God Isn't Into Equality

Joel 2:28-29  "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit."

One of the major buzz words of the present age that we live in is the word "gender equality" and the proponents of this movement tell us that their aim is equal pay for women who do the same work as men. I support this. However I must confess that I have always wondered why the proponents are always looking for the next Carly Fiorina (and now Marissa Meyer) the equality never extends to supporting women who want to be the best carpenter, plumber, electrician or truck driver. Just saying.

The book of Joel gives us an indication of the plans God had for mankind in these last days. He promised that he was going to pour out his spirit upon all flesh and "your sons and daughters" would prophesy". God promised us his spirit so that we would all prophecy. Now if you're looking for someone who believes in equality then God is your man. However I don't think equality was God's main purpose. I believe his motivation was the knowledge that in order for him to fulfil his plans in these last days, he needed both men and women. So when it came to his purpose with regard to ministry, he made men and women equal. Therefore the equality is derived from the purpose intended. I therefore do not believe God has given us his spirit so that we can be less than he meant for us to be. It would be a waste of the power of the spirit.

I have been immensely blessed by the ministry of women like Joyce Meyer, Michelle Hammond and every woman I have been blessed to listen to or read their book including my pastor's wife. I'm sure that I would have loved listening to Katherine Kuhlman or Aimee Semple McPherson if I had lived in their times. I believe women were meant to minister and not just be adjuncts to the men. But I also believe in spiritual authority and respecting authority. While I believe women should be able to preach (I refuse to use to use the word "right"), I believe there should be respect for authority where they do not yet do so. 

I have somewhat followed the arguments for and against the ordination of women in both the Anglican and Catholic Churches. It's interesting to note that those against the ordination of women are mostly men who are in positions of authority. However what has been most disturbing to me are the comments of those in support of the ordination of women. The Church is not a business or a corporation and it does not run on the same principles as the world. Jesus said that we are in this world but not of this world. The main reason given by those arguing for the ordination is that of "equality". I have never once heard the argument that women too should minister because they also have God's spirit. In the end, it always sounds like they want the "right" to minister simply out of good old fashioned ambition. What the Apostle Paul calls the pride of life. I have also been appalled by the way they denigrate the leadership of their churches even as they try to get people in the world to put pressure on so that they can have their way. Romans 14 tells us that if we desire to do or be anything in God's kingdom it should solely be out of love. Love for God and for his people. Not out of love for ourselves. 

I am disturbed at all the the things we want to label as a right. Working with God is not a right but a privilege. It's not not something to be fought for or to vilify others over. I believe it something to be sought for with prayer and discussion. Ministry is about serving other people and not about satisfying a desire for position. If we have a dream of serving God in ministry, how can we as Christians justify the murder of people we claim to want to serve with our words and actions? What would we have gained? What would we minister? What would we minister? God is not as concerned with what we achieve as to how we achieve it. God is mostly concerned with our character, not our results and that is something we should always have at the back of our minds.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

   

While we wait ...

"But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." - James 1: 4

"Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you're waiting." - Joyce Meyer.

There are things in our lives that we are hoping on God for. When the Bible talks of waiting patiently for God, the idea most of us have is that of waiting at the bus stop of life twiddling our thumbs hoping that God does his "magic". That gives us an out and lets us off the hook with regard to taking responsibility for our lives. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Patience in the context of the Bible has nothing to do whatsoever with being idle. Even as we wait for God for certain things that our out of our hands which only he can provide, there are things we need to do. Reading and meditating on the word as revealed in the Bible is one of the things we need to do while waiting patiently. Through the word, we build up our faith and our trust in God. Through the word we gain insight and receive revelation on what to do. Through the word, we find inspiration for living one day at a time.

Prayer is one of the things we need to continue to do in the time of of waiting. Going to sleep will not bring what we are trusting God for any faster. Neither will worrying about it. Prayer will help to build our faith and hope that what we are hoping for will come. In prayer, we receive direction. Through prayer we might even find out the solution to that problem we are waiting on God to "supernaturally" solve.

Another thing we need to do while waiting is to act in faith. The Bible at James 2:20 reminds us "that faith without works is dead." When we are believing on God for something, there are corresponding actions we need to take to show God that we are ready for what we believe he is about to do. Using myself as an example, I believe that God has called me not only to be a lawyer and do justice, but he has also called me to write books. From following people like Michael Hyatt the Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers on Twitter, I have come to understand that getting published is not all cut and dried as I would like it to be. While I have written a novel, I don't know whether someone will think it's good enough to represent as a literary agent let alone publish. I have sent proposals out and I have already received two rejections. (It seems there is an opinion that unless you have been rejected many times, you're not really a writer yet). I have told myself that because of what I believe, I am not going to let a rejection stop me. I am going to keep sending proposals out because I believe that someone will have faith enough in my work to represent me. I have also told myself that I am going to keep writing novels, in the hope that I'll get better at it and I might just write something someone wants to represent. That is my act of faith by my works.

What else do you think one needs to do while waiting patiently?