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I Teach from a
Tangent
Dr. Beulah Wood
New Zealander Beulah
Wood has been in and out of India much of her adult life. She
first went there, newly married, in 1968, and taught for eight
years with her husband Brian at a school for missionaries’
children. As her four daughters arrived, she changed to
part-time teaching. Later they served in Nepal for about four
years, and there her husband died in the mountains. Self-taught
as a writer, Beulah worked for Christian papers in New Zealand
and for World Vision there, and returned to India 10 years ago
when her daughters were grown.
I was asked to write
on teaching and preaching on gender issues, but I have to
confess I rarely do it, at least not head on. On the other hand,
the fact that I am a woman is rarely far from my thoughts as I
teach or preach on any topic. Whatever the sermon is about, one
wants both women and men to understand how to carry out the goal
you are giving, which means that illustrating from both the
lives of women and the lives of men is important.
I hope my preaching
style readily reaches both women and men, so I use many more
case stories from the Bible, history, and present day, and these
include up to half about women. This in itself makes a
statement, as, from my observation, many preachers use abstract
ideas with fewer on-the-ground examples, and may forget to
include things of interest or relevance to women.
Gender issues are
sensitive and easily cause antagonism, so I try to stay
sensitive to my audience and avoid confrontation so that people
will listen and invite me to speak again. The result is that I
often teach equality of women and men by my actions, by the
models and illustrations I use, and as a tangent to another
theme. I do teach on the equality of men and women, when that is
part of the invitation, and some of those times have left me
‘walking on eggshells’ to teach from the Bible in such a way
that people will listen and shift their thinking, without being
affronted or believing my teaching is unbiblical and un-cultural
for India.
Teaching through the
Act of Preaching
Sometimes the very
act of standing up to speak says I believe in equality and will
act on it. Years ago, in my home country of New Zealand, I
mustered up all my courage in my conservative Open Brethren
Assembly to join the time of ‘open worship’ (open to men) by
standing and saying four sentences and reading three verses. I
made a statement. Nothing happened the first time, but the
second time the people were numb with shock, my mother walked
out, and my father cried. Nobody noticed that I was a returned
missionary and had obtained my BA and BD (Bachelor of Divinity,
the equivalent of North American M.Div, Master of Divinity),
while the only other person with a college degree in the whole
group was one man with a Bachelor of Agriculture. I did not
repeat the attempt, as I did not want to upset my parents again.
Later, in a
different denomination, or in non-denominational circumstances,
I still felt when asked to preach that the very act of standing
up to teach from the Bible said that those who invited me
thought I could be a messenger of God’s word. In congregations
where the speaker on the other 50 or 51 Sundays of the year were
men, this silently said, “Women are okay. They are not lesser
creatures. They too can hear from God and offer us something of
value.” That felt encouraging to me, and other women said they
appreciated it.
Developing Teaching from a Tangent
People do not often
ask me to preach on gender. One can preach about, and raise
money for, justice for the poorest of the poor, but preaching
that the poorest of the poor are female and that Christians must
work for justice for them whether high class or low class—that
is often a no-go area in my own country and in India. Neither
does it bring financial support. I have to go round the back or
from the side. That is what I call teaching from a tangent.
Once I taught on the
theology of widows, in the chapel at the seminary where I teach.
The Old Testament says much on care for widows, and widows in
India, even Christians, fear others believe they bring of bad
luck, and that they should not remarry. I wanted to challenge
this assumption. Of course evangelicals agree when I teach this.
They just never stopped to consider it a matter to discuss. It
is a gender issue, especially since widowers, in contrast, do
not bring bad luck and can remarry.
Another time, as
part of a sermon, I preached against female abortion based on
sex selection after ultra-sound technology. Christians know this
is against the law, but doctors and technicians have ways around
it. “The sky is blue,” they say if it is a male foetus, or,
“Pink is the color of the month,” or “I see you celebrating with
laddus.” (Laddus are the sweetmeat to celebrate the birth of a
baby boy.) Some Christians, and only some, are caught in this
abortion of baby girls, but I have never heard a sermon on it.
