Equal to the Task (Religion)

Member Name: cbpotts

Product:	Religion
Date:	16/07/01 (27 review reads)
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Advantages: read and see

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Whether Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or Athiest, we all believe in something. Myself, I'm a Christ follower. I like to use that term instead of Christian because the the term "Christian" has been reduced to mean someone who seats their butt inside a church once a week, whereas, I'm fully devoted to developing a relationship with Christ.

That being said, I don't want to try and change anyone's mind regarding what they believe. This is hardly the place for so personal a conversation. Instead, what I'd like to do is share something that is heavy on my heart these days.

It has to do with a woman's role within the church and home. I suppose it's always been there for me, but when I lived in Chicago, I was involved with a church that had women elders and pastors so the disparity in other churches didn't hit me as strongly. However, several years ago I moved south, deep into the "Bible belt" of the country and ended up in an excellent church.

Down here men rule...their the "head" of the house and the only ones allowed to be elders and pastors. Women have a subordinant, subservient role.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not a bra-burning, flag-waving feminist. I believe that God created man and woman to be equal partner, equally servant-minded, and equal to every endeavor they attempted.

In order to explain why I believe what I believe, I will take you to the creation of our world and of us. As we know, Eden is what God meant for us. It is community created in perfection. Let's have a look at Genesis 1:

"26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27 So God created humankind in his im
age, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." 29 God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so."

In this amazing passage, God explains his creation of humankind. There's no differentiation between man and woman. Both are created in His image. Both have dominion over beast and bird. The pair is "VERY GOOD."

A few verses down in a more detailed account, God looks at this creation of man and says, "ewww, this is not good. This dude needs some serious help." So, he creates woman and it is good. Ok, seriously, the real translation of "helpmate" is not servant, underling, or anything close to that. It is completer or finisher.

If you consider the time in which the Bible was written and the lack of rights that women had back then, it's pretty amazing the number of women prophets, disciples and Christ followers that are mentioned. In a society in which women are viewed as property, or worse, God still called many to serve in leadership capacities.

I feel it's a shame that the modern church feels the need to stay within the parameters of the fall instead of attempting to bring the Church back to what God meant it to be.

Equal servanthood and submission to God. Equal leadership and giftedness within the Body.

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