Theology for Women

I really debated over whether or not to write this blog.

In general, I don’t like to weigh in on political issues. It’s such a distraction from the things that really matter–namely, the Gospel. Government, politicians, and even policies that reflect Christian values–all these things can quickly become idols that supplant Christ.

Even so, I decided to throw in my two cents because there is an important tension within the Christian life that warrants some acknowledgment. While Scripture does push the Church to take on the burdens of the world instead of depending on the government to do our work for us, Scripture ALSO sets a precedent in which Christians are permitted to use worldly means to accomplish social and spiritual change.

For example, in the book of Acts we see Paul use the Roman political system for his own personal gain. Throughout his life, Paul spoke before government officials and appealed to the Roman justice system to protect himself when threatened with imprisonment.

Given this precedent, we learn that there are times when it is permissible to use the government to further the Gospel and the good of humankind. God created government as a means for maintaining justice in this world, so it is important that we hold the government accountable for its God-given role.

That said, we do not betray our calling or the Church’s mission when we vote. By voting, we aren’t simply handing our dirty work over to the government (though we sometimes want to), but instead offering an important perspective to a system that could use direction.

But having said that, PROCEED WITH CAUTION. It is easy to get caught up in the division that defines the political arena. And Republicans are not the only ones who create this division with faith–Christian Democrats and Republicans alike have a tendency to be excessively judgmental, painting pictures in vast generalizations and vilifying the opposing side.

This is unacceptable behavior of brothers and sisters in Christ. Do not allow yourself to succumb to this temptation.

As Christians, there is one thing, and one thing alone, that we can be sure of, and that is the Gospel. You could be wrong about McCain, and you could be wrong about Obama, but you are not wrong about Christ. And having said that, there is only one man in this world who deserves the unflinching devotion and trust that we so willingly give to mere men.

So while you listen to the candidates preach about change, remember that there’s only One who can affect real change in this world. We can vote for laws and regulations every single year, but our country will not change its direction until Americans experience a change of the heart. Get behind the man who can do that.

So yes, vote. Definitely vote. But you won’t find the man who fits the above job description on the ticket this Tuesday.

Have you ever noticed that there’s a Christian ranking system about what constitutes the best, most holy spiritual activities?

Not that anyone publicly acknowledges this system, but you’ll see it when you get that “look” of judgment from your friends. Like when you opt out of attending a special lecture series put on by your church, or you don’t participate in an outreach event that your campus fellowship is promoting. You know the look–

“Oh. Well, have fun with whatever you’re doing.”

Subtext: “Sinner!”

There’s a tendency among Christians to rank those activities that constitute the ultimate in discipleship. And if you aren’t participating in all of these involvements in just the right order and amount, you may incur great judgment from some of your peers.

You might also be the one dispensing that judgment.

In particular, I’ve noticed this occurrence when it comes to fellowship. Fellowship is a Christian practice that we have highly devalued. If you choose to go out with the girls instead of the participating in, say, a 24 hour fast with your church, then your priorities must be WAY out of whack. Girl time is like the J.V. level of Christian discipleship–it’s for the rookies, the lukewarm, the mediocre.

This perspective is also horribly wrong, and let me tell you why:

1. Girl Time is Good For Your Health–Studies have shown that spending time with other women has positive biological effects on your body. God desires that we take care of ourselves, and the women around us, and girl time is a crucial part of that equation. One article explains:

When women are stressed, the hormone oxytocin [known as the “love” hormone] is released as part of the stress response; it buffers the typically male “fight or flight” stress response. Oxytocin production encourages women to gather and gab with other women–and when a woman does bond with her pals, studies indicate she’ll release more oxytocin, which further alleviates stress and creates tranquility.

That’s the good news about female bonding: When we talk to each other, we feel better-at least temporarily. But there’s a bigger picture effect at work. What often occurs in conversation between women, especially under stress, is commiserating. Haven’t you noticed that when you have men, motherhood, or career problems, you tend to gravitate toward friends who have the same kinds of challenges?…Friends who praise and appreciate life together get closer to each other and soar higher in their personal and professional lives. (For whole article click here)

2. Girl Time is a Scriptural Mandate–Ok, so maybe there’s no verse in 2 Chronicles that specifically commands women to spend time together (although Titus 2 comes pretty close!). But what is mandated by Scripture is fellowship. I’m not sure why we’ve come to think of having fun with other Christians as a lesser spiritual practice, but given that Jesus’ final words to his disciples were delivered in the context of a group meal, we can surmise that fellowship is pretty important.

