What If?
Typically when I study this issue of women in the church, I look at Scripture to do so. I think that its dangerous to create my own ideas and theories that do not align with God's word. However, today I'd lke to veer from Scriptural references and propose a what if scenario...
What if the roles given men and women were simply pragmatic for the time in which they lived? For a developing society to thrive, someone has to commit the day to making meals and caring for the children. Women were given this place in society- as helper- and she would spend all day helping. Yet in this day and age where meals are easily microwavable or just quick to make, and child care is readily available, that is no longer necessary. A woman can care for her home with time left over for many other activities. We have time to be as educated as men, to work in the same jobs, to develop the same talents, and to serve the church. Is it a new time for new roles for women in the church?
"Well, the reason given in Scripture for these distinct roles is creation- man was created before woman, so man is the head. This is a universal truth, not just a cultural norm," I've been told. But what if this order in creation is how God established who would be the helper when a helper was needed, but now that a full time helper is no longer necessary, maybe this distinction is no longer necessary. Not to mention the numerous single women who do not play the role of helper at all.
What if the roles given men and women were simply pragmatic for the time in which they lived? For a developing society to thrive, someone has to commit the day to making meals and caring for the children. Women were given this place in society- as helper- and she would spend all day helping. Yet in this day and age where meals are easily microwavable or just quick to make, and child care is readily available, that is no longer necessary. A woman can care for her home with time left over for many other activities. We have time to be as educated as men, to work in the same jobs, to develop the same talents, and to serve the church. Is it a new time for new roles for women in the church?
"Well, the reason given in Scripture for these distinct roles is creation- man was created before woman, so man is the head. This is a universal truth, not just a cultural norm," I've been told. But what if this order in creation is how God established who would be the helper when a helper was needed, but now that a full time helper is no longer necessary, maybe this distinction is no longer necessary. Not to mention the numerous single women who do not play the role of helper at all.
posted by Amanda at 7:41 AM
3 Comments:
Just because a helper isn't used in this culture doesn't invalidate the need for a helper.
Is child care as effective as a parent? Are microwaveable meals better than fresh food?
I'm convinced after working in day care (I was an assistant teacher for 4 year olds. Fun, but I couldn't love these children enough) and eating way too many "easy" meals that this is not correct. My mind and waist know this to be true. Somewhere we, as a culture, have deviated from where we should be.
Rob may be on to something. What are the adverse effects of technology and industrialization on the family?
Also, I wonder if the "helping" between a man and a woman is limited to marriage. Could I not also glean nourishment or be formed by, say, Mother Teresa or Sister Amanda?
If God will only sanctify me through my wife, then what happened to my soul during the previous sixteen years of my Christian life?
where are you?
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