On Changing Perspectives
Perspective shifts are hard. New things are hard. Taking on a new paradigm while releasing an old one is hard. I think there’s something inside most of us that automatically resists change. It’s sort of our default setting.
Three days ago at Urbana I watched hundreds of college students do a hard thing. Actually, they did the hardest thing. Captured by the truth of the Gospel and smitten in a fresh way by Jesus, they embraced a new-found faith and started (or re-started) their adventure with Jesus. How powerful to watch these students open up glow sticks in a darkened arena, symbolically admitting that, like Peter, Jesus is more qualified to run their lives then they are themselves.
Similarly, surrendering male privilege requires a shift of perspective. It begins with admitting that this thing exists. And for many, it will be hard. Because of this, let me put forward what I think is the biggest key to embracing this or any other new paradigm:
Cultivating a posture of curiosity.
That’s it. I think becoming a curious person is the key to admitting that a new thing could actually be true. Curious people ask thoughtful questions. They’re observant. They aren’t along for the cultural ride; instead, they are compassionately analytical and engaged.
I take my cue from the apostle Paul in Acts 17:16-34. It’s a great passage. Paul gets dropped off in Athens and evidently he has some time to kill. So he wanders around, paying attention. He’s curious. And, evangelist that he is, Paul uses the time to carefully discern the spiritual climate in the city.
Fast forward some time later and now Paul is preaching at the Areopagus. The Athens Areopagus was a world-renown debate hall; according to the text, it was a place where people “talked about and listened to the latest ideas.” For the young faith and its anointed evangelist, this was a critical moment.
So check out how Paul starts his sermon:
“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.”
And with that statement Paul redeems his curiosity for a relevant and contextual proclamation of the Gospel. As a result, Athenians make the same decision that the students did at Urbana this week.
So let me invite you to cultivate a posture of curiosity. You won’t come to a place where you are able to admit that male privilege exists if you do not. So, go ahead, take the Tertullian Challenge this week and look around you for examples of male privilege in your context. Be like Paul and just pay attention. And when you see something, let me know.
What about you? How can you cultivate a posture of curiosity in your life?
2012 Year in Review
So I’ve been at this thing for about three months now, and while I have little idea what these stats mean, I’ll pass them on. Let me know what stands out to you!
I am grateful for your consideration, and in particular for the comments on this blog and on facebook. Thanks for thinking alongside me and sharpening my perspective.
And, most of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.
Gender and Mission
This week I’m looking for Tertullian at InterVarsity’s Urbana Student Missions Conference. Urbana rules. Do yourself a favor and follow the streaming this week here.
In honor of Urbana, today I want to celebrate the fact that God has called men and women to partner together in mission.
Remember Pentecost?
The first believers are gathered in Jerusalem. There’s a big sound, a violent wind and–wait for it–tongues of fire. TONGUES OF FREAKIN’ FIRE. The promised Spirit has come and with that the mission of Jesus is empowered and ready to launch. In the midst of these miracles the multiethnic, multilingual community is suddenly able to understand one another. As a crescendo, in verse 12 the community asks “what does this mean?”
Good question.
Now, if I was Peter, standing up to answer that question and interpret the magnificent moment, I might start by quoting Jesus. After all, Peter had walked with Jesus for 3 years. Why not offer up a zinger like Mark 8:31-32?!?
Instead, Peter starts by quoting the prophet Joel. You know, Joel. That book you’ve never read but Peter’s listeners would have known quite well.
Here’s the quote:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
I love Joel. He had it right. In the last days, when the empowered people of God share his Gospel in word and deed, the message of salvation will be carried by all people. All people. In particular, by men and women. We’ll each be serving. We’ll each be prophesying. We’ll each be eagerly sharing the faith so that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
We need each other.
To be sure, God’s church needs help. We needs more tongues of fire. We need to understand one another across differences. And, we need to learn how to partner together as men and women in mission.
Here’s hoping that this Urbana, my 7th, will trigger a new generation of men and women who will move the mission of Jesus forward as a gender equal and reconciled community.
What about you? How have you enjoyed gender-equal partnerships in mission?
Christmas and Power
In our culture, Christmas seems so neat and tidy. Nice looking baby in a well tended manger surrounded by well-groomed animals and all of that.
But the reality is that the Christmas story was far from the sanitized version we embrace (or consume?!?) each Winter. In fact, yesterday at church, the preacher called the Christmas story “kind of a downer.” She (she!) went on to describe the litany of brokenness that surrounded Jesus’ birth:
A hint of sexual scandal, abject poverty, homelessness, oppression. And let’s not forget the crown jewel of Christmas-time brokenness, infanticide.
Time to rethink our Hallmark cards perhaps?!?
