Oh, what extremes we have in the body of Christ. On one hand we see some denominations that outright refuse to let women preach the gospel. On the other hand we have newly minted female bishops referring to God as a woman.
Make no mistake, God is not a woman. He never has been and He never will be. Indeed, such a notion is especially disturbing in the gender-bending world in which we live; a world where the Girl Scouts are letting boys who identify as girls join their ranks and where Bruce Jenner appears on the cover of Vanity magazine in a leotard; an age in which some are declaring transgenderism is the new black in Hollywood.
Let’s call it what it is: a strong delusion (2 Thess. 2:11). It doesn’t take a prophet to see the wave of deception sweeping through the church. Some denominations are allowing gay and even transgender clergy take the pulpit and, now, a group within the Church of England is calling for God to be referred to as female. God forbid.
“Orthodox theology says all human beings are made in the image of God, that God does not have a gender,” says Jody Stowell, a member of Women and the Church, which is leading the campaign to call God a female. “He encompasses gender—he is both male and female and beyond male and female. So when we only speak of God in the male form, that’s actually giving us a deficient understanding of who God is.”
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There’s more than one problem with Stowell’s theology, but perhaps the two most obvious are that God is our Father (not our mother) and Jesus, the expression of God on the earth, was a man (not a woman). Then there’s actual Scripture. Jesus prayed, “Our Father, which art in heaven (see Matt. 6:9). Paul told the Corinthians that “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist” (1 Cor. 8:6). Paul told the church at Ephesus that there is “one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:6) and called the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ blessed (see Eph. 1:3).
I could go on and on with Scriptures identifying God as male. If He intended to be called “she” then He would have mixed and matched the pronouns based on His mood. Although the Holy Spirit has many maternal instincts—such as comforting us when we bruise our spiritual knees—even the third member of the Trinity is not a she.
Now, the self-stated motivation of these women is to encourage “more expansive language and imagery about God” to get rid of “the notion that God is some kind of old man in the sky.” I agree that many people have misperceptions of God. Many think He’s an angry old man with a sledgehammer waiting to hit you over the head when you sin. But referring to Him with feminine imagery is not going to solve that problem—a revelation of the Father’s heart (not the mother’s heart) is the answer. A revelation of Jesus moving in the will of the Father to heal the sick, save the lost, cast out devils and raise people from the dead is what is required, not a divine sex reassignment.
“In the last two or three years we’ve seen a real resurgence and interest in feminism, and younger people are much more interested in how gender categories shouldn’t be about stereotypes,” says Emma Percy, chaplain of Trinity College Oxford. “We need to have a language about God that shows God can be expressed in lots of diverse terms.”
We already have diverse terms for the Father, the Son of God and the Spirit of God. He is the Alpha, the Branch, the Bridegroom, the Chief Shepherd, the Consolation of Israel, the Dayspring, the Bread of Life, the Desire of Nations, Emmanuel, the Faithful and True Witness, the Friend of Sinners, the High Priest, the Horn of Salvation, the Holy One of Israel, the King of Kings, Jehovah, the Lamb of God, the Last Adam, the Light of the World, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Lord of Lords, the Omega, the Morning Star, the Prince of Peace, the Resurrection, the Root of David, the Redeemer, the Sun of Righteousness and much more.
Make no mistake, God is not a woman. He never has been and He never will be. This, though, is just another symptom of a greater problem—a perversion of the Word of God that will lead many astray and even into a Great Falling away. I beseech you in this hour to be a lover of the truth, speak the truth in love, and pray for the church in this hour. Consider the words of Jesus and put your hand to the plow: “I must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).
Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and author of several books, including The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening; Mornings With the Holy Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a Prophet and Satan’s Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
