Radical Womanhood

Sanctity of Life, Gendercide, and Science

Though it may seem like it's been around a lot longer, the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday was declared by President Reagan in 1984, eleven years after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand. In the ensuing years of this observance, the science surrounding the issue of abortion has changed considerably, but the emotions have not. To understand why, it's important to understand the ideological progression of this moral norm. As one author and professed noted, contributions from Jewish, Greco-Roman, and Christian sources expanded this idea in Western culture. 

Much of the history of the past two centuries has involved the expansion and enriching of the concept of life’s sacredness in various forms. It has expanded in that the logic of every human life has demanded universal application—to religious minorities, women, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and property-less, the disabled, and so on. 

At one level, the Roe v. Wade decision represented an attempt to value the sanctity of women’s lives by providing a legal freedom that some believed was necessary to protect it. Thus the most charitable reading of that decision was that it was an effort to stand in continuity with the trend toward the expansion of human dignity, in this case on behalf of women.

For those of us who believe that decision was wrong, we still face the task of showing not just that Roe opened the door to the mass destruction of developing human lives in utero, and that this assaults life’s sanctity. We must also show why Roe does not succeed in advancing the sanctity of women’s lives, and must offer both on-the-ground and legal alternatives that can do better.

Abortion was and is valued by supporters because it is seen in the continuum of the long march for women's rights. While I support many of those rights, I cannot say that pitting the life of an adult woman against her unborn child is a step-up in that progression. I urge pro-abortion supporters to study and know the ideas of people like Margaret Sanger, who purported to advance the cause of women but actually held to the Nazi idea of eugenics that some lives are worth more than others. This is why less than 100 years after Sanger began her crusade for women's reproductive rights, somewhere between 100 and 166 million girls worldwide are missing due to female gendercide, largely because of sex-selective abortions. The terrible irony is that abortion did not ensure that the lives of women were more valued after all.

When Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, the scientific argument in favor of it was based on the issue of "viability." Until a certain stage in the pregnancy, the fetus was seen as just an undeveloped blob of tissue and not a viable life. But even as that argument was being made in the early '70s, the ultrasound machine was being developed and our ability to actually see the wondrous development of human life undercut that argument. In fact, that development led to the famous conversion of an abortionist, a doctor who later made a film showing an abortion on ultrasound called Silent Scream.

With scientific advances like ultrasound technology and prenatal medicine, viability today is a medical collision course where doctors find themselves intervening to either create or save one fetus and then aborting another of the same fetal age. The only determining factor is whether the pregnant woman values or wants that life or not, a position akin to other abuses in history.

Therefore, as a culture we have not really made the progression in human rights that we believe we have.

Since Roe v. Wade in 1973, since the declaration of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in 1984, the ethics surrounding sanctity of life have only gotten more complicated. As one bioethicist told The New York Times, "In an odd way, having more choices actually places a much greater burden on women, because we become the creators of our circumstance, whereas, before, we were the recipients of them. I’m not saying we should have less choices; I’m saying choices are not always as liberating and empowering as we hope they will be."

Though it may seem that the bitter disagreements surrounding this topic will never end, I see that some of the underlying assumptions for abortion have been challenged over time. Therefore, as some of us will acknowledge Sanctity of Human Life Sunday tomorrow, I hope we will not grow weary of standing up for the lives of the pre-born. I also pray our concern for the value of human life will also lead us to fearlessly challenge other human rights abuses, such as human trafficking, modern slavery, gendercide and more. 

To study this topic further, I recommend a new e-book by John Piper, made free courtesy of the Desiring God ministry.

Grace-Motivated . . . Dieting?

It's halfway through January and time to reconsider our new year's goals/resolutions/half-hearted attempts. Here's a thoughtful excerpt from a recent post on The Gospel Coalition blog by Mike Cosper. The two points that seemed most profound to me were these:

• Rather than being motivated by youth culture and absurd (and shifting) standards of beauty, we should be motivated by stewardship: how ready is your body to serve others?
• When thinking about aging, rather than focusing on fighting the signs of age, or living in fear of the effects of aging, we should seek health for the sake of longevity. Should the Lord allow, we want to lovingly and enthusiastically serve God and others for the long haul.

You can read the rest of the entry here.

A Praying Life

"Conversation is only the vehicle through which we experience one another," writes Paul Miller, author of A Praying Life. "Consequently, prayer is not the center of this book. Getting to know a person, God, is the center."

