Skip to main content

Young Women: Lay Down and Take It. This It Is to Be Holy.

Just what are we teaching young women in AND out of the church?!
          Obviously (or maybe not), the title is an exaggeration, but... you get the picture. It seems the current narrative on setting and explaining an example of model marriage for YW (via social media, conferences that shall remain nameless, books, etc.) is built on one simple idea.

'If you want have a successful marriage (because what else in life could/would/should you possibly aspire to), then you must be willing to accept any and all non-physical misuse and abuse until your husband decides/gets good and gosh darn ready to treat you like the "kings" do in internet memes (you know, with decency; consideration; love; and kindness.)

Here's my question: where the heck did this made-up idea come from?
Actually, that isn't my only question. Here's a better one: WHAT'S THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR THIS STEPFORD NIGHTMARE?

     You should know, going forward, that I WANT to be married someday. Yes! I want to be a devoted, pinterest-fanatic, homemaking, "love, honor, and obeying" wife and mother. Should I have to sacrifice my dignity, my value, and my husband's character for a lie of a fairy tale, though? Now, I know that might have sounded like pride, but think about it for a second. What about a loving, kind, just God says that he intends for any woman to endure the kind of self-imposed martyrdom that some women in the church seem to wave their flags for (never end a sentence with a preposition. Sorry, Mrs. ...) Why would we teach women a falsehood (Lol)? God definitely thinks more of us than to want us to be mistreated. Now, whether or not we allow it is a different monster to tackle.

       I asked what we're teaching YW in AND out of the Church, because we teach people about God's intentions and love everywhere we go; not just in Sunday School. What do we show the women about Christ who don't yet know him, if we tell them on Facebook and other mediums that it's okay for a man to mistreat them? I don't blame the women who question God's intentions for them, because of what WE show them. 

       Before I give you my bottom line, let's say there's a difference between getting married and being married. Getting married in this context or for the sake of perpetuating this narrative is marrying off young people who aren't ready to be married to people who aren't ready to be married just for marrying's sake. Being married is like Christ being married to the Church. He actively loves, considers, and pursues with lovingkindness his beloved.


Why are we encouraging people to get married, but not encouraging them to be married?
How dare we tell young women, who are supposed to carry life, support AND be successful in all their endeavors that they don't deserve to be treated well? As much as God loves us? Pssh. Please.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Count Me Out

My mom said, "Your life is not over. It still has purpose. Don't give up."    I'm having a hard time believing that today. I'm feeling left behind and forgotten. A part of me feels like I'm back where I'm started. Introverted. Alone. No one knows me and so no one gives me a chance. A part of me wants to pursue what God has for me in spite of the people who have given up on me and talked about me and mocked me. But I'd be doing it for the wrong reason and I'd be no better than them. Focused on the wrong thing.     Man, this is painful. I know that God has me here for a reason and he's showing me every day, but I want bigger and better than this. God, what is it that I haven't learned yet? What do you want from me? Don't leave me here.  "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears." Psalm 18:6    It's hard, bein...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arrogance: A Lesson In Humility

1. Drop the "what can they/it do for me?" attitude.           Seriously, maybe Kennedy hit the mark on that one. We're so concerned about our own benefit that we sometimes forget about our calling: service. Our serving the community unto God may not always directly and/or immediately benefit us. But if our ultimate goal is to please God (and selfless service in His name according to His purpose DOES please the Father), our attitude should take a pretty sharp turn at salvation by grace through faith, family. Benefits me turns into benefits God and shows people His perfect love and plan for them. 2. What's so wrong with initiating dialogue or positive connections and reconciliation?      We're quick to say "be the bigger person" to children, but we hate leading by example. What will it hurt to be the bigger person in real life? What might suffer if you start the dialogue and call a truce or apologize first? Easy. Your pride. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

I Wish I'd Met Christ Before I Met Christians: Part 2

Why Can't Anybody Tell Us Anything?             I hope that you've read and meditated a bit on last weeks' blog post, the first in this series, 'Why Can't We Get Along In The Church?' After reading, I hope you really gave some thought to the idea that everybody isn't out to get you and sometimes the changes our pastors preach need to take place within us aren't just for others. I hope you gathered that some of them are for us. Introspection is so important for us, as believers, because so much of the Bible tells us that things must be removed from within us for God to live there.       Perhaps I should've talked about this last week, but here goes. Read Psalm 51 , one of the psalms of repentance . It's pretty intense. David talks about confessing his sin to God and how the Father delights in the truth in our "inner being." (verse 6) Family, that comes from the cleansing David talks about in verse 7: " Purge me   M...
Post a Comment
Read more