There are so many things that people seem to have an opinion about these days. Whether women work in or out of the home seems to be one of those things that no one can agree on. I came across a blog about that this morning and honestly....and I was heart-broken about it. It was clear that the post was written to "guilt" women into staying at home- even claiming that it is biblical to do so. That may or may not be the case (Scripture is not clear on that- at least that I have seen). But even so, my encouragement to those that have a somewhat fixated view of the woman's role is this:
God created man and woman equal in his eyes. Equal in how he loves them. Yes, we are created for different roles. God created man to do things woman cannot and vice versa. There is nothing wrong with that...at all. What he did not create was a "lesser" being. Not lesser...just different. When we view the two genders through that lens, it allows us to look at it from a different perspective.
You see, humanity has skewed the roles originally created by God. We've even taken scripture and twisted it to support our agendas. And then we've taken that into the Church and attacked other brothers and sisters in Christ under the umbrella of being "biblical". This blog was saying that it was wrong for women to work outside of the home. My response was this:
"I understand what you're saying but I feel like there needs to be a word of caution here. This is one of those "open-handed" issues that we need to be careful with. Scripture is not 100% clear here on that. And honestly, it's not something that adds or detracts from the gospel, so we need to be careful not to cause division or dissension here. All too often we take scripture, interpret it, and then go out on a mission with it. We should consider some things before we do that though: Does it bring glory to God? Does it point us to Christ? Does it build up His Church? Is it pertinent to the gospel? If any of these answers are no, then we need to reconsider our intentions. Whether women choose to stay home or to be in the workplace is a decision that is between them and God and their family. We cannot preach that it is "bad" to not be a homemaker. That does not point people to Christ and it definitely does not build up the church. Women have an incredible opportunity to be used by God both at home and in the work place. I happen to be a SAHM but know and respect a lot of women who are not. Again, arguing this point only brings division and detracts from Christ. Sometimes women don't have a choice...and saying something like this article does nothing but bring them down. That is not what Christ wants for His Church. We need to encourage one another and we need to pray and support those sisters that are out in the secular world front lines everyday- that they can be a light there! So thank you for your opinion, but I encourage you to just think through something like this before its posted next time :)We need to encourage and point each other to Christ first and foremost :)"
So let's remember this for any "issue" that may arise that is not pertinent to the core of the Gospel.
-Does it bring glory to God?
-Does it point us to Christ?
-Does it build up His Church?
-Is it pertinent to the Gospel message?
God calls us to different paths in life. He has a purpose for each of them. We need to focus on encouraging one another in these journeys- not pushing our own agendas. Maybe God has called you to be a homemaker, maybe He's called you into the work place. Wherever He has placed you, may you be open to be used for His glory! Be the light in your home and in your work place!
