The Winter Faith Newsletter by Andrew Frazier
The Winter Faith Newsletter by Andrew Frazier
Women of the World
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Women of the World

Winter Faith Newsletter - #13

In recent weeks, I have listened to women share stories of shame. The shame stems from their bodies and the messages they were told by the church about their bodies.

Listen to Meghan Tschanz’s story, which is attached in the audio file in this newsletter.

Another part of the shame stems from their church upbringing in purity culture. The stories are so sad to me. As young women they were told they, “must not be a stumbling block” to the men in their youth groups. They were told they must cover up and hide their bodies. What does that cause a person to think about their body?

These teachings caused me to reflect on the treatment of woman in our world today. In the world today 1 out of 3 women are beaten and/or sexual abused. This is heartbreaking to read and write.

Meghan Tschanz, a recent guest on my podcast, writes,

“The truth is that women are the largest group of oppressed people on the planet, and that is something we should all care about. I’ve found that too often the Church is not concerned with the inequity of women. In fact, I’ve found that feminism has become a dirty word, and I’ve been told that I can’t be a feminist and a Christian. I’m here to prove that notion wrong. Jesus empowered, honored, protected, celebrated, respected, and learned from women in his time. Sadly, much of the church fails to do the same by banning women from teaching or preaching or holding roles outside of motherhood. This is to mention nothing of sexual abuse that runs rampant in some churches. I think we miss God’s heart when we refuse to empower or listen to women, more than that, I think we cause a lot of pain. An unequal and less-than view of women contributes to a host of injustices, and that is why I fight for feminism and women’s equality. Because the truth is we can’t help women overseas until we change the way we treat them in our own culture. In many cases, our western society is literally exporting injustice.”

I do not want to promote a message of exporting injustice and too often I have been a part of the problem when it comes to my treatment of women. For years I treated woman poorly through my use of pornography. I was a part of devaluing woman globally. I am asking for forgiveness now and I am seeking to understand how to honor woman in my life the way Jesus did.

Kat Harris writes, “Jesus wasn’t afraid to be physically close to a woman…Jesus cared about her heart and restoring her humanity that had been stripped away by legalism and oppression.”

In this quote, Kat is describing Jesus’ treatment of the Samaritan woman. In all the stories of Jesus I never once read of him shaming a woman’s body. I do hear him calling out people for lusting but never does he tell woman they are responsible for causing men to sin because of their own skin. I do believe God loves our skin and bodies. Too often Christian men and woman have became disembodied people. We must love and bless our bodies and embrace a new theology of the body.

So may the church create a new theology of the body. May the church teach and preach against the oppression of women. May the church honor a woman’s whole self, mind and body. May the modern church value women the same way Jesus did. May men, like myself, repent of devaluing women’s bodies and instead choose to honor women.

In closing, I humble ask you to support the Red Thread Movement, an organization focused on honoring women. Find more about their work by clicking the link above.

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The Winter Faith Newsletter by Andrew Frazier
The Winter Faith Newsletter by Andrew Frazier
spiritual and emotional encouragement for winter seasons of faith
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