This weekend, I started reading "50 Crucial Questions: An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood" by John Piper and Wayne Grudem... a condensed version of their 1992 co-edited book.And what a weekend to begin reading such a book!
On the one hand, we have Ted Haggard, already admitting to indiscretion and poor judgment. I don't want to get into criticizing the man. But it's such a sad and awful fall; such a reminder to all of us how human we are. How easy it is for any of us to fall into sin, as leaders, as men, women... each and every one of us are so sin-prone!
On the other hand, we have newly elected leader of the Episcopal church, Katharine Jefferts Schori. A former oceanographer who "decided to pursue full-time ministry after federal funding for her scientific research dried up" (read that again- those are yahoo.com's words, not mine), she's for ordaining gay bishops and clearly has no problems with women taking any leadership roles in the church. Her resume alone suggests that she's likely say, 'save the whales, kill the babies.' During the ceremony in which she officially became the leader of American Episcopalians, "she received blessings in Hebrew from a rabbi, in Arabic from a Muslim scholar, along with receiving prayers in several other languages." While "some Anglican leaders reject the idea of women's ordination, Jefferts Schori has said they'll have to 'get over it.'" Sounds like a thoughtful, biblical response you'd expect from a major leader in an American Christian denomination, eh?
Where, oh where, are the examples of biblical manhood and womanhood? We certainly don't find them in the news or in all places of leadership. We ought to be very careful who we admire, and who we follow. This is yet another reason why we ourselves must stay in the Word, and why we must keep the Word in front of our children. They need to be able to evaluate -from a biblical perspective- whom to admire & follow, and, as this weekend's news reveals, whom not to admire & follow.
3 comments:
Amen! No additional comment is needed! I agree wholeheartedly! Love, Mom
Another Amen!
The last great well-known Christ-filled woman that I can recall was Mother Theresa of Calcutta. She told a group of people, including Bill and Hilary Clinton of the evil of birth control and when she won her Nobel Prize instead of having the usual elaborate dinner they are awarded, she used the money for the poor.
However, generally I would suspect that most women following our Lord are doing it humbly, quietly and in their own homes, as his mother did.
Suzanne
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