Silence on sex and gender
Flagged as a concern
A church's choice, deliberate or not, to state no position on whether a person's sex is given by God, in a time when the question presses on every family.
Also called: no stated position on gender
What it means
Many churches have never written down what they believe about sex and gender identity. For some this is simply because the question did not arise when their statements of faith were drafted. For others it is a deliberate decision to avoid controversy or to leave the matter to individual conscience.
The site cannot assume a church's view from its silence, so it records the position as unstated and flags it as a concern. A church may in fact teach faithfully on these matters in its pulpit and counseling, and its leaders can easily clarify their view when asked.
The historic church taught clearly that God made humanity male and female. Today the question touches schools, families, and the church's own ministries, so silence leaves members to find their answers elsewhere.
What Scripture says
God created humanity male and female in his image.
Paul did not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God.
Pastors must preach the word in season and out, because people will turn to teachers who suit their desires.
Believers should be ready to give an answer for their hope, with gentleness and respect.
What is wrong with it
Scripture speaks plainly on whether God makes humanity male and female, and pastors are called to teach the whole counsel of God, especially where it is contested. When a church will not say what it believes on a question this pressing, it leaves its members, and those seeking a church, to guess.
How it undermines the truth
Silence undermines the church's calling to be the pillar and buttress of the truth. It weakens confidence in Scripture's clarity, as though the Bible had nothing to say, and it leaves the doctrine of creation undefended where it is most attacked.
How it can harm a church
Families with questioning children, and people wrestling with their own sense of identity, may not know whether the church will help them or not. Leaders may be unprepared when the question arrives in their own congregation, and decisions end up being made case by case under pressure rather than from settled conviction.
A clear, gentle statement protects the vulnerable and lets everyone know where they stand.
This page describes a teaching, not the faith of any person who holds it.
Where it comes up
On this site: Sex & gender identity
Related terms
Created sexHistoric orthodoxy
The teaching that God creates each person male or female, and that a person's body is a good gift that identity and conduct should honor.
Gender transition affirmationSerious error
The teaching that a person's inner sense of gender, rather than their bodily sex, defines who they are, so that the church should affirm social or medical transition.
Third wayFlagged as a concern
The stance that a church will not take a position on same-sex marriage and sexuality, treating it as a matter on which members may disagree.