Being female

Our church is currently in a sermon series about the differences between men & women. The teaching is similar to Jeff & Shaunti Feldhan or John & Stasi Eldridge, and I find it useful...to a point. I find myself continually inspired by the "men are warriors" messages, and somewhat uninterested in the "women are beautiful" messages.

Perhaps it is because I have heard this teaching before & absorbed what is useful to me, but I do not feel moved by the idea of femininity as presented in the sermons. Instead, I am recalling something Donald Miller said in To Own a Dragon. He struggled with all these men's seminars declaring what "real men" do. And when asked to speak at one himself, he carefully researched all of Scripture, seeking what the Bible would call real men. His conclusion: in the Bible, real men are those who have a penis. If you ever wonder if you are a real man, he says, sneak off to the bathroom & check your shorts. If you find male plumbing, then God has spoken: you are a man.

I think the same can apply to being a woman. Check your plumbing; God has spoken. And in the beautiful creation of womanhood, you are part of the song. Your note may be high and fluttery, or baritone and strong, or maybe you screech more than sing--but whatever you sing forth, you are helping to create the concept of womanhood. In fact, God is continually shaping the idea of womanhood through the variety of women He makes.

I think God is a bit ornery about categories. Think about creation. He made birds to lay eggs. All birds lay eggs, and in a variety of nests and with many patterns of care. He made mammals to bear live young, who feed on the mother's milk. There is a certain order to His work. But then there is the platypus, a mammal that lays eggs. Maybe that ornery sense that we humans have of wanting to buck the system just a little doesn't only come from the rebellion in the Garden. Maybe we are ornery in part resembling the nature of God himself.

What do you think?