My brothers, I’m tired.

Today’s post is by blogger extrodinare Nish Weiseth. Nish blogs at The Outdoor Wife, and is the founder of A Deeper Story, which she was kind enough to invite me to join. Today she shares her heart about the plight of women in the Church and around the world.

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My dear brothers,

There are a few things I want to get off my chest. Things that have been slowly building for a while now… I’ve waited, thought, and prayed for the right time to finally open up & talk with you. I’m much better at writing than I am at speaking, so this seems to be the best avenue.

I come to you with open hands & a humble heart. I hope you’ll receive me the same way, as your sister.

My brothers, I’m tired.

I’m tired of being pushed aside and pushed down. I’m tired of hearing the lie that my contributions and opinions aren’t strong enough or deeply rooted in Scripture enough, simply because I’m a woman. I’m tired of those lies coming from you. I study Scripture just like you. I read the commentaries and I read primary documents and I pray and seek counsel, just like you. I’m quite capable of theological discussion. Just because I come to a different conclusion, doesn’t mean I’m “theologically unsound” or “unbiblical.” Please stop calling me that.

My brothers, I’m tired.

I’m tired of the comments that so easily roll off your tongue. I’m frustrated at the jokes you make at our expense. The comments aren’t kind to the heart and the jokes aren’t funny. Could you stop? It’s hurtful. It’s damaging. Us women, we’re hard enough on ourselves, we don’t need it from you, too.

My brothers, I’m tired.

I’m tired of constantly feeling like I need to stand up for myself and my sisters because of our gender. If we call out something, or someone, that we don’t agree with (after much prayer and study), don’t brush us off and just call us “bitter.” We’re not bitter. We’re justified. And, sometimes, we’re even RIGHT. My sisters and I, we are intellectuals, theologians, caregivers, wives, mothers, daughters, revolutionaries & image-bearers. We can bring forth life & sustain it. My brothers, we are capable of a great many things. Please don’t write us off so quickly.

My brothers, I’m tired.

I’m tired of the same old arguments. Can a woman lead in church, or no? Can she preach, or not? Can she be an elder, or not? Can she work, or should she stay home? Is it okay to “let herself go?” So often, you boldly shout your opinions from the rooftops on any one of these subjects, and can I tell you? Those conversations mean NOTHING to a vast majority of women around the world.

Carolyn Custis James, in her book “Half the Church” wrote the following:

Our cloistered discussions about God’s purposes for women and the resulting infighting that ensues among us leave women elsewhere in the world scratching their heads. Blinded by the insulation of prosperity, we are at risk of transmitting a message as irrelevant and unworkable as Marie Antoinette’s solution for the starving masses: “Let them eat cake!” – a message that when sanctioned as “biblical” is cruelly beyond the reach of those with less.

Where is your loud voice for these women? Why don’t you ever direct your discussions of gender to the undeniable injustices that are happening to women around the world, every minute of every day?

Why are you not angry about women being sold into prostitution & slavery? The women forced to give up their children? The women dying of hunger & disease? The women who are being sought out and killed because they want an education? The women who are stoned and burned to protect a family’s “honor?”

I don’t mean to get all “what-would-Jesus-do” on you, but really… what would He do? What would HE speak out against first? My brothers, I humbly submit that sometimes, your arguments are strongly misplaced.

My brothers, I’m tired.

I’m tired of standing so alone. So few of you stand with us on issues of women’s rights around the world, on equality, on poverty. My brothers, we need your voices. We need to be united on the issues that affect the least of these. We need to be united on the issues that affect women’s access to education. We need to be united on the issues of violence against women around the globe.

My brothers, we need to be united. Period. 

The more you marginalize us in small ways, the bigger the chasm grows between us. Our effectiveness (and yours) decreases exponentially. To tackle the problems that are closest to the heart of Christ, we need each other. We can’t do this on our own, on opposing sides.

This is my plea.

This is my invitation.

Stop drawing lines in the sand. Instead, lets meet in the middle and do great things together. 

My brothers, I’m ready to change the world.

But, I need you. And, you need me.

Shall we find a new way, together?

Yours,

Nish 

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Nish Weiseth is the blogger behind The Outdoor Wife, founder and editor of A Deeper Story, and a World Vision blogger & poverty advocate. She loves wine, cooking and old school hip-hop. She hates Broadway show tunes. She and her husband live in Salt Lake City with their two-year-old son.