Friday, February 25, 2011

Would Jesus Want Boys to Wrestle Girls?

One blogger I read linked to an interesting blog on Christianity Today's website called "her-menuetics" (a play on words which seems to indicate they are interpreting the Bible with "her" in mind).  The article is entitled, "The Argument for Girl-Boy Wrestling."  The author of this particular post, Caryn Rivadeneira, thinks Joel Northup should have wrestled Cassy Herkelman, his female opponent.  Why?  Jesus attitude towards women requires it.  Really?!  She writes:
Jesus seemed to remember this well. He never saw women the way his culture did. He never treated them as they were “supposed” to be treated. Women who were not to be touched, Jesus touched. Women who should have been shunned, Jesus included. Women whose opinions didn’t matter, Jesus sought. Women who were not to learn, Jesus taught.

That was the way Jesus behaved in a terrible-case scenario for women. He provided opportunities. He didn’t shirk away because things could be awkward. He didn’t ease up because women were weak. Jesus treated women like humans. Like breathing, feeling, thinking, capable people.

Jesus touched women, but he didn't wrestle them.  He did show that God, and Christianity, has an incredibly high view of women even when the culture it is in does not.  In our culture women are sexualized or told to be like men.  Both of these extremes must be corrected by the truth that women are valuable in God's eyes, created in his image, and to be treated with respect.  But does this mean boys must wrestle them?  John Piper put it well in his recent post on this issue ("Over My Dead Body, Son") when he said, "Men don't fight against women.  They fight for women."

Rivadeneira reveals her presuppositions when she says, "We screw things up when we focus too much on gender, when we forget that while we are each male or female, and that's a wonderful thing, we are also just people."   We are "just people?"  We are people, but we are not just people.  We are created in the image of God as male and female.  God has designed us this way.  He did not make us androgynous.  Equality of the sexes does not mean there are no differences.  And these differences go to the core of who we are.  They are not just differences in our physical attributes.  We are designed to complement one another.  May God give us grace as we live out these roles that God has ingrained into our very natures so that we might put his glory on display.

Women as Prophets and Leaders In the Old Testament

Last night, at Bible study, someone asked a good question about how we are to understand women in the Old Testament who served in leadership roles.  Here is the question and answer from the booklet, "50 Crucial Questions" (available online here). 

Question 27: How do you explain God's apparent endorsement of women in the Old Testament who had prophetic or leadership roles?

First, we keep in mind that God has no antipathy toward revealing His will to women. Nor does He pronounce them unreliable messengers. The differentiation of roles for men and women in ministry is rooted not in women's incompetence to receive or transmit truth, but in the primary responsibility of men in God's order to lead and teach. The instances of women who prophesied and led do not call this order into question. Rather, there are pointers in each case that the women followed their unusual paths in a way that endorsed and honored the usual leadership of men, or indicted their failures to lead.
For example, Miriam, the prophetess, focused her ministry, as far as we can tell, on the women of Israel (Exodus 15:20). Deborah, a prophetess, judge, and mother in Israel (Judges 4:4; 5:7), along with Jael (Judges 5:24-27), was a living indictment of the weakness of Barak and other men in Israel who should have been more courageous leaders (Judges 4:9). (The period of the judges is an especially precarious foundation for building a vision of God's ideal for leadership. In those days God was not averse to bringing about states of affairs that did not conform to His revealed will in order to achieve some wise purpose [cf. Judges 14:4].) Huldah evidently exercised her prophetic gift not in a public preaching ministry but by means of private consultation (2 Kings 22:14-20). And Anna the prophetess filled her days with fasting and prayer in the temple (Luke 2:36-37).
We must also keep in mind that God's granting power or revelation to a person is no sure sign that this person is an ideal model for us to follow in every respect. This is evident, for example, from the fact that some of those God blessed in the Old Testament were polygamists (e.g. Abraham and David). Not even the gift of prophecy is proof of a person's obedience and endorsement by God. As strange as this sounds, Matthew 7:22, 1 Corinthians 13:2, and 1 Samuel 19:23-24 show that this is so. Moreover, in the case of each woman referred to above we have an instance of a charismatic emergence on the scene, not an installation to the ordinary Old Testament office of priest, which was the responsibility of men.
If you have other questions about issues related to biblical masculinity or femininity, check out the booklet "50 Crucial Questions" or go to the "link" section of this blog and submit it to my question box.

Reflecting on the Sermon: 2/20/11

Rod preached from Romans 8:35-39.  He pointed out the this passage and its context emphasizes that God's sovereign grace saves us and sustains.  God's sovereignty provides me great comfort in all of life.  Nothing, even evil, escapes his control. 

