God's Pronouns - Part 1 - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

For much of the history of our church most Christians have referred to God as he. There is nothing inherently wrong with referring to God as he. “He” appears to be the most preferred pronoun for the various authors of the writings that comprise the Bible. But if we are honest, there is something inherently wrong with referring to God exclusively as he. When we can see very clearly that our own Scriptures describe God as he, she, and they, but we insist only on using the masculine expression of God, we are refusing to acknowledge authentic truths about God’s own identity – God’s own being.  

What do you think that does for us? To be so stubborn and exclusive in the way we ascribe gender God when speaking of her? How can we pretend it does not reinforce the basic idea – even subliminally – that God is male? That’s what “he” means in our collective conscience. 

 When we see portrayals of God as a big, bearded man on a cloud we think nothing of it. When we see God portrayed as a woman, we consider it first and foremost as a political statement. And if God were portrayed as non-binary or transgender? How might you respond to that? Would your first thought be joy that God is being represented in one of the ways that is biblically accurate? Or would you be offended by the audacity of it? Challenged by it? Irritable and discomfited? 

Well, and what’s so bad about being offended or discomfited when thinking about God? God offends people all the time – especially those who seek to be the most faithful. God challenges and upsets our precepts and prejudices – every single one of us. If our worship and devotion to God is meant only for our own comfort and solace, we sorely misunderstand and even dishonor the God we purport to exalt.