Recently, an Australian parenting forum discussed an article I wrote last Fall, "Teaching Our Daughters to be Ladies". In the middle of eleven pages of discussion about the article (mostly dubbing my ideas old-fashioned) were a couple comments that caught my eye.
"Purity, servanthood etc are things I will actively AVOID teaching my daughter. A 'helper' to her husband? Bleargh - No way."
"My definition of a 'lady' doesn't have anything to do with 'servanthood'."
"Sorry, I couldn't get past the first paragraph. Maybe you could summarise what you find interesting about it for those of us whose heads explode when we read about girls being trained to be servants?"
"I plan on raising my DD to be a polite, self-respecting and caring woman but there's no way she'll ever be subservient to a man, or anyone else for that matter - especially when she's already (at 5mths) got my DH saying to her things like, 'See? Daddy's doing the dishes and is cooking dinner - this is what men are supposed to do!' "
These comments were made by women who never thought they'd be read by me, and I certainly don't take offense. Nor did I brush them off, thinking "oh, what a bunch of godless Aussie moms." The plain fact is that these comments could have been made just as easily by American Christian mothers, having been steeped in feminism. Because none of us, including me, get very excited about being a servant.Jerry White writes, "No one wants to be a servant. Servants are unobserved. They exist for another's comfort and convenience. They receive no recognition."
From childhood, we have the opportunity to observe servants in action, but we learn to overlook them. We see janitors in restrooms; we see waiters and waitresses in restaurants; we see customer service representatives. And we see how they are treated, and we are told in every way to avoid holding these jobs and avoid being treated this way. "Even in the Christian community, where servanthood is extolled, no one actually wants to be treated like a servant. The idea sounds great; the reality is miserable."
Living out a life of servanthood isn't easy, but if Jesus is our Lord, then that makes us servants. What makes it even more difficult, as White points out in his book, "Choosing Plan A in a Plan B World: Living Out the Lordship of Christ," is that we are not merely called to be servants to the high and lofty of this world. We are not like celebrity assistants, who are looked up to as getting closer to fame than most of us ever will. No, "God's servant is automatically the servant to common, ordinary, sinful people."
White discusses the actions of a servant- which we can all describe easily enough. That's the easy part- figuring out how a servant acts. Making a meal, serving the sick, attending to the needs of the people around us- these are all ways that we can act as a servant.
The attitude of a servant may be less clear to us. It is lost to us in this society, as we are a part of a culture that treasures service but teaches us to never want to be the one that serves. Servants do not hear "thank you," do not get asked for their opinion, and are often despised and mistreated.Luke 17:10 shows us the proper attitude of servants, who instead say, "We are unworthy slaves; we have only done what was our duty." Unlike human servants, who may cook a good meal with a lousy attitude and yet please their master with a meal well made, the underlying heart attitude is what makes a servant (and the act of service) pleasing to Christ. Even the most simple actions, like "offering a cup of cold water," are pleasing to the Lord if done as unto Him.
A servant does not demand 'rights', and "never thinks of any work as too menial or beneath his dignity." Jerry White asks some questions worthy of our examination: "Do I possess the attitude of a servant? Do I serve from my heart or because I must? Are my responses that of a servant or a superior? Will I truly serve my family? Have I ever been accused of being (or been treated like I was) a servant? Why not?"
Definitely food for thought. I know it does not thrill my heart to be talked down to or mistreated. I feel convicted by this whole topic, and will be thinking on this for a while. What say you?
0 comments:
Post a Comment