That quote sums up this refreshingly atypical book about prayer. Other books I've read often list formats, acronyms, and methodologies for improving your prayer life, which is sometimes necessary. But this book made me realize how imbalanced I was in trying to evaluate my prayer life through its "effectiveness," i.e. answered prayers. Though I knew that fact intellectually, it was still my default functional theology. I liked keeping prayer journals so I could track how many prayers were answered.  And that's not the point of prayer. Instead, the praying life reveals the heart, Miller writes.

The quest for a contemplative life can actually be self-absorbed, focused on my quiet and me. If we love people and have the power to help, then we are going to be busy. Learning to pray doesn't offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we can develop an inner quiet. Because we are less hectic on the inside, we have a greater capacity to love. ...

We don't learn to love someone without it changing us. That is just the nature of love that reflects the heart of God. Because God's love is unchanging, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus of Nazareth, now has a scarred body. The Trinity is different because of love.

A Praying Life is a book full of encouraging perspectives. Paul Miller invites us into his home and family life to encounter what he's learned about God, prayer, and himself. And he's not one to shy away from the conundrum of "unanswered prayer" that seems to be in contradiction to the promises Jesus made about asking God for what we need and desire. Instead, he unpacks these promises, challenges our faith, and reminds us the story is not over.

When we don't receive what we pray for or desire, it doesn't mean that God isn't acting on our behalf. Rather, he's weaving his story. Paul tells us to "continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving" (Colossians 4:2). Thanksgiving helps us to be grace-centered, seeing all of life as a gift. It looks at how God's blessings impact our lives. Watchfulness alerts us to the unfolding drama in the present. It looks for God's present working as it unfolds into future grace. ...

When the story isn't going your way, ask yourself, What is God doing? Be on the lookout for strange gifts. God loves to surprise us with babies in swaddingly clothes lying in mangers. Sometimes when we say "God is silent," what's really going on is that he hasn't told us the story the way we wanted it told. ... Living in unfinished stories draw us into God's final act, the return of Jesus.

I read A Praying Life in small bites, savoring biblical truths that needed to soak deeply into my soul. Like every believer I know, I am always convicted of my prayerlessness when I read books like this one. Self-sufficiency is a huge temptation for American Christians, from my observation. Though this book convicted me again, it was not condemning to read. Instead, I was highly encouraged to think of my prayers as part of the grand narrative that God is creating. He is using my requests and my efforts in petitioning Him to conform me to the image of Christ. More importantly, He is teaching me how to love. As Miller writes, "How would you love someone without prayer? I mean, what would it look like if you loved someone but couldn't pray for that person? ... Love without being able to pray feels depressing and frustrating, like trying to tie a knot with gloves on. I would be powerless to do the other person any real good. People are far too complicated; the world is far too evil, and my own heart is too off center to be able to love adequately without praying."

I highlighed that passage for the obvious application: If I claim to love someone and I'm not praying for him or her, I'm not truly loving that individual. Love and prayer are bound together in the kingdom of God. A Praying Life is an outstanding resource to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24). Highly recommended.

An Imperishable Inheritance

Happy new year!

This is the time of year when I take a day to reflect on the preceding year, reviewing my prayer requests and giving thanks to God for how He answered and provided for myself, family and friends. But before 2012 rolled in, I already knew what my new year's study theme would be. It came a few weeks earlier, when I found myself thinking that certain blessings had passed me by and I was wondering how that came to be. I truly don't lack much of anything, but it's tempting at times to consider the bigger, better, shinier objects that other people have and wonder if that will ever come my way. As such a fleeting thought crossed my mind, I immediately felt the loving correction of the Holy Spirit: "Your inheritance is not here. It is in Christ." Thus I knew that the theme of inheritance would be my study topic over my new year's retreat.

Today, as I reviewed the Bible for this theme, I was especially encouraged by the ideas found in Ephesians 1, the listing of the spiritual blessings we have in Christ:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14, emphasis mine)

Adoption, redemption, forgiveness, inheritance ... these are rich promises. 1 Peter 1:4 elaborates further, calling this inheritance "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading." And Colossians 1:12-13 says the Father has qualified us "to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son."

That phrase, the "inheritance of the saints in light," reminded me of a testimony I'd heard many years ago when I was a new believer. It was given by an Australian man who had a near-death conversion experience after being stung by the venomous box jellyfish. Ian McCormack's testimony was incredibly vivid (I still recall all the details more than a decade later), but it was his description of encountering the love of the Lord as a wave of light that was most compelling to me. After he gave this testimony, someone asked him how he was changed by this experience (apart from his death-bed conversion). He said that since he now knows whose he is and where he is going, he is able to live this life free from concern. I recall hearing that and wanting to have that same assurance ... but I do have it. It is all in the Scriptures. 

