I left the comment below on a video that randomly popped up in my feed a few days ago. I went back this morning to see if there was any response to it – good or bad. There was none even though the channel owner had liked almost every other comment.
So I went to my LibreWolf browser where I don’t sign in to anything. That allows me to see things as a random internet user does.
My comment isn’t there. So my guess is the channel owner hid it because I can still see my own comment when I’m signed in on Brave. (See screenshot at end of this post.) In fact, it says there are 31 comments but I can only see 20. So mine is not the only one removed from public viewing.
Rather than respond to my thoughtful comment that pushed him to think a bit more about what he had said, he simply hid it. It apparently doesn’t have value because it doesn’t fit his narrative and/or it was written by a woman.
Probably both.
Disclaimer: Your video popped up in my feed so this is the first time I’ve seen your content.
Now work out the implications of what you said one step further. What should the body of Christ/churches do with the women who are the exception to the rule? There is a small percentage of your sisters in Christ who are very truth-oriented and don’t have a problem holding the line. In the fervent endeavor to beat back all the ills of feminism that have infiltrated the church, Christian men are prone to overcompensate regarding how they treat women. The body of Christ will not become stronger by beating back the women with a sweeping blow and that is how some men are approaching it.
If women are more prone to compromise, you don’t fix that by emphasizing they should be making the nursery schedule and baking you an apple pie. You fix that by making sure they have more opportunities to internalize and apply the Truth. And you empower the small percentage I mentioned before to make sure that gets done.
That small percentage is going to waste because churches are so afraid of empowering truly gifted and godly women (who are based as you said). I’m not talking about ordaining them. I’m talking about seeing them as powerful allies within the church rather than women to be seen as suspect and silenced. Just because aggressive women made a platform for themselves and compromised doesn’t mean all strong and intelligent women want do that. Many simply want an opportunity to use their gifts and men are overcompensating against empowering them out of fear.
When I tell you that thoughtful Christian women are not wanted or appreciated in many of these circles, this is exactly what I’m talking about.
Conform or be sidelined.
Or deleted.
These are the men working to take over the leadership of the conservative branches of the Christian church in America.
Psalm 31
This is very true in what your response was to the video. Many Christian women do feel that way. Thank you for sharing.
Christian women are to respect the authority of their church leaders, and church leaders are to help all the members exercise their spiritual gifts.
That’s from a Christian book in my library from the 1980s, in a chapter by Jill Briscoe. Biblical examples given include Miriam–who was once disciplined with leprosy, Huldah, and Phoebe.