Response to "Mothers who are Blaspheming the Word of God"

     This post was not written by Lori herself, but it clearly represents her opinions about women being homemakers. Lori begins by asking why ALL pastors don’t teach what follows. I’d like to answer that question for her. 

"The Bible says that when a woman refuses to be a keeper at home she causes the Word of God to be blasphemed. This means that she creates conditions that discredit the Word of God. It gives people reason to rail against God. Instead of glorifying God, the Word of God ends up getting blasphemed."

     I was actually excited when I first saw this blog. My primary reason for writing this blog is to counter Lori’s arguments by showing that the Bible does not, in fact, support her opinions. Responding to her points generally is fine, but I really craved the opportunity to show the ways in which she misuses the Bible in her arguments. However, since I started writing it, it’s been fairly rare that she actually made an argument from the Bible! She finally does so here. 

     Lori warns in another recent blog (“Let’s Stop Exalting Singleness”) not to base our theology on only a few verses. Does she realize that there are only two verses that instruct women to be keepers at home? One is Titus 2:4-5, and the other is 1 Timothy 5:14 (the latter of which is directed only to young widows). When is Lori going to take her advice and reevaluate her position? 

"God established that women be keepers at home, "that the word of God may not be blasphemed," (Titus 2:5). With something so important at stake it is no wonder that home making is so viciously attacked, so casually undervalued and so easily dismissed. And it is no wonder that a biblically illiterate and historically ignorant Christian populace does not even know what the Bible says about motherhood, women's roles and the creation order."

     Let’s take a look at each of her claims and see if they have the biblical support she thinks they do. Complementarians defend the “plain meaning” approach to the Bible whenever it suits them. In other words, whatever meaning first pops into our minds when we read a single verse, in a modern English translation, without any regard for textual or cultural context, must be the correct meaning, and anyone who disagrees is in rebellion against God! But, of course, this is to treat the Bible carelessly; it is a way to get the Bible to say what we want it to say (and claim divine support for our own opinions); it the easy way out rather than taking the time to study and try to truly understand its meaning. It’s ironic that she accuses those who put time into studying the text and history of being biblically illiterate, but those who read one verse and shut the Bible and say “done!” somehow are not!

     First, there is the obvious fact that within the Greco-Roman culture of the time, women being keepers at home was the norm. We cannot read Paul’s words as if he is writing to a culture like ours in which it’s common for women to work outside the home. If this is already what women were doing, why was he telling them this? 

     The reason actually comes up multiple times in the New Testament. Under the new covenant, there was greater and equal freedom for all believers. No longer were there special privileges for free, Jewish males that were denied to all others (Galatians 3:26-28). As a result, it’s likely that the Christian women would have been eagerly exercising their equal status in ways that were counter to the social customs of the time. In response, Paul, Peter, and the other apostles frequently urged their fellow Christians to do their best to follow social customs (as long as doing so did not entail sin) to avoid distracting non-believers from the Gospel for reasons that had nothing to do with the Gospel itself! Some examples of this are the command for women to wear head coverings (1 Cor. 11), the command for all Christians to obey government authorities in Romans 13, and especially the command to slaves to obey their masters in Col. 3 and Eph. 5. The commands regarding slaves especially illustrate that we cannot simply choose whatever we think is the “plain meaning” of the text, or else we would be forced to conclude that God condones slavery! 

     The point here is to avoid creating the impression that Christianity was a revolutionary, political movement, and instead emphasize that Christianity was all about internal change. This doesn’t mean that Christians should never push for social change; it was simply a concern in the early days of the church when the identity of Christianity was first being established. This is what Paul meant when he said “that the word of God be not blasphemed.” He was concerned about the reputation of Christianity among the unsaved if Christians needlessly disregarded social customs. 

     Also, some translations use the word “busy” at home, rather than “keepers” at home. This implies that Paul’s concern was that women spend their time productively and wisely in a general sense, rather than specifically pointing what on what type of productive activity they must spend their time. Again, in that culture, the only options for women were either to be busy at home or idle at home, so he urged the former. 

     Understood in this way, we see that Paul’s point when he commands women to be keepers at home is that they should follow the customs of the day, not that there is anything spiritually significant about cooking and cleaning and mopping the floor. Now we can see the irony that these verses are used to keep women at home (counter to our present culture); according to Paul’s original meaning, in our modern culture these verses should be understood to instruct women to feel free to go to college, get jobs, and move out of their parents’ homes, since the point is to follow, rather than go against, social customs! 

"So please understand how important home life really is even when so many do not value it. The women of this world who have abandoned home life to spend their days in cubicles, are the wrong role models. They defeat what is beautiful and good and lead a host of followers to do the same."

Lori constantly claims that she doesn’t shame women who work outside the home, but if so I’m not sure what else the above could be. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with staying home (as long as the family’s financial needs are met), and people who do so are able to bless their families in many ways. But it cannot be claimed that this is a biblical mandate, nor should women who cannot do so (or choose not to) be so viciously attacked. 

Being a keeper at home makes you a "keeper of the spring" for raising the next generation and filling the earth with worshipers who fill their churches and towns and nations with the knowledge of God. This is one reason women should be keepers at home. But there is also a terrifying reason - to reject it causes the Word of God to be blasphemed."

When there is no textual or logical support for your position, you have no choice but to use words like “terrifying” to try to convince others to follow what you’re saying. But would it be authentic obedience to God if, instead of studying and doing our best to understand what He really wants us to do, we merely blindly obey Lori’s opinions because we’re afraid of what will happen if we don’t? 



Link to the original blog: https://thetransformedwife.com/mothers-who-are-blaspheming-the-word-of-god/