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Lost in Translation: Are Women Really Missing?
Jesus Wants Male and Female Disciples Years ago, during Vacation Bible School, I learned a little song based on Jesus’s words to his fisherman-followers. It went like this: I will make you fishers of men, Fishers of men, Fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men If you follow me… Men, men, men, men. Four times. I must have unconsciously internalized that, because I heard this: the male Jesus told his male followers to go find other males and invite them to follow the Lord. These words of Jesus to which I’m referring are recorded by Matthew (4:19). The English Standard Version (ESV),…
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Evangelicals and Sexism
What should I know about feminism? Many evangelicals think of feminism only as a movement in which women are elevated over men. But such is the case in only in a handful of cases. More broadly, a feminist is someone who opposes sexism of any kind, especially under the law. Often evangelicals understand the general culture’s reference to “equality” as suggesting a unisex interchangeability of men and women—but, feminists usually do acknowledge (many even celebrate) the differences between men and women. They just say those differences don’t translate to a hierarchy in which men have more innate power. At one time in the US, men got custody of kids in…
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The Deep South: How Culture Hinders Unity
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Jesus vs. Sexism
Do you believe God made male and female different? Me, too (Gen. 1:27). Does it concern you when people turn gender differences into essentialism, saying stuff like “God made women to nurture and men to do the thinking,” and call such binary thinking “biblical”? Me, too. (1 Thess 2:7; Luke 2:19). Does it frustrate you when people say God made it a women’s role (as opposed to a man’s) to cook and serve food (Gen. 25:29; John 21:9–12; Acts 6:2–3)? Me, too. Does it bug you when you see a speaker lineup for a Christian conference that leaves out minorities, including marriage conferences where only men teach? Me, too. (1…
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Child Marriage and the Christian
About one in every three girls worldwide becomes a bride before the end of her seventeenth year, and one girl in nine marries before age fifteen.[1] Many countries have passed laws outlawing child marriages, but often communities ignore the law. Child marriages disrupt education, limit girls’ economic potential, and correlate with high levels of sexual abuse and violence. Early marriage is also associated with increased rates of maternal and infant mortality. All of this perpetuates the cycle of poverty, reinforcing it, and making it hard to escape, and ultimately contributing to regional instability. And that’s where we come in. Christians can do much to change attitudes and practices at a…
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Manhood vs Grandma?
In the thirty-three years since I said “I do,” I’ve heard many messages and read lots of books on marriage. And if I’ve heard and read one thing about the job of the husband, it’s that “provider” is one of his key roles. The proof-text for this has been, without exception, 1 Timothy 5:8—“If a man does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith, and he is worse than an infidel.” Five male pronouns make it clear: providing is his job. I’ve even heard some say that a wife whose income exceeds that of her husband’s threatens his sense of manhood. (Such fragile…
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No Girls Allowed?
Did you see the Youtube video, “Riley on Marketing” that went viral? Diane Sawyer later interviewed little Riley, who ranted right in the middle of the toy store about how little girls like her get relegated to only pink princess toys while boys get all the other colors—and only the boys get to be superheroes. Riley, who loves to dress up as Batgirl, pushed back against the kind of thinking that says “girl = only princess; boy = superhero.” In a related conversation, my friend Rhonda expressed frustration that Crayola had a similar marketing mentality for their Story Studio™. Crayola’s web ad featured only boys for the superhero story lines.…