That said, going bowling, going out to dinner, hanging out at a friend’s apartment–all of these activities are valuable forms of Christian fellowship. We may not be explicitly talking about Christ, but the way in which we listen to one another, build one another up, and create an environment of trust has the fingerprints of Christ all over it. The Body of Christ is a refuge of safety and strength, but we’re also allowed to have fun in the process!

So the next time someone tries to make you feel bad for going to the mall with your friends instead of attending a 24 hour prayer vigil or a fund raiser for AIDS in Africa, don’t let them. Granted, you shouldn’t use fellowship as a mask for spiritual laziness. Don’t swing in the opposite direction by never going to ministry events, writing them off as being too boring or self-righteous for you. That is one in the same vice.

But sometimes we need to take care of ourselves, as well as the women around us, and that can mean having a fun night with the girls. Don’t let your pride get in the way of making it a priority–you will be blessed by it!

Has anyone ever told you to “be yourself?”

I find myself telling people to “be themselves” quite a bit. When applying for a job, going on a date, preaching a message, writing an article, and the list goes on and on, that is the token advice we give. And for good reason–it’s so tempting to mimic other peoples’ styles that we lose our own gifs in the process.

Even so, I’m starting to question the soundness of that advice. Why? Because I believe this advice has one fatal flaw:

Which parts of ourselves were given to us by God, and which parts of ourselves are sinful perversions?

Telling someone to be themselves does not make any distinction between these two identities that we posses. One part of us is striving towards Christ, and another part of us, our flesh, is pulling us from Christ. So just because something comes naturally to you does not mean it is a part of your self that you are meant to cultivate. A quality might be characteristic of who you are, but who you are is a sinner. 

That is why I have found this advice to be of little help. And after reading the following passage from C.S. Lewis, I now see why. Being yourself is the wrong goal and the wrong focus altogether. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity:

“At the beginning I said there were Personalities in God. I will go further now. There are no real personalities anywhere else. Until you have given up yourself to Him you will not have a real self. Sameness is to be found most among the most ‘natural’ men, not among those who surrender to Christ. How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been; how gloriously different are the saints. 

But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away ‘blindly’ so to speak. Christ will indeed give you a real personality: but you must not go to Him for the sake of that. As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him.

Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more every day matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original; whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and  and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life.

Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. but look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.“

So the next time someone tells you to be yourself, forget yourself. Your self is what you keep tripping over every time you try to impress others. Instead, seek to reflect Christ, and you will experience a freedom of the self that you have never before imagined. 

Evangelical women get a bad rap.

These days, the world conceives of evangelical women as little more than Christian Stepford wives. They look pretty, they obey their husbands, and they churn out babies like there’s no tomorrow. And if they’re really good, they’ll get their own reality t.v. series about what it’s like to homeschool 16 kids.

This is not, however, accurate.

Yes, some evangelicals fit that category, but evangelical women are far more courageous and independent than they are given credit for.

Recently I read an article in which Paige Patterson, President of Southwestern Seminary, wrote the following,

“The women of Southwestern are not wimps, and they are sold out to the task of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth…[they] are willing to go to the places where e-mails are sent home full of cryptic shorthand because publicly declaring the message of Christ could come at the cost of their lives.”

What’s interesting about this article is that Southwestern is a Southern Baptist seminary. What’s more, this Southern Baptist seminary has been the subject of much controversy due to its strict stance on biblical womanhood. Patterson does not, however, sound like the stereotypical woman-hater he’s often caricatured to be.

That said, while I myself have not always towed the Southern Baptist line, Patterson is right on. Yes, some evangelical women are just looking for a husband. And some women are submissive because they never really learned to think for themselves.

But you know what, that’s really true of just about every demographic.

The truth is that countless evangelical woman are going out into the world and risking their lives for the Gospel, some even without husbands! They consider their lives nothing for the sake of Christ, so they are going into countries where many other Christians are afraid to go.

Last time I checked, that wasn’t really a part of the “wallflower” job description.