Let’s face it, for Jesus the Incarnation was a messy journey from power to powerlessness. Think about it. It’s a long way from the awesome trappings of Heaven to the sordid confines of Earth.
In fact, Christmas marks the largest power exchange in human history.
And Christmas was just the start, as a careful read of the Gospels demonstrates that this surrendering of power became a theme for Jesus. From Philippians 2, here’s how the apostle Paul captured Jesus’ habitual surrender of power:
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a human being,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
This Christmas, I want to celebrate the God who surrendered power in becoming flesh. According to Paul, for Jesus power was not something to used for his own advantage. Instead, it was about humility and servanthood, most eloquently expressed in his obedience to death, and a messy death at that.
Truly, from beginning to end:
Jesus used his power to bless others.
Because of this, when Jesus invites us to surrender our male privilege, he’s inviting us into his story. He’s inviting us to use power his way and not the world’s. Seen this way, then, it’s an act of discipleship, as surrendering male privilege is one way to emulate Jesus’ surrender of his divine privilege.
Jesus is Lord over my privilege. And he calls me to bless others, at home, at work, in the church, in the world. Join me this Christmas in rejoicing in a God who joyfully, willingly surrenders privilege, in the process empowering and blessing his people.
Merry Christmas everyone!
What about you? What is one way you can surrender power this Christmas season?
Jesus is Lord…and Why That Matters When it Comes to Male Privilege, part 2
I’m not really a fan of some of those common sermon gimmicks. You know, there’s the alliteration approach, where each sermon point starts with a “B.” Or a “V.” Or, if you’re really good, a “GH.” Or there’s what I call the “mad lib” sermon, where the preacher leaves a blank on your sermon outline and fills it in as they go. Is it a noun? A verb? An adverb? Amy and I always make it a game and try to guess the blanks before the sermon starts.
But when it came time for me to articulate what I think the right response to Jesus’ Lordship ought to be, I couldn’t help myself. I went the rhyming route.
So here’s what it means for men to surrender their male privilege to Jesus’ Lordship:
Admit, Submit and Commit.
That’ll preach, eh?!?
First, we must admit that male privilege exists and that it has a real impact on how we do life in this culture. Because by its nature male privilege is systemic, it’s hard to identify. For men, male privilege can be like air. With air, we experience it all the time but we can’t see it. In fact, we only become aware of it when there’s a problem and we can’t breathe. In the same way, male privilege lurks in the culture. Men, we are benefiting from it even though we are often unaware of it.
The first step in responding to Jesus’ Lordship in this area is admitting that it exists and that as men we benefit.
Next, men must submit their privilege to Jesus. Remember Peter from Luke 5? Facedown in our spiritual pile of fish, like Peter we acknowledge that Jesus is more qualified than we are to run our lives. Further, we invite him to direct us to deploy our resources how he would like us to. This includes our material possessions, our finances, our time, our agendas, and it includes our privilege.
Surrendering to Jesus’ Lordship means willfully and joyfully laying down our privilege and asking Jesus to use it how he will.
Finally, we commit to use our privilege to advance the Kingdom. As we’ll see, Jesus lived this process out in the incarnation. Responding to his Lordship, then, means we put our privilege to work to bless those around us. Specifically, this will involve empowering and advocating for women around us.
In the coming weeks, I’ll work to further define and illustrate each of these points. For now, enjoy your rhymes!
What about you? What resonates for you in this post?
Equal Education, Unequal Pay
I’m not sure when this happened, but somewhere along the line infographics became all the rage. You know what I mean? Sort of a blend between statistics and visual storytelling. The other day I found one describing the wage gap in this country, juxtaposed with the situation in education. It’s from the folks at learnstuff.com. I’ve blogged about the gap before, but here’s a visual way to explore the issue:
Jesus is Lord…and Why That Matters When it Comes to Male Privilege, part 1
I grew up in a really great church. The preaching was inspired, the people were wonderful and we had some gnarly stained glass in our sanctuary. More importantly for me, through the ministry of our church I met Jesus. Remarkable Jesus. Savior of my life. One night at 6th grade summer camp, in a manufactured teepee of all places, I asked Jesus to save me from my sins.
Mission accomplished, right? Done and locked in for all time?
Sorta. When I hit college, I learned about Jesus’ other title. Because while Jesus is indeed our Savior, he’s also our Lord. In fact, the New Testament calls Jesus Savior 24 times and calls him Lord 694 times. That’s right, if we’re scoring at home, Jesus is more 29 times more Lord than Savior.
To be sure, the term “Lord” in today’s vernacular has some baggage associated with it. Calling someone “Lord” conjures up images of carriages and manor houses, stodgy Brits and, worse, tyrannical rulers.
But the Lord I met in college is a far cry from our human version. Jesus as Lord is at once ruler, leader and guide. But he’s also servant, healer and shepherd. He’s complex, our Jesus. Following him as Lord guarantees a life full of deep joy, worthy struggle and all-around adventure.
