Engaging Holiness

Last night I was doing a study on the use of the word 'encourage' as it is found in Scripture. As it turns out, encourage, sophronizo in Greek, is used only in Titus 2:4,

so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children (NASB).

The term refers to discipleship in a restorative sense, suggesting that the passage is emphasizing a better way for women to live than the way to which they were accustomed. A brief study of what Crete was like at the time reveals a society of great immorality. In contrast to what were the casual norms of that society, Titus was instructed to teach about conduct and character that "accords with sound doctrine" (2:1). For women, this meant that older women were to mentor younger women, exhorting them

to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled (ESV).

In light of the youthfulness of the church in Crete which is noted by the fact that Titus was there to appoint elders (1:5) in every city, it would make sense that the Christians had not yet learned to live in a way which brought glory to God and an opportunity for the Gospel. The Cretans, essentially liars and drunkards, needed to be discipled, to learn to live in ways which did not reflect poorly on the message of Christianity or the person of Christ. These were not believers who were solidly rooted in the doctrine of the church; heresy was rampant, not really at odds with truth because the church was too young to boldly proclaim truth. This climate enabled men and women to live in whatever way was pleasing to them. The instructions to women in 2:4-5 provided a dramatic change from the life they were use to.

So now I want to turn your attention to the fact that I began this particular study of Titus because women are often drawn to this and Proverbs 31 as core areas of study. Entire ministries are built upon these passages, used as platforms for promoting certain ideals for women that understand these passages through the lens of 1950’s Western culture. I am not in dispute with the clear message of Titus 2, that women are to love their families and keep their homes and to submit to their husbands, but 1) how this looks varies by era and culture and 2) displaces single women or forces them into marriages of spiritual expedience. How women live as believers in our culture is the same as it was for the women in Crete: to love their families, to live pure and holy lives, and to use moderation in all things. For women who are not married, these principles exist for them as well. From Titus 2:4 we get a general picture of the holy life, not a set of particulars on things such as homeschooling our kids, career and education, or an injunction that all women should learn to be great cooks. What we get is an understanding that Christian living involves setting ourselves aside for the benefit of others, an example of how Jesus lived and died. In Crete, men and women who identified themselves as Christians needed to be restored to the cause of Christ by learning how to live in a way that did not actively engage sin. And as the more mature believers were brought into a closer relationship with the Son of God and learning to live in a way that reflects this change, they then had the opportunity to influence more immature believers. As any good entrepreneur knows, an effective path to success is to be able to duplicate what you do. Titus was able to appoint and train elders, they in turn were able to train the more mature members of the churches, and they in turn were able to disciple the younger members. I’m excited to continue in this tradition, to mentor and be mentored, but not if that means understanding Titus 2 as a set of particulars that coincide with a certain subset of the evangelical subculture in the 21^st century.

Proverbs 31 Women. . .

Yesterday I spent some time on Evangelical Outpost getting caught up on reading some earlier posts. If you haven’t been introduced yet – I strongly encourage you to pour yourself a mug of your favorite drink and plop yourself down in front of your computer screen and get acquainted.

The Proverbs 31 Woman post caught my eye and held my attention long enough to read Joe’s perspective on an article about the dangers of marrying a career woman. I anticipated a lively debate in the comments. Yikes! There was some blood drawn on every side of the discussion.

Without getting into the particulars, (because you should read it yourself) I wanted to comment on the tone of the comments. This is something that has been with the church as long as the debate about the spirituality of sisters Mary and Martha – exactly the same, only different. (Sarah has some good things to say on that topic, so I will leave that to her in a future blog.)

Part of the issue involved is a question of semantics – everyone seems to have their own working definition of “career woman” – no pun intended - with each individual shading the definition just a tad. That right there is enough to cause a train wreck.

It seems to come down to the validation of my opinion riding on the devaluation of your opinion.

If God is as big as we all seem to think He is – can’t we trust Him enough to work in and through the people sitting across the table from us? Somehow I think we have lost sight of the fact that the position of THE Holy Sprit has already been filled. We don’t need to take pot shots at each other because we are traveling down the same road with slightly different baggage.

I was a stay-at-home mom. Some days it was fun and easy and some days it was not-so-fun and difficult. But even with my staying home, Dave and I chose to send our kids to public school. We did so with the understanding that we would be very active in their classrooms and PTA. We did so - not because we were lazy but because we determined that was best for our family. We take full responsibility for that choice.

A home-schooling mom from our church had been misled about our family’s education choice. She thought she recognized a kindred spirit in me and went on to share that she wept for the church kids who were forced to go to public school because their parents were not in-tune with God’s will for families. That was just as offensive as public school parents saying that home-schoolers are legalistic control freaks when it comes to their children.

I have dear friends who are home-schooling their children and it is a wonderful testimony to God’s leading in their family. I also have dear friends who teach in the public schools and chose to educate their children there and have had a phenomenal impact on the schools and their districts. Isn’t this a little like God’s divine plan for Peter and Paul?
Same Gospel – different divine strategy plans.

Women need to start at the core issue – new life in Christ. And then we need to stop being so judgmental about the paths each of us choose to take. Finally, we need to be supportive and open and give God the opportunity to allow us to learn from each other.