Gender roles

Yeah, I'm back. I haven't had the brain capacity to update this site, so my apologies.

But what I would like to write about is gender roles in general. I'm going to try desperately hard to stay objective here, but I can't make any guarantees.

The first idea that I want to argue is that as Christians we are all equal. We are the same no matter our culture, race, crazy families, race, pets, you name it. Men and women are equal too. And we are of equal value in the eyes of God. I don't think there are many people that would dispute this fact.

Paul says it best,

Galatians 3:28- There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians-you are one in Christ Jesus.

So this means that we're all equal and nobody is better than anyone else. I also think that this verse shows a different idea, and in that God cares about the heart. Time and time again Jesus has pointed to the issues of the heart being of utmost importance. So if the heart is the most important aspect of our being, does God really care that I'm a woman?

I truly believe that every Christian has a common call to follow Christ without restraint and to the full. That is who we are. So what then, about gender roles? Is it really important for me to fullfil my duties as a woman as defined by church doctrine, or to follow Jesus? Do the two conflict? I think so. I think there is a tendency to put men in one part of life, and put women in the other, and they are supposed to say in their separate corners. But in the end, does it really matter?

Does it really matter that a man stays home and keeps the kids while his wife works? Does it matter if a woman decides to stay home instead? Does it matter if woman becomes a manager over men? Does it matter if a woman preaches from the pulpit instead of a man?

If God has called us to follow him, then we are to do just that. God doesn't put us in corners and say women should do this, and men should do this. He told us to love him with everything we have, and that's the entire Bible in a nutshell. But in the end does gender really matter?

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that gender roles are man made inventions and we need to be careful not to put ourselves in a box and refuse to follow God on certain issues. Following God should be our number one priority, not following only one view of the Bible.