bible study in a vacuum? tsk...

I suppose everyone knows the fact that we're deeply influenced and shaped by cultures--whether the cultures were "caught" or "taught" (termed used by Francis Schaeffer). I'm not sure that every Christian realizes that fact, however. Some Christians (myself included) are not aware of the influence nor think it's relevant enough to spend time to identify our presuppositions, let alone where they came from, dismissing cultures as having little to do with living a Christ-centered life. It's like studying the Word of God, and then apply it in a vacuum.

This caught my eye:

In the past decade, we have been transitioning from a “feminist” to a “post-feminist” era. What’s the difference between the two? In the feminist era, feminist ideas were being developed—now they are fully formed. In the feminist era they were touted by philosophers and academics—now they are spouted by everyone. In the feminist era, the ideas were radical—now they are commonplace. In the feminist era, feminist ideas were pushed to be accepted—now they have been integrated. In the feminist era, feminist ideas were identifiable—now they are indistinguishable from mainstream thought.

~http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/01/24/mary-kassian-on-the-church-in-a-post-feminist-world/

I got from the comment section of the above blog entry an audio link, Carolyn McCulley's "Radical Womanhood" workshop message during the NEXT 2009 conference. I listened to it. It's about an hour long, tracing the history of the three waves of feminism and where the ideologies deviates from the Biblical perspective. "The power of woman when she strives not to compete with a man..." What McCulley said in the last several minutes of the clip struck a chord in me.

I still remembered a lady giving her testimony at a local church in San Diego. (I was studying and living in San Diego, which would mean 20+years ago.) She mentioned "wanting to compete" being a bad thing, or a sin, and she quoted a Bible verse. I didn't understand it. Yet, I clearly remember this novel point that "competing with one another" is not a good thing. I still don't fully understand it.

Not that studying these other stuffs should replace studying the Bible, but then the former shouldn't be treated as a distraction from doing the more important Bible Study. It's time to resume some heavy-duty reading of these other stuffs.

becoming beautiful

"And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it."

1 Timothy 2:9-10 (The Message)

"... for those who want to be servants in the church.... No exceptions are to be made for women -- same qualifications: serious, dependable, not sharp-tongued, not overfond of wine. Servants in the church are to be .... diligent in looking after their own affairs."

1 Timothy 2:8-13 (The Message)

Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

After finishing Endor's Doing Things Right, my latest interest is in Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: what defines a man versus what defines a woman? What defines a successful man versus what defines a successful woman?

Needless to say, I'm more interested in thoughts on womanhood; the study of manhood is only for the sake of "compare and contrast." A couple keywords come to mind: being a helper, nurturing, ...

The website of the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) happened to be my first stop, thanks to google search. Under its Web Resource is posted the PDF version of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. A friend gave me a hardcopy some 15 years ago. Didn't get through it -- it was too conservative for me back then and I wasn't interested in why women shouldn't be leaders or pastors at church. Just downloaded the PDF version to at least browse through the topics to get some ideas.

Ensor's Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart

It's about time to jot down my thought after reading this book.

As I shared in my small group last Friday, we all assume different roles as we relate to different people, and it's so important to know and act one's role. For example, in my small group, I'm a group member, and part of the role as a group member would be to support the decision of our group leader (and I mean when it's not too outrageous.) It would be chaotic if I assume the role of a leader when I'm not one! In my fellowship, I'm the "Service" officer. Although not many people outside my fellowship realize what the job responsibility entail, suffice to say if I assume the role of the President or of other posts while being "Service," I'll risk stepping on other people's toes. Of course, these are the general principle and there should be room for exceptional circumstances.

John Ensor states (in my opinion) his Christian, yet somewhat conservative, view of the roles of manhood and womanhood, something that I didn't pay too much attention in the past but find interesting now.

The chapter titles describe his view:

6. He Initiates ... She Responds
7. He Leads ... She Guides
8. He Works ... She Waits
9. He Protects ... She Welcomes Protection
10. He Abstains to Protect ... She, to Test
12. He Displays Integrity ... She, Inner Beauty
13. He Loves by Sacrificing ... She, by Submitting
14. He Seeks His Happiness in Hers ... She Seeks Hers in His
15. He is the Primary Provider for the Family ... She, the Primary Nurturer.

Whether I agree with Ensor's definition of biblical masculinity and femninity, the book makes me realize that the Creator makes distinction between the roles of man & of woman.

Something obvious to you? It takes me a book to get that!