by Erin Black | Feb 24, 2014
Whoa what a topic! In the last week alone I have had at least four conversations about this. Over the years I have held several different stances on this issue, but as I have grown in my spiritual walk, I have learned to be more balanced. That is not to say that sometimes I still don’t really struggle with either keeping my opinion to myself or being kind in my words. On that note, before I unpack anything on this topic, I desire to go about everything and every opinion in love, kindness, and self-control.
Often as modern day Christians, we seem to forget the fact that there will always be a barrier between us and the context of the Bible. The Holy Spirit helps us understand what God has for us to learn, despite this barrier, but on a very basic understanding level…we will never know what it was like to be alive at that time. I will never know what it was like to be a woman in the days of the Bible. We must approach all Biblical context with respect for the difference in history. Women’s roles then and now are very different.
Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, God uses women as some of his greatest followers, leaders and examples. Most of us know the stories of Rahab, Ruth and Esther (to name a few) who God used to bring about the salvation of His people. These women helped save God’s people from physical destruction, and also some of them brought about the line of David, from which Jesus would be born. These women are listed in New Testament genealogies and to be listed (as a woman) in a genealogy means that they were important, that the historian did not want history to forget about them.
We also see examples of actively-engaged women in the New Testament. Mary (actually many named Mary!), Lydia and many more. In some cases, we see that the house churches were held in women’s homes. This is probably because they were wealthy enough to own a home that could hold a meeting of believers. There were also women who would have otherwise been condemned, that shared intimate moments with Christ himself. I’m thinking of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair. Women were marginalized, and Jesus came to the marginalized and unwanted. He used women as His example of grace and the inclusion of all peoples into the once-exclusive covenant of God.
You are probably thinking, “Well that is all great and wonderful, but what about now?” What a multi-faceted question, and I do not claim to have all the answers, nor will I discuss in detail on that now. However, I will say that because of feminist movements, the eyes of society are glued to the rights of women (among other minority rights), and the church is not the exception to this rule. The world often watches how we deal with women’s issues. It is important to educate our congregations, small groups, etc. on these secular issues but also the Bible’s response to such things.
Just because we don’t pay attention does not mean the issues are not still there. There are many women who I have had discussions with who feel the heavy weight of prejudice in their church because they are gifted for areas that their gender will not allow service. I am not claiming this to be every church or every woman…by far. But I am saying that it is happening.
I can say from personal experience that, as I was one of only two women from my alma mater who graduated with a religion degree in 2013, I was often laughed at when asked what is my major. The normal response was, “You’re a woman, what will you do with that?” When faced with that social stigma, it is not an easy thing to deal with.
My spiritual gifts might be considered masculine in their nature, such as teaching, and I have encountered hard conversations because of this as well. Of course, I am not saying that I would like to be a pastor. However, I am saying that women are often called to help in leading and enlightening the Body of Christ, and that this is Biblical. If we are desiring to reach non-believers and draw them to Christ, we must acknowledge and be prepared with answers for the issue/baggage of feminist movements and previous judgments upon the church.
by Erin Black | Feb 11, 2014
I may be the only person who struggles with this, but I don’t think so: anxiety and worry about the future. My life has been a little inconsistent and in a state of transition for what feels like forever!
Graduating from college, getting a job, moving, my family moving, health problems, etc. I could go on but I will refrain from making this a one-sided counseling session (you’re welcome).
These things in my life have caused a lot of worry and anxiety to darken many of my days recently. I feel as if I am in a waiting pattern for a time that I can actually settle in and be established. For the day I get married, or go back to school or buy a home or… you fill in the blank.
I grew up as a missionary’s kid, and so a life of transition is not unfamiliar to me. In fact, it is common, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier. When I moved to college, I settled into a great life there and really enjoyed the stability it gave me. However, when I moved again, I began to miss this consistency.
In recent days, my anxiety and itching for consistency seems worse then normal. The days of cold, ice, snow, and darkness have not helped. I find myself counting down the days until spring. However, I have realized that I cannot live my entire life living in a state of waiting — even for something as trivial as warmer days.
You may be thinking that this is another blog post from me about contentment. Yes, contentment has a huge thing to do with this, but that is not what I am writing about today. So please hang in there with me.
I was recently reading a blog post by one of my favorite bloggers, and she happened to blog about her anxiety during this time of her life. She posted about how she had to find some things that made her feel better.
It was a sense of a wake up call for me. There are things in my life that I could do to make my transition and anxiety better. One day I just stood in the sun for a time because it felt good. I have pounded more nail holes in my walls (something I don’t tend to do) to hang pictures; I have started attending a small group.
So if you are struggling with this in your life as well, do something about it. Pray and rest in God’s peace. Put in roots where you are. My pastor used to say, “Bloom where you are planted.” Well you can’t bloom anywhere if you don’t have some roots there.
The anxiety that comes with transition is something that too shall pass, and I often have to remember that. God will never leave us alone, and He knows that path by which we travel. I take comfort in this, and I hope you do as well.
“Think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths” (Prov. 3:6).
by Erin Black | Jan 27, 2014
“Do what you love, and love what you do.” This saying is everywhere!
It also seems to be the rally cry of our millennial generation. We get college degrees we love and feel passionate about so that we can get jobs that are fulfilling from day one. Hear me out…I’m as passionate about finding fulfillment in life as the next person, but in recent days, I’ve given this mantra some serious consideration.
Our generation is defined by what we do because what we do is where we put our identity. We want to have degrees and jobs that are purposeful and are making an impact on the world. I do not disagree with this at all! I disagree with the fact that, as a Christian, what I do never defines me.
I have all too often been caught in the trap that if I get the perfect degree (or three) and then get the dream job from the very beginning that I will be happy, and the world will be a better place for my hard work. I have, on occasion, worked myself to death with this mentality.
