Anger
I just finished listening to a sermon from a church here in Abilene and I felt some old anger rising within me. I have fought for gender justice within my own denomination and it makes me angry and sad that there are people out there or just down the street who are promoting stereotypes of men and women. This sermon states that men and women are different. That they are shaped differently and that they enjoy different things. In the eyes of this man...women like dresses and weddings and shopping and know their children better than their husbands and are always running late...and men like blood and gore and guns and don't want to talk and they need the remote in their hands to watch TV. This minister is afraid of men losing their manhood and doesn't want them to be sissies. He actually used the word sissy. He pleads with the audience to give up a translation that he doesn't agree with...offers to buy it from them and give them a translation that he thinks is suitable.
I will admit my own immaturity while listening...almost from the very beginning I was annoyed with his choice of words and phrasing and starting muttering under my breath...whatever.
I felt like he twisted some basic theology to make his points and that angered me.
What happened to the images of God as a hen gathering her chicks or as a nursing mother? Does that make God a sissy?
posted by julie @ 10:08 PM
8 Comments:
Julie, guys like this preacher get us off track, and take us down rabbit trails. Our journey with God is too precious to allow for the time it takes to give these thoughts any credence.
Please do not become too side-tracked with 'sermons' like these. The man obviously felt threatened in the world of his own existence, and needed to use his bully pulpit to assuage his ego and vent some steam.
I enjoy reading some of your posts and through them it is evident that God has placed you on a path of higher calling. Those of us who have seen years of our lives wasted by gender injustice in our faith walk have moved on. God has so much to show us, and we have more pressing things to attend to with him.
Blessings!
Oh Julie,
Church should not leave us angry. Anger is a waste of energy. After too many wasted years of trying to fix it and convince people that I am a talented, real, complete person, we moved on. We are now worshipping with joy and feel God's presnce and hand on the service we give The Almighty. No one considers my gender, only the gift I bring when I serve. Here is a quote from our current church home on who can serve as minister.
"Both men and women shall be eligible to hold church offices. When women and men, by God’s providence and gracious gifts, are called by the church to undertake particular forms of ministry, the church shall help them to interpret their call and to be sensitive to the judgments and needs of others. As persons discover the forms of ministry to which they are called, and as they are called to new forms, they and the church shall pray for the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit upon them and upon the mission of the Church."
It feels good to worship in peace.
I love you
Sue
Amen, Sue!
Julie, Have you read Tony Campolo's chapter regarding women in ministry? As he also comes from an evangelical background, he raises some salient points.
Sometimes the anger we feel can be an emotion I believe God uses within us to compel us to follow him more closely, to grab our attention, if you will. True, it is not one of the fruits of the spirit, but hopefully as mature Christ-followers the spirit of discernment will aid us in sorting out where the anger stems from. That allows a weakness to become strength. Your passion for God’s true calling in your life will bear that out.
Please remember that Jesus was not averse to being open with his anger -- or even frustration – in the presence of those who mattered. Aside from all those operating within the tabernacle, he dealt with his emotions of frustration on a daily basis with his disciples, Mary and Martha being among those, as you well know. His chiding of Martha is a strong indicator of his acceptance and encouragement of the feminine-sacred. It was probably so shocking then, because women were not even allowed to enter into the world – Jewish or otherwise – of academia. That they were not even allowed to learn to read still amazes my senses!
I am now in my very early 50’s (still clinging to the young side of the over-the-hill conundrum!), and so I can assure you that there were decades where doors were slammed in my face as I searched for God’s voice as he called me. He would use each closed opportunity to show me certain precepts, and then would find other doors to open for his spirit to lead me through. To read here how you are questioning your anger, and to read of Sue’s former struggles really resonates.
Be bold, and capture that passion he is richly blessing you with! All the best… :)
(Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-controlled Church Neutered the Gospel, co-authored with Brian McLaren)
(PS: I found your Blog via BST’s. When he was aged 3-5, he was in the first ‘early childhood worship class’ at church I was given to lead, and later, I was his first piano teacher.)
Deb, I really am beyond and worshipping with a church that is free of most of this stuff. The anger with this minister comes from the fact that he ministers to so many people that I know. I have never met him but my niece was married at the church where he is...I am concerned about what the college students are taking in from him and this kind of teaching. That is what I meant by old anger. It is not something that I deal with anymore on a regular basis but there are moments when it rears its ugly head (as my mother would say).
Thanks, Julie. I understand! And I'm glad you are in a great place. :) Blessings...
I know the feeling, Julie. It has been so good to lay aside the struggle, but when stirred, those felings of anger and really disbelief resurface. Thank God we survived it.
I love you!
Ann
Who is this guy--is he from another age? Does he have a wife?
I need to come and help you beat him up. Judy Thomas
Judy, I would welcome your help! This time it is not coming from a Church of Christ but it is still so harmful.
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