But what is even more interesting is that women are actually trend setters in their risk-taking endeavors. At my own church, I can probably count on one hand the number of men who have gone on the mission field, but I’ve lost count of how many women have gone overseas. I say that not to make the men look bad, but to add that women aren’t simply waiting on men to do this important work. They’re taking initiative in fighting this good fight.

All of that to say, if you are an evangelical woman, the legacy being set for you is far more than the culture would have you think. Our generation is producing women who are heroes of the faith, women who are strong and women who will risk their lives for Christ. That is who we are, and that is where we are going.

So don’t you let anyone tell you you’re a shrinking violet. If the world wants to find a wallflower, kindly encourage them to start looking elsewhere.

Today I’m going to begin by taking a little survey, and I want you to be honest:

Raise your hand if you watch The Hills. (Go ahead and raise it–I can’t see you)

Apparently The Hills is one of the top rated shows on television right now, and although I don’t watch it anymore, I used to very faithfully. It’s pretty addictive.

And for those of you who are in the dark, The Hills is a reality show that follows the lives of several young women in their early 20’s living in Los Angeles. Each of the girls featured on the show has subsequently become a celebrity in her own right, being featured in commercials and invited to A-list events. It’s quite a phenomenon.

The key storyline of this show surrounds the friendship between Lauren, the main character, and her best friend Heidi. The two were inseparable roommates doing life together. That is, until a boy entered the scene.

Heidi began dating a guy named Spencer, and Lauren did not approve. Lauren felt that Spencer didn’t respect Heidi and that he would hurt her, so she took a stand. As a result, their friendship disintegrated. Now, they are bitter enemies.

Now the reason this plot line came to my mind is that this weekend I was flipping through channels when I came to a “Deleted Scenes” show about The Hills. I watched for a few moments, and caught one scene in which Lauren confronts another friend, Audrina, about a guy that she’s dating. This guy is bad news as well, but Audrina doesn’t want to hear it. She’s gonna do what she’s gonna do, and she warns Lauren about “caring too much.” Sometimes that care can push people away.

As the camera cuts to Lauren, her face provides a not-so-subtle reminder that it was this same “caring too much” that pushed Heidi away.

Oh the drama!

Now as much as I hate to say it, The Hills provides us with a very important life lesson. It addresses a dilemma that we’ve all faced at some point or another–What do you do when your roommate, best friend or family member is dating someone you don’t like?

In the Christian world, this problem typically surfaces when a friend of ours starts dating a non-Christian, or has started dating someone under dishonorable circumstances. But how are we to respond?

There is a tendency in Christians to “call someone out,” but unless you have a history of this kind of interaction working, it rarely goes over well. On the contrary, it will usually result in defensiveness, and end up getting you nowhere.

So how do we get people to listen? It is here that James’ words in chapter 1 verse 9 are wonderful directives–”be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” Don’t make snap judgments–you only reveal your naiveté about the temptations of sin. And don’t condemn the person they’re dating–that’s merely a back-door insult about their personal dating standards.

Instead listen, and find out why they chose this particular path. See if you can get to the root of the issue, and gently point out the misperceptions they may have about the situation. Sin is deceitful, so sometimes we need someone to help us see the pitfalls we may have missed ourselves.

If this doesn’t work, you should gradually become more firm. And at some point, you need to be point-blank honest with them.

However, honesty will not always result in a change, and that is the problem that Lauren ran into on The Hills. At some point, your friends are going to do what they are going to do, and you have to let them. That is one of the most frustrating life lessons I’ve ever had to learn–letting someone fall. Sometimes, this is the best thing you can do for someone, because some people only learn the hard way.

In these situations, your role is simple–stand back, pray for them, and be there for them when the relationship ultimately fails. Never say “I told you so.” Just love them.

This is especially hard for us control freaks. We’ll say that we’ve surrendered something into God’s hands, but we won’t act like it. We’ll keep bringing the issue up, beating a dead horse, and alienating our friends in the process.

And that is the greatest danger here–when you continually rebuke a friend who isn’t responding, you’re not only strengthening their obstinacy as you put them in the position of defending themselves, but you drive a wedge between your friendship. You double your losses.

