Blog note.

What happened to just being male and female, the way God made us? Why the gender blurring and gender “reassignment.” What is wrong with being masculine or feminine, in the manner in which each of us was made (born)? Biology, physiology, psychology, even the Bible itself, tell us that men and women are different, both created in their complimentary uniqueness to bring life to the world.

1 Corinthians 6:9… Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Deuteronomy 22:5… The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.

Genesis 1:27… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Emphasis added).

Genesis 5:2… Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. (Emphasis added).

Genesis 6:19… And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. (Emphasis added).

Genesis 7:9… There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. (Emphasis added).

Genesis 7:16… And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in. (Emphasis added).

Matthew 19:4… And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female. (Emphasis added).

Mark 10:6… But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. (Emphasis added).

The above Bible verses (KJV) clearly indicate that God created humans to be either male or female. The Bible doesn’t say anything about a “Gender X” or “Fluid Gender” or “Call Yourself A Different Gender as the Mood Fits”, etc. There are males and females. The Bible does NOT give any prophecy or indication that human beings (in flesh form) will ever “transition” from one gender into another, or experience “back and forth gender fluidity.” PERIOD! I pray for these poor souls who have somehow been deceived into thinking that they are something they are not. By rejecting who you are, you are rejecting any notion of how God intended you to be. This a form of rebellion against how God created a person to be. It’s true, none of us chose to be either male or female, however, it is not for us to decide. God made each of us, male and female, according to his plan and purpose. I am not condemning these people, but know that they are missing out on God’s plan for them while they are in this state of confusion, denial or rebellion.

End of note:

Girly Boys … A New Trend

Masculinity, Makeup, and “Flower Boys”: This Problem is More than Skin-Deep

No amount of makeup will cover the fact that more and more men are walking away from vitally important aspects of masculinity. A recent BBC article introduced readers to South Korea’s latest high-profile export. Not a Hyundai, a Kia, or even the musical phenomenon known as “K-Pop.” I’m referring to men’s makeup. As the BBC put it, “in South Korea, ideas about how to look good as a man are changing attitudes and influencing the world.”

The BBC takes readers inside a “high-end salon” in Seoul’s trend-setting and prestigious Gangnam district. There, a make-up artist “expertly applies foundation, eyeliner and lipstick on a man,” choosing “from an array of products and brands that will be familiar to most women.” The goal is to look like their favorite K-Pop stars and television celebrities.

Let me be very clear. This story is not talking about gay men. Rather, it’s referring to an aesthetic associated with what are called “flower boys” in Korea: “delicate, slightly feminine-looking boys.” They are a staple in Korean drama, where they play a role that’s analogous to the gay best friend that we see in romantic comedies in America. While unlike the gay best friend they may have feelings for the female lead, they almost never get the girl, in large part because they aren’t taken seriously as men. And that prompts an obvious question: Why would a non-gay male want to emulate these “flower boys” in real life?

The question isn’t limited to just South Korea. As Joanna Elfving-Hwang from the University of Western Australia told the BBC, “I think Korea is a trailblazer in men’s beauty culture, definitely in Asia at the moment, if not the world.” This toying with masculinity, she says, “opens up possibilities for men on the street and eventually makes it more acceptable.” Now, whether this aesthetic remains confined to Korea or ends up bringing back a trend we haven’t seen since the demise of the last 18th-century French king, the struggle to define what it means to be a man in the 21st century developed world remains unsettled.

We see evidence of this crisis everywhere. One example is what Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute called “the flight from work.” As he writes, “America is now home to an ever-growing army of jobless men no longer even looking for work—over 7 million between ages 25 and 55, the traditional prime of working life.” To put that in historical perspective, “In 2015, the work rate for American males aged 25-54 was slightly lower than it had been in 1940, at the tail end of the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, jobless men jumped on trains and lived in tents trying to find work. Today, most won’t even get off their couch.

The “flight from work” shows how our cultural idea of masculinity has been severed from the role of men as provider. In a related trend, American men are also postponing fatherhood. “The average age of a newborns’ father went from 27.4 years in 1972 to 30.9 in 2015.” This reveals that young men aren’t giving much thought to the idea of being a provider but instead often living for themselves.

Then there’s the role of protector, as Eric Metaxas recently mentioned on BreakPoint. The decline of this ideal is reflected in the history of the expression “flower boys.” The phrase originally referred to a group of men who came together to “learn the military arts and cultivate virtue” in seventh-century Korea. One of those “virtues” was “bravery in battle.” While they dressed well and even used cosmetics, protection of their society was their primary purpose.

Regaining a proper understanding of what it means to be male in our culture is one of the most urgent cultural tasks we face. No matter how much we insist otherwise, biology, physiology, psychology, even the Bible itself, tell us that men and women are different, both created in their complimentary uniqueness to bring life to the world.

BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.

John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

Publication date: September 12, 2018

Photo courtesy: Unsplash/Valerie Elash