{"id":3378,"date":"2012-11-19T10:24:29","date_gmt":"2012-11-19T15:24:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/?p=3378"},"modified":"2012-11-13T14:25:27","modified_gmt":"2012-11-13T19:25:27","slug":"jesus-women-and-the-church-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/2012\/11\/jesus-women-and-the-church-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus, women, and the Church today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3380\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/P1010114-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/P1010114-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/P1010114-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/P1010114.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Worldwide, women are considered less-than.\u00a0 Compared to men, we\u2019re less equal, less challenged, less heard, less understood, less represented, less educated, less fed, lead less peaceful lives (see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/soraya-chemaly\/teen-depression_b_1719534.html?utm_hp_ref=tw\" target=\"_blank\">this great article<\/a> on depression in teen girls), and a whole multitude of other inequalities.\u00a0 Because of systems of brokenness, women are way too often considered less human than men.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t to say that men individually have done anything wrong.\u00a0 Much like the systems that beget and perpetuate racism, systems also prolong sexist attitudes.<\/p>\n<p>Patriarchal systems are present in just about every aspect of life.\u00a0 They\u2019re the systems that make it difficult to find a pair of pants considered normal, but with curves in the hips.\u00a0 They\u2019re the systems that makes it seem odd when a movie is more about a woman\u2019s life (outside of the life of the men she\u2019s involved with) than a man\u2019s.\u00a0 They\u2019re the systems that make it ok for men to call women demeaning names or sexually objectify them, causing women to live in fear of men\u2019s presence.\u00a0 They\u2019re the systems that make it ok for a woman to be ostracized in her community because her husband has passed or because she has a disease.\u00a0 Honestly, why does it seem odd when a woman comes up to the pulpit to preach?\u00a0 As more and more people realize the lack of genuine female presence in society, we must look to our Savior to guide us in how to change the systems.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3382\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Fall-2006-103-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Fall-2006-103-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Fall-2006-103-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Fall-2006-103.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>In his interactions with women, Jesus offered them a wholeness that their society denied them.\u00a0 Similar to today, women in Jesus\u2019 day were considered less-than.\u00a0 They were often objects to be loved in private and pushed to love in silence.\u00a0 Jesus, however, heard the women around him.\u00a0 In the story of the Samaritan Woman at the well (John 4), Jesus heard the woman\u2019s thirsty desire for unending satisfaction.\u00a0 He knew that what she needed wasn\u2019t water, but life itself.\u00a0 The way she was treated because of her ethnicity and multiple husbands sucked dry the very life of her bones. Soon, she knew that true life could only come from the Messiah.\u00a0 Recognizing her desire for acceptance, Jesus offered her the one thing no one was willing to give a Samaritan woman like her: Jesus heard her. His open ears allowed him to hear through the differences in their culture and through the differences in their gender. When she was heard, she knew that this man offered a different way to satisfaction that did not involve the norms of her society. This woman was then able to tell her story to Samaritans around her and lead them to the Messiah. (One of my favorite things about this passage is the disciples are in no way surprised to see Jesus sitting there talking with a Samaritan woman.\u00a0 This leads me to believe that occurrences such as these were not rare.)<\/p>\n<p>Jesus not only heard women in a culture where they were supposed to be silent, but Jesus truly saw women as well.\u00a0 When Jesus went to eat at the house of a Pharisee (Luke 7), he was anointed with the tears and perfume of a \u201csinful woman.\u201d The Pharisee was dumbfounded that Jesus \u00a0would accept such actions from someone so low on the chain of command. Despite the Pharisee\u2019s awe, Jesus made it clear that the woman was lovely enough for him to want to be loved by her.\u00a0 When the Pharisee basically called her unworthy to even be in his home, Jesus essentially said \u201cNo, LOOK at her.\u00a0 She\u2019s giving me everything, and I love her.\u00a0 She is worthy in my eyes, even if she\u2019s not in yours.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus saw this woman for who she was, a sinner and a woman, and loved her gesture of gratitude just the same.\u00a0 By seeing and hearing the women around him in a culture that would rather keep women in private, Jesus made it clear that women are a big part of the Kingdom of God.\u00a0 In hearing the woman\u2019s true needs and seeing the woman for who she was, Jesus empowered these women to spread the joy and peace that can only come with the message of the Messiah.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3381\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Woman-gathering-hay-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Woman-gathering-hay-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Woman-gathering-hay-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/08\/Woman-gathering-hay.jpg 1936w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>While women\u2019s empowerment for us here at CWR may look a little different than it did for Jesus, it is still important work. \u00a0\u00a0Jesus\u2019 reactions to these women, and the many others that he chose to include in his ministry, makes it clear that today, we must continue to challenge the status quo of our societies by not allowing women to continue to go unseen and unheard. Our partners are working on making these a reality in the lives of many women all around the world.\u00a0 Currently, we have projects in four continents-South America, Africa, Asia, and North America.\u00a0 It\u2019s a big part of who we are and how we see ourselves connected to God\u2019s mission of healing the brokenness of our world.\u00a0 But what do we really mean by women\u2019s empowerment?<\/p>\n<p>Women\u2019s Empowerment takes multiple forms.\u00a0 In <a href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/relief\/projects\/cd\/mexico-micro-finance\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mexico<\/a>\u00a0this looks like micro-finance loans to marginalized families.\u00a0 In <a href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/relief\/projects\/cd\/sa-empowerment\/\" target=\"_blank\">South Africa<\/a>, this means training and payable loans for women so they can start their own businesses.\u00a0 In <a href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/relief\/projects\/cd\/sudan-hope-for-widows\/\" target=\"_blank\">South Sudan<\/a>, this means that widows are given opportunities to be heard despite not having husbands.\u00a0 Based on the context of where the work is done, women\u2019s empowerment can change dramatically.\u00a0 Overall, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurchgiving.com\/p-192-womens-empowerment.aspx#drop?iframe=true&amp;width=940&amp;height=510\" target=\"_blank\">women\u2019s empowerment<\/a> has to do with giving women choice in their own lives, both inside and outside the home, and giving them the opportunity to define their self-worth for themselves.\u00a0 Women\u2019s empowerment has to do with having the choice available to be the person she wants and needs to be.\u00a0 Around the world, women find the joy that comes from working with our Messiah as they learn they are valued, loved, seen, and heard.\u00a0 Please continue to pray with us for the many women for whom this is not yet a reality.<\/p>\n<p><em>Written by Kaci Norman, CWR intern<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/cwr?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=3378&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Worldwide, women are considered less-than.\u00a0 Compared to men, we\u2019re less equal, less challenged, less heard, less understood, less represented, less educated, less fed, lead less peaceful lives (see this great article on depression in teen girls), and a whole multitude of other inequalities.\u00a0 Because of systems of brokenness, women are way too often considered less [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[279],"tags":[327],"class_list":["post-3378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-development","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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