The Post Where I Admit I Love Rachael Evans

For the last few years, I have had quite a few friends who are crazy about Rachael Evans (she's a Christian blogger and author). I have read a few of her posts, but I just could not see what all the fuss was about. I did like her more than most conservative Christian women who reflect on what it means to be a Christian woman, but that isn't saying much since I avoid those authors like the plague.  So, when I was challenged to read her book and write a reflection on it, I started it with low expectations. 

Two pages into the book, I realized I was completely wrong about Evans.  As I read more, Jon asked me how I liked it...and I had to humbly admit that I loved it. It is one of the best reflections on the difficulty of being a woman in a male-dominated religion and how to live out your calling when most of your tradition gives no encouragement to it. Evans does not walk away from her religion or her tradition, but she freely questions it and the restrictions that are put on women in the name of being "biblical."  The truth is, when you read the Bible so narrowly, you loose the fact that God is a great and magnificent God who can do anything through anyone. So what has God inspired me to do? What do I feel a calling towards? What is it that burns like a fire in my bones? Many of us know but are too afraid to do it. I know I am. And it is a lot of work, time, effort, and makes me feel like a target. Once I began to think outside of the box and reject the many restrictions put on me, it changed everything for me.

One issue I do suffer from is bitterness. I try to keep it at bay, but every time someones makes a comment about my gender, it rises to the surface. I don't want to be bitter. I don't want to be angry at my brothers and sisters. But it is hard since it happens continuously, whether people mean it or not. This is another reason I love Evans. She laughs about the ridiculousness of these constraints. I read one review by a man who thinks she doesn't take the Bible serious enough. I would argue just the opposite. She takes the Bible quite seriously. She just finds so many interpretations about "biblical gender roles" to be silly. 

 

Reading through her book is like sitting with a friend who is going through all the same issues, but comes through them without bitterness and with a mischievous smile on her face. I applaud her for being able to find freedom and joy in being a woman and being a Christian. 

I want more than anything to become a New Testament Professor.  Jon and I had the privilege to go teach a class in the Philippines several years ago. And I loved it! Teaching and traveling - that's about as good as it gets!