wfn.org | Taiwan Church News Editorial: Remembering women as spiritual role models

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2975 Edition

>March 2~8, 2009

Editorial: Remembering women as spiritual role models

Whenever we think of faith heroes in the Bible, we tend to remember  characters such as Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul, while admirable  characters who also took giant leaps of faith, such as Miriam, Esther,  Ruth, Mary (mother of Jesus), and Mary Magdalene, seldom come to mind.  Similarly, when the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan reflects on its  history and remembers its own faith heroes, we think of McKay and  Barclay most of the time, forgetting heroes such as Eliza C. Cooke and  Lillian R. Dickson.

It’s an enigma that we often hold up male role models while  ignoring faith heroines who are just as outstanding, admirable, and  worthy of our attention. Many women also have praiseworthy faith,  Christian service, and learning spirits and their commitment to God and  willingness to serve at church are traits we should emulate. These women  serve at church wholeheartedly without asking for any title or position  in return. We often see them distributing church bulletins, teaching  Sunday Schools, playing the piano, participating in the choir, visiting  those in need, and even participating in committees as deaconesses that  oversee church ministries.

Jesus said in Luke 22:26-27, “The greatest among you should be like  the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is  greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not  the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.”  One could say that many women have taken Jesus’ teaching to heart  and lived it out in their lives by taking care of those in need and  extending a helping hand. These women are like servants – faithfully  serving God and people, and doing everything Jesus said a leader should  do.

Women are also actively advancing in their knowledge of the Bible and  other faith-related issues. Most presbyteries hold annual spiritual  retreats and camping activities organized by their women ministries and  PCT General Assembly Women’s Ministry Committee also holds  spiritual retreats and training seminars. Whenever these events are  announced, many women make time to attend and some even take time off  from work to attend spiritual formation seminars. Many seminaries also  report that whenever new classes designed for laypeople are offered,  women are among the firsts to sign up. Hence, the spiritual maturity and  intellectual maturity of women have steadily increased as women reflect  on what they’ve learned and also seize every opportunity to learn  more.

It is unfortunate that we seldom hold up women as spiritual role models  even though they are such shining examples of the Christian faith.  Perhaps we have grown used to emphasizing male spiritual role models.  This is especially evident during sermons when examples of revered  pastors or Christians are mostly male. Could it be that we tend to think  of men as spiritually mature and women as spiritually weak? Could it be  that we still feel women’s faith offer little from which we can  learn from?

Just before Jesus’ death, a woman went to see him, bringing along  an expensive jar of perfume. She broke the jar before Him and anointed  His head with the perfume. Jesus accepted her anointing and foretold  whenever the gospel was preached, this woman’s deed would be  remembered. From this story we can see that women’s faith, service,  and learning spirits are qualities we can model. Let us not only  remember male faith heroes, but also honor and emulate women who have  shown great faith.

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