A Woman's Place

Hi peeps! Yes I'm bizaaaaaccckk! Hope you've all been well and keeping the faith.

Right. I'm writing today because last night I went to watch a screening of Diary of a Tired Black Man with some friends (wave :-)) last night, and while the documentary itself was interesting , but for me the discussions a bunch of us had before and after the screening were most poignant.

The director of the movie was there with his wife, and they were talking about how they endeavour to manage their home and life according to Biblical principals, eg. the man being the head of the house as Christ is the head of the church. Now, this is something I agree with, particularly as I recognise that marriage is/should be a reflection of the relationship that Christ has with the Church (the worldwide body of believers) as his bride. Which means that men should seek to treat their wives and families with the same respect and lovingkindness that Christ lavishes on us. It's not a relationship of domination but cooperation, trust and mutual respect.

So in the discussion it came up how society and indeed the structure of families and communities have changed drastically since the 1950s, undeniably aided by popular value systems such as feminism and the media. Women and men have bought into it because it appeals to our selfish nature, our egos and greed.

While women have been told they are equal to men and that society has been holding out on them, some men welcome aspects of feminism because they want women to share the burden of work too in order to fund their own aspirational lifestyles of the rich and famous. Other men support the independent woman movement just because they have a hard time accepting a woman spending money they earned (selfish maybe? hmmmmmm). Others genuinely believe we are equal and as such should be able the same rights if we want to.

Now, does this remind anyone of the first whisper of temptation? (God doesnt want you to fulfill your potential and be as good as Him, He's holding out on you, do this and you too can be like Him!) And what happened? Adam and Eve believed the lie and were deceived. They tried to encroach on the natural order of things and what happened? Disorder for generations to come!

Isn't this what has happened to the family, to male-female roles and relationships? Hasn't this snowball picked up pace and now crushing communities and societies with ever increasing force and pace?

Oh the wonder of God's truth! He set everything up from the beginning as it should be, because believe it or not, being God, He knows best.

The sad thing is that in some communities it would appear that many women don't have the luxury of being women and have forgotten what it means, while some men don't actually know how to be men.

We have generations of men raised in single-parented households who become accustomed to seeing women as providers, and then we wonder why the men just don't seem able to make even basic steps towards becoming providers. These same men go on to reproduce and are notably absent or poor providers for their own offspring, who then go on to be raised by patriarchal mothers.

So what's the solution? It's interesting that the death of the modern family is being lamented from all corners, yet few acknowledge that the way home is a return to the Biblical order of male-female relationships. However there is growing recognition that feminism may have hatched a monster:

How's the fruit taste, Eve?

It's hard for our egos to accept that the flattery that makes us feel so good might not be true. I'm not saying married women and mothers should not be recognised for their contributions to the economy and political life. But you know what? What's good for one person is not necessarily good for the well-being of all. Actually my friend Paul said it better - "All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient." (1 Corinthians 6:12)

For the model to work, we need to see men earning the trust of women and stepping up to the plate, willingly prepared to take on the role of provider, giving women room to express their femininity as God intended, in a role that both are happy with, whether that role be in the workplace, community or in the home.