This brings great hope.  As verse 37 says, "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."  It is "in" the midst of suffering, trials, and difficulties that we are more than conquerors.  Suffering will come, but our sovereign God holds us in his love in the midst of them.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

"Boy's Wrestling Girls- A Clash of Worlds and Worldviews"

Here is an article by Dr. Al Mohler (President of Southern Seminary) which deals with what we've been studying on Thursday night's.  He shows how what we've been learning get's played out in society.  It's worth reading.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Sermon on Submission to Complement Our Study

I encourage all, but especially the ladies, to listen to this sermon, "The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission" by John Piper.  Here is a brief excerpt:
The deepest root of Christian womanhood mentioned in this text is hope in God. “Holy women who hoped in God.” A Christian woman does not put her hope in her husband, or in getting a husband. She does not put her hope in her looks. She puts her hope in the promises of God. She is described in Proverbs 31:25: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.” She laughs at everything the future will bring and might bring, because she hopes in God.

She looks away from the troubles and miseries and obstacles of life that seem to make the future bleak, and she focuses her attention on the sovereign power and love of God who rules in heaven and does on earth whatever he pleases. She knows her Bible, and she knows her theology of the sovereignty of God, and she knows his promise that he will be with her and help her strengthen her no matter what. This is the deep, unshakable root of Christian womanhood. And Peter makes it explicit in verse 5. He is not talking about just any women. He is talking about women with unshakable biblical roots in the sovereign goodness of God—holy women who hope in God.

A Challange for Women from John Piper

My earnest challenge and prayer for you women is . . .

1. That all of your life-in whatever calling-be devoted to the glory of God.

2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see
your good deeds and give glory to your Father in Heaven.

4. That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every
area of its teaching; that meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith; that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

5. That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God will be opened to you, and
so the power of faith and holiness will descend upon you; that your spiritual influence may increase at home and at church and in the world.

6. That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God which
undergirds all these spiritual processes; and that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers of these things.

7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific calling; that you not fritter away your time on soaps or women’s magazines or unimportant hobbies or shopping; that you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.

8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to God (the way Jesus and Paul and Mary Slessor and Amy Carmichael did) and not be
paralyzed by the desire to be married.

9. That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you
encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually
primarily through your fearless tranquillity and holiness and prayer.

10. That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord-children who hope in the triumph of God-sharing with your husband the teaching and discipline they need, and giving them the special attachment they crave from you, as well as that special nurturing touch and care that you alone are fitted to give.

11. That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home, the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world; that you not only pose the question: career or full-time homemaker?, but that you ask just as seriously: full-time career or freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom to work for someone who tells you what to do to make his or her business prosper, or to be God’s free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God’s business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or upward lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the faith of the family and advance the cause of Christ.

12. That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various
forms of your life’s ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things-age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God’s will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else’s chapter or whether it has in it what only another chapter will bring.

13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might and maximizing your joy in ministry to people’s needs.

14. That in all your relationships with men (not just in marriage) you seek the
guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women-a leadership which involves elements of protection and provision and a pattern of initiative; that you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.

15. That you see the Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women not as arbitrary constraints on freedom, but as wise and gracious
prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God’s ideal of complementarity; that you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld, but by the countless roles offered; that you look to the loving God of Scripture and dream about the possibilities of your service to him.

Taken from A VISION OF BIBLICAL COMPLEMENTARITY, Chapter 1 pp. 45-46

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Denny Burk on Lady Gaga's "Born This Way"

Denny Burk has an article on the Grammy's ("Grammy Malaise").  The whole thing is worth reading.  Below is an excerpt that I think is very helpful in thinking about Lady Gaga's new song "Born This Way."  The song attempts to put the arguments being put forward for homosexuality into pop form.  In other words, these are common beliefs in our culture, and you will probably hear them more often as they are spread via pop music.  We would do well to pay attention and be ready with responses that are biblical and full of mercy.  Perhaps a good response is to pray for Lady Gaga.  
Ironically, this song and Lady Gaga’s performance was perhaps the program’s best attempt at profundity. “Born This Way” is making a theological point. It contends that sexual orientation is an innate and immutable quality of the human condition—a trait that we are “born” with. Whether you are gay, straight, or whatever, God made you this way, and for that reason you should embrace it. Or as Gaga herself puts it, “I’m beautiful in my way ’cause God makes no mistakes. I’m on the right track baby. I was born this way.”
The message of the song drinks deeply of the “is-ought” fallacy—the idea that we can determine what ought to be by observing what is. The song’s message also flies in the face of the Bible’s depiction of a fallen creation. It is true that God created human beings in His own image and that as a result every single human has intrinsic value and worth (Genesis 1:26-27). It is not true, however, that God endorses every thought and intention of the human heart. We live in a Genesis 3 world in which humanity and the cosmos are fallen and compromised by sin. That means that some of our desires are misdirected—even some of the ones that we are born with. That we desire sin from birth is not a cause for celebratory anthems but an indication of just how desperate the human condition really is (Psalm 51:5; 58:3; Jeremiah 17:9).

