Daily short-read Date: 8 November 2020
Read the first part HERE
No matter the denomination, male church leadership does little more than pay lip service to the concept of equality and mutuality in the church and home. Thus, their women fellow-workers are limited and kept from developing their gifts to their fullest extent. Christ gave the fivefold ministry gifts of apostles; prophets; evangelists; pastors and teachers to the whole church. (Eph 4:11). Women must be prepared to take up their responsibility to function in their gifts.
Single women are often invisible in the church. Even if they have obvious gifts they are viewed with some misgiving and the free exercise of their vocation is limited. Some denominations require that they be ‘under the covering’ of a man. This effectively limits their freedom to serve in any real leadership capacity.
This is not to say women are not put to work and are presented with certificates. But these have little meaning or worth. In practice rarely is a woman with obvious ability appointed as the leader of a church board made up of women and men, or give sole responsibility of making the final decision of where and how the church’s finances are spent.
Rather than depending on a human being to cover them, the blood of Jesus Christ is available for all humankind, women and men, offering them the protection they require ensuring their safety. That blood, shed 2000 years ago, speaks of grace and has never lost its power or sufficiency. Redeemed women and men rest and trust in the blood of Jesus, which shouts of God’s grace alone to save them. Blood bought; blood washed women are not guilty of Eve’s culpability just as redeemed men are not guilty of Adam’s outright rebellion.
To maintain vigorous spiritual heath as believers we must examine ourselves. What do we really believe? Are the very foundations of our faith firm? [1] When the trials of life come will our foundations be shaken?
‘For if the foundations be shaken, what shall the righteous do?’ (Ps 11:3).
When we discover that shaky foundations have been laid in our lives and our present belief system is not sustaining life’s experiences and things just are not adding up no matter what we have been taught, we have to review and cast aside old teachings that rely upon anything but God’s amazing grace.
One of the most alarming things I have seen in the church in the last decade is the slow disintegration of any sound reasoning powers exercised by ordinary intelligent faithful believers. Instead, they seem to be content to stop thinking and just accept every doctrine that comes along. When a question arises in their minds, they shrug their shoulders, react angrily to the lack of teaching in the church, or push it down rather than seeking out the answer.
They may hear something from the pulpit that they cannot equate with their understanding of God or life in general. They may read in a bible commentary or a book from the Christian bookstore teachings that simply do not add up. Their initial reaction is ‘how can that be’, or, ‘why would God’s Word want or say that?’ But that is as far as they take it. Their thought processes have dulled due to lack of use; they lack perception. They may even lack a strong biblical foundation based solely upon God’s grace.
Run With The Vision!
Patricia
[1] A Shaky Foundation Stone: The “Creation Order” heresy. The Freedom Papers. rwvm.online
Coming next Sunday (15 Nov)
The Freedom Papers no. 1 – Part 3: Equality in the church and home