So if you find yourself in this situation, or any situation in which a friend or loved one is caught on a path of sin or bad judgment, be honest with them. But then, give them over to God. It is not your responsibility to make people pursue Christ. You can encourage them and challenge them, but at some point a person is going to make their own decisions. How you love them in the fallout of those decisions will have the far greatest power to transform them.

*Final note–if your friend is in a relationship that is abusive, or if they are struggling with substance abuse or eating disorders or some other behavior that is blatantly self-destructive, the rules are slightly different. In some extreme circumstance, people need protection from themselves and you must do your best to help them find clinical help. In instances of suicidal actions, it’s appropriate and necessary to intervene with force. Also, in the event of persistent, unrepentant sin, church discipline is an important step to consider, so talk to one of your pastors about it.

Yesterday I went to the Duke-Miami game. It was brutal.

But not because my team lost.

Yes, it was a heart-breaking defeat, but given the fact that we led almost the entire first half, I consider it a moral victory. With a current record of 3-3, the Duke Football program is actually making a startling resurgence after years of losing seasons. I’m actually pretty proud of them!

The REAL reason the game was so brutal was the opposing team’s fans. I went to the game with some Miami supporters so I sat in the Miami section. That was my first mistake. But even this might not have been so bad, except that the guy sitting directly behind me was actually a Carolina grad who was rooting for Miami on principle.

Now in case you don’t live in North Carolina and don’t understand what that means, let me put it this way:

Carolina fans are to Duke fans as gnats to a horse. You swat and you swat and you swat, but they just keep coming back, buzzing in your face, like a slow and unending form of torture. (Sorry, Hannah. That doesn’t include you!)

So this guy sits behind me and it’s like he immediately knew I was a Duke fan. I didn’t even have on a Duke shirt! He had some evil form of Duke radar, and he immediately started harrassing me. He would yell at me to get off the phone when I took a call, he flicked my pony tail if Duke made a bad play, and grabbed my arms to make me cheer for the other team when Miami scored. Oh, and there was also lots of screaming…in my ear.

I seriously almost decked the guy.

Now all of this was somewhat bearable while Duke was winning, but once we started losing I almost lost it myself. I mean, who does that? Really??

But as I sat there, my arms being grabbed, my ears being screamed in, and my pony tail getting flicked, I was strengthened by one steadying thought:

“Just wait until basketball season.”

You see, Duke football and Duke basketball are two very different things. Duke football has a history of losing, but when it comes to basketball, we are strong and we are intimidating. Even our biggest rivals fear us, and with good cause. We have an awesome team.

That one little thought, that one hope that things will most certainly change–that was enough to hold me back from saying some very un-Jesus like things to the man sitting behind me. I didn’t have to stand up for my school, because over time, my school would stand up for itself.

So why am I telling you this sweet little tale from the ACC? Because something struck me as I quietly endured football persecution, all the while savoring the knowledge, “Basketball season is coming.”

That is exactly the kind of comfort we are meant to draw from Christ.

It’s crazy to me that my present outlook is shaped more by Duke’s future basketball victories than the knowledge of Christ’s eternal victory. But in the same way that I drew peace and strength from my certain redemption in the basketball season, our eternal security and sure victory in Christ should have real implications for how we live today.

Life is hard. Plain and simple. But it won’t always be this way. As Tony Campolo says, “Friday is here, but Sunday is coming!” And the fact that Sunday is coming should make a difference on how we live today.

So while life may be hard, and standing for the Gospel might result in persecution, you don’t need to worry about standing up for yourself. One day the Redeemer will return and he will stand up for you.

So as you go out into the world and endure your own proverbial pony tail flicks, take heart! Continue fighting for the Gospel and persevering for Christ no matter what happens to you today. Why? Because redemption IS coming. The question is, do you live like it?

This week I’ve been been preparing for a talk I’m giving at Campbell University’s Campus Crusade. I’m speaking two days before Halloween, so they’ve asked me to speak on the topic “Fear Factor.”

