You're only a feminist because it's cool...

'You're only a feminist because it's cool'. That's what a friend recently told me over a coffee. I am not exactly sure what his definition of cool is though, I haven't seen many youths on street corners discussing equality, or heard of them passing around the works of Mary Beard or Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza. Is being a feminist now a symbol of coolness, like a twirly moustache or those awesome neon selfies which pop up on Instagram?

Trust me, I am not cool. I write a pop-theology blog which places my level of coolness at about the same level as MC Hammer pants and wearing socks with sandals (Okay, I am too cool for those things). The reason I am a feminist is because I think it is the best example of Christianity we currently have. And here's why:

Often people, usually men, get out of shape over feminism. They don't like it and the reason they give is that it focusses on women. Their argument goes that how can something bring equality if it focuses exclusively on the needs of one party? I mean, the clue is there in the name, it's not meninism, or peopleinism. It's female.

For me, feminism is a great work of equality. It helps me as a man as much as it helps my wife. And it teaches me to understand Jesus' message a whole lot better.

Jesus asks His followers to focus on the poor, the marginalised, the dispossessed. He talks about people who only care for those just like themselves, those of equal social standing or above, and Jesus isn't a big fan of this. If we are to believe, as I think we should, that all power, all authority, everything we are and have is from God, then I think that all that is given to us for us to show God to those who don't have it.

Jesus says that unless we care for the poor, the hungry, the unclothed, the marginalised, unless we focus on those without then we aren't focussing on God. The upshot of Jesus' teaching is that unless we love those who don't have what we have, then God simply doesn't know us.

Was Jesus a poorist? Did Jesus actually know what He was saying when he showed us God's preference for the poor and dispossessed? I think He did, and it's just a continuation of a theme which began hundreds of years before him with the prophets calling those in authority to do the same. The whole point to the minor prophets is that a society which doesn't focus on the needs of the poor, but rather focusses on the wants of the rich, is a doomed society which God wants no part of.

Then there's the other great issue which men raise and rarely understand. That women are already equal and don't need special treatment. To you I can say nothing, I am sorry about that. Maybe you'll never see it. Gender income inequality is there, men still dominate business and politics, they still get promoted over women. Then there's the greater threat of violence. Yes there's a chance that I will get jumped on my way home from the pub, but I never really feel unsafe in town on a Friday night. That isn't a sentiment my lady friends can echo. Their experience of harassment is horrific and it does control them. Unfortunately there is no way to explain this, like faith it has to be received.

So we have Jesus, who tells us to focus on those without power. And we have feminism, which invites us to focus on those without power. It is difficult in my opinion to be the former without also being the latter.

Feminism isn't the last word though. Womanism has a tremendous place in the world today, it looks at power in a different way and may even be a closer image to what Jesus was talking about... in some ways at least.

Maybe feminism is too Western, too middle class. Maybe, but it affects the world around most of us since most people reading this will be Western. And let us not kid ourselves, one reason so many people are threatened by feminism is that it challenges them to be different. Again just like Jesus did.

I do wish that it was true, that feminism was cool. Maybe then people would integrate it into their church services the way they have mood lighting and PowerPoint presentations. Maybe if feminism were cool we wouldn't see so few women leading churches, or barred from leadership positions. Maybe the church would be chasing to encourage people to attend because of how truly inclusive they are.

And then maybe church could look a little more like Jesus.