Currently, there’s a storm happening throughout American culture for complete equality for women- everything from shining a light on the pay gap between men and women doing the same job with equal education (http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination), to banishing certain sayings such as “you throw like a girl!” that are used as insults and changing them to be empowering (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs). This storm, marked by tags such as #yesallwomen has, of course, overrun into Christian culture as well.
This has caused a highly debated theological topic to come into the spotlight; what is the biblical role of women? The bible was written 2,000 years ago in a culture that really wasn’t so friendly to women and was very different than the one we live in now. The bible is also the infallible, unchangeable, and the Holy word of God. This sort of gets us into a pickle- context is so important, but where is the line drawn before you water down the meaning completely?
I have no answers for you. Disappointing right? But I am, indeed, a woman and I do have some experience.
Before I became a Christian I constantly struggled to find my worth and to know and like the person I was. I was plagued with a record of destructive “self-talk” playing in my head and obsessed over every single little comment or even look someone gave me. I thought that I was completely replaceable, disposable and held no real purpose. When I went to college, I saw that Christ changed all of that. While I was human- small, insignificant, one of many- God knew me intimately and loved me deeply no matter how much I failed Him or how others viewed me. I could do nothing to change His image of me either; He saw me as Holy and perfect through the blood of Jesus. This freed me from those chains of insecurity and low self-worth and honestly saved my life (in more ways than one!).
One question almost ruined all of that for me.
During a leadership meeting for the college ministry I was highly involved in, the question of whether women should even be in leadership was brought up by a well-meaning member who had just read something in the bible that had brought up a few questions. This shattered everything for me. Even though it was quickly decided that yes, the women were allowed to lead, that question ripped right at the heart of my very identity.
You see, I am a woman. A Christian woman in fact, who just really wants to love God and serve Him faithfully in whatever way He is calling me to. When it was questioned if women could even be leaders in anything religious, I questioned everything that God had ever called me to. If I, as a woman, wasn’t supposed to lead or teach, then I certainly wasn’t hearing the voice of God when I prayerfully discerned that I was being called to lead. Things just weren’t matching up anymore! In fact, maybe it was just all a pride-induced hallucination of my mind, or perhaps God Himself was just the same- an imagining.
This path of twisted and terrified reasoning is exactly where my mind went- and farther. As someone who already struggled with liking myself and constantly frustrated by the restrictions my gender induced on my independence which is so important to me (such as not being able to walk alone certain places), I was a prime target for the enemy to rip me apart in this way. I was on my knees many nights asking (more like yelling at) God why He made me a woman if I was worthless for His Kingdom anyways and what the heck I was supposed to do. His calling was, and still is, clear to me- tell people about Me in any way you can. Speak in front of others, pray over people, teach from the bible, share your experiences with friends.
And that’s not sinful, unbiblical, blasphemous, or hurtful to God in any way. In fact, it’s bringing Glory to Him and exactly what He calls us to as His children- to love Him first and then others. I don’t have all of the answers as to what in the bible is due to the culture it was written in, nor do I have any way to completely understand the massive amount my own culture has affected my views- I am not a biblical theologian, nor am I a sociologist. In fact, some theologians who dedicate their entire lives to figuring out what exactly biblical womanhood is still don’t seem to agree on anything, so I might not be doing too badly. What I do know is what God has taught me from His word and shown me in prayer.
To be a woman is to love fiercely and to show that love openly. To love my God with every last piece of my heart and soul and to be looking to Him asking how I can give even more. To be a woman is to sacrifice. To sacrifice your own wants, desires, feelings, rights, perhaps even needs; following the example that Christ has set before us. To be a woman is to have a hunger and desire to know God and to learn all that can be learned. A desire that spurs you to study, to question everything, to dance around with joy when you find answers, to share the wisdom you have acquired with others to help them in their journey. To be a woman is to care deeply and to notice the needs around you. To not only observe the broken and the impoverished, but to actively bring peace and hope and joy into their lives through the power of Christ. To be a woman is to persevere and to keep your eyes focused on the eternity promised. To never lose sight of what is truly important, but rather to gain strength from knowing what awaits all His children and knowing who you truly are.
You see, being a woman sounds a whole lot like being God’s child, because, well, it’s just the same.
