Women's March, Traditional Roles

Millions of women marched this weekend.

So it shows there’s this huge presence pushing for women’s equality. And I think the basic tenets of feminism are great because of course women are of equal value. But it got me thinking of my role as a man and the role of men currently in leadership. Does that mean men should step down or something?

I don’t think men have done anything inherently wrong for leading. And if you interpret the Bible super literally, not adjusting for changing cultural norms, then each gender is kind of suggested to fill different rolls in this big earthly theater. I mean, if it is meant to be interpreted that way, I could potentially see God's reasoning in giving different roles. Understanding that no role is more important than another to make a system run, when people know the role they are meant to play, things run more smoothly.

I don’t know yet how I interpret the Bible regarding gender roles. But I started thinking that if there is some reason for traditional gender roles in the Bible, why has there been such a backlash? If men are just filling the roles as leaders that have been set out before them, what went wrong?

And I think it might be this. We men have not led as servants. There shouldn’t be a need to upheave a functioning system if people in power are using their role to empower and honor the ones they lead. I think we’ve neglected what the Bible requires of a leader. It says leaders should give up their own desires so they can help the ones they lead.

So, while brilliant, justice-minded feminists should push the glass ceiling and make sure equality is understood and enacted, and I support that, I realized I am also positioned in a different role.

If I lead, I must lead as a servant, sacrificing my comfort for the betterment of those who I lead. And if a man happens to be in leadership over women that may look like making certain they evaluate them for their skills (not their body) and paying the same salary as to a man. Woah, what if, as a servant-leader, it meant you might even pay your employees more than yourself!

If any of my male friends are in leadership, in my humble opinion, I don’t think you need to surrender your role to a woman… unless they sacrifice for the ones they serve better than you, in other words, unless they are a better servant than you.

I don’t want to speak for God, but I surmise that a servant’s heart, not a gender, is the more important characteristic of a leader.

Raw Spoon, 1-24-17