As I’ve researched the various dynamics of fear in preparation for the message, I decided to do a search of different phobias. I’ve heard of the common ones like the fear of heights and the fear of closed spaces, but you won’t believe some of the crazy ones I found! Here’s just a taste…

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o Anablephobia—Fear of looking up
o Anglophobia—Fear of England and English culture
o Aulophobia—fear of flutes
o Chaetophobia—fear of hair
o Consecotalephobia—fear of chopsticks
o Lutraphobia—fear of otters
o Peladophobia—Fear of bald people
o Pogobophobia—Fear of beards
o Pteronophobia- Fear of being tickled by feathers.
o Urophobia- Fear of urine

o Venustraphobia- Fear of beautiful women.
o Vestiphobia- Fear of clothing
o Zemmiphobia- Fear of the great mole rat.
o Geniophobia- Fear of chins
o Bovinospiraphobia—fear of ghost cows
o Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia- Fear of long words

Aside from the fact that these fears sound utterly ridiculous to me, I think they demonstrate a great theological point. As we consider our battles with fear, it’s important that we distinguish between healthy fears and unhealthy fears. Some fears are totally insane, but that doesn’t mean that all of them are.

On the one hand, there are certain healthy fears that keep you safe and healthy. For instance, you should be afraid of sticking your hand in a fire, or falling of a ten story building. Those fears serve to protect you because they’re rooted in the existence of a real danger.

On the other hand, we are frequently driven by fears that are NOT rooted in the existence of real danger, fears that do not actually protect us from anything. These fears are inherently irrational. All the fears listed above are a great example of this.

That said, the litmus test for measuring whether our fears are rational or irrational is the character of God. If we respond to a fear that acknowledges God’s power, authority, justice, and the way He has designed the world, then that is a fear based on reality. It is a fear that guards us and keeps us spiritually secure.

However, if our fear is not based upon a knowledge of God’s faithfulness and love, but instead upon a fear that God will NOT take care of us and we need to take care of ourselves–that’s an irrational fear. To live as if we need to control our own lives because we’re afraid that God isn’t trustworthy is just as crazy as a person who shaves their whole body because they’re afraid of hair. Neither fear is legitimate, so their resulting actions are unnecessary, in addition to limiting our quality of life.

And in case you think you don’t suffer from these irrational fears, consider the ways in which you try to “discern God’s will for your life.” At first glance, this would appear to be an entirely faithful exercise. You are seeking God and working your hardest to determine His plan. Sounds pretty godly, right?

But oftentimes our actions are driven more by fear than trust. We’re afraid that if we don’t work hard enough to crack the code, we’ll miss out on God’s plans for us. If we don’t pay close enough attention, we’ll accidentally ruin our lives by going down the wrong path.

Under the guise of obedience, we are secretly afraid that God may not be taking care of us. If we don’t hold up our end of the bargain and try to control things ourselves, we worry that God won’t come through for us the way we need.

When this happens, we are not acting out of a healthy fear of God, but an unhealthy fear based on a lack of trust in God.

So whatever your fears may be, ask yourself whether they are based upon reality, or a misperception of reality. And more importantly, ask yourself whether your fears are rooted in a healthy reverence for God, or a lack of faith in God. One fear leads to safety and freedom, the other leads to unending bondage.

And in case you don’t believe me, I thought I’d end with some seriously wacked out fears that I found on the internet. These don’t have scientific names because they are specific to individual people, but the “sufferers” included explanations so that you can follow their logic. Consider this to be a picture of what awaits the individual who does not guard their fears. Fear has the capacity to consume you, and in some seriously weird ways…

• Fear of Going Back in Time, Getting Stuck There, Then Contracting a Disease that’s Curable Now, but Won’t Be Curable Then—I have a fear that somehow I’ll go back in time and get stuck there, then get some illness that we have cured now (like polio or the plague), and die from it all the time knowing that if I was here in time I would be saved. So, I’ve always wanted to learn how to make penicillin just in case.

• Fear of Dying in a Car Crash with the Radio Stuck on a Country Station—I have a fear of being in a car crash, and as I’m dying trapped in the wreckage, the radio gets stuck on a Country and Western station, and I can’t get to the radio to switch it off or change the station. I don’t want to die like this…I’ve had this phobia since the age of 17. I’m now 36

• Fear of Cannibal Siamese Twins– I have a terrible fear of siamese twins, specifically cannibal siamese twins. I am also afraid of small dogs with big eyes, dwarves and generally anything that could grab me by the ankles and skin me alive. I avoid any dark room or hallway, or going outside in the dark for fear something will grab me by the ankles.

