Notwithstanding the doctrinal imprecision and blatant politically-correct translating agenda, there are additional reasons why I dislike gender inclusive Bibles. Undoubtedly the publishers had good intentions, and genuinely wanted to help women, but in my mind, a gender-inclusive Bible is BAD for women. Really, really bad for women! I react to people reading from the new, gender-inclusive NIV the way I react to nails scratching down a chalk board.  Here are ten reasons why:

1.  It obscures the profound symbolism of gender:

Gender has a profound, cosmic meaning. God created manhood, womanhood, marriage and sex to put the love story of Christ and the Church on display. When we mess with the Bible’s gender language, we obscure gender’s symbolism. We make truths about God and the gospel more difficult to understand

2. It exalts gender above that to which it points:

Changing the Bible’s gender language implies that the Bible’s gender language is about us. It’s not. The Bible is ultimately not about male and female—it’s about Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of God. The Bible does not use predominantly male gendered language to exalt men; it uses it to exalt THE Man who paid the ultimate price to redeem His Bride.

3. It diminishes the unique beauty of womanhood:

Blurring the Bible’s gender language contributes to the blurring of gender distinctions. It diminishes and devalues the unique role and beauty of womanhood.

4. It is less inclusive of women:

Gender inclusive Bibles cast women as “other” rather than part of the collective whole. God collectively named male and female “man” (Hebrew: ‘adam. See Gen. 5:2) to indicate that male and female would share a common condition for which He would provide a common answer. Because both male and female are ‘adam, both are equally represented by the first man, Adam. Both are fallen and in need of a Savior. The good news of the gospel is that both are also equally represented by the Second Man—the Last Adam—Jesus Christ. When God named male and female ‘adam, he had the Last Adam in mind. So when, in order to appease modern sensibilities, we change “man” to something we think is more inclusive,” we diminish the theological meaning and exclude woman. If woman is not specifically identified as “man” then how can she be represented by the first man, Adam? What’s more, how can she be represented by the Second Man, the Last Adam, Jesus Christ? Gender inclusive Bibles are supposed to be more inclusive of women, but pardoxically, the language theologically does the exact opposite. It excludes women from the collective whole.

5. It demeans women:

Gender inclusive Bibles imply that women are too stupid to figure out that in the Bible, the words “man” and “brothers” are inclusive terms. The male translators have to fix the words for us, since we’re not theologically astute enough or bright enough to get it on our own. Quite frankly, I feel like gender-inclusive Bibles insult a woman’s intelligence.

6. It patronizes women:

Poor little girls. The translators need to change the words of the Bible so our feelings don’t get hurt. Boo hoo. Women are so easily offended.  Sorry, . . . but changing the words of the Bible because you think some women might be offended by its language is downright patronizing.

7. It calls God’s attitude toward women into question:

Making changes to gender language is based on the premise that God ought to have given gals and guys equal air time. Trying to minimize the discrepancy suggests that God didn’t care enough about women to take our feelings into account. The natural conclusion is that He obviously loves his boys more than He loves his girls. The conclusion is wrong. And the premise is wrong.

8. It calls God’s wisdom into question:

Poor God. His bad. He needs our help. He wasn’t smart enough to get the words right. He obviously isn’t as enlightened as people living in the new millennium. We have to step in and update His image, to make the Bible more palatable to woman’s modern sensibilities.

9. It encourages further changes to Scripture:

I know of at least one Muslim that is aghast that Christians would have the audacity to tamper with the wording of our Holy Book. And since we’re audacious enough to tamper with gender wording for humans, it won’t be long till we’re audacious enough to tamper with gender wording for God. Translators will undoubtedly feel the need to update God’s names so that HE becomes more gender inclusive. Terms like “Mother-Father God,” “Jesus, child of woman and man,” “Great Source of Being in the Sky” and our “God-Goddess” communicate the concept of a gender-inclusive deity much better than the male-gendered language of the Bible. Don’t be naive. I’ve studied feminist theology long enough to know that naming self leads to naming the world leads to naming god.  It’s audacious indeed!

10. It leads women away from truth:

I care about women. Deeply. I long to see them experience healing and wholeness in Christ Jesus. I do them a disservice when I apologize for the Bible, fail to embrace its unvarnished beauty and power, and shrink back from sharing the Words that are perceived by some as foolishness and a stumbling block, yet are actually the power and wisdom of God for righteousness and sanctification and redemption. I fail women when I try to make God or His Word more palatable. I empty the cross of its power (1 Cor. 1:17-30).

