Comments on: Friday’s Free Advice

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:07:17 +0000

I get fired up too, Suzanne, and I’m not one to get fired up very easily. I keep going back to God’s grace. He gives us freedom, but he also gives us his Holy Spirit as a guide…helping us to maneuver through that freedom, and make wise choices with our lives. Fear breeds extremes, and my gut tells me that much of what is being taught by this movement has been birthed from fear.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:23:13 +0000

I think I know exactly what you were reading, because I was reading it and having the same reaction. And in fact, the Bible verse used to back up this “theology” doesn’t sound remotely like it forbids women to work outside the home, rather it asks women to be industrious and not lounge around and, in modern terms, eat bon bons and watch soap operas (or surf the net) all day. And why, exactly, would it be a bad thing for a woman to gain a college education before she begins to her career in “homemaking”? Oooh, it gets me a little fired up just thinking about it!

By: Kristen

Kristen — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:41:12 +0000

Great advice and something we should all keep in mind as we read other blogs! As for women’s roles you just articulated so well what I couldn’t put into words to say!

By: Alyson

Alyson — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:49:04 +0000

Great thoughts, Amy! I, too, am deeply disturbed by what is being preached by these women. As a full-time working mom, I find it hard to swallow the fact that they are saying that I am out of God’s will for not being a homemaker who is raising my daughter to be a homemaker. Who are we to judge each other’s callings and giftings? That right there is unbiblical. My calling and gifting isn’t to stay home and be a homemaker. My calling is to be a woman who is out in the work force, mainly ministry settings, using the passion and talent that God has given me to touch the lives of others, all the while raising my daughter to be an independent, strong, passionate woman herself. To limit her to a “homemaker” role would be doing her a terrible injustice.

I used to be the person who would look at full-time working moms and pity them, thinking that they weren’t giving their child the best. Then I WOKE UP!! I’ve even had friends tell me that my child wouldn’t feel as loved, and would be missing out on so much with me working. It’s ridiculous. I have so many problems with this nonsense they call”theology”.

Yes, some women are called to stay at home and raise their children. They love it and thrive doing it. I have a friend who does a them with her kids each week. One week they did a penguins theme and they went to the zoo, got books from the library about penguins, and watched penguin movies. Fantastic, but not all women are called to do that. My daughter is a thriving, awesome little girl, regardless of it I’m at work or staying at home.

I actually wrote a blog about it awhile back. It was published in our MOPS newsletter. You can check it out here
http://alysonmoore.blogspot.com/2010/01/article-for-mops-newsletter.html

By: Judy Hayburn

Judy Hayburn — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:33:20 +0000

Your advice was excellent, Amy. I agree that it can be very challening to deal with the perpetul amount of “bad counsel” that floats across the airwaves these days. That must be one of the “downsides” when entering the world of blogging. Now, more than ever, Christians need to be firmly rooted and grounded in the Word through involvement in a good church or receiving instruction from a Christian mentor who has some theological expertise. There are too many “self-appointed” theologians out there proclaiming their ideas about truth without the slightest idea of how “off” they are and how detrimental their theology may be. That’s how cults get started. Throughout the years teaching the course, Marriage and Family, I have learned that there are a number of different viewpoints with regard to the role of women in the Bible. The views range from Traditional, which interprets all the Scripture verses referring to women literally and believes women are inferior by design to men and men are to be the “head” (interpreted to mean the “boss”) of women, particularly in the marriage relationship. A woman’s primary role is homemaker and she cannot have any leadership position in a church, and certainly cannot teach men. The other end of the spectrum is the Egalitarian view. This view sees women as equal to men and co-partners in marriage. “Headship” is understood to be a servant leadership without the idea of being the boss. Egaitarians believe there are definite gender differences in the creation design, but these do not prevent a woman from exercising any of the supernatural gifts (1 Corinthians 12 and 14), the motivational gifts (Romans 12), and ministry gifts (Ephesians 4). Finally, there are at least three other viewpoints which fall somewhere in the middle (Male Leadership, Pluralistic, and Complementary). All of the theologians from each of these viewpoints are godly men and women who love God and desire to teach truth. They argue their cases with vigor and use Scripture to support them. As a church, we can argue about who is right and who is wrong till Jesus comes but I have come to the conclusion that everyone must hash this out for themselves. Every person will be judged according to their own belief–how well they lived their own Christian witness, and how well they obeyed Christ’s Law of Love. Every woman has been given the freedom to choose what is best for herself and what’s in her family’s best interest. I would like to suggest that women read good books on this topic from a variety of different viewpoints and then make their decision based on an open-minded approach to seeking the truth. I have two books that I would like to suggest to those women who would like to know what the Egalitarian theologians say about the role of women according to Scripture: 1) God’s Women, Then and Now, by Catherine Gill and Barbara Cavaness and 2) Beyond Sex Roles, by Gilbert Bilezikian. Both are easy to read and also give guidelines for how to interpret Scripture. The key to this debate is that we not judge one another and impose ones personal beliefs on others. Christ called us, as His Bride the Church, to love one another first and foremost. Romans 14 gives excellent guidelines on how we should get along together, especially when we dogmatically disagree about issues likes this. Paul told the Philippians “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but with lowliness of mind, let each esteem others as better than yourself.” Beloved, let us love one another.

By: Cat

Cat — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 03:17:39 +0000

You go girl!!!

By: sister sheri

sister sheri — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:58:08 +0000

Okay… I have to admit that it is killing me… what website did you go to that even brought the topic up? Is that gossiping if you tell me?

I so agree that we should perhaps put warning labels on our blogs like… “I am a sinner saved by grace” or “I make mistakes, too” or “take it or leave it!!!!”

By: Jen Braune

Jen Braune — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:54:12 +0000

Preach it.