Women are good, men are great?
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“WOMEN are good and men are great” – those were the jarring words escaping my brother’s mouth as he sweetly greeted me and my four daughters at grandma’s house.
He beamed as he said it, while bumping fists and adoring his nieces. As a women’s rights advocate and daughter of the King with equal inheritance to the Creator’s blessings, I was confused. What was my worldly, cool, beloved older brother saying? Part of the confusion was his doting smile. From his vantage point, he was clearly offering a compliment!
Of course, I couldn’t let a phrase and ideology like that just waft through the atmosphere among my four daughters, lest it found somewhere to take root.
So I had my brother sit down and explain where he was coming from. He was at pains to emphasise that he was not saying that women were inferior to men or any such notion. He was simply saying that men must be valiant to go to war, to fearlessly and dedicatedly lay their life on the line for the protection and preservation of the family and the nation. In other words, men must be great.
A woman on the other hand, according to him, is good when she can support a man and encourage or convince him to fulfil his responsibility – to always take up the mantle to lead and protect.
I agree, at least in part. Offering this encouragement to men is indeed good, virtuous and helpful to men. The only trouble is that oftentimes some men still fail to be great – fail to lead and protect in spite of encouragement from women, which means it’s not up to the goodness of a woman for a man to be great.
Furthermore, is the sum total purpose of a woman to encourage a man? Does she not have a broader role in the community? Must she only be seen to provide support for another? What about support and encouragement for her and the unique call on her life? Does she not also have dominion (leadership) over the earth? Was that call to have dominion and to be fruitful not given to both the man and the woman? (Genesis 1:28).
Plus, what if she is a single woman? If my brother’s ‘enlightened’ view holds, a single woman would have to be waiting around for a man to make her great. Would that be her purpose? Would that make her ‘good’? These views need redemption, especially as we reflect on women’s rights following the observance of International Women’s Day.
Moreover, is war the only sign of valiance? What about birthing and breastfeeding the said community we are eager to protect? Yes, birthing and breastfeeding are by God’s design and for His glory, but women are the major players in these acts of greatness.
As I debated with my brother about all this and his main point about protection and community, I remembered the Bible story of Deborah and Jael – two great women who stepped forward with their femininity in full force to defend and protect their community (Judges, chapter 4).
A man, Barak, was in fact called by God to defend the people of Israel. God had spoken – but no action was taken. Deborah reminded Barak of God’s call to fight for his people and the promise of victory. But he declared that he would not go to war, unless Deborah herself went with him. Like a champion, Deborah agreed, but with a warning, telling Barak that because of what he required, the glory would not be his, but rather would go to a woman.
During the battle Barak was looking to conquer Sisera, captain of the enemy camp. But as fate would have it, Sisera found himself outside the tent of no less than a woman named Jael. The short of it is that Sisera goes inside her tent, she offers him warm milk and covers him with a blanket, and when the time was right she drove a peg through his temple, effectively slaughtering the enemy. Women are great and women are good.
Deborah wasn’t only obedient and discerning of God’s will and word for the season, she was valiant and unafraid of war. Jael wasn’t only domesticated and hospitable, she was a strategic conqueror for her people. Women can be good and great. And of course, so can men.
Abraham, Noah, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Mordecai, Jehoshaphat, Joseph of Nazareth, John the Baptist and Stephen are just a few awesome examples from Scripture. But in this Lenten season, the ultimate example of goodness and greatness is found in Jesus. Our main claim to any kind of goodness or greatness is emulation of and obedience to Him. Let us all – men and women – strive to be like Him! Let us have dominion together. Let us honour and encourage one another to do good works. You hear me, bro?
Women and men are great!
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