This moment has become a memorial to me of sorts. I have often thought back to this when I hear or read things radically different than what I have heard most of my life - especially when I realize I am just parroting some idea or thought that is widely held but rarely challenged.
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about what I learned about women in the Bible and women's roles in church and home. Most of what I heard and thought was what might be considered traditional or conservative. Women supporting men in roles of leadership but not leading themselves. No women pastors or elders.
I am thankful to have landed in a denomination that recognizes women in leadership and I am now a pastor myself, but that didn't keep the old thoughts and rationales from rising up again as I started to read through the Bible at the beginning of the month. There are still so many places in the church where women leaders aren't affirmed. The recent comments from John MacArthur about Beth Moore and the subsequent responses doubling down in his defense started making me feel discouraged. So many voices saying that they are seeing things "biblically" and that the issue was "clear."
As I started the bible reading plan, I asked God to show me as I read through the Old Testament what God thinks about women. Not that I hadn't thought of this before, but I really wanted to hear God for Godself on the issue and not any other voices.
The first story in the bible where anyone has any dialogue has a woman main character. Have you ever thought of that? I don't know about you, but all during my school years, most books we read had male protagonists. If a movie or a book has a female lead, it's usually considered a "chick flick" or "empowering" and the expected audience is female. But here we see a strong female character. She has agency, leadership, influence - she makes a decision to be independent of God and to have the ability to decide good and evil for herself. This is usually considered to be the fall of humanity, but in many senses, it is actually the rise of humanity - this act sets in motion the complicated and intricate plan of redemption and salvation of a people with the freedom to choose.
Several chapters later, the main character of one of the stories is Hagar, a slave woman who has been mistreated and runs away from her masters. In this story, a disenfranchised woman is sought out by God - God appears to her, talks to her, addresses her plight and redirects her path. She gives God a name - "the God who sees." God talks to her again after she is sent away a second time.
Sarah is also a main character in this story with a lot of agency (for good and bad) who is also addressed by God through angelic messengers.
Rebekah is also a strong female character - God talks to her directly concerning her unborn children. In the story of her family, we know about her preferential treatment of her younger son and the role she plays in the trickery that he undertakes to steal the blessing from his brother.
Already in the story that God is telling about God's people, there are enough indications that who the women are and what they do is significant to God. Women are named, have agency, are talked to directly. In most history books that I read in school, I do not remember hearing any stories of women. If there were an occasional story about a woman, she was usually someone's wife or mother (which is also sometimes the case in the biblical narratives) but definitely not disenfranchised or powerless.
I am definitely hearing God loud and clear that women are valued and their voices matter.
Going back to the skunk story, maybe you think it's a stinky example (ha!) since it's so widely acknowledged as being a "bad" smell. I think that is precisely why it is such a great analogy. According to Rachel S. Herz, Ph.D, odor preference is learned and not hardwired. I think that some of the ways that people arrive at their beliefs are influenced by their environment and/or "inherited." I find it refreshing to read and reread God's word with the Holy Spirit guiding my thoughts and pointing out things I hadn't seen before. As Jesus said to His disciples, "every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” I am looking forward to polishing some old treasures that I cherish and also to discovering new ones in the vast storeroom of God's word.
