Are You Like Your Mother?
“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)
As you may have guessed after reading the Scripture above, we will not be discussing the psychology behind the mother-daughter relationship. The word, “mother” in the title is in reference to the mother of us all – Eve (Genesis 3:20). You well remember how she was deceived and the consequences that followed (Genesis 3:1-6, 16). Deception is the topic at hand and it is an interesting one. We do not often ask ourselves whether or not we are involved in deception – either as the recipient or the contributor. The nature of deception lends itself toward such neglect of examination; for when we are deceived by someone, we very rarely “know what hit us” or else it would not be deception. As Christian women, when was the last time we asked ourselves if we are being deceived about a certain subject? Although much could be said from God’s Word about deceiving others (it is not looked upon favorably – Proverbs 24:28; Revelation 20:10), the content of this article will focus upon examining whether or not we, as God’s women, are the ones being deceived.
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Feminist or Femininity?
There has been a paradigm shift in our culture in the last century. A number of factors are responsible and a shift in worldviews resulted. The so-called women’s liberation movement changed along with many other social aspects. Europe and America went from women fighting for the vote in the first quarter of the century to fighting for the idea of equality for men and women on all fronts in the last half of the century. Women went from rallying in the streets while pushing their children in strollers to protesting in the streets while pulling their bras off to burn them. Women’s suffrage of the early 1900s is not the same movement as the women’s liberation of the late 1900s. Many may claim they have the same ideas that have just evolved over the years, improved even, but the mindsets behind the two movements are quite opposite. We could discuss all day the reasons behind such a change in beliefs and behaviors, but it really comes down to the abandonment of God’s Word and what it teaches on the roles of men and women.
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The Role of Women
The role of women in the Lord's church is a topic that seems to be resurfacing more and more in our society that pushes for equality on all fronts. For many years women have fought for equal rights in voting, the work place, and the community as a whole. Overall, these aspects are not wrong in and of themselves. It is a problem when we as the Lord's body allow our culture to influence the way we view God's Word and the application thereof. Some think men suppress or trample the talents of women when they are not allowed to preach in the assembly. This mindset is appealing to equality among the sexes and forgets what God has revealed in His Word. Is this subject an equality issue? The Word of God is clear that all humans are equal in God's sight (Genesis 1:26-28). Those who obey God are one in Christ no matter their background, their skin color, or their gender (Galatians 3:28). However, being equal before God as His created beings does not mean that men and women have the same function in His body. All Christians have a role in the kingdom. These functional roles are different and one is not more important than another. The roles of men, women, and children are all important and necessary for edifying and building up the church. All of us have the responsibility to work in our designated niche, if you will, and to make sure we are following God's will therein. For the purpose of this writing, we will study what God's Word says about a woman's role in His kingdom.
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What Does Submission Mean?
Many individuals in our culture today have negative connotations about the word “submit”. Images are conjured up in the mind of a tyrant standing over his or her subjects beating them into submission or a doormat-type person that does whatever others want them to do. Webster defines the word as “to yield oneself to the authority or will of another”; “to permit oneself to be subjected to something” or “to defer to or consent to abide by the opinion or authority of another”. These definitions may still convey unfavorable thoughts of some kind since no one likes to become someone else’s subject or never get their own way. In the fallen world in which we live, humans have rejected various authorities over the centuries, especially God’s authority. Although the world and culture play a large part of our understanding of certain concepts, it is the Christian’s responsibility to understand God’s meaning behind a word or phrase found in His Word. What does it mean to submit according to the Bible? Are there commandments in the Bible for certain individuals to submit to others? Is submission really such a negative term? Let’s explore these questions by looking at the one source that contains words of life – the Word of God (John 6:68, Luke 4:4, 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
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