The serious results tell the size of the problem. The proportion
of women to men declined all through the last century, and the
disparity has only worsened in recent years. Because of this, I
loved it when a colleague whose wife had given birth to a baby
daughter this past year provided laddus to the rest of us at
afternoon tea time.
Singleness is
another issue for women. Some would have preferred to remain
single, but parents overrule and arrange a marriage. Both men
and women commonly think that a woman is nothing without a man,
though an unmarried man is valued in his own right. In contrast,
there is plenty of Bible evidence for a rich and valuable single
life.
I did not dare
preach on violence in the home. What right have I with my white
face to say there is anything wrong with the home life of my
Christian acquaintances in India? They can simply say, “Look at
your levels of divorce in the West. What have you got to teach
us? We have our strong family life.” I mentioned in a couple of
articles the Bible verses that condemn violence and left it at
that. Then one year a student came to me to say two or three
husbands on the campus were beating their wives. I chose to
confront the issue rather than let it pass. I was dean of women.
Pent-up and apprehensive, I pulled out all the Bible teaching
against violence that I could find and unloaded it to the chapel
that was 80 percent men, explaining why I had to do it. I am
sure nobody liked it, but it had to be done. I hope I never have
to do it again.
Preaching using Models of Bible Characters
One sermon on the
nature of prophecy gave me the opportunity to imagine myself
into the life of Huldah the prophet—how she and her husband
Shallum observed the shocking desecration of their much-loved
temple, the debris lying around, and the prostitutes in the
precincts. I described how Huldah must have brought God’s word
to her people until she was recognized as a prophet, and then
she was called on by King Josiah. God’s people went to her, not
her husband, and not Jeremiah who was a prophet at the same
time. She was recognized as a prophet in her own right.
I had fun thinking
about the gender aspects of Mary the mother of Jesus as God
respected her own ability to make decisions. Why had God sent
the angel Gabriel to Mary and not to her father or her
husband-to-be? Perhaps she was only 18. Should she not ask her
father’s permission to take on this task, a greater task than
anyone else ever faced in all history? She would usher into the
world the Son of God. It seems God expected to deal with the
person concerned—Mary, rather than turning to those who are
typically considered persons in authority over women in that
culture. Do people talk about this at Christmas time?
Then Mary decided to travel to her cousin in Jerusalem about 80
miles away. That was four or five days of walking. Perhaps she
asked a cousin to come to protect from bandits. We do not know.
Yet going there seemed to be her decision. She did not have to
submit to the permission of a male family member.
Similarly, Joseph
took on a lesser role than his wife. Not once in all the gospels
do we have his actual words, and for most of history he is known
as the husband of Mary, not for his own achievements. He was
spiritually sensitive. Four times in two years he recognized the
visit of an angel and four times he obeyed the angel. That is a
higher ratio than most Bible characters. The common thread
through Joseph’s obedience was that he acted not for himself but
for his wife and child. There must have been enormous
tenderness, great protection, and huge focus on his task as
husband and father. Significantly, he left his carpentry shop
and traveled to Egypt in order to help his wife carry out her
task for God. What had he done? He gave up his vocation for two
years. Earning a living came second to being a good husband and
father. Can we learn from this model?
Joseph was also the
model to Jesus of an earthly father. Perhaps because of Joseph,
Jesus grew with a wonderful model of a father’s role. The word
“father” for God appears 11 times in the Old Testament. In
John’s gospel alone the word Father, usually used by Jesus,
refers to God 122 times. Joseph’s life must have fed into the
view Jesus had of a loving father.
Preaching on Family Life
I feel comfortable
when I preach on family life and parenting. I had a good
marriage while it lasted, I raised a family of four, much of the
time as a single parent, my daughters are steady citizens,
married, and providing me with the experience of grandparent as
well.
