Bible Women

Eventually I tell them that I not only was raised in a single-female head of household, a woman who threw the football with me in the backyard at 75 and who worked harder in the fields than any man I have ever known, but also that I was taught the Word of life by this strong woman and watched her minister Christ to others, as well. I have to tell them that a strong woman influenced my life more for Christ than anyone else. I have to tell them that my first seminary class was in her lap, learning the truth of God as she read the Bible to me; I heard the Scripture spoken in one ear and her heartbeat in the other as I lay my head against her, cementing the Word of life forever within me in a most incarnational way. I have to tell them that I grew up with only this strong woman, with no man in the home or in my life. I have to tell them about my wife, a person with deeper spirituality than my own (I think) and a sense of God's presence that is indescribably but demonstrably greater than my own.

Amid the clamor and contentious spirit of this age, which seeks cultural relevance at the expense of provoking the saints with theological and ecclesiastical novelty on the one hand and disdain for the old paths on the other, there are many women -- uneducated, educated, homemakers, lawyers, Sunday School teachers, pastor's wives, missionaries, college professors and homeschooler moms; Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican and many others -- happily, productively fulfilling the purposes of God, teaching the Word of the Lord, spreading the gospel, with many of us rising to call them blessed as the Kingdom goes forth through their faithful message. While some scramble to see who can be more egalitarian, armies of Christian women are carrying Jesus Christ to the world.

All of this leads me to this closing prayer for our generation: I long to see in our seminary, in our nation, in our world what I saw in India, what I saw in my home: more Bible women.

"Oh God, raise them up this day and let them know of our joy in their presence among us. May they increase to the glory of Thy name and the good of Thy church. Help us to return to the old paths that lead to submissive spirits beneath Thy Word, more satisfying to our souls, more effective for Thy Kingdom and more pleasant in our churches. In Jesus' name. Amen."