What does it mean to witness to Jesus Christ? The answer is simple. It is to confess Jesus. Christians are ambassadors of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do so by announcing that King Jesus rules and calling all men to humble themselves in repentance before him. We tell them, and we show them, how good it is to live before Christ. I argue that we cannot use identity politics to witness to Jesus Christ. Identity Politics rejects the identity that Christ gives us and celebrates the identity that people choose for themselves instead of our God-given identities.
I would add more: we witness to Jesus by confessing the truth that he has taught us. Even more: we witness to Jesus by delighting in the good law that he gave us. Finally, we witness to Jesus by rejoicing in the identity that he gave us. That final point is the important point here. If we rejoice in the identity Christ gave us. If we accept Scripture’s word on the identity Christ has given both to us and others, we must reject any type of identity politics. This identity includes both the identity that Christ gives us through our creation and through our redemption.
Yet, for evangelicals, it is never so simple. They cave into identity politics. Identity politics is any movement that demands respect for an identity that is obviously false. And to see why you need to go no further than the problem Pastor Toby Sumpter deals with here. The article he is dealing with is here. You can find another article from the gospel coalition that uses the branding “nonstraight Christians” here. Now Christians are branding themselves according to the categories of the world.
In a strange twist of providence, I believe it is the agnostic Jordan Peterson, who has forced me to deal with this issue head-on. His courageous stand against using genderfluid pronouns like “zer” and “ze,” for the sake of those who want to use those pronouns has encouraged me to be firm on this issue. If an agnostic can take a stand for truth out of compassion for the psychologically confused, how much more a Christian, who confesses that they know the mind of Christ. It is wicked and cruel to accept people in this way. You demonstrate that you accept their identity as they define it.
Of course, you do want to accept the identity men have been given. We accept all men and women as people made in the image of God. They deserve the dignity that goes with that. A re-defined identity deserves no respect. Neither we should give it any respect. Out of grace, out of mercy, we should hold to the God’s truth. Even so, one’s true identity continues to deserve respect no matter how far one has perverted one’s self.