Many Benny Hinn-ees

I had a conversation a while ago with a friend whom I consider to be extraordinarily intelligent and sensitive. He also is a pastor. As an off-handed comment, I said something about addressing God as Mother.

He was flabbergasting.

I was so shocked by his shock that I considered for a moment that maybe, just maybe, I had unknowingly punched my ticket for a train ride to Hades or agreed to be the wife of Satan or something.

See, I'm used to having religion professors call me a heretic - and even that with a twinkle in their eye. I've had religion professors suggest taking a collection from the class in order to purchase a lighting rod to attach to my desk. And I've stood up in an upper level theology class at the world's largest Baptist university and said, "Maybe, the good and worthy Apostle Paul was WRONG!"

But I've never offended a pastor before. (They do seem a little closer to God than religion professors, you know?)

So, at the moment I found myself more inclined to apologize than actually think it through and argue it out with him. The best I could do was to say something like, "Well, Father is a metaphor..." To which he replied (after a round of ritual cleaning and bout of scourging and confession and such) that JESUS referred to God as Father and not as Mother.

"So?"

As the clock continued to tick off the seconds, I began coming out of my state of shock enough to formulating a case for Jesus as a man engaging real live people in a real live culture and that OF COURSE that affected his language - in fact he didn't even say "Father" - he said whatever the Aramaic word for Father was - abba - if you will.

But I was too chicken to say that...

HARK! What have we here??!?

Did I say I was chicken?

Did I call myself a chicken?

I did. And I know someone else who did the same thing.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather you together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." Matthew 23:36-38.

So Jesus - God - compared himself not only to a female - but a female chicken.

Woman of the World - UNITE! For you are worth more than many hens!

(And many, many more Benny Hinns!)

posted by Headless-in-GR @ 5/10/2005 08:23:00 AM