I love the text in Luke 5:1-11, the one where Simon and his buddies are washing their nets after a fruitless night of fishing. Jesus, teaching nearby, gets into Simon’s boat and has him head back out to fish. It’s really preposterous. In Simon’s professional judgement, and remember, he’s fished that lake since he was a boy, there are no fish.
What happens next is staggering. Not only are there fish, there’s a deadly amount of fish. Nets start to break and boats start to sink. And in the middle of this miraculous chaos, Simon realizes something: Jesus, this Rabbi, knows more about fishing then he does. Like way more. And, convicted that he’s no longer the most qualified person in his boat to run his own life, Simon gets on his knees and confesses to Jesus’ Lordship.
Here, then, is the lesson from Simon:
Everything I’ve got belongs to the Lord Jesus.
More to the point, Jesus gets to decide what happens with everything that I’ve got in my life. Everything.
The list includes material possessions: my food, my car, my iPad, my house. It also includes my time, my relationships, even my plans for the future. Who I hang out with, where I live, what I study, which movies I go to, how I parent and how I spend my money. Each of these things belongs to Jesus and as Lord he deserves and demands a say in how I use what I have.
You know what else makes the list? Male privilege.
So what’s the link between the Lordship of Jesus and this concept of male privilege? I think it’s this:
Men, as we follow Jesus, our joyful task is to discern what it looks like to surrender our socially-granted male privilege for Jesus to do with what he will.
Intrigued? I’ll fill out the “what it looks like” and “what he will with it” parts on Monday.
What about you? What does following Jesus as Lord look like in your life?
Remembering Joseph
Make no mistake about it, Jesus was born into a culture wrapped in male privilege. In fact, the gender climate in first century Palestine was several orders of magnitude more biased in favor of men than our culture is in this country. Women in Jesus’ day could not own property or testify in court, and they couldn’t leave the home without the permission of their fathers or husbands.
Or consider the prayer the Rabbis would pray each morning:
Blessed are you for not having made me a Gentile, Blessed are you for not having made me a slave, Blessed are you for not having made me a woman.
Imagine your pastor starting his quiet times each morning with that little gem…
Each year at Christmas time, we hear lots of stories about Mary, mangers and magi. We talk about shepherds, spices and stars. But it seems to me we rarely talk about Joseph. Joseph, engaged to Mary and soon to be father of the incarnate Lord. This weekend I was struck by Joseph’s side of the story, recorded for us in Matthew 1:18-25:
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
This passage gives us a window into Joseph’s world. Imagine it. You’re engaged to a woman who is suddenly pregnant. Not only is she pregnant, she believes that the baby she is carrying is the long-awaited Messiah.
As if that’s not enough, the Jewish law, which you follow devoutly, is clear. “Do not commit adultery” is commandment #7 and Leviticus 20 sentences adulterers to death. On top of that, Roman law dictated that if a husband failed to divorce an unfaithful wife, he would be considered a panderer for treating his wife as a prostitute.
Add all of this up and toss in the male bias embedded in the culture, and you would expect Joseph to bring Mary before the elders and charge her with her crime.
If you’re Joseph, on one hand, you love Mary. On the other, the law is clear. What do you do?!?
To be honest, at first glance, I’m unimpressed with Joseph’s decision to divorce Mary. I want the gender revolutionary Joseph. I want him to so say, “I know what the law says, but I’m with you Mary. We’ll fight this system together!”
But take a closer look, because Joseph’s solution is more nuanced than that. He’s decided to “quietly” divorce her. You see, Joseph is concerned with both the law AND with Mary’s well-being. He wants to honor God by observing the law, but he also wants to spare Mary from a public shaming. To pursue a quiet divorce would likely cost him. After all, going public would mean that he would be given Mary’s dowry; it would also mean that his reputation would be preserved.
Against every cultural expectation, then, Joseph chooses to honor both God and Mary. Gender revolutionary? Maybe not. But sometimes revolutions start with subtle actions from righteous people.
Perhaps because of Joseph’s righteous and compassionate heart, the Lord decides to intervene. Joseph meets an angel, and the theophany cements his resolve. After that he’s all in.
This Christmas, let’s remember Joseph. A man of righteousness and compassion. A man who became a gender revolutionary.
In the end, I love how the story ends for Joseph. He gets his wedding. He gets to name Jesus. He gets to parent the Word Made Flesh. In fact, later, when Jesus is identified as a carpenter in Matthew 13:55, you get a window into just how much influence Joseph was allowed to have in the life of the young Messiah.
As we’ll see in a week or so, Jesus was revolutionary in his treatment of women. Ultimately, I wonder if Joseph taught him that too.
