It Won’t End Pretty

I did a no-no.

I searched the internet.

It was to understand more about the Proverbs 31 woman, but I ended up on a pretty “popular” blog of a woman who seems to be promoting 1950’s nuclear family values over what Scripture actually teaches us.

And she does it with such venom in her heart.

I’m not going to call her out here because I’ve never been one to do that sort of thing (plus, the girls who unwittingly ignited the Salem Witch Trials thought it was a good idea and look where that got them).

But I do want to clear up misinformation, and hopefully, move us away from the divisive heart that lambasts our fellow sisters on the interwebs for merely being people in need of a loving Shepherd.

So, a few things:

• This particular blogger touts 1950’s outward perfection as the Biblical model for all families.
   
  • Reality: many people living during that generation were told to swallow their feelings, leading to continued generational sin and heartache that we’re still discovering in our families today. God does not require outward “perfection” but an inwardly changed heart.
  • Additional reality: God creates all sorts of people and walks with us through all sorts of snares and circumstances Satan uses to trip us up, including familial fractures. It’s not our job to make everything kosher for the sake of looking “good.” It’s our job to adhere to the Word of God, loving Him above all else and loving others around us, bringing peace to our families no matter what they may look like to others.
• This particular blogger believes women should never work (even single women) and that women must always stay in the home.
   
  • Reality: God has granted husband and wife (as well as single women!) autonomy and the ability to make choices that best fit their family according to His Word and His Holy Spirit. Cultural and societal norms change, but God’s Word is forever, and the point of the Gospel isn’t to live out certain roles in a certain way but to be bondservants to Christ.
  • Additional reality: Yes, women are to submit to their husbands (humbly and respectfully supporting yet actively admonishing when necessary – Proverbs 27:17, Colossians 3:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, Romans 15:14) but husbands are called to gently love and lead their wives in the way of Jesus. The relationship between these two people cannot be dictated by man, and it’s truly a beautiful, symbiotic relationship, not some sort of archaic model of interrelational misery.
  • Additional reality: the purpose of this life for believers is to be sanctified through Christ, and He uses whatever training ground possible to do that within us. It may be at home, it may be in the workplace, heck, it may be on the top of the Eiffel Tower. The point is, it’s His call, not ours, where He wants us, and it certainly isn’t the call of others who have nothing better to do than tear down their fellow humans on the internet.

Gosh, that feels better. I read James yesterday and nearly copied and pasted the entire book into a comment on her blog but 1) she closed comments...naturally and 2) I’m not about that life.

So instead, I’m praying for this woman, and I ask that you do too. There’s a lot going on there beneath the surface, as is the case for us, too, when we make pretenses in the name of Jesus. And I’m just telling you now, it won’t end pretty for any of us if we don’t repent and let God heal our hearts.