One day, I was walking through a cemetery (because, yes, I’m weird like that), and I noticed there was not a single headstone that stated anything about the deceased’s job or the impact they made on the world. Instead, they all held some memento of how they had impacted those around them. For a quiet minute I stood there and realized that if I lived to impact the world I may never impact those I love, but if I impacted those I love I may just change the world.
As Christians, we hold a great amount of power and confidence that I often forget. My identity, joy, passion and very life rest in Christ and are untouchable. This was something I did not deserve or earn. Therefore, what I do with my life should be wrapped around the identity of Christ and not my own dreams.
Christ is my fulfillment, not my degrees or my jobs or how many people know me or how many lives I have changed. If Christ chooses to use me to touch others that is for His glory, but for me I will continue to look to Him and find my fulfillment.
One of my favorite quotes speaks to this (in fact it is taped to my desk as I write!):
“We focus on specific actions; God focuses on us. We work from the outside in; God works from the inside out. We try; God transforms.” –Richard Foster
If this post finds you sitting in a class you hate, at your dream job or at a job that feels like it’s headed nowhere, or without a job all together, know that you are not who you ARE because of what you DO.
Learn to BE in the presence of God and in the identity of Christ wherever you are and to DO less for God’s approval because you already have it.
by Erin Black | Jan 14, 2014
Very few people told me (and I probably didn’t listen to the others) that the day I graduated from college would be the beginning of a type of remolding of myself.
I had been in school since I could remember and now was no longer a student. What about those forms that always ask for your occupation, what would I say? What would I say I was doing with my life when people asked? I had been very involved in campus clubs, ministries, and residential life while in college, and now I was done with that as well.
All these things had changed in my life, but I had little time to notice until August rolled around. Before this, I had just felt like I was on summer break and would soon be returning to the comfort of my friends, dorm, and a familiar class schedule. False.
When August came, a new class moved in and replaced mine, my old roles were filled and life moved on. I was left in the wake of a huge loss of personal identity and community.
As I struggled in this change, my heart began to find new idols for itself. Where school and learning used to sit, I placed any number of things: my boyfriend, my job, social media, anxiety, self-pity, friends, TV shows, etc. During this time I sat through a number of sermons on this subject and piously thought how happy I was that I wasn’t convicted on that subject because then I may need to clean out a couple closets in my heart and that would NOT be fun.
It was in a moment of bittersweet reminisce of my college classes that I recalled a quote from one of my professors. I don’t even know if he remembers saying this, but I have never forgotten what Dr. Alan Bandy said about striving to get three degrees and then teach and how he has sat in numerous classes and seminars and reads and writes books some only dream about. Right as I was thinking, “Wow how awesome is that?! I want to be like that!” he said that he didn’t care about all of those things because he had offered it all on the altar for Jesus Christ. He had counted it all loss for the sake of knowing the Gospel. Nothing else mattered but that Jesus had saved him, and so he would in turn spend his whole life devoted to Christ.
This got me thinking, even years later, about what I was devoted to. As God would have it, the next day in church the young adult minister talked about devotion. How devotion comes from delight. I have spent many recent days mulling over what it means for me to find my delight in Christ and to then to have that sold out delight become devotion.
When I find myself so utterly delighted in the Lord that nothing else is worth placing my life or my identity in then I know what it means to begin the process of being devoted for my whole life. It means that nothing I do or achieve on this earth is worth anything if I am not devoted to knowing Christ. It means that my identity and my struggles both now and always are something to be offered to God in the utmost of delight and devotion. It is in one of the biggest identity transitions in my life that God is beginning to remold me into someone that is fully delighted in him. Are you delighted in him?
by Erin Black | Dec 30, 2013
One of my go-to phrases is “gosh I gotta get my life together!” Well let me tell you… my life is not together, not even close. I’ve switched my purse three times today, I haven’t showered, my hair looks like something out of a scary movie, and let’s just assume from all the coffee I have had today that my breath probably smells. But you know… life is still good.
In the last couple of months I have tried mercilessly to “get my life together.” I’ve tried to keep my house spotless, every birthday card on time, every Christmas present perfect and my life running like a well-oiled machine. However, something very ironic has happened in all this mess: the more I try the less my life “gets together.”
Up until leaving for Christmas break I had a pile of clothes on my floor and Christmas presents that still needed to be mailed out (oh and much more that needed to be taken care of!) But I loaded up my car with my over-packed bags and drove to be with my family.
I’ve realized that life is not meant to be perfect, it is meant to be lived and lived abundantly. Christ came to give us life abundantly, not life perfectly. A perfect life is not always a joyful life. I have quickly realized that if I spend my whole life striving for perfection I will miss all the moments worth remembering and cherishing.
I will miss loving people for the great parts of them and the not-great parts. I will miss sitting in the hospital room waiting for good news from my mom’s cancer doctor…like I am doing now. I will miss throwing together a quick dinner tonight so that I can make sugar cookies with my brother. I will miss real life.
Across from me in the waiting room is an old man who is clearly suffering from dementia. His wife is very patient with him and often re-answers his repetitive questions. He’s currently talking about his son and daughter. He has asked numerous times why he is at the hospital and who they are waiting on, but he seems to remember everything about his children.
These are the things I want to remember when I am old (and possibly also have dementia)…the things that matter and the people that have made my life. I want to remember the abundant but not perfect life that Jesus gave me, a life of freedom from sin and the freedom to love unconditionally.
My life is not always happy and is never perfect but is the wonderful, beautiful mess that God wakes me up to each day, and I love it. Please stop trying to be perfect and instead just enjoy it. Life is a short ride, and if you spend too much time seeking perfection you just may miss it.