It's Dangerous To Be A Woman Today

It’s dangerous to be a woman in the world todayI used to think the “women’s issue” was a cause people took up much like saving the whales or joining MADD. For me these were side issues not the central issue of humanity. The Gospel, what Christ accomplished on the cross, was the central issue of humanity. Therefore, whenever someone tried to pull me into the conversation about the “women’s issue” I responded, “I just want to deal with the Gospel.” It was later in my faith journey that I came to see the “women’s issue” is a Gospel issue.My view of the Gospel has expanded. I used to think it was about Christ providing a way for me and God to be in relationship and it is. It’s the crucial part of the Gospel that enables the rest to occur but if that’s all we ever talk about we miss the full Gospel. What Christ accomplished on the cross was a complete reversal. When sin entered the garden it ruptured at least four relationships, our relationship with God, self, others and the environment. When Christ died and got up, it set in motion the great reversal, now we have the potential to live with God, self, others AND our world the way God intended in the beginning. So whenever we see that potential being held back or worse yet abused we should yell, violation of the Gospel. That’s what happens to me when I read the following stats.• Demographers estimate that117 millionwomen are missing due to gendercide (also called femicide). That is as many deaths as WWI, WWII, and AIDS combined.• Every year, we lose2 millionbaby girls to sex-selective abortion and infanticide. That's 4 girls per minute.• In China alone, 66 million women are missing. That amounts to 10.3% of its female population. (http://gendap.org/index.html)It’s dangerous to be a woman in the world today.My Christian life plays itself out in the American church and I’m tempted to think what happens to women "out there" doesn’t happen here. But it does. It may not look as drastic but women are still relegated to being "second class citizens" in work, family and church life. (Isn't this partially why Sandy Sandberg's book Lean In is causing such a stir?) And like it or not, our theology, how we view the Scriptures, either perpetuates or alleviates gender injustice. Women in the American Church are still relegated to sit in the "back of the bus." Women in other countries can't even live long enough to see a bus never mind sit in the back of one. And Jesus shouts "VIOLATION." Jesus death and resurrection accomplished more than this. It's not a women's issue it's a Gospel issue. We will know we've made a course correction when we can no longer say, “It’s dangerous to be a woman in the world today.”