YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN

There have been two ideas that have been flying around my head for several weeks. In fact two very distinct thoughts that I never saw as being connected until I read some of Brian McLaren’s work. Before I confuse anyone let me say this, based on what I have read of McLaren's work (which is very minimal), I don't think I'd be a super fan. That said... 

Idea #1 – I read The Shack this past summer. Mainly because I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Well I never really discovered any ‘hype’ as it were but I did finish the book (which could have been about half the thickness if not for all the repetition). Anyway for those who read it or those who read reviews of it, the God-figure in the book is not a man. God is portrayed as a woman. In fact a large African-American woman who acts more like Paula Dean than a sovereign God. The premise is this: God never calls himself a man, we just assume He is a man because of our traditions, presuppositions, and our traditional lenses we view the Bible through. According to the book, viewing God as a “man” is a stereotypical view never imposed by Scripture. However, if you ask me portraying God as a large African-American woman perfectly at home baking biscuits and speaking with a southern drawl is a bit more stereotypical (and I dare say racists to some) than calling God a man.

Idea #2 – Yahweh or LORD? Time and time and time again in the Bible we read the words “The name of the LORD…” In your Bible (especially in the Old Testament) you have the word LORD written in caps. The reason it is in caps is because in the Hebrew the word is actually a name, “Yahweh.” Now what happened was that early Jews did not want to speak the very name of Yahweh so out of respect, they imposed rules around His name. So they began to say LORD in its place. This goes on to cause other grammatical problems with the Hebrew language and a popular religious group, but that is for another post. The point is this. When the Bible says things like this, “Call upon the name of the LORD.” What the Hebrew text is actually saying is “Call upon the name of Yahweh.” Is there anything wrong with calling God, LORD? Well not really. I do not recommend you slap people on the head for saying LORD. However, don’t lose the importance of the command. When God tells us to call upon the name of Yahweh, He literally means, “call upon my name.” He’s saying, in essence, “I’m giving you my very name to use. So use it. Call upon me… Yahweh, already!” He is inviting us into a personal relationship by giving us His very name to hold on to. Not to conjure up like a spell but to speak with all assurance that He will hear us and honor us.

Now, enter Brian McLaren.

In McLaren’s book A Generous Orthodoxy on page 74-75, he makes two peculiar comments. The first, he criticizes his own use of masculine pronouns while referring to God. “This is as good a place as any to apologize for my use of masculine pronouns for God in the previous sentence. You'll notice that wherever I can, I avoid the use of masculine pronouns for God because they can give the false impression to many people today that the Christian God is a male deity."

And again on page 75,

“The masculine biblical imagery of 'Father' and 'son' also contributes to the patriarchalism or chauvinism that has too often characterized Christianity, maybe even more significantly than the pronoun problem."

So why are my two ideas connected to each other and Brian McLaren?

If God cares enough to give me His name (Yahweh) and loving enough to ask me to call upon that very name, then why is it such a far stretch of the imagination to call him Father, Daddy, Abba? Why would I strip God of [His] masculine designation when [He] has very clearly given it to [Himself]? I agree with McLaren in that God is neither man nor woman in nature, [He] is spirit and has no biological sex or gender. However when God asks to be referred to in the masculine realm should we not consent?

[He] continually refers to [Himself] by using masculine pronouns in both the Old and New Testament. Similarly, in Luke 11:2 Jesus tells us to refer to God as “Father” when pressed on the issue of prayer. Again in Matthew 6:9. Jesus often refers to God as his “Father.”

To steer clear of calling God “Father” or any other masculine description (simply because it is masculine) is similar to calling Yahweh, LORD when [He] wants you to call [Him] Yahweh. Not that it is sinister or anything; however, I think you lose some of the inherent power and authority and not to mention freedom by calling almighty God by [His] name and seeing [Him] as your Father in heaven. It is sort of like adding stipulations to God’s Word where they need not be added.

So while I don't want to challenge McLaren to a shootout or anything, I'm going to pick a side to stand on. That side for me will be to call upon [Yahweh] who is my [Father] in heaven.