Saturday, December 3, 2011

Clearing the Air

It seems to me that there are some serious misconceptions about who and what a Christian woman is. I'd like to make some clarifications.

Myth 1: A Christian woman belongs in the home, not in the workforce.
Truth: According to Proverbs 31:16, "She goes out to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard." That doesn't sound like a housewife to me.

Myth 2: A Christian woman shouldn't/can't do manual labour. That's a man's job.
Truth: Yes, a man should work (this is also a biblical principle), but a woman can, too. "She is energetic and strong, a hard worker." (Proverbs 31:17)

Myth 3: A Christian woman should seen and not heard.
Truth: "When she speaks, her words are wise." (Proverbs 31:26)

Myth 4: A Christian woman should just go about her work. It's her job, she doesn't need to be thanked for it.
Truth: "Reward her for all she has done." (Proverbs 31:31)

Myth 5: A Christian woman should be meek and mild.
Truth: In Ruth 3, Naomi instructs her daughter-in-law on how to win over Boaz. It's not a meek and mild woman that would go to a man and risk defaming not only herself, but him as well. Both women acted out of boldness.

Myth 6: Christian women are prudes.
Truth: Just because some of us have made the choice to abstain from sex until marriage doesn't mean we aren't human. Horomones rage no matter what choice you've made. It's our response to those urges that makes us different. "I am my lover's, the one he desires. Come, my love, let us go out into the fields and spend the night among the wildflowers... And there I will give you my love." (Song of Songs 7:10-12) That doesn't sound like a prude to me. However, Song of Songs also says in 8:4, "I want you to promise, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right."

I know that there are a lot more ideas out there of what a Christian woman should be. Just because people think we should be a certain way doesn't mean we are. Don't be surprised when we aren't.

3 comments:

  1. I am a Christian woman who agrees with what you have said. Any man who truly understands who he is in Christ would agree too. I pray one of them finds you very soon.

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  2. I love what you have said. I'm also a Christian woman, and try to adhere to these standards. A true Christian man understands this, and though he may not get it right all the time, he strives to be a man worthy of a Proverbs 31 wife. He's out there. :)

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  3. Apparently the bible thinks you should STFU:

    "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church." (I Corinthians 14:34-35)

    "Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (I Timothy 2:11-14)


    Also, raping a virgin is ok. We just have to pay your daddy 50 shekels:

    "If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silvers, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days." (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)

    Nice to know what the monetary value of your virginity is, right? Just find a nice christian boy to rape you, and you'll be married off in no time!


    Or you can stop selectively reading the Big Book of Multiple Choice, jettison all that garbage, and come join us in the 21st century.

    Just an idea.

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