That said, sometimes it is helpful to consider the same concept from a different perspective. So for that reason, I am sharing Ian's dramatized testimony. It is a 45-minute film. At about 21 minutes, you'll find the scene I was describing above. At the close, Ian comes on screen to share the biblical references for his experience. I know little else of Ian's life except that he's now a pastor and church-planter, but his testimony and evangelistic message has been consistent for nearly 30 years. So I trust it will also encourage you for your own life, as well as strengthen you as you intercede for others who seem resistant to the gospel.

Church-Planting and the Single Woman

(This is a guest post I wrote for Crossway Books' blog. I look forward to your feedback!)

Two years ago this month, I joined a group of people who were starting a new church in Arlington, VA. Men, women, families, and single adults made up our team of primarily young adults who were moving to the urban suburb that once was part of the nation’s capital.

As with any new venture, it was all-hands-on-deck to launch our church, and that meant single women were integral from the start. One of the pillars of the team was a then-single woman named Johannah—the administrative assistant who kept everything on schedule, allowing our lead pastor to concentrate on the vision and theological foundation for the new church. (Johannah was married this month and moved a few hours away, a bittersweet moment for our pastors!) Another single woman, Lauren, helps administrate our children’s ministry and co-leads a weekly prayer group. Jen assists a single man who leads one of our small groups. Several single women joined the worship team, contributing their skills as musicians or vocalists to serve the congregation in music. Others signed up for communion service, women’s Bible studies, meal coordinators, greeters, outreach ministries and much more.

From the start, single adults—men and women—were treated as serious components of this new venture. Perhaps it helped that our lead pastor had been a singles pastor for many years and was attuned to the serious contributions single adults can make within the church. Or maybe because the residents of our new hometown are largely single, too—nearly half of Arlington’s households are single residents.

But contextualization and previous pastoral experience aside, Scripture reveals how important single adults, especially women, are to the church. After all, the first church ever planted in Europe began with a single woman.

Lydia, a successful businesswoman in the luxury trade of purple cloth, was the first person that Scripture records responding to the apostle Paul’s preaching when he reached Philippi (Acts 16:11-15). Her immediate and joyful response was to offer hospitality to Paul and his disciples. From there, the church in Philippi began to meet in her home.  Due to her business, Lydia was no doubt influential in her city, but she was far more influential in the spread of the gospel as she teamed with Paul and Silas to establish the church there (Acts 16:40).

Today’s single women are just as necessary for new churches. While our leadership-focused American culture can put so much emphasis on the individual who leads any organization, a leader without committed and fruitful followers is leading a vacuum. A church-planter is one individual among many—a very gifted and called individual, for sure, but he can’t do it alone. And one of the ways he can ensure a new church will take root is to encourage the women of his church, married and single alike, to follow Lydia’s example in using their homes as outreach centers. Scripture does not make room for the American concept of the home as a personal retreat from the intrusions of others. Instead, we are to follow the many New Testament commands to offer hospitality and thereby connect with those around us—hospitality is not contingent upon marital status!

Lydia’s example is also relevant for the workplace. She traded in a luxury item and obviously had much influence in the marketplace to be able to do so.  A single women today can also exert much influence in the marketplace and needs the support of a diverse church to help her wisely reach out to fellow workers.

Phoebe’s example is important to consider, as well (Romans 16:1-2). Paul calls her a patron, a benefactor of himself and many others. Like Lydia, Phoebe was also likely to be wealthy and well-connected, carrying Paul’s letter to the Romans to introduce him to believers there who had not experienced his ministry in person. Her wealth and social connections helped Paul to spread the gospel. But it was her service to her local congregation in Cenchreae that caused Paul to refer to her as diakonos, the word most often translated as “deacon” elsewhere in Scripture. No matter your ecclesiology or polity today, church-planters need single women who are so committed to serving the church that they are known as sisters and helpers who invest the gifts and talents they’ve received for the benefit of the gospel. In turn, we single women should be as eager to carry the rich truths of Romans to others as Phoebe was!

The beauty of church-planting is that it is symbiotic. Church-planting pastors need fruitful and committed members to embody their vision for a new church, and a diverse flock needs a gifted and called group of elders to lead them in a new adventure. Each are gifts to the other, evidences of grace from a generous heavenly Father who is eager to build his church so that through it, the manifold wisdom of God would be on display (Ephesians 3:10).

From the beginning of the church, single women have been making important contributions to the advance of the gospel—and that call remains on us today.