Saturday 31 May 2008

Lies

This week's question from Christian Women Online is...

What are some lies out in the world (secular views) today about women that contradict what God says in His word about how women should be/act? Diving a little deeper…What are some lies that are still out there in our Christian circles about women?
Hmmm, this is a question that I approach with caution for two reasons, firstly I am not as familiar with the Bible as this question suggests I should be; and secondly - despite the first reason I do know that there are sections of the Bible that we just would not dream of applying to modern life such as killing someone for working on the Sabbath (and I have to admit that I only know this because I watched the West Wing!)

My first thought is that the Bible was written in a vastly different era and while Christians should at least study it in order to develop a deeper understanding of their faith, I do not think that we should take it as written (!) that this is what God says. Which, I know, is a strange thing to say seeing as the Bible does form the basis of the Christian faith! But, what I do think that we need to remain aware of is that the Bible is God's word as interpreted by others, i.e. the patriarchal society that was in force when the Bible was written, and we need to reinterpret it according to today's society.

But that's getting off the subject! I think that one of the strongest secular views about women is that there is the perfect size for women, you know what I mean - women are denigrated for being too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, too whatever! So how on earth are we supposed to know what the 'perfect' image is if we are bombarded from all directions that we are too something?

I am certain that there are others who could select better snippets from the Bible, but like I hinted above - I am just beginning to find my way around the Bible and my own faith, so here goes...in Isaiah 29:16 it says
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay? Shall the thing made say of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of the one who formed it, "He has no understanding"?
This to me completely throws out the general societal view that women should attain the perfect image, after all, who are we to say that God got it wrong by creating the tall or skinny or brunette or deaf or autistic or whatever else we may be! Okay, so I am not actually focusing on what the Bible specifically says about women, but the point is that there is no standard that we are held to other than we were made in his image as it says in Genesis.

I feel as though I could say a lot more about this, but then I get all tangled up in what I feel about this particular issue and how so many women (and men) deal with such emotional trauma because in the eyes of others they are not perfect or even attempt to attain a standard; when what we should really be doing is accepting each other for who we are rather than frowning at them because they have another biscuit or even frowning at them because they are picking at a salad and not eating enough!

Argh - like I said - I think I could waffle on for a books worth on the subject, so I will leave it at the point that there is no such thing as the perfect image and that there are far more important things in life to worry about!

8 comments:

Shari said...

I agree there are more important things to worry about. However, I started my day stepping on the bathroom scale disgusted that I still weigh too much. Here's the interesting thing - my children eat more than I do. I don't think that I overeat, but feel guilty if I have snack at night. Appearance seems to be something that women really struggle with, even Christian women. Too bad that I fit right in there with them.

Sam said...

Shari,

I too am guilty of thinking that I weigh too much and so I try to make sure that whatever I do is for health and fitness reasons (not to mention psychological!) but hope that I am not eating better and running more just in order to fit in with what society says I should look like! Besides, at 5 foot 4 inches I am clearly never going to be Claudia Schiffer, so I should accept myself for myself!

Does that make sense, perhaps I should have said that on my post!

Sam

Unknown said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes on my blog! :-)

Jendeis said...

I think you did well at expressing your feelings on this post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the subject. Here from NaComLeavMo.

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

hi Sam
excellent post - and well said.
I agree
While we should treat our bodies well as God intended it is terrible how Women spend their entire lives feeling a failure for not measuring up to the perfect body.
Only in HIS time does he make all things beautiful. I will wait forever .

We should me more concerned about inner beauty I think.

I'm here from NaComLeavCom
My Little Drummer boys
warm regards
Trish

Anonymous said...

Love your perspective on the question and it's so true that we tend to get so caught up in our appearance and forget that God loves us for us, not how the world defines us.

Sheila said...

Sam- I love your honesty. I trust as you increasingly walk in child-like faith you will grow in your understanding of God's word and it's application to your life. He'll give you what you need to know as you seek to follow Him. Our faith in Him should always be childlike, just as Jesus taught.

Annnnyway....I agree with your thoughts about women believing there is a perfect size. I truly believe when man or woman sees how valuable they are, that God would lay down His life for them, that they are created in His image and are of tremendous worth, size really doesn't matter.

Hope you have a great weekend!

sheila

Alyson and Ford said...

You are right that there are many lessons in the Bible that are hard to comprehend in our lifetime. Just as many people "fast" from food (per the Bible), nowadays, it may be more appropriate to fast from Media/TV/Computers/ Internet/Newspapers for a day.
I do love the examples of how the Lord reached out to women in the Bible. There are many books on this topic so I hope you will delve deeper! Thank you for your thoughts.

Alyson LID 01/27/06 IA China
NCLM