Manifesto: What does Lydia in Acts 16 mean?
I taught Acts 16. After we read about Lydia, I said, "You go, girl!"
In the Roman colony of Philippi (named after Alexander the Great's dad, Philip of Macedon), there were not enough Jews to have a synagogue (ten families needed), so Paul couldn't follow his usual routine of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He encounters some God-of-Israel-worshipping women, and one of them (perhaps all) are strong women. A freeborn woman in Rome who raised four children could become a citizen. Lydia also owned a business and a large household. Perhaps a widow, perhaps married to a husband who didn't care, she offered her home to Paul and Silas before and after they land in jail.
I can't help but conclude, when I look at the strong, sacrificial women of the New Testament, like Lydia, Dorcas, and many others, that we women are not given the place of leadership we should in the church. Not pastorship--just leadership, just influence, just voice. Especially older women and women who have earned a place at the table, a place men don't really have to earn by virtue of the chromosomes.
Consequently, women diminish themselves, marginalize themselves--we are "just women," somehow not worthy, definitely less than.
However, it's very hard to claim the rightful, God-given place that obviously women in the New Testament did occupy without it become an entitlement, a shrill call for power, a demand for something in opposition to God's will.
A start would be more women on staff in churches (other than taking care of young children) and deaconesses (not necessarily wives of deacons).
In the Roman colony of Philippi (named after Alexander the Great's dad, Philip of Macedon), there were not enough Jews to have a synagogue (ten families needed), so Paul couldn't follow his usual routine of going to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He encounters some God-of-Israel-worshipping women, and one of them (perhaps all) are strong women. A freeborn woman in Rome who raised four children could become a citizen. Lydia also owned a business and a large household. Perhaps a widow, perhaps married to a husband who didn't care, she offered her home to Paul and Silas before and after they land in jail.
I can't help but conclude, when I look at the strong, sacrificial women of the New Testament, like Lydia, Dorcas, and many others, that we women are not given the place of leadership we should in the church. Not pastorship--just leadership, just influence, just voice. Especially older women and women who have earned a place at the table, a place men don't really have to earn by virtue of the chromosomes.
Consequently, women diminish themselves, marginalize themselves--we are "just women," somehow not worthy, definitely less than.
However, it's very hard to claim the rightful, God-given place that obviously women in the New Testament did occupy without it become an entitlement, a shrill call for power, a demand for something in opposition to God's will.
A start would be more women on staff in churches (other than taking care of young children) and deaconesses (not necessarily wives of deacons).
Comments