God As Mother (March 2012)

Last month we looked into how our view of God, as our heavenly Father, can be tainted by our earthly fathers. This understanding could fill us with warmth, anger, or passive indifference. The same applies to feminine descriptors of God in the Bible, which we will focus on this month. I warn you in advance, this will be longer than previous articles because of the need to walk tenderly in some areas (as will be explained later).

Tender Subject

Before we begin, I want to make a few things clear:

1. I consider the term "feminist" to be just as divisive and confrontational as "chauvinist," and believe that such name-calling is counterproductive to being heard. So, when using them, it is in their societal framework. And when referring to men or women, male or female traits, or feminine and masculine ideals, I will delineate them as such, without the societal baggage.
2. I am not arguing that we should start to refer to God as a 'She' or that God's classifications are to be split equally between masculine and feminine descriptors. What I am saying is that God is not made in our image (male and female) but we are made - male and female - in God's image (Numbers 23:18-20, 1 Samuel 15:28-30, Hosea 11:8-10). 
3. I differ from some Christians by holding that Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 11:7 ("A man... is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.") is more tradition and culture than God's truth, namely because of Genesis 1:27.
4. This post is not about putting women in their place OR giving them a privileged status as some have aimed to do in recent decades. I aim to show women (as I did men last month) rightly. I acknowledge that my words may not be received in this spirit, because I am a man, but I aim to be fair.

Tender Subjects

The same God who is described in scripture as our protector, shield, fortress, strong rock and a mighty warrior is also described with decidedly maternal, feminine images, sometimes in the space of a few sentences (as with the first two examples). Let's look at a few below: 

Deuteronomy 32:18 -  "You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth." 

Isaiah 42:13-14 - "The LORD will march out like a champion, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies.  'For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.'" 

Isaiah 49:15 - "'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!'"

Isaiah 66:13 - "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you."

Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34 - “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing."

There is no doubt that these images are tender, if not matronly. Who but a woman can give birth or comfort like a mother can? As much as I'd like to be able to do that, sometimes my son just needs his mommy. There are aspects of a mother, characteristics of a woman, that men cannot understand. And God has given us examples like these - by no means an exhaustive list - to show that both men AND women are made in His image. It's by this understanding, and for this reason, that my use of the masculine pronoun for God is neither an admission of a belief that God looks like a man nor a subjugation of women beneath men in stature, worth, or value in the sight of people or God.

With that said, Christians cannot deny that the strong-handed, forced demand for submission (which is not a biblical idea in the least) by our predecessors in the faith has left scars in the feminine mind. Where healing can come, the memory is hard to ignore. Letty M. Russell, a scholar that deals with feminist interpretations of the Bible, writes: "Frequently, women with strong religious backgrounds have the most difficulty in accepting that the violence against them is wrong. They believe what they have been taught, that resistance to this injustice is unbiblical and unchristian. Christian women are supposed to be meek, and claiming rights for oneself is committing the sin of pride." (pg 99). The wrong/injustice that Russell speaks of isn't men referring to God as "He," but men using scripture to keep women in a servant's position while they ignore the same scriptures that call them to sacrifice and tenderly care for women. Why wouldn't women object to their classification as more tender human beings, when chauvinists so poorly acknowledge this key to their unique reflection of God's tenderness, and instead allow the lie that they are weaker and more inferior versions of men? Men often do not understand this distinction because they miss the heart of the matter (see "Pharisees) and  supplant godly leadership beneath the grab for power and importance.

It is my desire in this post (and the previous post on men) to avoid pandering to either of the sexes. To better serve God, we must - insofar as it depends on us - refuse to do a disservice to each other by being passive in our submission or overbearing in our teaching. Interpreting scripture from a "feminist" or "chauvinist" perspective will leave us right where the fall put us: divided and contentious.

God's Tenderness Reflected in Women

Men are not the clear reflections of God while women are lesser reflections of God or reflections of men. When women practice tenderness, protection, provision, and being a peaceful place of rest, they also reflect aspects of God's nature that they are uniquely suited for. When you hear these things applied to women in scripture - and metaphorically attributed to God - what does this make you think of your own mother (or other women you know)? Is it inspiring and hopeful to you, or does it fill you with anger and a sense of loss? We would do well to know that such understandings can be more attributed to our experiences with others here on earth than on God's portrayal of Himself in scripture.

If you are a woman suffering at the hands of a man (or the memories of one) it's important for you to know that God is suffering with you and only His Word can free you from the prison built by another. Your worth and value to God, and in Christ, comes from God alone, not from another's use of His Word to keep you in chains. God desires that you would have your mind transformed by Him so your life is a clearer and clearer reflection of His nature.

Sadly, often we cannot understand the depth of God's compassion toward, and love for us because of how women have portrayed themselves. Instead of leading their families as Christlike women, they have adopted the feminist world's manner of manipulation and self-sufficiency, the very characteristics of the chauvinists they once sought to oppose. Yes, just like men, women are called of God to lead their families well and so reflect (though imperfectly) the God whose image they are made in. Women must ask themselves (along with men) what they, ultimately, want to accomplish. Are you pursuing godly influence under the authority of scripture, or worldly domination in light of past (or present) suffering? Are you choosing to love and respect the men in your life or submit them to you little by little through bitterness and posturing? Does your family respect and honor you or mainly fear your mood swings? Listen to what scripture's holiness codes have to say to wives:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything... However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:21-24, 33

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Colossians 3:18

Your pursuit of holiness as women - like that of men - is just that: a pursuit, a journey. As you lead those you love, you must guard against the bitterness and self-righteousness that attacks us all, the desire to rule, and the temptation to only listen to those messages that tell you how wonderful and perfect you are.* As followers of Christ, you must always temper these messages with the stronger messages that call you out of self-righteousness and self-love to the refining place of God's continuing work in you. If your families have lost heart, if your relationships there seem mere shells of what they once were, it's time to recenter on the Source of life and follow the Christ by whose name you are called.

It's time to grow up and seek God for the direction and strength to be who you were created to be. Earn your Mother's Day this year. Change your ways to align with Christ, and let the Holy Spirit change your heart for your spouse, children, and everyone else in your life.

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* In our couple time, my wife and I are going through our gender specific Resolution books (from the creators of the movie Courageous) and Rebeca's seems more encouraging while the men's book is hard-hitting against our faults. There is a place for this, to be sure, but it seems to this man that the trend in today's culture is to brow-beat men for their failures in the past - as well as the failures of past men - without giving godly instruction for how to move ahead in a positive direction. Rebeca said that sometimes the party line for women, on the other hand, is one of continued support and affirmation as they are forced to deal with the immaturity and incompetence of the men in their lives. If Christian men and women are to thrive in their relationship with Jesus and with each other, we need to abandon this pendulum of who is better and who needs the most work and pursue the personal work we all need through Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit. And we should serve as the active and purposed body of Christ in offering encouragement when needed, and rebuke and training when needed. Above all, we all must approach our work in this regard with humility and repentant hearts.