I don't know if it's the school, the sunrise or the stress - but profound things having been happening before my exams this week - not necessarily during though but that's a different story...1. Starfield song, mentioned a phrase "promise spoken over me" - I believe it and yet it is becoming apparent it is one of those Christian phrases that gets thrown around that we have really no personal application and or understanding of. If I'm honest with myself - if there's a promise that's been spoken - it hasn't made it's made it's way to me - and if it has it's been destroyed by a poorly articulated game of Telephone - it's gibberish. Then again like that vision maybe it's one of those things I have to make peace with it- it's not for me now.
2. The Rape of Tamar - I was thinking about kids names again - and I like the name Tamar - and then as I was thinking about that it came to me - why of the few women named for any period of space in the Old Testament is she in there? Considering the context of a deeply patriarchal social structure, where a woman's worth is her virginity, and an account of half sister being raped gets left in there - not weeded out as she was by her society?
I would like to believe it is because God is sovereign - he knew that Tamar's situation would not be the last and regardless of the consistent claim against the Bible itself, He loves and treats us equally.
3. The whole patriarchal thing frustrates the peewaddlin’ out of me and the issue isn't with the Bible - it's with the churches that insist that women don't have a place in the social structure - elders, deacons or even pastors (not just the children's ones) - regardless of their marital status. And yet we continually send them out to the mission field - and usually single nonetheless - like they can fend for themselves in any country other than North America. In addition it smacks of racism - that somehow a N.American - ie. predominately white women, preaching to a man of any other ethnic origin is acceptable but it isn't acceptable to preach to a white man in North America.
So those are just my thoughts - I should get cleaning now - that whole OCD thing is kicking in...
Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/dpoon/277568269/, for those non-SFU people you're looking at a fog bank below Burnaby mountain and those from the looks of the mountains are the lights of Coquitlam and related areas.
2 comments:
@ #3. I'm with you...there are more women in churches than men. women are more likely to volunteer than men. most of the work of the church is probably already done by women anyway . (i don't think thats the way it should be...i think its the church's failure to reach men/mens failure to live up to the Bible's standards)Why on earth will we let (expect?) women do all of the things a biblical deacon (diakonos=one who serves)does but not let call them deacon (servants)? Just plain stupid if you ask me.
As to women being the head pastor I'm down if the congregation is... I don't think its wise to choose a leader the people won't follow so I don't think it should be forced but if the people are ready, why not? I actually overheard a woman minister of some kind while I was eating at Panera Bread today...she said "my church is...(not loud enough)...i mean I have to get other people to say things to them...if I said it they wouldn't listen but if you (to the man with her) did they would" Not sure if that was the issue or not but I guessed it was...that is not ideal. Donno how to fix it I just know I don't like it.
I had never thought of the racism thing...your probably right.
That's really true - I never thought of it that way but I've always wondered cynically about what it means that the church is fine with sending single women overseas as missionaries by the hundreds, but not okay with them serving in leadership at home?
For the most part I've been to churches that respect the contribution of women at all levels (pentecostals and anglicans are oddly the more equitable churches in this matter) but it annoys me that the disrespect of women is a matter of make-or-break denominational difference... AND that if you ever bring up your frustration in churches like these, you are branded a "feminist" like it's a dirty word!
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