Well.
So it’s been yet another interesting week in the ole blogosphere. I am not writing to become famous, or because I have some big dream, or because God told me to do this. I promise to anyone reading this that I write to lead women to the Truth of God, mostly through the Truth of Scripture.
Oh, and sometimes I share recipes and homeschooling tips. Because, homeschooling stay at home mom.
However…sometime telling the Truth involves calling out the lies that others are very, very fond of and hold onto for dear life. I don’t enjoy knowing that I am revealing to people that they have had the wool pulled over their eyes. In the same way that sin grieves me, watching women fall prey to false teachers grieves me, deeply. I don’t want anyone to be led astray, or to not have a saving knowledge of Jesus. But when I tell people the truth, it hurts them sometimes. I Corinthians 1:8 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us being saved it is the power of God” (NKJV). I have had to remind myself multiple times this week that if people are angry with the Truth, they aren’t angry with me; they are angry with God speaking His Word of Truth.
I read this article this week about the Matthew 18 principle. Oftentimes people publicly call out bloggers or authors or preachers to confront false teacher privately, and they use Matthew 18:15-20 as their reasoning (ironic, no?). Except…these verses deal with private sin within the context of individual believers in a local church. If someone who claims to be a public figure makes public statements in a public arena, they are open to critique. There is no reason for someone like a blogger to try and contact them personally, especially if the message they are sharing is consistent (and consistently anti-biblical).
Since I opened that door this week, I’ll just stick this here. Pirate Christian Radio put together a list about six months ago of verses that address false teachers. You’ve probably not ever heard them preached, unless you belong to a church that believes in expository preaching. But it’s a handy list to have on hand, especially if you’re trying to discern if someone is false teacher, wolf, false prophet, etc. etc.
And again, lest anyone think I entered into this blogging thing haphazardly or without much prayer and thought, I did not. There are almost seven years’ worth of archives to be searched and read. It may seem like I popped up out of nowhere, but I have been writing – and writing about Scripture and theology – for a long, long time. I love what Elizabeth Prata has to say this week over at The End Time as she gives advice to Christian women who are online. I recently started with Twitter, and I love the camaraderie I have found with fellow female bloggers, but trying to balance writing here more often, writing at Satisfaction Through Christ, keeping up on Twitter, keeping up with the Facebook page for this…it’s a lot. And my constant prayer is that God is honored and glorified, and that women learn about God’s Word and God’s Truth…not that I somehow become famous.
Speaking of famous, there are a lot of famous “Christians” out there who preach the prosperity gospel, and that is pretty easily spotted. But this article by Erik Raymond is spot-on about how modern evangelicalism has allowed a less-recognized version of this to creep into American Christianity and poison it. I especially love the last line: “we need to be awakened by the theology of the cross.”
I love what Michelle Lesley had to say about women teaching “under the authority of men.” This is something I have struggled with in the past, and as I lead a devotional time at our church food pantry, this article caused me to really stop and reconsider if I should be doing that. (I’ll let you know!!)
I just really liked reading these Ten Christian Cliches We Should Stop Using. All I have to say about these is, Amen!
And on Monday, Beautiful Thing launches. I. Cannot. Wait!!! Be sure to check her out: it’s going to be fabulous, ladies!!!
Happy reading!!
danielthree18 
I’m a new reader here and appreciate your strong biblical writing. I read the article by Michelle Lesley about women teaching men. I, too, struggled with this years ago. I do not believe that she has rightly divided the Word of Truth on this. I won’t go into it all here, but I think she’s really off point to say that anyone is saying it is okay to sin if your husband or pastor tells you to. She misses the point that these husbands and pastors do not believe that it IS sin. Also, there is a sweet example in Scripture of a couple lovingly discipling and teaching a man, Apollos, together (Acts 18). When you look at the idea that a woman is not to usurp authority over her husband, you realize that is really the crux of the matter. Ever since the Garden of Eden after the fall, women have desired to rule over their husbands. I believe this is the heart attitude against which we must guard. When Michelle goes to church, does she speak at all? If she reads 1 Corinthians 14:34 the same way she reads 1 Timothy, then she is sinning if she utters one syllable. Again, thank you for your desire to know Truth and to impart that Truth to others. Many blessings to you and your family.
