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| Often used as a symbol of feminism, poor Rosie. |
To recap: I was going over the evils of feminism and how it has affected me as it has many of other women. This is more about my story and some example about how we are choosing to live apart from God's word.
Now, I don't think I ever chose feminism. Until the last year or so I never saw it's subtleties all around us. TV and radio are givens, but what about your church? What about that seemingly harmless "Christian" film you just watched?
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12: 2
When searching for a church the hardest hurdle we faced as a family was finding a church that stood apart. They all bragged on their extravagant buildings and many programs. None bragged on their close knit fellowship and how they believed in the infallible word of God. None bragged on how they follow the mandates in 1 Timothy on how to find a suitable pastor/elders. What we tended to find in many churches was that they used the bible as sort of a loose guideline.
It was subject to their interpretation and that is dangerous folks.
Afterall, after being barraged with the "values" of the world day in and day out, we believe ourselves to be righteous enough to use the scripture how we see fit?
One of the main examples I would like to point to with this is 1 Timothy: (strangely enough this was part of our pastors message this past Sunday and this post was thought up before then)
Chapter 2 Verse 11-
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived and became a sinner.
I'm not really sure how much more plain this could be. So how is it that women feel they can become preachers, pastors, bishops and ministers? How do we approve of this?
Society tells us to bar women from occupations, even that of pastor, is "wrong". Who should we be listening to? The Word of God of our culture? It's as simple as that to me.
This is just one of the many examples of how we can bring what we have learned outside the church into it.
I like this passage because Paul also gives us the reason we should not teach in the church.
For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived and became a sinner. a
I don't know about anyone else but I know in my heart that this one is true. I know that women, including myself, tend to be sinful, manipulative and deceiving. I used to play the feminist part very well--treating my husband as incompetent and manipulating him with my emotions when I could not have my way.
I saw it happen every day in the house I grew up, in the school where I worked. Professing Christian women laying out their game plan on how they were going to deceive their husband into doing something they wanted that weekend. We would all laugh and wait for Monday when we got to hear how it turned out. The woman would return a conquering hero after she used tears or even full blown tantrums to get what she wanted. And then why was it a shock when that woman came crying to us not a year later about her husband filing for divorce?
Every day I thank God that he showed me the error of my ways before I tore down my house with my own hands.
I pushed my husband to move, I begged him to let me spend a little more money to make our business a real success. I cried when he wouldn't let me do something, I gave him the silent treatment when he stood firm. A man can only take so much, and our husbands want to see us happy above all else. So against his better judgment he let me have my way. We went into debt, moved the business..........and failed miserably.
There is no doubt in my mind that God let everything take place so that I could learn my lesson. Sometimes he has to tear us down to build us up. He used this opportunity to open my heart to His Word. Now that I was away from all of the feminist influences telling me to control my husband, to make decisions, I was free to see where God wanted me. Tucked safely under Jason's arm.
My husband is incredibly intelligent and has a great head on his shoulders. He is slow to make decisions but only because he thinks through everything carefully. He got us out of the pickle we were in, he paid our debt, he forgave me in the blink of an eye and has never held it against me.
God was working a change in me and Jason could see it, I wasn't the same. It was as if a blindfold had been removed. It was painfully apparent that I had been lied to by everyone. My family, friends, the media, the few churches I had attended.... they were all telling me the same thing. Not only was I supposedly in charge of my husband, I was in charge of my own life, not God, not the creator. Just me. I was the King of the Hill (or queen rather) and let me tell you, that is a lonely place to be.
Satan's plan was obviously working. Not only in the world, but in each and every woman. The enemy gave us what we wanted, power and vanity. We were ignoring our Father and taking a big ol' bite of the apple. Now, we must face the consequences of our decisions.
So, I could see submission was what God wanted, but I still had questions. How do I go about this? Does this mean I have to be a doormat with out an opinion? What about the husbands out there that aren't good to their wives?
I'll cover what I discovered in the next post:Part 3.
*Along with the Bible, during this time I read many books and blogs that helped. Feel free to check out my sidebar and blog roll for a listing.*
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