A Word to Women
Here's a little bit:
Read the whole article.Before I came to the foreign mission field full time, I tried to take various measures to win the lost both at home and in other countries, such as handing out tracts or befriending lost people and witnessing to them. But since being married, the Lord has revolutionized my view of ministry. Because I am now a wife, my role is one of support. It is my job to back up my husband and help him in his calling as a missionary, not necessarily to be the missionary.
As I walk through the streets here in Ukraine, I often see needs that overwhelm me. Poorly dressed beggars sitting in the cold wind, drunks sprawling on the pavement, stylishly dressed women with long, cold faces, purposeless teenagers with beer bottles in hand. But not only am I unable to reach or minister to all of these people, but I have had to realize that this is not my calling. My job as it is clearly delineated in the Scripture is to build my home, to serve my husband, to keep his castle, fix his meals, and raise his children. To honor and to love him. (Titus 2: 4-5) I fix sandwiches for him when he goes on long road trips to minister in another town. I clean the house so that it is ready for Bible study on Sunday morning with our lost friends. I greet him with a smile when he comes into our house off of the cold, cheerless streets. I write thank-you notes to people who have helped support us so that his time is available for other things. My main purpose is serving my home and my family. (Proverbs 31: 27 “She looketh well to the ways of her household…”)
I am not saying that I am never supposed to hand out a tract, or speak to someone about the Lord and testify of him, or encourage other women in the things of the Lord. Those are and can certainly be part of my work here. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and have a responsibility to identify with him boldly and to shine as a light in the world. But as I look at the Scriptures, I see that the Gospel as a whole was never committed unto women. The great commission was given unto men, it was the 12 disciples who were sent out to preach in pairs and cast out devils, the church of God was begun and spread by men, and we see consistently that men are given the job of preaching, teaching and leading the church.
HT to Natalie.
posted by Crystal Paine at 4:58 PM
5 Comments:
I enjoy how honest she is.....it makes me look at myself and see too, that I am in a mission of support to my husband and family....sometimes - especially recently, I have been frustrated at the fact I can't "get anything done".....when in fact, I AM getting things done - the things that God has directed me to do as a wife and mother. The Words of Scripture that go something like "and the women will be saved by childbirth" have new meaning to me.
This was so wonderful....I have not thought of my ministry to my husband in such this way before.
Thanks so much for sharing
Thank you SO much for posting this, Crystal! As a woman who is married to a future missionary and has a passion to reach the world herself, this was such an encouragement! (We plan to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators.) I have been coming to the conclusion over the past few years that my role in missions is to support my husband and make HIM more successful in his calling than he would be alone. This was EXACTLY the encouragement I needed today - it's so good to know there are other missionaries out there who feel the same!
I agree with basically all of this, except for the last paragraph. It seems like limiting the urgency of Gospel proclamation to mainly men could be dangerous. For example, can we safely say that because the Great Commission was "only" given to the 11, that the "Gospel as a whole was never given unto women"? Wouldn't that same logic dictate that much of the Gospels' teaching wouldn't primarily apply to us as women since it was taught to "only" the men. And what about women like Priscilla or Phoebe (Rom 16:1,2) who obviously played important roles? And who first shared the good news? Mary Magdelene.
I guess I've seen that Gospel proclamation MUST be intentional, and that we as women run into people our husbands would never get to minister to, such as at the grocery store or fellow neighbors. If we aren't focused on the Great Commission's mandate, we might very easily let the moments slip by, rationalizing it by saying, "Well, God just tells me to be a keeper at home, so I'm doing what I'm supposed to."
Again, I think basically all of Kelsie's comments are right on, but I just want to caution that we shouldn't ever say that the Gospel is not our primary responsibility. To do so could cause us to miss a lot of God's plan for us as homemakers.
To those who posted in disagreement with this post whose posts I did not post because I don't want this to turn into an argument over women's role in missions: I encourage you to keep reading this blog and don't base your entire assumptions on what we believe here based upon one post. We do believe strongly in the husband's/father's role of being a leader in the home and we do not believe that men should be neglecting their families for the sake of ministering outside the home. But, this blog is to build up and encourage women, not men, in their roles. Thanks and God bless you!
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