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Thank you so much for your comment! I have to tell you that I have been taking my first Precept study this year (John), and I have found your site invaluable. How funny (to me) that you found me and took the time to leave such wonderfully insightful comments!! Thank you for YOUR hard work as well, and many blessings to you and your family as well 🙂
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Hi Rachel.
For awhile I have been pondering about a concept I’ve heard in some Christian circles, it hasn’t reached cliché status yet but I would appreciate your thoughts. It goes as follows: Give her (your wife) something to submit to.
On one hand, I don’t see that as being at all biblical, there is no litmus test for marital headship in scripture. There may be a scenario where a man has been wedded to a woman who is taller than him, tougher than him, knows more about the Bible than him and could embarass him in an arm-wrestling match and yet she is still called to submit to his authority and leadership.
And yet, I wonder if maybe there is an ounce of wisdom to that idea. I was watching a secular dating advice video and the host chastised men who “desire feminine, submissive wives and yet they themselves are not masculine.” She chided men who don’t protect or provide and deprive their wives of feeling safe and secure. She argued that femininity, which she defined as a state of surrendering, can only exist in the presence of masculinity. I’m not a woman but I have to imagine its easier to submit to a strong, masculine leader then an adult male who shirks responsibility and lives like an adolescent. Again, your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
P.S.
I have spent the past few days exploring your blog and I am pleased by my findings. As I’m sure you know, there are elenventy bajillion female Christian blogs on the web. A few are good, many are bad (false teachers) and some ostensibly believe the right things, they just don’t have the courage to say them and instead promote fluff. I think you are one of the good ones Rachel. It’s awesome to see Godly women boldly proclaiming the gospel while still embracing their femininity. Please keep blogging and may our Father in Heaven richly bless you and your family.
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Hi Jacob,
Thank you so much for your kind comments, especially regarding your PS. Please send your female friends my way!
I think that you are correct, actually, with your premise. I have had many, many discussions with Christian women, and we all agree that it is easier, by far, to submit to a man who is godly and loving. Society tells us that men need to “deserve” respect and love, or earn it somehow, whereas Scripture just commands us to give it. But it is easier to give it to a man who is lavish with his love, praise, honor, respect, etc., to us. And if a man continues to live like an adolescent, then, yes, women take on a mothering role and relegate him to another child in the family – that does no one in the family any good at all. The prolonged adolescence so common in America is probably contributing to the destruction of the American family (that and the blatant lack of respect for men and father propagated by feminists).
The Scriptures depict strong masculine men in a number of different ways; David was still a poet and musician. Sure, there were men like Samson and Ehud, but there were also men like Matthew, who was a tax collector (think money man banker-type) and Timothy, who is depicted almost as a scholar would be today. However, all of these are depicted as MEN, fulfilling everything God commanded leaders of people and households to be. Masculinity isn’t a physical thing; God created MEN and WOMEN. It’s a gender thing, and we were created to complement one another.
Personally, the days where my husband is making decisions without prodding, remembering to do the things he said he’d do, and treating me like fine China (I Peter 3:7)? Those days it is SO much easier to be submissive. The days where either one of us is grumpy, or he has forgotten to do something I needed him to do, or, well, we’re human, quite frankly. Those days it’s harder for me to do what God has commanded. So guess which one is more common? Ha ha!!
And these comments will draw anti-complementarians like flies and I’ll have to defend myself 😉 But, yes, when men act like the men God created them to be, it’s easier for women to act like the women God created us to be. We are equal, with different roles, and someone, ultimately, has to make the decisions.
Anyway, those are just a smattering of my thoughts! Good comments! Thanks!
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