Sunday Recap + Extra Resources
On Sunday we had the joy worshipping together and singing a new song: “Glorious” by Sovereign Grace Music. This song meditates on the humble but glorious reality of the incarnation of Jesus, listen to it here.
We were visited by Eric Turbedsky, Senior Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Old Town Orange in California, he is the Western Regional Leader, Communications Director, Church Planting Director, and a member of the Leadership Team, but most importantly, he is a godly man who loves Jesus and loves people. You can check out his church here: www.sovgraceoc.org.
I preached on Ephesians the uncontroversial passage of Ephesians 5:21-24! My main idea was (and will be for this coming week) that in order to flourish we must embrace our God given roles and practice our God-given duties. True life only comes from dying to self (Mark 8:34-36). So for wives in particular, the role of a wife is to be her husbands helper and she embraces this by respectfully submitting to his leadership. John Piper and Wayne Grudem helpful define it like this:
“Submission refers to a wife’s divine calling to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts. It is not an absolute surrender of her will. Rather, we speak of her disposition to yield to her husband’s guidance and her inclination to follow his leadership.”
For many this is seen as a beautiful way to live and for many others this is seen as a very hard pill to swallow. But may I remind you, this is God’s best not his back-up plan! Growing in this takes time and a lot of study, fellowship, and accountability, as well as needed your husband to step up and lead you in this!
If you’d like to hear more about what it may look like practically to submit listen to this talk by Rebekah Merkle entitled “Dangerous Woman as a Wife”. Or perhaps, if you are brave, I highly recommend reading “Eve in Exile” by her also. In this book she deconstructs feminism as well as false Christian ideals about womanhood and rebuilds a vision for Biblical Womanhood from the bible, and it really is a glorious vision! I think this quote captures the flavour of the book:
And if God designed women for a specific purpose, if there are fixed limits on the feminine nature, then surely it would follow that when we are living in accordance with those limits and purpose we will be in our sweet spot. That’s where we’ll shine. Where we’ll excel. And where we will find the most fulfillment. If your hackles are already going up at that, then it’s probably because you’re afraid that in the end, what God designed you for is unexciting, unfulfilling, demeaning, and generally dull. You’re already picturing the sadly colored suburban house, the minivan, and the long boring afternoons with a flavorless casserole to look forward to. But just stop and think for a second. What do we know about God? Is He interested in creatures that are dull, underappreciated, and underutilized? Oh for pity’s sake. He’s the God who created the tiger. The eagle. The sun. The palm tree. Why on earth, when He got to mankind, would He suddenly decide that He wanted to top it all off with a creature that’s not allowed to live up to its full potential and has to sputter along at 10 percent output, never allowed to get out of first gear? I think we’re safe on that front. I’m pretty sure that we’ll find that what God has created us for is far more breathtaking, crazy, scary, and glorious than we have wanted to assume, and I don’t think any of us, if we throw ourselves into the roles that He sets for us, will find ourselves bored. So remove from your mind all stereotypes of mid-century housewives, of china-doll femininity, of Victorian ladies swooning, of women not allowed to think for themselves or talk to the men about anything interesting or important. Set all that aside, whether those are things that make you gag or things you think look pretty fun. Drop all that, and let’s just work through the question of what God made women for.
Let’s keep the conversation open and ongoing! If you have questions, concerns, objections, doubts, or if you are worried, or scared, or confused, please reach out to me or to others ladies. I would love to speak to you about this as your wrestle with it :)