Gang, for those of you who know me, I am an insufferable advocate of women in ministry, especially in the pastorate. I have never shied away from supporting a woman doing WHATEVER she felt called to do.
I set that up as a qualifier to frame what I am about to say, lest someone falsely accuse me of a track record of supporting women in anything other than a sterling and wholly-consistent manner.
There is a passage in Deuteronomy that struck me this morning and I wanted to share it with you.
“…for they would turn your SONS away from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the L-RD would be kindled against you, and He would destroy you quickly.
Deuteronomy 7:4 ESV
Gang, the sons, the men, are critical to to the survival of the nation’s serving the L-rd. This is not diminishing the dignity of the women in a nation’s design, but, given the statistics regarding families who serve the L-rd, and the reality that when men serve the King, a greater percentage of the full family also comes to the L-rd, (according to one LifeWay study, as much as 93% chance likely that the rest of the family comes to the L-rd if Dad does) is something to consider.
Meaning, sons’ moving toward or away from the King has a greater impact on families than all other factors.
And when we castigate the men in a culture (not saying chauvinism or sexism toward females ought be our practice) we do so to our own peril.
So, ladies who follow the L-rd, pray pray pray pray pray, and believing men and children, pray.
G-d has an anchoring purpose for the men in your life.
Encourage them as often as you might.
And be at peace.
Huh. I always attributed it to women not being taken seriously because of perceptions of hysteria – when they believe it’s because belief is mystical and emotional, and when men believe it is because what they believe must be logical and true. Or at least people perceive this to be the case. But… why is one mode seemingly more convincing than the other?
Is converting fathers key to converting entire households quickly and in a wholesome manner? I’m thinking mainly of the Philippian jailer and his family who Paul converted in Acts.
Do some men or women wait to convert (consciously or unconsciously) until their father dies, and they become head of house in the spiritual sense? Would they sense a shift in freedom at this point? How would you approach a spirit who is determined to wait and not embrace their essence or calling until the father who scorned them has died?
I think what awaits us as part of the solution to this knotty problem is whether or not we will take seriously the priority of ministry to the human spirit.
A lot of what we Couchez ministry is really just Saul care, they completely ignores the priority and the necessity of ministering to the spirit. Most of the time the spirit gets ignored when really it shouldn’t and if we would engage the masculine spirit as well as we do the feminine spirit and engage with masculine forms of worship as we engage with feminine forms of worship, we might see a shift.
The fathers are critical (Malachi 4 doesn’t mention the mothers hearts turning to the sons.
And while Lois and Eunice were critical, I do not believe they were ideal for Timothy or the first resort.I think this is part of the reason why Paul was necessary to circumcise Timothy, because a woman circumcising a young man in the faith would most certainly have been seen as emasculating. And we have enough issues with that in the church. We truly need the fathers’ hearts to be turned toward the sons. Without that element, our faith becomes flaccid.