Confessions of a "Home Depot Dropout" - Part 2 of 5

Posted on Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 04:12

   The MotherWise Mission and Vision Statements read as follows:

Mission

"Our ministry has a global mission to embrace, educate, and encourage families in absolute surrender and total abandonment to Christ. We are a community of believers networking to reach the hearts of families through MotherWise and FatherWise Bible studies, a global intercessory prayer network, and mentoring."

Vision

"Our objective is to inspire mothers to profess faith in Jesus Christ, to pass on the blessing of effective communication about her faith to her children, and to provide her with information about mothering skills that will give her the tools to empower and not impair her children."

   These are noble, laudable goals, meeting some real needs.  But did you catch it?  “Studies, skills, mentoring, instructing, building, rearing, praying, empowering, educating, networking” and my personal favorite: “providing her with information … and tools”…. 

    Swell.  Just what I need.  Another hammer.  Home Depot, here I come!

  Revisit this phrase that MW uses to describe itself.  Digest it slowly this time:

   "...Denise Glenn's Bible Study materials will take you deep into God's Word to find the answers you seek to build a solid marriage and rear godly offspring.”

   Nothing wrong with that, but do you see the underlying assumption here?  (Hint: It starts with "to find the answers....")  MW - and many others - mention "answers," but lemme ask this: "What's the question?" 

    Still with me?

    Let me emphasize that there’s nothing” wrong” with MotherWise.  That's not the point.   I’m using MW as an example of the typically myopic, mind-numbing “Home Depot” mentality of “women’s ministries” that are as tiresome and overworked as a soda jerk on Friday night.  Besides, I have another question.  Where in these noble, laudable statements is a woman’s Heart??

   IMHO, MotherWise and countless similar “women’s ministries” start at the wrong place.  With rare exceptions, “women’s ministries” invariably begin with: “What is a woman’s role, function, position, duties, and responsibility?  What should she be doing – with her husband, her kids, friends, church?  In her marriage, family, ministry, Sunday school class, kitchen, living room, bedroom, closet and garage?  What’s her role as a girl, woman, wife, mother, or `worker’ – either stay-at-home or outside-the-home?” 

   There’s nothing wrong with that.  But I wonder – why start at “Home Depot”?  Wouldn’t it be better and more helpful to start with a question.  Maybe a couple.  Like, “What IS a woman?  What’s her design?  Why did God create Eve?  Who IS she?”

   To answer this, we have to go back to square one.  The beginning.  Genesis.  Take a look at Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 2:20b-23.  (That’s okay.  I’ll wait.)  While your “fingers do the walking,” I’ll throw this in for free:

   Could God have raised both ish (Hebrew word for “man”) and ishshah (Hebrew word for “woman”) from the dust of the ground simultaneously?  Sure.  Then why didn’t He?  Why did God choose to create ISH first, and draw ISHSHAH out of man's rib/side/corner?  (A number of Hebrew scholars lament the use of the word “rib” as frequently translated in the above passages – but that’s a topic for another time.) 

   Did God forget to create woman at the start?  ("Oops!")  Did God draw her from man as an afterthought, an appendage?  Of course not.  God didn’t forget.  He waited for man to desire woman, to feel a hurt, an emptiness.  A void.  God waited for Adam to feel a need for Eve before He created that beautiful creature: woman.

   Look at Genesis 2:18.  What is Adam missing?  Eve.  Woman.  Femininity.  The crown of creation.  Not an afterthought.  Not an appendage or a nice addition, like frosting on a cake.  Eve is the final, astonishing work of God!  Woman.  The Creator’s finishing touch.  The conductor’s crescendo.  His  piece de resistance. 

   Wow.  

-- Stay tuned for Part 3 --