Bruce Jenner's Missing Piece

Bruce Jenner had a problem: He didn’t feel like he belonged. He felt like something was missing. After a number of years of searching for the missing piece, he came to the conclusion that it was because he was born a man, but at heart, he feels like a woman.

So Bruce made the decision to become Caitlyn.

I don’t need to resay everything that the tabloids have said about the complexity of that “transformation,” but I want to highlight something here: that missing piece.

If only I were...

Bruce is not the only one who has felt that something is wrong, that true happiness and contentment is attainable, if only that elusive something could be found. He’s just the most visible face of that dilemma right now.

All of us have struggled with that missing piece to our true identity. And we come up with all sorts of reasons for why we feel so alone and awkward.

“I’m heavy, so if I were just thinner…”

“I’m single, so if I were just married…”

“I’m married, but my husband isn’t all I thought he would be, so if my husband were just different…”

“I’m young, so if I were just older…”

“I’m old, so if I were just younger…”

That mid-life crisis that people talk about? That restlessness and constant “search for identity” and pursuit of happiness? That’s all the same symptom for that void. 

Everyone struggles to "find their true identity."

Everyone feels that void. A lot of people consider me a “strong woman” with a powerful sense of identity. Well, let me burst that bubble: I feel out of place and insecure a lot. I could say that I’m discontent because I’m not married. I could say that I’m discontent because I’m not the super-famous author that I always wanted to be. But if I were to get married tomorrow, I’m pretty sure, once the ecstatic delight wears off, that I’ll still have the same sense of incompletion. And if I were to become a New York Times bestselling author, I will still feel like I’m missing something.

I guarantee you that every single person on this planet feels that void. And every single person on this planet has tried this and that to see if this time, the secret has been found.

And it hasn’t. Bruce Jenner thinks that taking on the physical attributes of a woman will fill in the space for him. But many transgenders experience regret after the transition. They often blame it on discrimination arising from their transition, though some figure that it may be because they’re “neither here nor there” in terms of gender. 

May I suggest an alternate theory?

They're missing God.

But I should rephrase, since this isn’t just about transgenders: We are all missing God. Sure, many people claim Christianity, and still feel that void. But that restlessness and sense of being out of place only arises from a life that is not fully dependent on Jesus Christ alone for one’s identity.

In Christ, I can lose all that I hold most dear, and still overflow with richness.

In Christ, I can admit myself to be every bit as empty and degraded as I feel, and still experience the confidence born of His unconditional love.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Galatians highlights the bickering between the Jewish and Gentile believers. The Jewish believers thought that circumcision made one “more correct.” But Paul wrote this in response:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:15)