Are Women As Valuable As Men In The Christian Faith?

The battle of the sexes as been going since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the garden...exactly who's fault was that?  Growing up, my dad use to tell me I was an "American Woman".  My dad was a Coptic Orthodox Egyptian immigrant who came to America to escape government religious prejudices that stunted his opportunity.  I'm not exactly sure whether "American Woman" meant I didn't have to face the persecutions he saw Egyptian women face, or that I had all the same opportunities as men in America, or that I had a big mouth and wasn't afraid to speak it.  Somehow by his voices proud richness and projection with a rounded edge, I believe dad meant all three!  Dad's declaration of "American Woman" has been mostly true for me.

Despite my equal opportunity as an American Woman, I have struggled with determining my value as a woman in the Christian faith.  Somehow through all the messages of God knows our troubles and understands, I never really believed Jesus understood what it was like to have PMS or experience the vulnerability of being a woman.  It's hard to feel valued when you're not understood.

Recently I read Paul Smith's "Is It Okay To Call God Mother:  Considering the Feminine Face of God."  Smith says,  11am Sunday morning is the most sexist hour in America.  I agree with Smith.  It would not be beneficial for me to share with you my thoughts and experiences of sexism in the church, that's not the purpose of this blog post.  I do want to bring to your attention that it IS okay to call God Mother.  God is referred to as feminine throughout Bible and understanding the gender neutrality of the original Hebrew and Greek Bible brings about a larger more balanced image of God than what you may have learned in Sunday School.  Did you know El Shaddai means breasted one?

So now to answer the question:  Are Women As Valuable As Men In The Christian Faith?  Knowing I was made in God's image, just as man (Genesis 1:27), and that my daughter is just as strong as my sons, with her own unique spirit and abilities to change the world--a force with passions and life and fire; women are definitely as valuable as men to God.  Knowing that my daughter will have to look a certain way for people to listen to her testimony and she too is more likely to be preaching from a yoga mat instead of a pulpit, I see that she will not be as valued as men in the Christian Faith and she too will have to grapple with her worth in Christ as a woman.  Fortunately, my daughter is also an "American Woman" and American Women have done much to foster change in the past century.  Perhaps it's time we consider increasing our value in the Christian Faith!

 [Just in case you were wondering, this picture is meant to be sarcastic].

For more references to the feminine face of God in the Bible, please see:  Hosea 11:3-4, Hosea 13:8, Deuteronomy 32:11-12, Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah 66:13, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 42:14, Jeremiah 44:25, Psalm131:2, Psalm 123:2-3, Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34, and Luke 15:8-10.