Written by Evi Idoghor
After finishing up the day's work on a cool rainy evening, I decided to unwind by watching an interview with the Queen of Interviews, Oprah Winfrey. Across from her sat the irresistible beauty Priyanka Chopra, a renowned Hollywood and Bollywood actress who rose to prominence after winning the title of Miss World in 2000, and was later succeeded by Nigerian beauty queen, Agbani Derego.
They discussed spirituality and religion as the interview progressed. Priyanka then said something that made my heart skip a beat: "They say if you want to make God laugh, tell her your plans." From that moment, they lost me in the interview. I pondered: "why can't they just refer to God as him?"
Unfortunately, Priyanka, like many others (including those in the "Christian" world), have attempted to ascribe to God a pronoun with which he has never identified himself. I'm not sure if it's because of the recent surge in conversations about transgenderism, feminism, and patriarchy, or because of the Western world's insatiable desire for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The bible, however, which is God's written word is clear on who God is and how he relates to us as individuals. God is neither male nor female; God is spirit, according to John 4:24.
As I reflected on Priyanka's non-factual statement, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a friend in which she explicitly referred to the Holy Spirit as female, a queen, and the heavenly mother. This was not the only time I’d heard someone refer to “God” as heavenly mother. A member of the Tennessee state council at a hearing began his opening prayer (with hands lifted high), saying “heavenly mother…”
In John 4:24, Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." We can see from this scripture that Jesus does not identify God as a man or a woman. God, in his wisdom and sovereignty has chosen to reveal himself to humanity as King, Father, Everlasting Father, King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of Peace, and a plethora of other titles associated with the male gender; however, this does not make him a man or a human being.
I think this issue of misidentifying God stems from the grave crises the world now experiences with identity. People are not certain about who they are anymore, so the (depraved) society is happy to define them. If you are a boy or a man but have feminine attributes, then you must be homosexual or at least a trans-girl/woman.
If you are an adult but feel like a child at heart, then you must really be a child; change your identity! They scream. If you are in your 70s but feel like you are in your 30s, then that means you are a thirty-something-year-old individual. Just where do we draw the line?
People are often coerced into believing how they feel is how things should be: I feel this way, hence, the world needs to bend to my emotions. Not only do they want people to see things the way they do, they also desire a God who can become whatever they want him to be. So they ponder, is he really father, king, or Lord? Why can’t he be mother, queen, or lady? Why do men have to win at everything? It must be an agenda backed by patriarchy, they conclude.
An increasing number of people who have no true sense of who they are have gone ahead to misidentify the creator who has shown us who he is, countless times throughout scripture. If God had wanted to reveal himself to us as "she," or "her," he could have. So, let us not underestimate the importance of reading and searching the scriptures in these times. The only way to distinguish between what is true and what is false is to search the scriptures.
God, who is spirit, has chosen to reveal himself to us using masculine titles in his infinite and vast wisdom. And no evidence in scripture supports the notion that he can now be referred to as she, her, herself, mother, queen, and (or) lady.
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