For starters, changing the gender to become neutral means a non-literal interpretation of the underlying text. I hope you put about as much stock in the TNIV and the 2011 NIV as you do in "The Message." But, if you don't, get ready for some statistics, and yes, some verses.
Here,
this might be a start
Or
this?
Now, scripture
I grabbed this Hebrews 2:6 example
here
Here in the TNIV, the divinity of Christ is destroyed in Hebrews 2:6
What are
mere mortals that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
Here's how it read in the 1984 NIV
NIV Hebrews 2:6 What is
man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
And this wasn't in the article, but here's how it reads in the 2011 NIV. It
still denies the divinity of Christ, while returning to the male wording.
"What is
mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
I don't know who a son of man is, that could be any one. I know who
the son of man is though, and that's Christ.
By the way, that verse is also the same verse in Psalm 8:4. They wrecked an Old Testament verse pointing to the divinity of Christ.
Perhaps I'm more desensitized to general neutral language. When I was in graduate school, which was a seminary, even though my program of study was counseling, and not M. Div., it was required that we use gender inclusive language. Not using gender inclusive language for God, although not required, was frowned upon.
I was never comfortable using general neutral language for God, and was bothered by the efforts that some people went through to get rid of the titles "Father," "Son," "King," and male pronouns for God. I think that being gender neutral for God does change doctrine. As I said before, the TNIV does not use gender inclusive language for God. I haven't seen the Bible gateway 2011 Bible gateway use it either. Since they do not use the gender inclusive language for God, then I'm still okay using these versions, although they would not be my preferred version.
As for gender inclusive language....it does bug me a bit. I'm not bothered by male language when it refers to humanity. I don't think it is oppressive to women, and I am not offended by it personally. However, I do understand why they insist on gender inclusive language. And I can read it in the Bible, when it isn't referring to Deity, and I can tolerate it. After all, all my textbooks that I had to read and all the papers that I had to write had to also include gender inclusive language. My pastor uses gender inclusive language.
I think using gender inclusive language is more popular in academic circles than in the general population. By making the NIV gender inclusive, it might have received more respect in some scholarly circles...maybe. I don't know. The NIV has a bad reputation among theologically liberal scholars. As I said before, they thought it was too conservative, but that was before the 2011 NIV came out. They probably still won't like it, as they'll probably still find it too conservative for them, so I'm not sure that having a gender inclusive NIV has helped the Bible gain acceptance in theologically liberal circles.
As for Hebrews 2, this isn't as clearly a Messianic passage as some others. Could it be? Yes. Is it definitely? I'm not sure. It could be a reference to both Jesus and humanity, but I tend to think of it as being Messianic, yes. I hadn't thought of it as applying to humanity at all until I read this reading in a book that my church is studying for adult Sunday School. They quoted the passage from another translation, probably the NRSV, as that is the "official" denomination's translation.
The author of that particular reading took it to apply to humanity, and I didn't agree with what they had to say. But it did make me question whether or not it was really referring to Jesus or to humanity in general.
But since it isn't a crystal clear passage, and different translations render it differently, I wouldn't make an argument for Jesus' deity using that passage. Rather, I'd look at Hebrews chapter 1, which is a clearly speaking about Jesus vs. angels. Using even the 2011 NIV, we can see Jesus' deity.
Yes, I know that is a reference to Psalm 8:4 -- I'll have to look at that particular Psalm tomorrow and see if that is a clearer reference to Jesus' deity than the Hebrews passage is.
Again, I think the Hebrews 2:6 passage is a reference to Jesus' deity, rather than talking about humanity in general. When I read it in my NASB it seems pretty clear.