Posted by Jenny Rae Armstrong in
Mystical Meanderings of a Love-Struck Soul
There was an interesting article up today at relevantmagazine.com about How the Church Can Fail Women. The thing I find fascinating is how precisely the article reflects my own experiences, and how many of the comments reflect the "it doesn't matter" mindset I've encountered so often in Christian circles.I am not certain whether to feel encouraged or horrified.
I don't believe for a moment that the majority of churches set out to oppress or suppress women. And even if they did, we live in a free society, and could pursue our callings in a more supportive environment. No, what really troubles me is the subtle messages we all grow up with, the limiting beliefs that distort our views, and keep us from taking an honest assesment of who God really created us to be. The ways in which we are encouraged or not encouraged, equipped or not equipped, based on gender, not God-given gifts.
What really troubles me is the fact that so often, we don't even realize that we are doing it.
If you're interested, you can read more of my thoughts on the matter of How the Church Can Fail Women in the rather lengthy reply I posted to the article.
But the short version is this: For Christ's sake, don't settle for becoming anything less than he created you to be!!!
7 Response to How the Church Fails Women
Your response to that article was great. I know exactly how you feel when you feel tugged between the joy of reading a well-articulated piece on something you care about vs. the dismay over the dismissive and patronizing responses such an article usually garners. I've learned it's best not to get too enmeshed, to say my piece and get out of the fray, and it looks like you've done that with a lot of dignity, too. Thank God (literally) for women like you.
I couldn't really relate to this I guess. I haven't found it to be true in my life anyhow. I believe that us girls can do whatever and should just dive on in with serving in however best suits us. (I think you sorta said that at the end Jenny!)
A lot of the issues mentioned in the article may have to do with the lack of confidence...perhaps more than gender issues.
Wendy: You're right--it is very much about a lack of confidence. It's interesting--earlier today I was reading a secular article about how few women write op-ed articles, and the psychology behind that--and the issues raised were very similar. While both men and women can lack confidence, women often feel pressured to ACT like they lack confidence, even if they don't. Which is weird. O_o
Some women have confidence in spades, and go ahead and do whatever they feel they're supposed to do, no muss, no fuss. And that's fabulous! But I've also known many women who agonized over callings that didn't fit in with their view of what women were supposed to do/be.
I was lucky enough to have parents who told me over and over that I could grow up to be whatever I wanted. But not everyone does. There are whole curriculums out there focused on raising girls to be housewives--I kid you not. There are still a lot of people who think that is the only thing a Godly woman can be. :-/
We need more women like you--people who just forge ahead and do what they're supposed to do! It's a good example. :-) Hopefully more and more women will be unable to relate to this over time, LOL! :-D
I agree, we should practice our God-given talents. He gave them to us for a reason.
I enjoyed the article, and the responses. Thank you for pointing it out.
It's really not that long ago that women even got the vote.
Time to take another step?
Jenny,
Just wanted to extend my deep thanks for your insightful and compassionate comments on my article. The issue of confidence is one that I hadn't thought of before, and surprises me a bit--especially thinking of the bold, powerful, wise women who shared their personal experience with me.
You advocate very strongly and articulately for men and women to stand up and use their gifts, and take personal responsibility for their own ministry. I agree! When I wrote this article, however, I took that as a given. Part of Christianity is our corporate body, worship, and ministry--what we do together as a "big-C" Church. And the standards, encouragement, guidance, counsel, structure, and direction of that corporate body, I am suggesting, might be misaligned based on the God-given capabilities of the young women in the Church today.
There are so many facets to the broad topic of "Women in the Church," and it is interesting to see where people's defenses come up as they comment, as you may have noticed! I am grateful for people like yourself willing to dig deeper into the issue.
Heidi Strate
Heidi,
And I am grateful for you writing that article. :-) Awesome work!
Re: confidence--I don't think it's ALWAYS a matter of women lacking confidence, though that certainly plays in to women AND men not using their gifts. However, women are often subtly encouraged NOT to express themselves with confidence--to downplay their own skills and abilities, focusing on things like "kindness" instead of leadership, as you expressed in your article. That's completely cultural, and just as true in secular circles as in Christian circles. It's just another piece of the puzzle.
I'm with you all the way--the "big-C" Church needs to start pouring more resources into encouraging and equipping women to become everything God created them to be!!! And those of us who are passionate about this issue need to stand up and make our voices heard. We've come a long way, but we have a long, long way left to go...
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