Me: I thought it was an interesting quote. The feminization of Christianity is a problem...
K.L.: It's a great quote Rich, I was originally going to make a wise crack about your masculinity. Thought twice about it. God created us to be both masculine and Godly. The men of church have yielded most of our responsibilities to the women of the church, not because we were called to but because we have succumbed to laziness!
Me: Either laziness or neglect of our anointing.
R.K.: This could be why Ted Turner called Christians whimps, what do you think?
K.L.: Doesn't laziness and neglect go hand in hand?
E.J.: What women are you talking about? After the cross aren't we co-heirs with women? No longer male nor female, free our slave and all that? Why are you blaming a gender for laziness and neglect?
K.L.: I have nothing against women taking their place and following their calling, but you do have to admit that most men are neglecting their calling. And most men wont ever heed their calling because we live in a soft society that makes it far too easy to do anything other than study Gods word and do what we are instructed to do. Until men develop a desire to learn and obey, women will fill the gap. I give credit to women because they have picked up the word and have done what men wont and that is what has lead to the femenization of Christianity in my opinion.
E.J.: If there is blanket statement that defines us as a people, it would be that we spend far to much time avoiding pain. The original christians were put to death for their faith, they had a gospel that was worth living and dying for. As for the term feminization, seems a bit to gender specific. It would infer woman are the problem, if not them specifically, there characteristics. We are the bride of Christ, not sure God is afraid of His church being influenced by woman.
Me: Let's not confuse feminization with female. The two are not the same.
Me: Here's some (controversial?) food for thought: http://churchformen.com/
E.J.: I know the webster dictionary term and meaning, how would you define it?
Me: By feminization I mean what secular feminist goals would be. These tend to line up with Jezebel, who drove Ahab to commit sin, who killed the prophets of the Lord, whose false prophets of Baal were famously confronted by Elijah; witchcraft, manipulation, and usurping of authority.
Men must occupy their place in the Church, and the feminist influence seeks to undermine this, it tries to silence the Word, it rises against the prophetic, and tries to be behind-the-scenes manipulators of power over weak men.
E.J.: Secular feminist's in the church want to do this? I didn't know that, here in Montana? How are they doing it?
Me: It shouldn't surprise you that the enemy wants to render the Church powerless by any means possible. And I'm sure that you know that unholy, worldly ways of thought can influence even the best of us. And it isn't hard to believe that the Church has compromised the truth many times. So why not feminism?
E.J.: How are the feminist's doing it?
Me: I'm not positing a frontal attack where a bunch of women with hairy legs and bad attitudes are plunking themselves down in the pews. I'm talking about subtle shifts in attitudes. Innocuous-seeming teachings. Little things that eventually add up into big things.
Examples: A man who denigrates himself by referring to his wife as the "better half." A pastor who suggests that a husbands ought to put their wives on a pedestal. A church that calls the Pastor's wife "pastor," simply because she's married to the pastor. Teaching that says that "wives, submit to your husbands" is a product of an ancient time and doesn't mean the same thing today. Teaching that Lot's wife was wrong because she kept quiet about her husband. Teaching that the women in the Corinthian church were disrupting services, and that's why Paul corrected them. Teaching that single motherhood is noble. Teaching that divorce is sometimes desirable and good for the woman.
"Jesus is my boyfriend" songs (I want to sit at your feet, drink from the cup in your hand, lay back against you and breathe, and feel your heart beat). Feminine decor in the sanctuary. Tolerating aggressive, overbearing woman (think "woman realtor"). Men who do whatever their wives want in order to "keep the peace." Women who browbeat people who disagree with them. Men who are dragged to church and don't want to be there. Husbands and wives who take separate vacations.
Women who re-do what a man just did because it wasn't good enough. Women who joke about men's inadequacies. Wife's who complain about their husband's lack of communication, cleanliness, hobbies. Women who try to "civilize" their men. Women who say they need alone time to pamper themselves. Men who carry their wive's purses. Men who sit and wait while a woman shops. Woman who insist that the position of the toilet seat must be the way they want it. Women who joke about not being enough room in the closet for the man's stuff. Women who do not treat their men like heros. Woman who emasculate their men in public. Woman who denigrate the "man's world." Woman who say there would not be wars if women were in charge. Woman who believe that men are not really necessary to conceive, bear, or raise children.
I'm just getting started. But, I'll let you chew on this for a while.
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