I have completed my thesis last month and it has been a time to relax. I mean, I’ve finished all of my study requirements and there’s no more pending assignments and deadlines. Probably, I’ll be pretty free till end of the year. There’s still the lacking confirmation of my roles in MBTS. All I’m certain of is I’ll still be serving in the BM Dept. & the Graduate School. The other “tasks” I’m just not sure of it yet. There’s still some coordinating to be done between MBTS & GBC concerning my ministry in MBTS.
The relaxing days allow me to think & reflect upon ministry. There are little, little things around that I was able to pick up. Perhaps it’s due to the discerning gift I received from God. Recently, I met with a senior Christian leader. He was pretty discouraging when I mentioned I intended to pursue further in my studies. Prior to that, we met to discuss about ministry. I was pretty uncomfortable when he kept saying, “So, you wish to be in this ministry…” He kept stressing on the word “wish” that after the second time, I was not feeling uncomfortable any more. I was getting upset & disappointed. Maybe it was not intended & I gave him the benefit of the doubt but he stressed the word “wish” often enough and in such a way as if I do not deserve to serve in that capacity, and it was just a wishful thinking! I confess that at that instant, my respect for this senior church leader took a plunge to almost a bottomless pit! However, I learned something from this incident. As ministers and leaders, we must dream and encourage the people that we minister. And it is so important to dream together with young ministers to encourage them and to cheer them on to reach their potentials. Perhaps this senior church leader is just being bias. After all, in most if not all Asian cultures, age and gender determines a lot of things. You have to be a man or you have to be old to do anything “significant.” Apart from these two “crucial” requirements, you are not taken seriously.
I remember earlier in the year when I was presenting a paper in a graduate seminar on Women in Missions. I mentioned that women in the corporate sector have to be twice as good to be accepted as an equal but in ministry, women ministers just have to be three times as anointed to be accepted as an equal to their male counterparts. My classmates were amused but after the class, many of them realized that I am right. The Methodist church does ordain women ministers but apparently, it is harder & longer for them to achieve that. A classmate from America shared with me that in their denomination the two persons who made a huge impact were women. A missions organization regional director told of how women were the first to volunteer to enter into difficult mission fields. After the work has been established, men will come in & eventually assume leadership!
My confession here…I’m often frustrated at the lack of ministry opportunities accorded to women. However gifted they may be. It’s extremely difficult for single women ministers. Married women often can “use” their husbands as a “platform.” It’s like as if men are threatened by capable women. Women are supposed to be submissive. If not, we are not being spiritual. It makes no sense at all. From the very beginning, God created man & woman to complement each other. Yeah, so the fall distorts the original order. But if we claim to be redeemed people, why aren’t we attempting to restore that original order? Why are we still living under the curse? Isn’t the resurrection power strong enough to break such bondage? Or maybe men acknowledge its power in every aspect except in that one area that will force them to acknowledge their equality with women? Paul acknowledged the partnership of women in ministry. Jesus himself worked with women. Why then does the modern church decide to go back in time instead? The sad truth is, there are also women ministers who will make it hard for younger women minister to progress and grow in ministry!
We thought the West should be more liberal. Apparently, it’s not. In a lesser degree perhaps but gender biasness still exists. I think it exists in every religious institutions all over the world. But my argument is that Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship. It is a call for its followers to subscribe to a way of life that contradicts everything the world places value. We are called to be different. But as it is, how different is the church from the world? If the church promotes equality, why is there gender biasness in the church office bearers?
Maybe the failure is seen in the inability of the church to complete its discipleship program. The ultimate end of conversion should be the transformation of worldview. Every Christian should be transformed into the likeness of Christ – we all know that. But prior to that is what Paul said in Romans 12:2 “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” which urged us to transform our worldview & to adopt the Biblical worldview. Few Christian actually achieve that. Sadly to say, few Christian leaders achieve that too.
I think the culprit is our inability to differentiate the messenger’s culture, Biblical culture, and the hearer’s culture. When we failed to divorce culture from the Biblical message, we unconsciously import our worldview into the salvation message we bring to our hearers. At the end of it, we may think the Bible is teaching us something but it can actually be just a cultural element.
Thus, the challenge remains. For a single woman minister in the Christian church/organization – age & gender – these are factors that work against us in the eastern cultures. But God is not like men. He does not favor according to gender, wealth, position, etc. I believe in His time, He will turn things around. Simply because I know He still gives big dreams to both men & women. He still calls both men & women to serve Him in various capacities. He still honors both men & women who are faithful. And He is still looking for both men & women who will respond to Him and answer His trumpet call to be His end-time soldiers who will fearlessly make a difference for Him to impact nations, in this generation. And we just need to keep on in faithfulness & perseverance to allow Him to work in us and through us to transform the church, society, nation, and the world.
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