• Fear of a Little White Dog Coming Out of Your Closet — Submitter has been locking her closet since she was 3.

Right now I am sitting on a plane that is somewhere between Minneapolis and Raleigh-Durham. This weekend I was in Albuquerque, NM for a family reunion, and even though the idea of a family reunion might sound kinda lame, just picture a large band of Hoddes wandering around random tourist attractions like the Rattlesnake Museum and a landmark commemorating the “Skirmish of Albuquerque.”

(You’d really think they could’ve come up with a manlier title than “skirmish.” It sounds like they just stood around and slapped one another with gloves in between exchanging verbal insults.)

Yes, the Hodde clan is a colorful bunch. Between my uncle sneaking up behind people and making farting noises, and the stories about UFO abductions (no one in my family has experienced this personally, but apparently it happens a lot in Albuquerque?), there was never a dull moment.

On the flight from Albuquerque to Minneapolis I also had an interesting experience, but of a different kind. I happened to sit right next to a Catholic priest named Father Stephen, and we spent the entire flight discussing theology, ministry, and the Gospel.

Father Stephen has a parish in New Mexico, but he is also heavily involved in the pro-life movement and we had a fascinating conversation about it. In particular, he had some tremendous insights into the role of men in the current abortion crisis. As Father Stephen explained, the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden is still very much alive in the practice of abortion today.

What follows is the logic behind this very astute conclusion:

Adam’s sin in the Garden was a failure to lead. Rather than protect Eve and dispute the serpent, he sat by and let her make a decision that negatively affected both of them. Ironically, when it came time to place blame, Adam pointed directly at Eve. As far as he was concerned it was ALL HER FAULT. End of story.

But it wasn’t all her fault, was it? God had given Adam moral responsibility for Eve by giving Adam His commands before Eve’s creation. Of the two, Adam should have seen right through the serpent’s lie, and he should have taken responsibility for caring for Eve. But he didn’t. Instead, he let Eve take full responsibility.

And therein lies Adam’s sin.

Yet this story is not unlike many of the scenarios playing out today, particularly in regard to abortion. Men are failing to step up and take a stand when women need them to.

In his own experience, Father Stephen has witnessed countless women go to their boyfriends or husbands and ask, “Do you think I should have this baby?” The man then responds, “It’s up to you,” which she interprets to mean, “I don’t really want this baby.”

So the woman aborts the child, thinking she’s done what the man secretly wanted. Meanwhile, the man washes his hands of it. And if it ever becomes obvious that abortion was the wrong decision, he can easily point to her and blame, “I left it up to her. It was all her decision.”

Sound familiar?

It is the story of Adam and Eve playing out over and over again, thousands of years later. Just like Eve, women today need men to step up and support them.

You see, there are two crucial parts of the decision making process that a woman must consider in light of an unexpected pregnancy: whether your significant other wants the child, and whether you’ll be able to take care of the child. Both of these questions are easily resolved when men take responsibility for the choices they have made.

That said, women need men to help them while they’re pregnant, take care of the baby once it’s born, or even help them with the adoption process if that is the path she needs to take. And most of all, before the baby is even born, the man needs to voice his desire to keep the child and love the child. Such words of affirmation can make all the difference in saving the life of a baby.

Now at this point you may object: “What if the man is absent or refuses to support the pregnancy? How can we possibly address the countless scenarios in which men fail to step up?” Well it is here that we remember Paul’s teachings about Christ—he is the second Adam, the one to reverse the curse, which means that Adam’s failure was not the final word.

Similarly, the absence of men in the family today does not mean the family is doomed. Even when “Adam” fails today, Christ steps in to make things right. Christ fills that gap and heals the world that Adam and Eve left broken.

And how does Christ do that? Through the Church. As the Body of Christ, we are the hands and feet of Jesus, so we are a part of the curse reversal. We are the ones to step in when fallen men repeat the sin of Adam. We are the agents of healing, renewal, and protection for this world. That is our job, so while we must certainly challenge men to stand up and fill the role that God created for them, we cannot waste time placing blame. That is what Adam did.

So as much as we want the government to fix our problems for us, we have a far more reliable Savior for that job. Christ, through his Church, can effect the healing we long to see in our broken country, and we are a part of that plan.

