Faith fuels diversity

“He For She” campaign offers Church chance to lead

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is that good men and women do nothing,” Emma Watson, actor and goodwill ambassador for UN Women, quoted in her speech.

Watson, 24, best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series, gave a speech earlier in September launching the “He For She” campaign, calling on men to play a vital role in the push to eliminate the gender gap between women and men.

“We want to try to galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change,” Watson said at UN Women. “We don’t just want to talk about it. We want to try and make sure that it’s tangible.”

The actor alluded to the fact that for far too long, feminism has been deemed a dirty word. That to be associated with feminism — which, by definition, simply means advocating for equal rights for men and women — is “synonymous with man-hating.”

I agree with Watson — the gender inequalities that exist must be reconciled, and, more than just men, the Church must be the catalyst for change.

“Christian women are on the frontlines with no one supporting them,” Christine Caine, founder of the A21 Campaign and leader behind Propel Women, a new movement empowering female leaders, said in an interview with Christianity Today. “We’ve got a church that’s already in the world. What are we going to do about it?”

Our failure to admonish and encourage female leadership is not in light of our faith. Rather, it is in stark contradiction to the teachings of our faith.

It was thousands of years ago — when Jesus walked on earth — that women were finally recognized and empowered. It was Jesus who gave attention to the woman who touched the fringe of his robe, who testified to the woman at the well and, subsequently, brought many to salvation, and it was Jesus who arose from the grave and appeared to three women — Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of Jesus) and Salome — appointing them the first evangelizers.

It was the Apostle Paul who appointed Phoebe a leader over many, asking fellow believers to greet her as a saint in Romans 16:1-2, and it was he who sought out Priscilla to be a teacher, describing her as a co-laborer for Christ in verse three.

In Galatians 3:28, Paul edified the Church, writing, “there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Equality is vital to the body of Christ and Jesus’ ministry on earth, and it is the work of his disciples to defend that claim.

“(I)n Christ, and because of Christ, we are invited to participate in the Kingdom of God through redemptive movement — for both men and women — toward equality and freedom,” Sarah Bessey, author and Christian commentator, said in her book, “Jesus Feminist.”

If the Church began adopting the mentalities and philosophies Jesus had about women and their value, maybe the world we live in would be more compelled to listen to us.

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be on the outside of the Church looking in? Steve Norman, a Detroit pastor, invited guests to his church, and the outsider perspective he received changed him.

“When the service ended, I asked, ‘So, what did you think,’” Norman wrote in a Leadership Journal article. “Without hesitating, my acquaintance answered, ‘There were no women on the stage.’”

Norman admitted that his visitor was right, but he had never noticed it.

“I was blinded by my social position, church experience and denominational history,” Norman wrote. “The fact that the women in our congregation weren’t regularly elevated in public never even crossed my mind.”

Too often, our social tradition morphs into our theology, blinding us to the discrepancies that exist. As the secular world seeks gender equality — ranging from efforts for equal pay to fights for liberation from violent oppression — they should find the Church to be a shining example of that freedom.

“We want to end gender inequality, and to do this, we need everyone involved,” Watson said during her UN speech.

The “everyone” Watson referred to includes the Church. In fact, it should be the Church that is at the forefront, leading the way. Following the example of Jesus and the teachings of Paul, edifying and elevating women and men equally.

“If I fail to help the emerging women teachers, preachers and prophets in my midst, I’ll be on par with the foolish servant who buried his talents rather than invest them,” Norman wrote.

This is not merely a fight of political importance. Even more so, it is an effort at the heart of the gospel. It is an opportunity for the Church to lead the way, adopting Jesus’ love for great grace and radical equality.

GOINS-PHILLIPS is the opinion editor.