One year the
principal asked us to each give our testimony of the path we had
taken to reach our current position at chapel sessions. For many
of my colleagues, wives, parents, and children hardly figured in
the big decisions after they were married. I chose to tell my
story in the context of how my husband and I made decisions
about our calling, what training we would do, and especially in
receiving together a sense of guidance. I told how in one big
decision I felt God guided us to move to Nepal and my husband
accepted the verses I received for both of us. Students came to
tell me during the rest of the week how they liked my testimony
because I brought to it the real-life dynamics.
I like preaching on
parenting too. Most preachers in India have the disadvantage of
few Christian books written for their culture, and although
books from North America are available, they are often unhelpful
because of the cultural differences between Christians in India
and Christians in the West. For example, because parents often
sleep with their children in India, it is irrelevant to read
books which advise otherwise. Some believe that preaching on
family life is not a serious spiritual issue deserving of a
sermon. This is where, coming from another culture, my preaching
can be helpful. I like to preach on how God’s treatment of Adam
and Eve offers much by way of good parental relationships.
Asked to Teach or Preach on Gender Issues
People do ask me
occasionally to teach on gender topics directly, but I take the
greatest care. “Gender” is not a word that Christians like. It
smacks of secular feminism. I offer to talk on “Issues of Women
and Men,” and that is appropriate anyway, as the issues are part
of the whole of society, not just the problem of women.
“Feminism” is not a good word for most people either. I used to
proudly say I was a feminist and define it as believing men and
women should be equal and are equal in the sight of God. That
did not work in India. People stick on the word feminist.
Often I start a
series by explaining I had a good marriage, I have brothers and
sons-in-law, and I do not hate men. In India, people like to
know that I still hold great respect for my husband who died 25
years ago. They perhaps feel the fact I have not remarried shows
my loyalty. Some like to see a photo of him.
At a neighboring
Bible college, the dean asked me to teach gender issues for a
small M.Div class. They listened attentively and did the
assignments, but the more difficult challenge was the three
public lectures I had to give for the whole student body. In
three, one-hour sessions, I tried to convey my message in an
environment so conservative that the women students were only
allowed out of their hostel for lectures. Standing up in front
of 100 people in that environment took much prayer. I elaborated
in the first lecture on the oppression of women in their own
culture generally. They did know that was there. The next
evening I taught from the scriptures the equality that Jesus
promoted and that was practiced in the New Testament. Okay so
far. If I based my argument on the Bible, evangelicals could not
argue back.
On the third
evening, after more examples and biblical teaching, I asked men
to help teach change and work to bring equality to both men and
women. It was only the beginning of the journey, but none of the
young men or the lecturers voiced objections, and the young
women surrounded me like a small swarm of bees to tell how they
had never heard that equality for women could be a biblical
concept.
Two more
opportunities came earlier this year. At my own institution
eight M.Th. students were to write an extended paper during
February. They heard a speaker for two days on environmental
issues, another for two days on caste issues, and then me on
gender issues, and this time with a straightforward approach.
All eight chose to write on gender issues. That told me I had
touched a chord they knew they needed for their future ministry.
Then a mission
annual conference in Bangladesh invited me to speak on gender
issues. That too was hard, for some would come for refreshment,
not controversy. A retreat needs to offer encouragement. I
offered the example of the courage of the bold women leaders in
the house churches of the first century. What a great model we
have in a woman like Mary, mother of John Mark, holding a prayer
meeting in her home (Acts 12) when her friend James was martyred
that week. Nympha in Laodicea ran a house church in her home
while surrounded by pagans who would object to her actions
(Colossians 4), and Phoebe traveled and taught as a deacon of
the church in Cenchraea.
Being a woman is
intrinsic to my preaching. I want both men and women to relate
to the teaching and apply it readily, and I want all my
listeners to see women and men as equal in the sight of God,
both at home and in society.
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