Gender and gender language is important. It touches on the essence of a woman’s identity, the essence of the character of God, and on the essence of the gospel. We get things so very wrong when we think we can improve on the Bible’s teaching on gender or the gender language it uses. The big picture informs us that from the very beginning, God’s plan for gender has very little to do with us and very much to do with Him. And we need to trust that even if we don’t fully understand them, the words, images and means He has chosen to display His glory are not only right, they are also good. Very good!  And also very good for women!

A Battle Worth Fighting

I understand that language changes over time, and that translation is not always an easy task. But I am saddened that Christians seem so eager to jump on the cultural bandwagon to update God’s Holy Book with inclusive language. I don’t think they realize what is at stake. I have had students struggle with understanding concepts about God because their native language did not lend itself to translating/expressing the gendered concepts that exist in the original languages of the Bible. We will lose something very critical and essential if we lose the linguistic concepts afforded us by the gendered nature of English. Retaining gender distinctiveness in our language is a battle worth fighting. There is a great deal at stake.

So ladies, please don’t jump on the gender-inclusive Bible bandwagon. Be hip. Be courageous. Be politically incorrect. Insist on a Bible that acurately translates gender language– like the ESV, Holman Christian Standard, or  New America Standard.  Because in the end, inclusive language, and inclusive language Bibles, are bad for women.

Related posts:

1. God Created MAN
2. Can Bad Boys be Godly Men?
3. Women, Typology, and 1 Timothy 2:15

The earworm keeps burrowing and burrowing. It just won’t leave me alone. Standing in line in the grocery store: “I’m addicted to your love.” Driving down the freeway: “I’m addicted to your love.” Brushing my teeth: “I’m addicted to your love.” Answering Email: “I’m addicted to your love.” It’s been happening for days now, and it’s driving me crazy!

It wasn’t even particularly invited. I don’t have the song on my iPod. I don’t know the rest of the words. I just happened to have heard the snippet somewhere a week or two ago—maybe on the radio or on TV, or maybe as the background music in a store. . . I’m not even sure.

In any case, I’ve been thinking about the way it’s been popping up in my head uninvited, and what that tells me about the way our minds work. Our brains have the amazing capacity to absorb and process information. When we’re exposed to something, that bit of information goes into our mental filing system. And it stays there. Somewhere.

Our minds constantly rummage around in that filing system in the background—working to process the information and make sense of it. Something like a computer moving around bits of data to defrag a hard drive. For example, has it ever happened to you that you couldn’t remember a person’s name, but then it randomly pops into your head hours later—long after you need it, and long after you’ve stopped thinking about it?

Your brain grabs hold of what you see and hear whether you like it or not. That’s why you need to be so very careful about the sights, sounds, and ideas that you expose yourself to. That snippet of sex in the movie may only last 30 seconds, but you can be sure that your brain has retained and filed that bit of information away somewhere—and that your subconscious mind continues to process it, even when your conscious mind doesn’t. That sex scene can pop up in your mind uninvited for years to come.

Because we live in a sinful world, we can’t avoid a bad earworm or two. But we CAN avoid an evil earworm invasion by avoiding sights and sounds that will invite them in. And we CAN combat their effect by constantly filling our heads with things that are pure, right, excellent, praiseworthy, lovely, admirable, noble and true. (Philippians 4:8)

As Paul encouraged his friends in Rome, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” (Romans 12:1) So next time you’re considering whether you should tune in to that TV show, go to that movie, listen to that song or read that magazine, ask yourself if it will help renew your mind, or if it will just expose you to another bad earworm.

No related posts.

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin like a house of cards one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep, six feet under screams, no one seems to hear a thing?”

These are powerful questions Katy Perry introduces in her latest hit, “Fireworks.” I was Christmas shopping the other day, and it seemed like every time I got back into my car, this song was either just coming on the radio or just finishing. And it’s no wonder. It’s highly relatable, especially to us women.

What woman hasn’t felt at one time or another like she was drifting through life? Like somewhere along the lines she made one bad choice that has haunted her every day since? What woman doesn’t have something she regrets doing, saying…being?

What woman out there hasn’t felt like she’s had to hold it together when she was about to crumble?

What woman hasn’t been overwhelmed with her responsibilities, her impossible problems, or unfulfilled dreams?

Yes. Katy Perry struck a chord with all of us women, but her solution to our problem leaves us wanting.

Katy Perry’s truth says,

• “Hey, you’re a firework! Show them what you’re worth! It’s all in you. You have the power in yourself to change your situation, your problems, your consequences, yourself.”

