Daughters and Sons
Written by Kimberly Roth : June 16, 2008
Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ’cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with him. If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them. Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.
~ Sojourner Truth
I am a daughter of Eve.
I am a daughter of the woman who plucked fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because it seemed good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom (and was also kind enough to share with her husband).
I am a daughter of the curse.
I am a son of God.
Through faith, I have been clothed with Christ Jesus and am neither male nor female but Christ, Abraham’s seed, living in me through the Spirit.
I am a son of the promise.
And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days.
~ Joel 2:28-29
Paul may not permit me to teach, he may request that I remain silent, but the LORD has promised that I will prophesy… that through the inspiration of his Spirit, I will declare and teach and mediate and communicate about what is to come… about his kingdom. Where I can do this may still be a controversy amongst the Church, but even those opposed to a woman in the pulpit have conceded to her right to wield a pen.
In the information age, a woman’s computer is her pen, and her blog is her voice.
During Shavuot, the Jewish people celebrate the revelation they received from God through the Torah. During Pentecost, Christians celebrate the revelation they receive through the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, God continues to reveal himself to us through the revelation of truth.
I am thankful to my sisters who allow the Spirit to inspire them, and who use their voices to share their revelations with all of us. For several years, Julie Clawson has been providing me with a comfortable space (and somewhat incessant nudge) to explore the questions already stirring in my soul regarding woman’s role in the story of the Church… though she would not know it unless she can see through her blog. More recently, Jenell Paris stirred up enough thoughts to make my head spin… in a good way.
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
~ Galatians 3:26-29
Why is it that women in vocational ministry seems to be Christianity’s final frontier?
Ok, God, we can accept those Gentile believers, and we can even give up our slaves… but you can not be serious about that female thing?! Surely you’re not going to let Eve off the hook that easily. Did Jesus put you up to this? Do you have any idea how long it took us to live down that whole Deborah thing (and don’t even get me started on her friend Jael…)?
There seems to be a lot of fear surrounding what would happen if women were released to run amok in ministry, at least down here in the Bible belt. Children would be abandoned, meals would go unprepared, men would be disrespected in their own homes and left to pick up their own dirty underwear. Chaos would ensue. Theology would be twisted beyond recognition. Salvation as we know it would cease. Sunday school is one thing, but the entire Body of Christ… that’s just too much to consider.
I appreciated what Brandon O’Brien had to say in Christianity Today, pointing out that:
If Adam and Eve illustrate the essential differences between men and women, Christ highlights their essential unity. All believers are called to imitate Christ by exhibiting the same qualities; Paul makes no distinction between masculine and feminine fruits of the Spirit.
We are all called to abide in Christ, and to bear the same fruit of love and patience and kindness and self-control among each other and among a watching world, just as Christ did when he lived among us. It doesn’t much matter if women prefer to be loved and men prefer to be respected, because we’re all called to do both for one another, and encouraging women to share and lead as the Spirit directs is not going to change that.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now I ain’t got nothing more to say.
Kimberly Roth is a co-editor for the Jesus Manifesto. She over-thinks and cares way too much, so she rambles on at www.barefootbohemian.blogspot.com.Print This Article
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