I have read Meg's blog post. I cannot comment on it over at her blog, because I am not logged in, so I will comment on it here.
Why don't you go over and read the text of the post first?
OK. you are back now. Let's roll.
So let me first express my great admiration for Meg's faith and convictions, and for her love and respect for her husband. It is highly commendable, and I would like to have more of these qualities myself. However, there are some things she writes that I have a problem with.
"I left women’s bible study groups because I found that I was learning way too much outside of my husband’s teaching."
So, Meg, I understand that a marriage is a unity of body and soul. But is it also an obligation to be one step behind your husband in the spiritual matters? Is it not every Christian's responsibility to know God? What if, and it is a big if, your husband were walking into some type of heresy or apostasy? Are you then obliged to follow him? Or maybe you need to have enough discernment to stop him? If I were to imitate your way of reasoning, I would have to stop reading Bible, stop going to church, stop listening to sermons on-line - because I am married into an unbelieving situation, to put it blunt. So where does the obedience start and where does it stop?
Isn't it more advisable to pray to God for fighting your pride, than to do something that final?
I am just asking questions, Meg. I wouldn't like to step on your territory, or cross the line. I am just worried.
7 comments:
I admire her conviction to obey GOD. But it is easy to make mistakes here. she may find her marriage grows by knowing more. In the case of my wife, at times she has more "head knowledge" than me. This encourages me to study and healthy conversations develop.
Paul's teaching about women being silent in Church is often misunderstood. Maybe this will be something good to study?
There is a world of a difference between Sunday’s sermon preached by a women and Women’s Bible Study. We are called in faith to love our God with our hearts, souls and our M I N D S…
“Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'
Mark 12:29-30
According to the Lord this is our FOREMOST duty and commandment. Going to the Women’s, Men’s, Children’s Single’s Couple’s Bible Study is in line with this commandment. Anything else is a lame excuse and legalism.
Milhamah
Hello Ann! I'm not sure exactly how I've found your blog but here I am!
I told my husband about this and he said yes he should be in complete charge of what I study in the Bible so he commanded me to read Hezekiah 16 and 17 and not read anything else in the Bible before I've finished those chapters!
This makes me sad that there are women who seem to be making high priests of their husbands. It's as if they can't go to God on their own but have to go through their husband first. This of course is not at all Biblical. We will all be held accountable for our actions one day. That accounting will be as individuals not as couples. I somehow don't think God's gonna buy the excuse "I gave up study your word because my husband didn't know as much as me.
Whether you agree to her reasons, Meg is following Romans 14 which states that if you cannot do something in good conscience you shouldn't.
Now, since women's Bible Studies are completely optional (some places do not have any) as long is she is studying the Word herself, attending church, and growing, why is it a problem for her to choose to only learn from someone else when her husband is present?
Again, if she's not growing on her own, then I would frown on it.
Instead of calling her backward, maybe we should be applauding her for having a conviction and sticking with it?
MiN, I am admiring her for her conviction.
I just had some questions, partially dealing with my own situation, too.
Being the person very fond of learning and development, I would like to believe that in things learning us about God my desire to learn would not be limited by anybody, and that my husband would support me in my efforts, taking pleasure in discussing and learning himself.
Having my own considerations at home I must in all honesty say that my husband wouldn't dream about stopping me in my pursuits in studies of any kind, Bible included.
Something missing in the picture is Doug's view on the matter.
Like you, I wanted to comment at Meg's blog a while ago when she first posted this, but couldn't get logged in. It really provoked me to think about it, because so often women do know more about scriptures than men, which can lead to the woman taking the lead (in family prayer and devotion time) when she really needs to wait on her man. Men get easily intimidated if they feel that their wife is more knowledgeable than they are in the scriptures.
My concern, and it kind of goes along with Meg's, is that so often women's Bible studies (though they can grow you a lot) become a place for rabbit trails and sometimes for husband bashing. This is not building each other up in the Lord.
I don't have a problem with women having honest-to-goodness Bible studies with each other, but there's a very fine line in being careful that all your growth isn't being used to intimidate or plant seeds of dissatisfaction with your husband. Women need to be aware of this leaning of ours toward "fixing" our husbands. What we're really doing is stunting their spiritual growth.
And this also depends on the personality of the husband and his viewpoint on the matter.
Oh Ann, this is my husband's opinion on it...he knew I was planning on giving it up for the reasons I stated. He didn't command me to go. He thought I was a bit strange to give it up. However, he also sees how this is seeking to serve him and put myself in subjection to him regarding my spiritual understanding. Over time, I have noticed many positive results from this endeavor, not the least of which is a change in my heart attitude regarding not only my husband's knowledge and wisdom but also it has proved quite humbling... you see I was seeking knowledge OF God rather than relationship WITH Him.
I feel very free since leaving the bible studies. My pastor's wife, who lead them did a wonderful job, it wasn't full of husband bashing... and she totally understood why I left, and approved of it.
Mrs. Meg Logan
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