or feel about the thing. A true interpretation of something is no longer found only in the thing itself but in those who are interpreting it. 

By way of example, the Australian Academy of Science now defines a woman as “anyone who identifies as a woman”. This definition is not based on the objective facts of human anatomy but how one feels about their own personal reality. By way of example in theology, some would say that meaning or understanding is not found in the text of the Bible but in the impact on or understanding of the person interpreting the text. I hope you can see that the difference all this makes to our understanding of ourselves and the world cannot be underestimated.

So how do Christians respond? What does the God say about who we are, how we relate with each other and how we relate with a world that appears to be drifting further and further from the Judeo-Christian ethic that used to underpin society’s core values and beliefs. 

Well, Let’s Talk. Starting on Sunday June 26 James Macbeth and I are going to unpack five topics related to human relationships in order to help us understand what God has to say, and how we should live, in a world that wants nothing to do with him. The five talks are going to take place across three Sundays and two Wednesdays at 7.30pm and everyone is invited to join us. 

Sunday 26 June – Singleness

Wednesday 29 June – Gender

Sunday 3 July – Marriage

Wednesday 6 July – Sexuality

Sunday 10 July – Divorce

On the Sundays there will be an opportunity to ask further questions that will be answered during the week. On the Wednesdays, the talks will be longer form and there will be a panel answering questions live in those sessions.  

My prayer is that we might come ready to listen to what God has to say on these matters and ready to be changed by his Word. My prayer is also that we might be like God in our interactions with those who disagree with us. Psalm 145:8 reminds us that “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” I pray we might be able to say at the end of this series that we have compassion for all the Lord has made. 

I am looking forward to it and hope you are too.