That said, we must stop waiting around for someone else to do the hard work for us. When we lazily complain about the state of abortion in our country and do nothing but point fingers at our liberals policy makers, we do little more than perpetuate the sin of Adam. Instead, let’s stop waiting around, and let’s do something.
What are you doing?

With the recent nomination of Sarah Palin for Republican VP, the feminist movement has taken a very unexpected turn. 

On the one hand, she’s taking a giant step forward for women. She speaks of breaking the glass ceiling and she’s aspiring to hold a political position that no women has ever before attained.  

And in an even more shocking turn of events, we are now hearing Conservatives use language that has traditionally been attributed to feminists. They argue that anyone who questions Palin’s candidacy in light of her family responsibilities is a blatant sexist. Conservatives also point out that no one ever asks Barack Obama that question, so they firmly defend Palin’s equal right to political opportunity.  

Yet traditional feminists are befuddled, if not frustrated by Palin. Why? Because she is a new breed of feminist, opposing many of the views that feminism has typically held. She is not pro-choice, and she does not support same-sex marriage. She is a Conservative, and she promotes an ideology that feminists have historically assumed to be inherently anti-woman.  

Such a development is fascinating, as well as enlightening. It reveals that the feminist movement has not represented women nearly as holistically as they have claimed. Rather, it has represented a particular brand of women, a brand that excludes a large portion of women in America today. 

But how did this come to be? In their quest to further the cause of women, how have feminists divided women? The answer is quite simple–they have done so by committing the same crime that they sought to amend. In response to a brand of womanhood that was seen as narrow and oppressive to women, they sought to redefine womanhood, but they redefined it in just as narrow a category as their predecessors.  

Feminism reacted against a  school of thought that placed women solely in the home raising the children. Women were not allowed to vote or hold positions of leadership, so they were also discouraged from pursuing higher education. The feminist movement felt that women had more to offer the world, and that the female voice needed to be heard.

As a result, feminists sought equal status and opportunity with men.  Yet in this process, some feminists have over-reacted, belittling motherhood and bashing men. Not all feminists have done this, but the movement has digressed enough that it has developed specific, narrow standards by which true feminism is measured. If you do not conform to these standards, then you are, by definition, opposed to the movement itself.  

The problem with this development is that it does not account for the diversity of women that we find in the world. Yes, some women are ambitious and aspire to be doctors, lawyers, investment bankers, etc. But some women desire to be stay-at-home moms and that is all they’ve ever wanted to be. Is it somehow less noble that these women want to spend their time pouring into the children who will one day be the leaders of our country? By no means, but it is not a role that has been touted as furthering the cause of women.  

In seeking to correct the culture’s understanding of womanhood, feminism has committed the error it sought to correct. Both ends of the spectrum, extreme conservatives and extreme liberals, define womanhood far too narrowly, and thereby exclude other women as somehow being less feminine. 

And that is a dangerous game to play. When you make that move, you no longer encourage women to pursue their inherently female strengths, and a woman’s femininity is no longer defined by God. Women are instead pressured to conform to a mold, which will ironically limit them instead of giving them greater freedom.  

That is why this new development in feminism is so exciting. The feminist movement is taking on a new texture as more and more voices contribute to its direction. And as Christian women, we shouldn’t miss out. Rather than bite the hand that fed us by condemning the feminist movement which gave us the rights that we have today, we should rise up and add our voices to the conversation. Women constitute a powerful force in our society, so we need to take responsibility for helping to direct it.  

We must, however, avoid the pitfalls inherent in the feminist movement. Namely, we must be wary of becoming too woman-centric either. Ultimately, that is where feminism has gone awry, as well any movement that does not have Christ at the center. Feminism has the tendency to focus solely on women (as the name implies), thus leading feminists to occasionally trample other causes that interfere with their own. 

That is exactly what has transpired in the pro-life debate–the life of a child becomes an obstacle in the life of a woman, so the child is eliminated.

But we must be Christ-centered feminists. What does such a feminism look like? It is a feminism that values women as being equal to men, just as Genesis describes. It fights for the image of God in woman, defending their role in the Body of Christ, acknowledging that women add a crucial dynamic to the Kingdom of God.  

