Recently I was disappointed when a former friend of mine said that “the Bible is explicit in outlining gender roles in the Church” as a reason why the sign “Women’s rights are human rights” is wrong. We grew up together in Eugene, the gender equality capital of Oregon, and I thought there was an understanding between us, you know? Why would he now choose to parrot this small-minded conservative party line?
Part of me is glad he said something, because now I can address this issue directly and personally. A lot of current male leadership in politics and wide swaths of Modern Christianity would lead you to believe that a man’s role is in leadership and a woman’s is solely at home. This is kind of thinking is reductive to both men and women and frankly needs to be questioned and disposed of.
The Bible does mention men and women’s roles in home, leadership and faith, but much, much more broadly than many Traditionalists are comfortable with. Let’s take a dive, shall we?
Eve. The source of all of women’s issues. She misled her trusting husband, and men have quit listening to women since. At least Adam blamed her for the apple, even though he was with her the whole time. Adam named the animals, but Eve named her sons, and through the lineage of the third, Seth, both her and our salvation came to pass. If God can forgive you and redeem you of your sins, he can certainly forgive and redeem Eve and all women since. If anything, men should fear women preparing them food, so stop making this a thing.
Of course, we don’t have to wait for the New Testament to see example after example of fierce and godly women. Deborah was a prophet, a judge and leader of an army. Abigail defied her husband and supplied David’s men. Jael assassinated an invader with a tent peg. Esther confronted her husband, a pagan king, and blew the whistle on Haman his rotten advisor. Naomi and her immigrant daughter-in-law Ruth won back their inheritance and a place on the lineage of Christ.
While many are obsessed with heroic men of faith, there are also many stories of godly men being gentle and less aggressive than the comic book versions of the Bible stories. We all know that David slew a giant, but he also cared for sheep and sang songs on his harp. He was a warrior and a poet. Esau was a hunter, but Jacob, the chosen one, hung out in the tents with his mom. This balance between strength and gentleness is a reflection of God.
God made both mountains and flowers. Lions and butterflies. Although God can cause fire and flooding and storms, he encouraged the prophets to hear him speak in a still, small voice. If men and women are made in his image, doesn’t it make sense that he has both masculine and feminine traits?
As a carpenter, Jesus was a man who worked with his hands and certainly knew how to both build and tip over a table. However, many of his words and actions flew in the face of gender expectations. “Let the children come to me,” was his response when the disciples tried to drive away the moms and kids. He acknowledged women in many situations. He spoke with the woman of Samaria, healed women and girls, engaged them in conversations and protected them from the religious leaders. It was Mary who listened at Jesus’ feet and not Martha tucked away in the kitchen who chose the right path.
Are we to believe that women shouldn’t feed people and care for children? Of course they can and should, but they aren’t limited to or defined by such tasks. Similarly, Peter and John were fishermen, but those jobs didn’t define them either. They were to be fishers of men first. Several places we see that men and women left their traditional roles of homemakers and breadwinners to follow and support Jesus and later preach the gospel to the masses. After Jesus’ death and resurrection he revealed himself to women first. It was the male disciples who struggled to believe them.
To this day, the male leadership in Christianity often fails to acknowledge women, even though God also reveals himself to us. Sometimes it’s the men in the church who need to be silent.
