Women’s work. It is
an old expression generally applied to traditional home-maker tasks like
cooking, cleaning and raising children.
We are quick to condemn it but fail to look at how it originated. A mere hundred plus years ago our entire
economy was still largely based on agriculture.
Family farms far outnumbered city slickers though the trend was
beginning to change even then. Under an
agriculturally dominated economy, a farm requires many people to tend it. Entire families were effectively partners in
maintaining the family enterprise.
Children helped out during the summers (which is why schools
let out for this 3 months period of time), and wives maintained the entire
household (a full and equal partner with an equal share of the work) while
husbands and sons tended the flocks and fields.
This was no small effort on anyone’s part. Women of that day may be looked at now through
feminist eyes and thought less of, but in point of fact, they were equal
partners then, and they are equal partners now.
Wives and daughters benefited from the family incomes of the successful
farms, and shared the hardships when success was elusive. The same is true today.
What has changed in an industrial followed by a services
based / knowledge based economy is our immense ability travel and variety in
task types. Services now exist as entire
industries such as accounting, consulting, and marketing that could not have
survived a mere hundred plus years ago (at least on this scale). This variety and this mobility changes the
options both men and women have in supporting a family. It creates a new ‘partnership’ required for
success. The old expression ‘women’s
work’ now applies to every known form of generating income, nearly even the
presidency of the United States (go Hillary).
Women are every bit as capable as men, every bit as smart,
cunning, honorable or treacherous. They
have a few unique inherent strengths, and weaknesses as do men. But most every job a man can do today, a
woman can also do. So why do we cling to
segregation of roles within the body of the church? It begins with historical biases founded on
sexual differences. We picture the
typical women as ‘mom’ meaning, more nurturing, more protective, more
consoling, than a man. We picture the
typical man as ‘dad’ meaning, a natural leader, the final authority in a
argument, aggressive, risk takers, etc..
Our images of humans based on sexual gender plainly ignore the strengths
of the individual.
There are some men who are anything but aggressive, alpha
male, leaders, who regularly take risks, hunt and conquer. That does not make them any less than other
men (though popular convention may disagree).
It merely makes them different. I
know a few men who are very sensitive, artistic, consoling, and nurturing and
no, they are not all gay. I know a few
women who are natural leaders, fighters, thinkers, and conquerors (go Hillary)
and that does not make them gay, or less than other more feminine supportive types
either. Just different. Each person containing a unique set of
strengths and weaknesses, some influenced by gender and hormones, some
completely independent of tradition thinking or stereotypes.
Because of our traditional thinking we have assigned tasks
to men and to women based on gender rather than based on their spiritual gifts
and abilities. Any person who can speak
well in public, inspire enthusiasm of an audience, demand attention to each
word from careful articulation and excellent delivery – may well be qualified
to preach. Note I did not say any man, I
said any person. I also did not say, any
straight heterosexual person, I said any person. Sexual orientation outside of the ‘norm’ may
be considered a lifelong struggle, but should be looked at no differently than
the person or preacher who struggles with pride, or other forms of sexual
misconduct.
We all struggle. No
sin is different. Men and women struggle
with similar things – evil. So who are
we to limit who can preach based on our own perceptions of gender appropriate,
or sexual preference? Do we not deny God
in this way, effectively rejecting HIS gifts of the Spirit to be able to
preach? There is no perfect preacher in
this world. Every one of them struggle
with sins. It is not up to us to judge
their sins, but the content of the words they proclaim. Do they preach forgiveness, hope,
unconditional love, and the repentance of sins?
Or do they espouse lies for truth, evil for good, judgment from the
pulpit and comparison with others? By
their fruits you shall know them, meaning, by their lives and acts of love and
kindness it is easy to see who knows God and who does not. Yourself included.
Duties within the body of Christ (the church) should be
assigned based on the skills and abilities and willingness of the worshipper to
serve. The Gifts of the Spirit are to be
cherished. They are to be valued. They are given for the edification of the
church. They are Christ’s parting gifts
to us as He ascended to His Father. We should
relish what the Holy Spirit does in the life of anyone who is willing to
serve. We should not judge others based
on our own foolish historical bias, but we should instead embrace others and
cherish the gifts they choose to share with us.
No one who wishes to serve should be turned away. Not ever.
I do not care how long they have been a Christian, whether it be 5
minutes, or 5 decades, those who wish to serve should serve. To deny the Holy Spirit His work is to
embrace sin that may not be forgiven. It
is dangerous ground to offend the vehicle of our Salvation by rejecting the
work He does within us and those around us.
But to fully embrace this concept we must also overcome our
historical prejudices about age and wisdom.
It is true that older people have the benefit of experience, and the
wisdom (or sorrow) that comes from seeing many things. It is also true that youth have more energy,
tend to seek truth and ignore lies, and want to understand everything at a
deeper level than they do today. Youth
question everything. To assign roles
within the body based on age, is to AGAIN ignore the work of the Holy
Spirit. It may be that a prophet is
raised up within the body who is a mere teenager (anyone ever heard of Ellen G.
White in the 1800’s, or perhaps Samuel of the old testament Israel). They were mere children when first receiving
the call, but the call was real, and work that followed is a testament to
itself. Youth is no barrier to
service. Nor is old age.
For us to assume leadership does not belong in the hands of
the youth because they are young is to deny the very words of Christ himself
who said … “let the children come unto me” and “you must become like little
children in order to be saved”. Note the
absolute dependence little children have to exist and their complete comfort
with this concept. For protection they
run to dad, for love to mom, for fun to each other. So should we run to God for protection, for
love, and for fun. Christ did not say
wait until they grow up before they come close to me. He welcomed them immediately. He did not say to them you need to grow up
and become more adult like. He said to
adults to surrender their will and become more child like. To exclude children from service paying no
mind to their spiritual gifts is yet another apostasy.
We are limited by our bodies. We are limited by our illness’s be they
physical or spiritual. We are limited by
our pride. Don’t we have enough
limitations we self impose without adding to them gender bias, age bias, racial
bias, and judgment of others? Despite
our infirmities, the Holy Spirit is gracious enough to place gifts within
us. Talents, skills, aptitudes, and
abilities that are purely gifts from God – like all things we can choose to
misuse them, use them for selfish gain and ignore service to others – or we
could employ them for the benefit of man.
Choose to serve. And reject no
man, woman, child, or elderly statesperson who wishes to serve. There is room for all. And there is NEED of ALL. The body is incomplete if you choose not to
serve your portion. The work is not left
to others, but to everyone. The work is
not reserved for adults. It is for
everyone. It is for you. It is for me.
Let us find a way to change our thinking. Let us find a way to embrace those
differences between us and value them rather than judge them. Let us find a way to serve and accept the
service of ALL who embrace it. This is
the pure will of the Father. This is how
true UNITY can be achieved, and perhaps in no other way…
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