If you work in the corporate world or participate in the world of education either as an employee or a student, you’re likely to be asked the question in the title of this post at some point. As Christians, we recognize this is not a value-neutral question like ‘What is your name?’ or ‘Where do you work?’, but a question laden with world-view implications – implications we cannot affirm as followers of Christ.
Therefore, we must be prepared to respond to this question in a way that graciously affirms truth. To put it in biblical terms, we must:
“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” – Colossians 4:5-6
ESV
To that end, I commend this discussion by Andrew Walker, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at SBTS. Walker explains both why Christians should not participate in this modern ritual and how to graciously respond when asked to do so:
Christians Volunteering Pronouns?
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Thanks Larry! It’s a solid perspective and approach to apply the principle. Much appreciated
Thanks, Cole. Glad you found it helpful. I thought he did a great job with the topic as well.
Hi Larry, thank you for the article reference.
It was interesting and helpful. Although it was mostly addressing a group encounter with the pronoun language, it was easy to formulate a conversation plan regarding a one on one encounter, of which I am more likely to find myself. Depending on the setting, I guess I would call the one on one encounter more of an evanglalistic opertunity and the group more of a soft proclamation of who you are. This soft proclamation is more likely to promote evanglalistic encounters later. But take heart, any proclamation contrary to the prevailing beliefs will result in retaliation to some degree.
Thanks again Larry.
Thanks, Bob. Glad you found it helpful. I agree that in a one-on-one situation this is an opportunity to share the gospel, to talk about why we believe as we do about the created order of male and female. And even in a group setting, taking a stand for truth can be used by the Holy Spirit to draw others to Christ.