God is a Woman?

A few weeks ago I witnessed to a Vietnam War veteran panhandling near Walmart. After thanking him for his service, I handed this man a tract while saying, “I was also in the army…now I’m in the army of the Lord.” The expression on his face immediately revealed he wasn’t receptive to the gospel. One of his objections was the Bible always referring to God with masculine pronouns. A joke I’ve seen online is “Why do we say ‘Amen’ at the end of a prayer instead of ‘Awomen’? Same reason we sing Hymns instead of Hers.”

But seriously, I pointed out to this veteran men and women are equal in God’s eyes. Galatians 3:28 says, “…there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The only time women are always meant to be subordinate to men is in the marital relationship. Ephesians 5:23 says, “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.” A body cannot have two heads.

It also says in 1 Peter 3:7, “Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.” Husbands are to be leaders but not dictators in their marriages.

While on earth, the Messiah was male and repeatedly referred to God as Father instead of Mother. However, the Almighty does have feminine characteristics. The Hebrew language has gender. The word for God ‘elohiym is both masculine and feminine. When God first made man, He was as much female as He was male (Genesis 1:27). Then God made “man with the womb” by separating the female part from the male. Man and woman then had to come together to be perfectly whole.

Still, feminists have tried downplaying the Fatherhood of God. Back in 1972, Helen Reddy had the number #1 hit “I Am Woman”, which won a Grammy for Best Female Performance. In her acceptance speech, Reddy created controversy by thanking God “…because She makes everything possible.” Nowadays, publishers have released gender-neutral bibles. A best-selling book called “The Shack” depicted God as a female. Ariana Grande had a hit last year with “God is a Woman.”

Jesus said in John 16:27, “for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.” Bad or non-existent relationships with our earthly fathers often skew perceptions of our Heavenly Father. For those of you uncomfortable with addressing God as Father, I suggest watching Dennis Prager’s video “Why God Is a He.” It shows how God is depicted in male terms in hopes of man making the world a kinder and less violent place. However, one cannot know the Father without knowing His Son.

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’” - John 8:42

Hating Sin, Loving Sinners

Some Christians detest the phrase “hate the sin but love the sinner” (or variations of it) claiming it’s unscriptural. While it may not appear verbatim in the Bible, many verses support that idea. One of the most obvious is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Another one is Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

There are a few Scriptures about God hating certain individuals. Psalm 5:5 says, “You hate all workers of iniquity.” Proverbs 6:19 mentions the Lord hating “a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.” I believe it’s more accurate to say God hates the actions of unbelievers. 

Jesus said in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” Does God really want us hating our relatives? Of course not. The word “hate” in this verse would be better rendered as “love less.” What the Lord is saying is we cannot put a family member’s interests ahead of God’s. We should also be praying for our lost loved ones until they hopefully “come to themselves.” Christians shouldn’t have a condescending attitude like the prodigal son’s older brother in Luke 15 or the Pharisees who caught the woman in adultery in John 8. 

Look how the Lord responded to the rich young ruler who approached Him in Mark 10:21, “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’” Jesus loved this man even though he valued his possessions more that following the Son of God.

God doesn’t love the world system that condones and encourages sin but certainly the people in it. That’s why He gave us Jesus. Therefore, Christians should love sinners not by condoning their sinful actions but by sharing the gospel with them.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” - 1 John 4:10-11