HOWEVER, Christ-centered feminism is a feminism that never subjugates the Gospel to the cause of women. Yes, God can be glorified through women and we should do everything in our power to protect that glory, but sometimes God is glorified in our sacrifice and humility as well.  When our cause threatens to override the good and pleasing will of God, then we must cease and desist. But you know, that’s what’s best for women anyway. When we think that the two agendas are at odds, we deceive ourselves. What is good for the Gospel is always good for women. It may not appear to be so at the time, but if God is faithful, and He is, we can trust this to be true. Be a strong woman, but be a strong Christ-centered woman.

This is a scary time. That is for sure.

But how we respond to the current state of our nation says a lot about our faith. How do you react in the face of fear?

This is a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately, but not just because of the Presidential race, and not just because of the economy.

This afternoon I listened to yet another student tell me about her family’s exile from a church due to a power struggle. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some version of this story–either a pastor strong-arms a congregation and ruins his opponents’ reputations in the process, or a congregation does the same to a pastor. And it always boils down to one thing–a power struggle. While some of the participants may have good intentions, their actions reveal that it’s more an issue of control. They are afraid to lose control of the Church, so they commit un-Christlike acts to keep it.

But this dynamic, this power struggle that we find in churches, is no different than the struggle we witness in the current political mud-slinging. They have the exact same root–a fear of losing control. We struggle for power because we want to be the ones calling the shots. Only when we have control will we feel safe, so we fight tooth and nail for it.

And lest you think that power struggles only transpire on bureaucratic scales, think again. They play out in every part of our lives. For instance, if you’re married or dating, how do you handle things when your significant other makes a decision you don’t agree with? What do you do when they work on a project that you secretly think you could do better? How do you respond? Do you always have to lend your two cents?

Or how about at work? Do you micro-manage the people under you? Are you afraid to let anyone do a job without giving your own important input?

Or if you have kids, are you a helicopter mom who feels the urge to protect your child from EVERYTHING? I recently heard that some day care centers won’t allow their workers to color with the kids. Why? Because the adult might draw a rainbow that’s better than the child’s rainbow, which will result in the child having low self-esteem. Seriously?? That, right there, is a fear or losing control if I’ve ever seen it!

Every day we face various fears–our future, the future of our families, the future of our jobs, the future of our economy and the future of our nation. We are afraid of the unexpected, and we fear losing control.

But at the heart of these fears we find something much darker and far more sinister–we find a deeply rooted idolatry. Our fears reveal our true saviors–what we are really trusting in for security and peace. 

Most of the time, that idol is us.

We trust in our own ability to make things happen, to get things done, and to keep us safe. Which is why we are terrified at the thought of losing control, and why we will do almost anything to keep it. All of the greatest atrocities in human history have been done in the name of maintaining power. 

That’s why President Franklin Roosevelt was so wise in warning us that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” When our security is threatened and when our power is contested, we LASH OUT! Churches divide, spouses battle, bosses berate their employees, friends step on other friends to maintain their status in the in-crowd, and Christians fight with other Christians over secular politics. Even just this week, a man in Caifornia committed suicide and then killed his whole family because of the recent economic crisis.

That is the power of fear. It can destroy you, and everyone around you.

So in the face of these fears, we need to stop and take a deep breath before it escalates to a fever pitch. At times like these fear is dangerous, if not fatal, but fear is not found in national crises alone. In addition to keeping fear at bay in the face of extreme societal swings, we must rein in our fears daily. Every single day of our lives, our fears impact the decisions we make and the way that we treat people.

If we let it, fear will be our guiding compass.

If you don’t fight fear daily, then you will most certainly succumb to fear when the economy falters or your Presidential favorite doesn’t win. It can get much uglier if you don’t guard your fear now, so fight your fears!

God is not the author of fear, so resolve to do NOTHING based on fear. Christ died on a cross so that we have to be afraid no more. Don’t crawl back into the cage from which you’ve been set free! Don’t feed into the political and economic frenzies, and don’t allow fear to dictate your daily decisions and relationships with people.

So the question is, what are you afraid of, and how does it impact your life? Remember that people are watching you, and what you fear reveals a lot about your true savior, regardless of how much you tell people otherwise. When we feed into fear, we negate the Gospel we profess. And when it comes to fear and Christ, the two simply aren’t compatible.