Saturday, April 28, 2012

All Christians Created Equal

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. -- Galatians 3:28

There are many, many reasons I love Jesus but one reason is how much He cared for women and opened doors for them. Jesus went against the culture of His day, allowing women to learn about God and what the Scriptures said.

Women were active participants in His ministry and, unlike most of His disciples, they followed Him to the foot of the cross. We all remember the story of Jesus admonishing Martha for asking that He make her sister Mary help with meal preparations. (Luke 10:38-42) Mary chose to listen to Jesus’ teaching rather than do “women’s work” and Jesus applauded her choice.

Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul. He, too, used women in his ministry. Women learned and taught. Yet some choose only to remember when Paul admonished women to be quiet and learn. (1 Corinthians 14:34)

It’s just so important not to take Scripture out of context. Paul never intended that women should not speak in churches or in public. His other writings clearly include women in ministry in public capacities. However, in the Corinthian culture women were not allowed to confront men in public. Apparently some of the women were questioning men in public worship and that caused trouble. Paul was merely trying to keep unity within the church. (footnotes in the Life Application Study Bible, NIV)

It’s easier for some to believe something else. It helps keep women “in their place” and that’s a sad point of view. Because women do have so much to offer, something Jesus recognized.

Recently a bit of unease surfaced that some women in our church were being treated with disrespect and a little bit of looking down on their views and opinions. I don’t know if it’s true or not. I haven’t witnessed it. But just the thought of it really makes me uneasy.

I came from a church where women are not allowed to hold leadership roles. They are background players who do much of the work but aren’t given the respect and recognition of the men. Nor are women allowed to teach men. It causes much discomfort at times.

So I’m a little sensitive to any thoughts that maybe the opinions of women in the church aren’t as valued as that of men. Jesus intended for all people -- no matter their sex, race or economic status -- to join together as one. No one is more important that another. Everyone deserves to be treated with respect. So that we can work together for the glory of Christ.