Sometimes being a girl stinks.
I tried to encourage a student at Urbana last week. She feels held back in leadership because she is a girl. (A very beautiful, kind and qualified girl for that matter!) I learned that she had received some freedom through prayer ministry later. But I found myself thinking about how this connects with the idea of following Jesus…
I gave her this advice: maybe it isn’t up to her to reconcile the whole question on women in ministry this year. (I am still wrestling with headship theology, being a working mom and preaching in the midwest and I’m 36! And I’m not alone in that…)
Instead I encouraged her to ask God what He wanted for her life. If the Spirit was leading her, then that could be enough for now.
Funny, as I’m writing this, I remember being a senior at Hamline, considering staff. My boyfriend at the time was not supportive of women in certain areas of leadership. I was trying to figure out how staff work and women in ministry overlapped and where it broke down. A mentor of mine said this same thing: Is God calling you to staff? If the answer is yes, then I guess He wants women in ministry.
What if we spent less time justifying our beliefs, our theology and our hermeneutics and more time asking God what He wants for our lives? Perhaps this is partly what He means when He tells us not to judge each other. “First take the log out of your own eye. Then deal with the speck in your friend’s.”
Following Jesus: it might just look different for everyone.
For me today it means helping Elam deal with being sick. Chatting it up with my hairdresser (thanks Kali for a great cut!) and her friend Sarah about why I don’t watch Downton Abbey (*gasp). Calling my mom and debriefing Urbana. And going to bed early.
What does it look like for you?