Lots of goodies to pass along to you today. My goal for Visionary Womanhood is to aim for clear views. Sometimes it takes courage to take off those comfortable blinders and stare straight at the light. Once you get used to the brightness though, you find it was worth the initial pain.
First up is an article in PDF format here for download from Grace in Abundance. Here’s a little teaser:
The problem is not in deciding whether she is real. Rather, the dilemma is determining the true message of the poem, particularly given the culture gap between the present and this b.c. description. Some women see the poem as justification for declaring an emancipation proclamation, while some men use it to confine their wives to the home. Both claim that they are promoting godly womanhood, but the women they describe are so dissimilar that the definition of godliness itself is in question. It is no wonder that Christian wives experience an identity crisis when they read Proverbs 31. Their desire to be a godly woman gets frustrated somewhere between the loom on which this woman weaves her family’s clothes and her lamp that never goes out.
This whole article is golden. Don’t miss out. Download it here: The Proverbs 31 Wife: Fact or Fiction? by Carmen Bryant
Next we have a two part series by one of my favorite bloggers, Wendy Alsup. She points out the error of True Woman 101 (by Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss) when they state that women were made to mirror the church while men were made to mirror Christ. Her argument is that both men and women were made to mirror the image of Christ.
But how does Ephesians 5 mesh with God’s words in Genesis 1 and 2 creating man and woman in the image of God? Which is it? At least the man gets associated with parts of the Trinity in both Genesis and Ephesians. But what about the woman? Is she more associated with God or with the Church? Those are two very different things!
Which came first? Which vision should dominate? It’s not a hard question to answer. Note that one of these visions is the essence of manhood and womanhood while the other is a metaphor. Man and woman ARE image bearers of God. And, interestingly, both woman AND MAN are also the Church. In the metaphor of husbands leading their homes as Jesus leads the Church, husbands aren’t actually Jesus. Furthermore, man, in essence, actually is part of the Church. We need to start with essence. Metaphor is then helpful to flesh out how that looks at times. But metaphor has to submit to essence.
Read part one of My Review of True Woman 101 HERE.
Wendy follows up her first post with an article about the negative fallout from this kind of teaching.
In this post, I want to explore the ways this wrong teaching can affect women practically. A major concern is that wifely submission in marriage is not actually helped by teaching the woman reflecting the church as her ultimate thing. I’ve sat under such teaching, and I found it demoralizing, not inspiring, to think that the best image I have to go to as a woman is the Church, especially if you know anything about the Church according to Scripture. I am the Church, but I am the Church that is being conformed to the image of Christ. If you follow a reformed hermeneutic for understanding Scripture, the other husband/wife team mirroring Christ and the Church is Hosea and Gomer. Their story is beautiful beyond measure, giving us a picture of God’s faithful pursuit of His wayward Bride. But it does not give an inspiring image of the Church’s role in this relationship.
When I couple Ephesians 5’s teaching with Genesis 1 and 2, that I am bearing out God’s image in all of my life, I am inspired toward a better, noble goal.
Read the rest of Practical Dangers of Teaching Women Made in the Image of the Church HERE.
And finally, Rachel, over at A Daughter of the Reformation writes about feminism and stereotypes:
Is this the only way or even the best way for Christian women to find fulfillment? There are many single women around, godly women who would love to be married and have a family. But God has not provided that for them. Are they less fulfilled? Do they have less value if they serve God through their career and friendships? What about women who help to provide for their families through their work? Are they less worthy of praise? Are they “feminists” because they work outside their homes? And what about the barren women? Are they less fulfilled because God hasn’t filled their arms with children?
Read My 2 Cents: Feminism, Stereotypes, and Experiences HERE.
So what about you? Are you inspired to be like Gomer—or Christ? OK, bad question. When you’re done reading these articles, I’d love to hear how they are shaping your thinking. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Natalie–are you serious? There’s a book out there that says that women aren’t supposed to mirror Christ? And it’s taken seriously?
Oh, my goodness. That is so scary. I keep thinking this must primarily be a fringe thing, but then more and more of it keeps popping up! Oh, Lord, help us.
This is the book’s own description:
Week Two: God created men to image the relationship of Christ to the church and this has significant implications for male-female relationships.
Week Three: God created woman to image the relationship of the church to Christ, and this has significant implications for male-female relationships.
So it isn’t saying women are not supposed to image Christ. But by wording it this way, the implication is that the primary way women fulfill their purpose is by imaging the relationship of the church to Christ – while man’s primary purpose is to image Christ. Wendy’s point is that both men and women have a primary purpose of imaging Christ, and both men and women are part of the Church of Jesus Christ. This is what we see when we look at all of Scripture and put it together into a big picture. The implications of viewing it the “True Woman” way can be destructive on so many levels. I think it’s interesting that one small twist of truth can wreak so much havoc.
Actually, the book is even worse. Here’s what the book teaches about being made in the image of God. According to the book, men and women are made in the image of God in that they reflect the authority/submission structure of the Trinity between God the Father and the Son.
Also, men were created to glorify God. Women were created to help men glorify God.
It’s really bad.
Wowza.
I bookmarked this last week and have been slowly digesting it — I love these kind of conversations. I think the first article got me thinking the most…SO MUCH good information in there. I think what stands out the most is the point that we have to view scriptures like Proverbs 31 through a cultural lens and in context of the entire book of Proverbs (for example, the fact that her lamp doesn’t burn out doesn’t mean that she never sleeps! Amen!).
I also enjoyed the conversation about feminism because so often people make the mistake of being either “for” or “against” feminism when it’s really not that black and white when we look at the whole history of the movement.
Good stuff!!!
I’m so glad these articles were helpful. Thank you for commenting!