Mrs. Mark Driscoll Addresses The Biblical Role of Women
Grace Driscoll has helped her husband Mark plant Mars Hill Church in Seattle and is a stay at home mom for their four children. Does what the Bible say about women really apply to us today in this culture (submission, can't be a pastor, weaker vessel, more easily deceived, etc.)? Doesn't it make us too vulnerable to our husbands? Doesn't it limit our ability to demonstrate our gifts? Doesn't it make us less of a human to just stay at home with the kids or take care of our husband? These are the questions I hear over and over from women. They are wrestling with how a loving, all-knowing God could possibly think that such antiquated ideas would work today.
The answers to these questions are clear in the Word, yet so seemingly unclear when compared to the yearnings of the culture around us. The more I study what God says for me to do as a women, wife and mother, the more peace I have in the roles God created for me. Through Ruth and various other verses, I will explore with you the clear principles that God has given us and the freedom in the methods by which we live them out.
After studying the Book of Ruth for the last few months, my understanding of submission, God’s sovereignty, and Christ’s redemption has been newly awakened as comforting truths.
The setting for Ruth was during the period of Judges when “there was no king in Israel; but everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6), including idolatry, adultery, and various habitual sins. Does this sound familiar to the context you are working in today? The Book of Ruth opens with Elimelech and his family disobediently leaving the famine in Bethlehem to sojourn in Moab, a nation that God referred to as His washpot (Psalm 108:9) due to its incestuous origins (Gen. 19:37). By the end of the first chapter, Elimelech’s wife, Naomi, had lost her husband and two sons and returned to Bethlehem with one Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth. Ruth left her hometown, family and gods to follow a bitter woman and her God because He chose Ruth to follow Him. Little did Ruth know that by her submission in the beginning she would be counted in the lineage of Christ at the end of the book! It is easy to submit when we know the outcome, but Ruth trusted the God that created her to “work out all things for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Ruth is a beautiful picture of humble faith and obedience, rather than proudly believing that she knew better than God and “doing her own thing.”
In the second chapter of Ruth, a type of Christ is introduced in the man of Boaz. He is a man of standing, great wealth, noble character, reputable in the community, and a portrait of strength. Through God’s providence, Ruth found herself gleaning in Boaz’s field so she could provide food for Naomi and herself. Gleaning, or gathering the leftovers from harvest, was a provision that God put into place to exhibit His concern for the poor, widows, and aliens. Remember that Ruth was a despised, Moab foreigner with no protection during a godless age. Again, she displayed such a pure trust and obedience toward God that we rarely see this in women today. We have a hard time even imagining how an “enlightened” woman could live so “blindly” and vulnerably.
Boaz picks Ruth out, as he does not recognize her as one of his servant girls, and asks, “whose young woman is that?” (2:3). He is told of her hard work ethic and her relation to Naomi. He already knew of her undying commitment to Naomi and immediately wanted to protect her from harm even though she was a Moabitess. Ruth respected Boaz so much that “she bowed down with her face to the ground” (2:10) and showed her humility to his finding favor in her. She was no longer seen as vulnerable to her circumstances, but noticed and protected ("under whose wings you have come to take refuge” 2:12) by a God who cares and has a plan.
Again and again, Boaz provided more than enough for Ruth in food and protection and she fully recognized her undeservedness of his grace. Boaz was referred to as a “kinsman-redeemer” (2:20), which was another system that God put in place to protect the family lineage and widows from being taken advantage of (Deut. 25:5-10). Kinsman meant he had a familial relation to the widow and redeemer meant he would rescue or buy back the widow, a picture of Christ to us. Marriage was viewed as a place of rest and security for women. Do you view your marriage as rest or competition? Are you at peace with being a helpmate or, like Eve, do you desire to rule over your husband and switch the order of God’s perfect creation (I Cor. 11:8-9)? Do you try to take on your curse (Gen. 3:16) and your husband’s curse (Gen. 3:17-19) by ruling over domains that are not yours? The lie of the world is that women have to “be all things to all people” and “be superwoman.” If we allow this lie to rule us, we will live a very unfulfilled life. Christ redeemed us so we could glorify Him in the roles he created us for (helpmates and homebuilders). This looks different for each of us in different seasons of life and as our husbands lead us in various ways. As soon as we start to look at the “importance” of our roles according to culture we will grow weary and bitter. If we view them through God’s eyes, as a beautiful picture of His place of rest and protection for us, we will know the kind of peace that passes understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phillip. 4:7).
You can read more of Grace’s article at the Acts29Network website, right here.
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