God is spirit, as such, God has no gender or, at the least, represents both male and female. The earliest scriptures tell us that “both male and female” were created in God’s image. Even in Moses’ account of the burning bush episode, God defies all labels: gender, nationality, color, race, creed, physical description, etc. When Moses asks, “Whom should I say sent me to the people?” God answers, “Yahweh” or “I am that I am”, being-ness… In other words, spirit is something that defies ALL description or labels or identities, and yet we seem determined as humans to make God in our image.
Yes, Jesus- the human- related to God as Father or Abba, “daddy”, but nearly every word out of his mouth was a metaphor. Metaphors are not literal! Here’s an old example of metaphor from high school English class from Shakespeare, “What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” IS Juliet the sun, literally? No. Obviously not. Metaphors are used as a way of pointing us in the direction of a rhetorical idea.
Jesus referred to God as a man looking for a hidden treasure or a woman searching for a lost coin or a sheep herder (could be male or female) looking for a lost sheep. The point is NOT the gender of God. It is always about relationship, communion, community, and love.
So as I endeavor to make “God” seem more accessible to a younger, less gender-identified generation, I am struggling to replace old, antiquated concepts of God in the liturgy and the hymns. Stereotypes of God as Lord, King, Ruler, or a dominant, almighty, powerful being seem to reinforce these worn out images of a control freak, masculine, dominant deity who doesn’t really care about humans, but is obsessed with being worshiped and exercising powers over others. THIS IS the antithesis of everything Jesus stood for or said about God. Paraphrase: Don’t call me ‘Lord’ or get excited when people do what you want. God is not about being served, but about serving. See Luke 22:25-26 (NIV)-“25 Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” Jesus chastised his followers a few times when they fell into that old human way of thinking that “power over others” or dominance is the way to live.
Jesus rejected all forms of dominance or “power over”. (I know, those are fighting words in modern “Christian” America). Yet, our Bibles are filled with references to the LORD. First translated into the English vernacular in the 1500’s, let’s just say that translations were good, but imperfect, as all translations are. The word “LORD”, all caps in the Bible were a substitution for the Hebrew word “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”, a name that was so holy to the Hebrews that they were only barely permitted to whisper or breathe the name which means “I Am that I Am”, the indescribable being, an entity beyond human comprehension.
Language is so limiting! Even now, God or Spirit or Being or even Entity has a finiteness inherent in the very object-ness of the words. God is not an object. God is being. Not “a being”, but being, I am-ness. Even this word, “being”, as a noun, implies that God is an object. An object needs an observer, someone or something separate from it to “do the observing”. But how can we be separate from God? This is the very point of early Christianity, finding the “Christ” or god-particle in everyone and everything, no longer seeing ourselves as separate, but one with God, and each “other”. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love IS seeing your neighbor AS yourself, no longer separate, but connected. All this implied separateness invades our world views. So, “being” as a noun, falls far short of any true concept of God. Being is more of a verb. This kind of “being” can never truly be understood. It can only be experienced (and only in this moment).
I could go on….But I won’t. I’ve written to a small extent on this subject before. And others, like Eckhart Tolle and Father Richard Rohr have written so much more eloquently and succinctly on this subject that there is no need for my poor explanations.
All of that to say, that as I attempt to lead others into communion and the being-ness that is God/Goddess/Christ on Sunday mornings at my little episcopal church in Southern California, I am cognizant that, for so many, terms like “Father” and even “God” have a distinctly masculine, dominant, power-over kind of vibe that I would like to avoid, in order that some might find connection.
The language of domination and dominion seeped into the early church when Constantine adopted Christianity in the year 313 CE as the official state religion of Rome. While many saw this adoption as a legitimization of an unorthodox cult, the language of the emperor’s world view invaded the church. The mild, meek Jesus and what he said, what he stood for, was no longer palatable. Jesus was portrayed as the the Lord, the Ruler, the great authority, the Almighty, the King of Kings, the Sovereign One, the Warrior King. See Father Richard Rohr’s history of the early church in any of his dozens of books. This powerful imagery of the Christ has pervaded the church ever since. It’s not surprising. Humans tend to feel the need to follow powerful leaders. The image of Jesus as a poor, meek, lowly, humble guy just doesn’t fit into the “great leader” mold.
So, as I seek to change up some, certainly not ALL, of the language in the church to make it more equitable for all or, at least, less gendered to describe a BEING which defies all labels, I am struggling. So much of this language about domination is hard to weed out or replace in the old hymns. It’s just so pervasive. Underlying those concepts of dominion and domination is a quiet, unspoken violence, because “power over” is a form of violence. And much of the new music still refers to God almost always as “he, him, Lord, or King”. Now, I’m not trying to replace every pronoun, but I would like to soften some of the language to be more inclusive. Sometimes, I replace “him” with “her”, or “Father” with “Mother”. They/them could work, but often just feels awkward, even though we talk of God as a triune being- Father/Mother, Son, & Holy Spirit.
How do I replace the words “Lord, King, Ruler, or God”?
We don’t have any one-syllable words in English to replace these antiquated concepts. Again, the word, “LORD” in the King James Version of the Bible meant “Yahweh” or “I Am that I Am”. There’s no one-syllable word for that in English which is not already burdened by preconceived ideas of “god” as an old, white bearded, mean, judgmental, demanding, all powerful, masculine being. The word, “God” should be gender-less, and yet it comes pre-packed with all kinds of connotations. Perhaps, I should be looking to some of the language of the early deists in American society, our “Founding Fathers”, who as imperfect as they were (many slave holders, for one), did have a few good ideas from time to time. And for those who claim that the American Founders were all Christian, you’d be wrong, but then, many people insist on being perverse in their stubborn refusal to acknowledge the truth. Many founders were deists, believers in a Creator or great spirit, but not much more than that. But that’s another discussion for another time, maybe…
So, what non-gendered or non-binary English words do I have at my disposal for modern worship which are inclusive and perhaps less negatively suggestive?
- Spirit
- Being
- One
- Pronouns: You, They/them
- Christ
- Creator
- Love
- Healer
- God With Us, One with Us
- Peace
- Rock
- Glory
- Everlasting
- One who sees
- Eternal One
- Protector
- Provider
- Helper
- Maker
- Way maker
- Miracle worker
- Promise Keeper
- Light in the darkness
- Refuge
- Holy One
- Light of the World
- Present One
- Eternal Light
- Immortal one
- Anointed One
- Lamb of God
- Source, life source
- Sustainer
- The Word
- Bread of Life
- Life, Life Giver
- The Vine
- Wonderful Counselor
- Divine One
- Mediator
- Teacher
- Friend
- Great Being
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