Jesus and Gender: Living as Sisters and Brothers in Christ

2022 Christianity Today Award of Merit, Christian Living & Spiritual Formation

A new vision for loving one another as sisters and brothers in Jesus. Many Christian women and men carry heavy burdens. Much teaching on gender relations, roles, and rules binds the conscience beyond what Scripture actually teaches. Gender has become a battleground for power. But God created men and women not to compete for glory but to cooperate for his glory.

In Jesus and Gender, Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher paint a new vision for gender--Christ's gentle and lowly heart. The centrality of the gospel has been lost in gender debates. Our ultimate example is Jesus, our humble king, who used his power to serve others. So we must rethink our identities, roles, and relationships around him. Christ transformed enemies into family. Men and women are allies in God's mission.

Drawing from Scripture and experience, Fitzpatrick and Schumacher show how Jesus's example speaks to all areas of our lives as men and women, including vocation, marriage, parenting, friendships, and relating to each other as sisters and brothers in Christ. Real-life testimonies from a variety of Christians--including Christine Caine, Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, and Karen Swallow Prior--show a variety of men and women freed to pursue their gifts for God's glory.

Fitzpatrick and Schumacher's perspective untangles what God has said about gender from what he hasn't. By coming to Jesus, women and men can find rest.