Posts Tagged ‘authority’

Roundup From Around The Web: Extreme! :)

February 19th, 2008

Do you ever have days when you just feel inadequate… un-used… un-creative… out of the loop? I feel a little bit like that right now…
I worked a ridiculously long day yesterday which was not fun, but some good things came out of it I think… well for one I got a lot of hours out of the way and a lot done, but maybe more interestingly I was able to spend a lot of time blog hopping and reading articles and watching interesting video clips (my job requires me to spend a lot of time on the computer but often the work is rather monotonous and can be done while listening to lectures, half watching video clips, etc – I still struggle sometimes with whether or not it is ethical for me to do these things while working but then I think that if I couldn’t do them I would probably go insane from the monotony and end up quitting my job which I don’t think is what I or my employer would want…so, I continue). Anyway, I found a lot of interesting posts and articles and videos that I would like to now share…

First, some stories…

Here is a story about a female referee that one school wouldn’t let ref because they said they didn’t believe women should be in authority over men – personally I thought this was ridiculous and I was very proud of her male co-workers who, when they heard about what happened, decided to protest by not working for refereeing for this school  

This post gives a beautiful and extremely challenging picture of what it means to really follow Jesus and what it means to follow Jesus despite our clumsy and often broken efforts.

I have been reading this blog off and on for a few weeks now but this particular post really stood out to me. It is a beautiful story of history and love. Reading it made me cry.

Second, some challenging discussions…

In this post an introvert wonders about hospitality and what radical hospitality should look like. “I wonder if stretching myself in this area is good discipline, or if it is actually being untrue to the person I am? Is it more genuine to just let my friends know that I am introvert who enjoys their company, but needs to get away, or should I look at pushing thru this and learning how to live in a different way, while still being who I am?” The comments here are also really interesting.

Sarah at Accidental Blog discusses whether or not there is a “right” expression of ecclesia.

Third, some other interesting thoughts…

Theopraxis discusses Isolation and the Suburban Condition – I found this to be an interesting post giving me a lot to chew on.

I just found this blog today and came across this post about this families “consumption fast” very interesting and challenging. The idea is that they aren’t going to spend any money (no shopping, eating out, movies, etc) except for paying bills and buying necessary groceries. Bryan and I have gone through periods where we have basically unconsciously done this because of necessity for a week or two here and there but I was really intrigued with this families goal of doing this intentionally for months straight (until July). Check it out to read his thoughts on the idea.

Here is an interview with N.T. Wright discussing Heaven… Interesting stuff.

Fourth, some very interesting videos…

This video is a clip of David Fitch talking about Church Planting Via Missional Orders. I found it very interesting and challenging.

My friend recently told me about TED and the videos that are now being shared from that gathering of people. I haven’t watched that many of them yet but they are FASCINATING. Basically each video is about 15 to 20 minutes long and they are little mini lectures about a variety of topics given by a variety of people (business professionals mostly it seems) – seriously very interesting videos. In this one Hans Rosling debunks common myths about developing nations using some fascinating media and enlightening statistics. In this other video John Doeer talks about climate change and green technologies (I personally found him a little extreme to listen to but I agree that we need to take better care of the earth that has been entrusted to us and I really do think that greentech can not only be good for the planet but can also be profitable and economical. In this video Larry Lessig talks about how creativity is being strangled by the law and talks about how we need new creative laws to deal with the advancements we are facing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any or all of these!  :-)

 

Rejoicing in the journey –
Beth Stedman

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Complementarianism, Christian Egalitarianism, and some other thoughts…

February 15th, 2008

In keeping with the focus I picked for this week of Lent – family/marriage - I have been thinking a little bit about the different ideas held by Christians on leadership and authority in marriage.

Most of the churches that I have grown up in and the people I have been around have taught and encouraged a Complementarian view of marriage. The Complementarian view is that men and women are “equal in their essential dignity and human personhood, but different and complementary in function with male headship in the home and in the Church.” And on some levels I think this is still the view that I subscribe to… mainly because its so framiliar to me, but also because I know myself and I know my husband. We are clearly very, very different and we clearly need different things and it makes sense to me to acknowledge those differences in desires/needs when talking about our roles in marriage. But, I also struggle with this view and there are times when I have problems with it… clearly there are those who have taken and do take this view and take the concept of Christian hierarchy in marriage and do terrible things in the name of it. But, I’m not really talking about that… sometimes I feel like even in a genuine and kind adherence to this view there are some problems and it can push women and their view points and opinions to the side lines and margins in a way that can be detrimental not just to those women but to those who could benefit from what those women have to add to the conversation. I think in all honesty even though I have theoretically subscribed to this view I don’t think I have ever liked it much. But, I think I started being more ok with this idea when I got married…which is odd, right? I started thinking about why that is and I thought maybe it was just because I married well and my husband is someone who I don’t mind submitting to and following – I trust him. But, then I started thinking about it more and realized that in our marriage I never really have “submitted” and never have really needed to. There has really never been a decision we have made that we haven’t talked through together and come to some sort of agreement together. So, that got me thinking…we both would probably call ourselves Complementarians…but are we really? In actuality… in how we really live out our relationship are with Complementarians…I don’t really think so…

Christian Egalitarianism is the other major view on authority and leadership in marriage and the more I hear and read about it the more it makes sense to me. And the more I realize that in actual practice is is probably closer to how my husband and I treat each other.

Really though I think the best view I’ve ever seen on authority and leadership in marriage comes from watching my parents relationship and listening to some of the things that they have said about marriage…
I vividly remember my dad and I talking about Ephesians 5 once. We were talking about the role of husbands and wives that Paul lays out there and I remember my dad stopping me and telling me to look at it in the context of the whole chapter. He pointed out verse 21 (the last verse under the previous heading and the right before the section on wives and husbands) it says “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” – submit to one another! Wives submit to your husbands! Husbands submit to your wives! Each of you submit to one another! My dad then pointed out what if we thought of it not so much in term of men being the head and women submitting but in terms of each of us submitting to the other one. I thought a lot about this and later it dawned on me maybe Paul is just laying out in this section HOW we should submit to one another. Wives how should you submit to your husband’s? By respecting him!  You show respect to him by letting him know that you believe in him, and trust him and think he’s a man – by listening to him and yielding to him as if you were listening and yielding to Christ himself.  And husbands how are you to submit to your wife? By loving her! You love her and submit to her by giving yourself up for her – by putting her needs and desires above your own just like Christ loved us and gave up his very life for us. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Lord, you have created us unique yet equal. In Christ there is truly “neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus”. But, you have called us each to submit. You call us to submit to you and to in turn submit to one another. You call us to serve one another in love. You call us each to be imitators of Christ and to like him make ourselves nothing, “taking the very nature of a servant”. Lord, forgive me for the times when I have been unloving toward my husband, the times when I haven’t submitted to him, the times when I haven’t served him, the times when I haven’t respected him, the times when I haven’t put his needs above my own. Forgive me for what I have done and for what I have left undone in my marriage. And teach me not to fight for control but to in humility take on the very likeness of Christ and serve. In Jesus name. Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Beth Stedman

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