Jesus Christ’s Truth says,

• You can’t do anything apart from Me, let alone change your situations, your problems, your consequences, or yourself (Jn. 15:5; Jer. 29:4-11; Gal. 5:16-17).
• You can’t save yourself apart from Me. (Rom. 8:3)
• You can’t grow spiritually apart from me. (Phil. 1:6)

Her truth says,

• “Make people see you! Make them say, ‘Wow, she’s worth something!”

Christ’s Truth says,

• Make people see Christ! Make them say, “Wow, Christ is near!” (Phil 4:5)
• “I must decrease, Christ must increase.” (Jn. 3:30)

Her truth says,

• “ You’ve just got to ignite the light that is inside you.”

Christ’s Truth says,

• “Let your light so shine before men that they may glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” (Mt. 5:16)

No, Katy Perry, unfortunately, has it very wrong. And for all the women who find themselves relating to her, it can be very tempting to heed her advice, pick themselves up by their strappy sandals, roll up their sleeves in Rosie the Riveter fashion say, “We can do this!”

However…we, most assuredly, cannot “do this,” not on our own anyways. Not without God. But where does that leave the woman drifting like a plastic bag through life? Where does it take the woman buried by life and its problems? What does the woman do who feels like a wasted space? Where does she go when Katy Perry’s truth fizzles?

1. She goes to God.

Psalm 34: 4-5 says, “I sought the LORD, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

Psalm 69:32 says, “When the humble see it they will be glad; you, who seek God, let your hearts revive for the LORD hears the needy. “

Life can be hard, that is true. But a woman who follows after God is never forsaken, no matter what is going on in her life. The key is following after God. When we find ourselves relating to Katy Perry’s gospel we must ask ourselves, “Am I following after God right now? Am I in pursuit of Him? Or am I trying to be my own light, my own way, my own savior?”

2. She goes to His Word.

Nourishment is vital to our existence. A woman who doesn’t eat becomes weak and unable to do much of anything. We know this every time we diet. Yet this truth seeps its way into our spiritual wellbeing also. Without feeding on the Word, a woman becomes weak, distracted by the world around her, and unable to do much of anything in life.

Psalm 81:16 “But [God] would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock [He] would satisfy you.”

Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”

John 6:57 “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.”

Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

3. She has faith.

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “Yeah, sure, God is great! But ‘Go to God’ is just a Sunday-school answer that doesn’t really help my life.” And I would say, “You’re right.” It’s not enough simply to know these things. For even the demons believe in God and tremble. (James 2:19) This is where faith comes into play.

Job (Job 15:31) and Hosea (Hosea 10:13) both warn against trusting in the wrong things and what it brings about. Job says, “Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment.”

Hebrews 11:6 says without faith it is impossible to draw near to God. But when you trust in God and His Word, there is peace (Isa. 26:3). But you must have faith!

It’s not surprising that Ms. Perry got this wrong. What is sad though is how empty her solution is to the very real emotions women feel. She tells them “there’s a chance for you” and “after the hurricane, there’s a rainbow.” And while there is definitely hope for change, it is only with Christ. In the end, Katy Perry’s truth was a firework that fizzled. But Christ’s Truth remains:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” – John 3:16-17

Related posts:

1. Book Blog 7: The Naked Truth about Clothes

1. Read the fifth point of contrast between a Wild and a Wise Thing (Pages 71-82)
2. Download and complete the Chapter Questions for Personal Reflection
3. Post your comments on the Blog

• Why is it important to attend to your private world first?
• Do you agree that God created women with a unique bent for the home? Why or why not?
• Why do you think culture devalues the importance of a woman’s unique connection to the home?
• What important habits and disciplines does a wise woman incorporate into her life?
• What areas of your private life do you have a tendency to neglect?  Can you share any ideas or suggestions for habits that have worked for you?

Related posts:

1. Book Blog 2: Deadened by the Drip
2. Book Blog 3: Are you a Wily Coyote?
3. Book Blog 1: Have you been swept off your feet?

1. Read the second point of contrast between a Wild and a Wise Thing (Pages 35-44)
2. Download and complete the Chapter Questions for Personal Reflection
3. Take the Media Reduction Challenge
4. Post your comments on the Blog

• Do you agree or disagree that “you’ll become what you expose yourself to”?
• Do you think you’ve been influenced by things you’ve seen?  How?
• What adjustments have you made (do you want to make) to your media intake?

Related posts:

1. Girls Gone Wise Video Book Blog
2. Book Blog Intro: A Tale of a Girl Gone Wild
3. Book Blog 1: Have you been swept off your feet?