"Honk If You Love Anti-Christian Bumper Stickers"

Here is a link to an article I just read by Russel Moore (Dean of the school of theology at Southern Seminary).  I think it relates to what I preached on from Jonah 4 last Sunday.  It is a good reminder of how mercy should come out in our everyday lives...so I'll let this serve as a "reflecting on the sermon" post this week. 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

A Sermon to Complement Our Study on Male Headship

I encourage all in our group (especially the men) to check out this sermon by John Piper entitled "Lionhearted and Lamblike: The Christian Husband as Head Part 2."  It gives good practical application of the truths we learned tonight about male headship in marriage and fleshes out how a husband (which most of you will be one day) is to lovingly lead by providing for and protecting his wife.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Reflecting on the Sermon: 2/6/11

The text was Romans 8:31-34.  The whole sermon was about the comfort and security of the believer's salvation.  The part I found encouraging was when we looked at verses 32-33:
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 
God will never let me go or get tired of me.  If he did the hard thing (not sparing his Son) then he will surely keep me until glory.  There is no sin that God did not know about when he chose to save me.  He nailed every sin to the cross and justified me. What an encouragement when I fail and mess up to know that God is the one who keeps me securely.  

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

A Challenge for Men from John Piper

15 Things that John Piper prays for men to know and seek:

1. That all of your life-in whatever calling-be devoted to the glory of God.

2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see
your good deeds and give glory to your Father in Heaven.

4. That you be men of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area
of its teaching; that meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith; that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

5. That you be men of prayer, so that the Word of God will be opened to you, so the
power of faith and holiness will descend upon you; that your spiritual influence may
increase at home and at church and in the world.

6. That you be men who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God which
undergirds all these spiritual processes; and that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers of these things.

7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific calling; that you not fritter away your time on excessive sports and recreation or unimportant hobbies or aimless diddling in the garage; but that you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.

8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to God(the way Jesus and Paul and Mary Slessor and Amy Carmichael did) and not be
paralyzed by the desire to be married.

9. That, if you are married, you love your wife the way Christ loved the church and
gave himself for her; that you be a humble, self-denying, upbuilding, happy spiritual leader; that you consistently grow in grace and knowledge so as never to quench the aspirations of your wife for spiritual advancement; that you cultivate tenderness and strength, a pattern of initiative and a listening ear; and that you accept the responsibility of provision and protection in the family, however you and your wife share the labor.

10. That, if you have children, you accept primary responsibility, in partnership with your wife (or as a single parent), to raise up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord-children who hope in the triumph of God; that you establish a pattern of teaching and discipline that is not solely dependent on the church or school to impart Bible knowledge and spiritual values to the children; and that you give your children the time and attention and affection that communicates the true nature of our Father in Heaven.

11. That you not assume advancement and peer approval in your gainful employment
are the highest values in life; but that you ponder the eternal significance of faithful fatherhood and time spent with your wife; that you repeatedly consider the new possibilities at each stage of your life for maximizing your energies for the glory of God in ministry; that you pose the question often: Is our family molded by the culture, or do we embody the values of the Kingdom of God? That you lead the family in making choices not on the basis of secular trends or upward lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the faith of the family and advance the cause of Christ.

12. That you step back and (with your wife, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life’s ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things-age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God’s will and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else’s chapter or whether it has in it what only another chapter will bring.

13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might and maximizing your joy in ministry to people’s needs.

14. That in all your relationships with women (not just in marriage) you seek the
guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that expresses your God-given responsibility for humble strength and leadership, and for self-sacrificing provision and protection; that you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as she must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with women.

15. That you see the Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women not as license for domination or bossy passivity, but as a call to servant leadership that thinks in terms of responsibilities not rights; that you see these principles as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God’s ideal of complementarity; that you encourage the fruitful engagement of women in the countless ministry roles that are Biblically appropriate and deeply needed.

Taken from A VISION OF BIBLICAL COMPLEMENTARITY, Chapter 1, pp. 46-47

Friday, February 4, 2011

Reflecting on the Sermon: 1/30/11

We were still in Romans 8:28-30 this week, and I am glad.  What an encouraging set of verses.  I found the whole sermon very encouraging, but the part that stuck out to me was at the end when Rod addressed the question, "How do I know if I'm elect?".  He said the answer is to ask yourself: 1. Do I hate my sin, 2. Do I love God.  Only the Spirit of God can produce a genuine hatred of my sin (as I see how horrible it is) and a genuine love for God (as I see how wonderful he is).  There were many other helpful things from this sermon.  If you missed it, I encourage you to check it out (it will hopefully be on the website soon).