What about you? What small step could you take to bless the women around you today?
Word of the Day: Primogeniture!
I don’t understand the American obsession with British royalty. I mean, Princess Kate gets pregnant and we go gaga on this side of the pond. Sending American news anchors to report live from Buckingham Palace on the status of the princess’ morning sickness? Really?
After all, once upon a time didn’t we fight a war to rid ourselves of the British monarchy?!?
But I digress…
It’s not often that we read about male privilege being codified, but that’s been the reality over the centuries in Great Britain and in other countries as well. Denmark? Yep. Japan? Yep. Spain. Sure.
It’s called primogeniture, the right of inheritance according to birth order. Historically, the law of primogeniture has demanded that female heirs are excluded (or bypassed) from inheritance in favor or their younger brothers. Primogeniture has been the law of the Commonwealth in Britain for generations, and women, like Elizabeth, would ascend to the crown only in the absence of a male heir.
Now, finally, it appears that English primogeniture has run its course. As that tiny baby (Or is it twins? News at eleven!) begins to grow, British Parliament is working to officially change the law so that whether it’s a boy or a girl this future heir will one day become king OR queen.
It’s about time.
And yet here’s the thing: lots of people think that boy babies are more important than girl babies.
This is certainly true globally. This heartbreaking article, “It’s a Girl: The Three Deadliest Words in the World,” chronicles the global “gendercide” underway in many countries in the world. Here’s an excerpt:
“The statistics are sickening. The UN reports approximately 200 million girls in the world today are ‘missing’. India and China are said to eliminate more female infants than the number of girls born in the US each year. Lianyungang in China has the worst infant gender ratio on record with 163 boys born for every 100 girls. Taiwan, South Korea and Pakistan are also countries in which unwanted female babies are aborted, killed or abandoned.”
It’s a tragedy, but it’s one thing to see this brand of male privilege in far-flung places. What about closer to home?
Here it’s subtler of course, expressed more in how soon-to-be parents talk about their preference for a boy, or maybe in the slight sigh of relief when the doctor announces their new son. In fact, according to this Gallup poll, if they can only have one child, 40% of Americans say they would want a boy while only 28% would want a girl.
Why do you think this is?
Could it be that because in general our social convention preserves the family/last name though the husband the birth of a male child is seen as a guarantee that a name will perpetuate into the next generation?
Could it be because there’s a word on the street that tells young parents that boys are easier to parent than girls?
Could it be that because of the reality that we live in a society that favors men, we know that our boy children will have it just a bit easier than our girls?
And/or could it just be that as a culture we fundamentally have this internal bias that says that boys intrinsically have more value?
In the Dixon house, our son Josh is our firstborn, and over the years we’ve given him three little sisters. Our girls are perhaps a bit too empowered and I can’t remember the last time Josh got his way.
Come to think of it, maybe Josh should move to England?
What about you? How have you seen some version of primogeniture in our world? In your world?
Works in Progress
We’re all works in progress. Last night I was caused to think about the Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
How beautiful! How miraculous! How appealing!
How elusive.
What I mean is that Paul makes the process sound basically instantaneous. Be in Christ and–boom–you’re a new creation. But here’s the thing:
Becoming a new creation takes time.
If you’re like me, on your journey to becoming a new creation, you take one step forward…and then what feels like five or six giant steps backward. Cooking up a new creation is not a microwave, it’s more like a crock pot.
So those of us who are on this Jesus journey are simultaneously new and old, redeemed and fallen, Christ-like and broken. And when it comes to how we view this idea of male privilege, we’re all works in progress.
It’s in this spirit that I’d like to bust out another round of “bad quotes from dead theologians.” Because it’s important to remember that the church’s historical thought leaders where BOTH new and old. They were works in progress as well. And in that sense, what they’ve bequeathed us in the modern (or postmodern) church is both redeemed and fallen.
So, this morning, allow me to share three gems from Mr. Martin Luther:
“Men have broad and large chests, and small narrow hips, and more understanding than women, who have but small and narrow breasts, and broad hips, to the end they should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and bear and bring up children.”
“God created Adam master and lord of living creatures, but Eve spoilt all, when she persuaded him to set himself above God’s will. ‘Tis you women, with your tricks and artifices, that lead men into error.”
We may well lie with what seems to be a woman of flesh and blood, and yet all the time it is only a devil in the shape of a woman.
To be sure, Martin Luther has a lot of really great quotes. These are not among them. But as we explore the reality of male privilege in the church, it’s important to remember that there is a history to reckon with. It’s important to remember that where we are today is a result, at least in part, of where we’ve been in our past. It’s important to remember that male privilege has been around for awhile and is therefore deeply entrenched in how we do church.
It’s also important to remember that we’re all works in progress.
What about you? How are you a work in progress in this area?
Challenging Tertullian 