Home > Work > Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women
1 " When God created human beings in his 'image' and 'likeness,' he was designating us as his representatives on the earth. Instead of running things directly himself, he chose us as his intermediaries to run things here in this world. As his image bearers, we speak and act on his behalf. "
― , Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women
2 " We represent him [God] in this world--speaking and acting on his behalf. He is counting on his daughters along with his sons to be guardians of the whole earth and to rule it as he himself would. "
3 " We need a global conversation because the Bible itself is global. God's Word has never been the exclusive property of the elite. God's Word is for the world. If anything, the Bible gives priority to the weak, the oppressed, and the poor and is tougher on privileged people who hold the reins of wealth and power but refuse to wield their advantages for the good of others. "
4 " When men are called to full-fledged kingdom living but the other half of the church is asked to sit on the sidelines, there is no Blessed Alliance, the bride of Christ limps, and we misrepresent God's oneness. "
5 " Rich, collaborative, interdependent relationships between God's sons and daughters are vital to both genders and make the body of Christ stronger. The Blessed Alliance fuels the kingdom of God and must not be displaced by an atmosphere of tension, fear, and mistrust. "
6 " This debate has repercussions on how we live for God, how we relate to our neighbors both near and far, and how we connect with our Christian brothers. It affects the valuing of women, the quality of our marriages, and the teachings and behavioral patterns we pass on to our children. It shapes our ideas of what it means to be part of the body of Christ, how we develop and use our gifts, and what Jesus asks of us in fulfilling his mission for the world. "
7 " Our oneness...leaves DNA evidence that Jesus has been here. "
8 " Believers--male and female--form a body. Not just any body, but the body of Christ. "
9 " The gospel isn't supposed to be comfortable, for it points us back to a cross. It up-ends all our paradigms and pushes us beyond the confines of self-interest to pour ourselves out for others. Jesus' gospel brings salt and light to a tasteless, dark world. His image bearers are agents of those life-transforming forces.The whole gospel we are commissioned to spread means double good news to the poor, for we bring justice and mercy and Jesus to them. A partial gospel lacks that power. This is how the kingdom of heaven begins to gain ground and the Enemy is forced to relinquish strongholds of evil once thought impenetrable to kingdom forces. "
10 " God's image bearers were divided, and the battle of the sexes commenced. Instead of ruling and subduing the earth, they turned against one another and sought to rule and subdue each other. "
11 " The prosperity we enjoy shapes both the questions we ask and the answers we embrace. "
12 " Adam is one. But the God he represents is trinitarian--three in one. A solitary image bearer is missing a key component of God's image and is therefore incapable of revealing God in the world, much less fulfilling his destiny as a human being. Little wonder God says, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. "
13 " God is entrusting his reputation to our male/female relationships. We are telling the world what God is like by how we interact, value one another, build his kingdom together, and move towards trinitarian oneness.This exposes the appalling state of affairs. It is not merely that God's image is desecrated where violence and atrocities are rampant as we saw in the previous chapters, but also in the more polite and religiously approved forms of division, dysfunction, and the tense negotiations over roles and rank that are widespread among believers in marriage, the church, and every other place our paths cross. "
14 " God gave us minds and he means for us to use them. We need to know God better, so we won't be trying to trust a stranger when the lights go out and we're in a spiritual free-fall. "
15 " Women in the Bible are wise teachers. They offer up a boatload of profound theology intended to enrich the whole church's understanding of who God is, what it means to walk with him, and how we are to build his kingdom in this broken world. "
16 " Why is it that no matter how many strong, heroic ezer stories we find in our Bibles...we are never called to this kind of bold proactive living? "
17 " ...whatever power and privileges Jesus' followers possess are gifts to be held loosely and wielded for the care and benefit of others... "
18 " Our strengths and gifts are not worth much if we allow them to lie dormant... If we do not hone our gifts and live on the ready instead of in a default mode of looking to others, in a crisis or under pressure we are at a loss to use our voices, make decisions, stand our ground, or take the initiative that our circumstances demand. "
19 " Pharasaical tendencies in all of us make the walk of faith doable. We can be moral, go to church, read our Bibles, and give our 10 percent. Jesus and Ruth knock down the walls of that kind of thinking. Real kingdom living is clostly. It will stretch, bend, and break us. Following Jesus isn't the path to a tame or easy life. It is about taking up a cross--which means laying down our lives as Jesus did for the sake of others. "
20 " This is a moment for believers to embody a gospel culture where both halves of the church are thriving because following Jesus produces a climate of honor, value, and love and we are serving God together as he intended from the beginning. This is a golden opportunity to restore to women the indestructible and elevated identity that they have inherited as God's daughters and that a fallen world has stolen from them. "
