I’m timidly stepping my toe into untested waters in response to a challenge to share my thoughts about raising homemakers. I write as an ordinary girl who still has a whole lot to learn. I don’t have all the answers, but hope to open the door to explore the issue of biblical womanhood together.
First, there are spine issues, such as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. These doctrines make up the backbone of our faith and are ones that must be believed to be a Christian. These are the hills to die on, if you will.
Then there are rib issues, such as infant vs. believer’s baptism, covenant vs. dispensational theology, and the unfolding of the end time events. These are doctrines that are debated by theologians and are the basis for our denominational differences. While each denomination believes it is teaching the right doctrine, there is enough room for debate that we can cross denominational lines and recognize we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all part of His Church.
And finally, we get to what I’ll call the flesh and skin issues. This is where the rubber meets the road. How we are living out on a daily basis this faith we claim to believe. While as Christians we must always be obedient to the Word of God, we have freedom in Christ to have variations in our convictions.
Conviction:Â The state of being convinced or convicted; strong persuasion or belief; especially, the state of being convicted of sin, or by one’s conscience (source). (See Romans 14:5, 1 John 3:20-21, Romans 14:22-23)
Issues of raising homemakers, or homeschooling, would fall under the category of flesh and skin convictions. Yet, this is sometimes where we can be hurt the most. The flesh and skin is where our toes can get stepped on, and wounds can be inflicted by Pharisaical teaching. Conversely, it’s also where we can grow and mature if we allow our muscles to be stretched and flexed, as we are challenged by other believers.
A wonderful new site launched last week called Raising Homemakers. It’s a place where godly women are joining together to inspire, teach and encourage women who wish to intentionally raise their daughters to be homemakers. And based upon the response, it has touched a nerve, as women are launching a counter-revolution against the norms of our society.
But it also touched a nerve with women who struggle to agree. Perhaps they are open to listening, but they look at their own lives as working moms, wonder whether their own lives fit the definition of a homemaker (let alone how they would raise their daughters) and feel completely invalidated in what they do and who they are. A godly pursuit by some can easily be felt as a slap in the face by others, even in a humble and gracious environment like Raising Homemakers.
Most of us are from Generation X. We were raised to value higher education, independence and self-sufficiency. We were taught to be career-minded and to break through the glass ceiling. As girls we were told that we could do anything that a man can do “only better”. And we believed it! In fact, the feminist movement has been so successful that we often hold to feminist beliefs without even realizing it.
But is it true that we can do anything a man can do? And even if we can, do we want to? More importantly, is it what God wants us to do? Homemaking does not devalue women. Just the opposite is true. Nothing has devalued the role of women more than the notion that we are nothing unless we become like men.
The timing of this topic does not go unnoticed by me. Several weeks ago I took the opportunity to join in the True Woman Movement and tomorrow I will launch a series of posts that provides my take on each chapter of the book, Voices of the True Woman Movement: A Call to the Counter-Revolution. I hope you will join me as I explore God’s beautiful design for womanhood. Ladies, we have some muscles that need to be stretched and flexed. Let’s do this spiritual workout together.
In hope,
Shelli
About Shelli Bourque