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More than a Housewife

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Tweet this: God’s mission suffers when women aren’t empowered @logangentry #vergewomen

There is a disturbing trend amongst the more conservative churches that is crippling women instead of making them capable. All too often, Proverbs 31 and other passages that speak about women are taught in a way that diminish their Christian roles to merely excelling as a housewife. But the scriptures paint the picture of a godly woman as far more than a housewife.

Before you grab your egalitarian stones to throw at me, we can see how a complementarian woman is spoken of by God’s word.

Proverbs 31 applauds the woman who is an excellent wife and mother, but also speaks well of the woman who is excellent at her job, treats those who work for her well, and cares for the poor.

She’s spoken of as strong, wise, and very capable. It can seem an oppressive ideal that no one can match, but if it’s never seen as a viable option, few of our women will embody it well. When we ignore this side of the scriptures, we give in to lies and unbelief that ruin our and other’s strength to honor God as He has designed them.

When the church ignores these verses, they don’t call or empower women to walk in the strength they have received from Christ to reject the broken molds of the world and embrace God’s vision for them as women. The church lacks the encouragement and the exhortation our women need to believe truth in every circumstance and depend on the Spirit in the workplace, the home, and the church community.

We already have the solution, we just need to stop ignoring the half that makes us uncomfortable.

Empowering Every Type of Woman

When we speak to these truths, we empower every type of woman. The single professional can excel at her work, while fighting for her faith to be more valuable than success. The working mother can see that the values of God include her as well. The single mother can see a God who values her, gives her strength for a nearly impossible task and celebrates her efforts. The young mother can be strengthened to teach, instruct and feel empowered even when her child doesn’t act like she wants in public. The Christian woman is able to see her gifts as being strong enough to serve, lead, and teach in many other ways that serve God’s church and mission.

When we speak to these truths, we also give strength to marriages and families that empower wives and mothers appropriately, commissioning them to fulfill God’s design for them.

Some may say the opportunities are provided, but in too many settings they are either silently provided and never addressed or never provided at all. The full council of God’s word honors women well and the church must join God in championing His truth.

God’s Mission Suffers

At Verge 14, Helen Lee, the Missional Mom said “Your church & missional community are filled with secret weapons of God’s grace…your mom and kids are often the most missional.” She was right and the same can be said of the many other types of women in our churches.

I fear their value and opportunities have been diminished as the church as failed to highlight how God has empowered them where they have been placed. Salvation and the empowerment of the Spirit are gender-neutral, empowering all for God’s mission.

It’s time for the church to affirm the calling on women’s lives in the workplace as well as the home, as single young professionals as well as mothers. Put simply, it’s time to follow Jesus’ example. 

Don’t Diminish Any Type, Empower Every Type

The danger here is once again reacting, leaving many faithful and honorable women feeling condemned on the other side of this conversation. Why?

There’s no need to only exalt one type of woman as the only Christian woman mold. When we do this, we make a law for women instead of empowering them with the freedom of the gospel.

The gospel is the only way to empower a man or a woman to live as God describes them, not championing their own personality, but conforming themselves to one image – Jesus – and in so doing, find they could live out the principles of his life in so many different ways.

Our society and church culture are championing specific ways of being a woman, but God has delighted in His daughters enough to celebrate their differences and aim to make them like Jesus.

Let’s quit trying to make everyone like ourselves and let’s champion Jesus’ life.

Tweet this: “Let’s quit trying to make everyone like ourselves and let’s champion Jesus’ life.” @logangentry #vergewomen