Jesus Is a Feminist, and other things the Baptist church didn't teach me....

I love how God puts people in our path sometimes, to remind us how BIG the heart of God is. My friend and I were talking about the country were she is serving as a missionary, and how even dressed as comfy and conservatively as possible, she still gets cat calls on the streets.

This conversation of course led us to a conversation on feminism and Christianity. I was brought up in the most Southern of Baptist culture. Where the rhetoric of the role of women in the household, the church, and society is quite restrictive.

As I sat and talked to my friend about how, I didn't believe that Christ was the misogynist that some in western Christianity had made him out to be. Look at the scripture, but look closer than you have before.

When we read in 1 Corinthians 14:34 that "Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says." You must look at the context of the time and the culture. This was a HUGE push for the Feminist movement. Women of that time were not even allowed in the temple. So Paul was actually saying "Hey, you should let the women in the church/temple. Yeah the law says they are not allowed to speak, but they have the same right as you men to be there and worship" WO there Paul! Way to rock the boat!

It was at this point in the conversation that my friend got really excited. She burst out a huge smile, and reminding me of the significance of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well. We went on to talk about many instances in the scripture were woman were given a voice, and a platform.

This conversation, and many others, makes me wonder.... How many things, was I misunderstanding? I heard it said on a podcast the other day that said something to the effect of "The bible is like a time capsule, revealing itself in due time" I love that analogy.

For a long time, I fit into the category of the "openly closed minded."  But God is teaching me that He will not be put in the box I tried to hold Him in. He will not bend to my ways! 

God is love, He is fiercely in love with us. He does not hate women, or gays or transgender people. He said in John 10:10 "A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness." What's that you say? The thing that is destroying us is NOT God! What a revelation! What a joy! What a peace that brings to my soul. He came so that I might have life to it's fullest. I am so thankful for the opportunity to live an authentic life, and to be able to work out my faith along side a body of believers who are so busy focusing on working out their faith, that they don't have a need to condemn me for my struggles. Instead they encourage me to keep fighting for truth, keep working for social justice. When I fall, they say "What did you learn? Good! I'll be praying for you! Get up and keep going, and take what you have learned and make a change"

I confess! My love hate relationship with "the church" has at times made me a harsh critic. But it is only because I am passionate about the body of Christ. I just want to be sure, that I am representing myself and my beliefs fairly, and I do not want anyone else doing that for me. So sometimes I have felt the need, to separate myself from the majority of those making all the noise.