Do you ever have those moments where you feel like the Lord is whispering the same thing over and over to you, and from lots of different avenues and people? Like you read about freedom in Galatians, then your book talks about freedom in Christ, then you listen to a speaker whose sermon (unrelated to the reason you're reading Galatians or your book) is all about freedom, then you watch your guilty-pleasure television show and the topic of freedom is woven into the storyline. It's just every where. It's happened a few times that I remember and it feels like the Lord's saying, "HEY YOU!!!!! I'M TRYING TO GET YOUR ATTENTION!!! If this isn't going to help you remember what I want you to learn, then I'm going to have it pop up everywhere around you. LISTEN!"
Recently the subject that has been rolling around and around in my mind is role of women in the church. I go to a complementation church (if you don't know what that means, google it!). In general, we believe that men and women, while equal, have distinctly different roles in the church. In even more general terms, one of men's roles is leadership, and one of women's roles is the helpers. I think this term has been largely misunderstood in the church.
Let me try to explain....
The best way I know how to put the understanding in my mind onto paper is by drawing an analogy. Let's look at John the Baptist. JTB was a very humble man. His entire ministry was about making Jesus look good. Over and over and over again he'd say "I am not the Christ," and exclaiming it wasn't about him, it was about the one coming after him. He even said that he was unfit to tie the sandals on Jesus's feet. JTB was a humble man--he was all about making Jesus look good, not gaining fame for himself.
When we think of humbleness today, we generally don't think about the man up on stage. When we imagine who in our life we think is humble, we think of sweet, shy Sally who loves Jesus fiercely but isn't much of a talker. I think we often confuse humility with being quiet.
JTB is anything but shy! The dude was passionate, and loud, and honestly a little crazy. By putting his humility on display, he revealed glimpses of majesty and glory to this man from Nazareth called Jesus. While humble people can still be quiet, or shy, they can also be loud leaders.
Sometimes being a helper has taken on a negative connotation to women who want to be leaders, and sometimes being a helper has been interpreted as being the admin assistant while others do ministry. Neither are right nor true.
Leah was caring and faithful to a man that loved her sister more than her, and she was granted children and eventually Jesus through her lineage.
Tamar's righteousness convicted Judah and so he returned to following the Lord's commands.
Ruth followed and cared for her mother-in-law, risking the possibility of never having a family of her own, because she believed in God.
Rahab lied to the soldiers of Jericho, risking her life, to protect the Israelites because she believed in their God.
These women were each helpers: Leah to her children, Tamar to Judah, Ruth to her mother-in-law, and Rahab to the soldiers and her family. All of their helping was active and risky, and all led to others seeking righteousness.
My prayer, church ladies, is that we'd gladly put on the title of helper. I pray the Lord would give us eyes to see helper as more than taking care of the menial (though that is good too!), but see it as an active, brave participation in God's calling for us. That through our fierce pursuit of righteousness and obedience to the Lord's asking, the Lord would reveal himself to the souls of those he has granted us influence over.
