A Challenge To Single Christian Women!
Captain Sensible writes: I know the problem that single Christian women are facing with regard to getting married. For the vast majority it is not their fault they are single, I understand that.
But I would like to issue you with a challenge!
What exactly are you doing to change this situation? Have you read Debbie Maken's book, and have you shown it to your Pastor and asked to book an appointment with him to discuss these issues? Do you know how to respond when someone says to you that singleness is a "gift" and you need to "be content" with it, that "Jesus is all you need" and that if you are single, then it is "God's will" that you are?
Have you expressed your deep concern about the lack of men in church, not only from the single woman's perspective (which is perfectly legitimate in itself) but also for the sake of the Body and the spiritual crisis that is affecting men in our world genererally? Are you offering your active help and financial resources to your leaders to make some changes in this area?
And are you being persistent enough about the need for these changes? In other words, are you making a godly nuisance of yourself, and if not, why not?!
I think many single Christian women are becoming despondent, feeling that they can't even pray about their own situation any more, never mind the needs of the Body of Christ as a whole. Their energy, faith, and hope is being sapped.
So let me ask you, is that good enough? Are you just going to roll over and concede defeat? (Not likely, is the correct response to that, btw!)
Ask yourself if you can really approach the throne of the Almighty and say, Lord, you know how difficult it was for me, how hard I found it being single, how difficult it was for me to pray, how my heart became sick with deferred hope, how I couldn't see beyond my personal situation to be active in this area for the good of the Body and the world?
Hmm - I'm afraid I don't think many single Christian women are going to be as "blameless" in this area as they think they will...
I would like to encourage you to FORCE yourself to pray about your own situation and beyond it. (And be under no illusion, it may take a real force of will!)
I think God will then provide the strength needed to act to realign the church's teaching on singleness to the Bible, and reap the harvest of men in the world that we are not currently reaching out to because it seems too difficult!
My concern is I think you may otherwise discover that you are not such an innocent victim as you think. And please don't see this as me heaping guilt on you on top of everything else! Please see it as encouragement -- an encouragement to pray above all else, and an encouragement to then act!
But I would like to issue you with a challenge!
What exactly are you doing to change this situation? Have you read Debbie Maken's book, and have you shown it to your Pastor and asked to book an appointment with him to discuss these issues? Do you know how to respond when someone says to you that singleness is a "gift" and you need to "be content" with it, that "Jesus is all you need" and that if you are single, then it is "God's will" that you are?
Have you expressed your deep concern about the lack of men in church, not only from the single woman's perspective (which is perfectly legitimate in itself) but also for the sake of the Body and the spiritual crisis that is affecting men in our world genererally? Are you offering your active help and financial resources to your leaders to make some changes in this area?
And are you being persistent enough about the need for these changes? In other words, are you making a godly nuisance of yourself, and if not, why not?!
I think many single Christian women are becoming despondent, feeling that they can't even pray about their own situation any more, never mind the needs of the Body of Christ as a whole. Their energy, faith, and hope is being sapped.
So let me ask you, is that good enough? Are you just going to roll over and concede defeat? (Not likely, is the correct response to that, btw!)
Ask yourself if you can really approach the throne of the Almighty and say, Lord, you know how difficult it was for me, how hard I found it being single, how difficult it was for me to pray, how my heart became sick with deferred hope, how I couldn't see beyond my personal situation to be active in this area for the good of the Body and the world?
Hmm - I'm afraid I don't think many single Christian women are going to be as "blameless" in this area as they think they will...
I would like to encourage you to FORCE yourself to pray about your own situation and beyond it. (And be under no illusion, it may take a real force of will!)
I think God will then provide the strength needed to act to realign the church's teaching on singleness to the Bible, and reap the harvest of men in the world that we are not currently reaching out to because it seems too difficult!
My concern is I think you may otherwise discover that you are not such an innocent victim as you think. And please don't see this as me heaping guilt on you on top of everything else! Please see it as encouragement -- an encouragement to pray above all else, and an encouragement to then act!
posted by Captain Sensible at 6:55 AM
3 Comments:
What a great challenge! There's ALWAYS work to be done, and prayer is one of the most important things we can do. Just as one of the most "fertile" (forgive the pun) metaphors in the Bible is the preparation of fields, one has to plow before one can plant, irrigate, weed, harvest, and thresh. Prayer is the plowing.
And then...there's so much work! And we can be a part of it!
A large part of it, too, is convincing our families where we stand, or, if not our parents (if they're not part of the family of God), then our mentors, the older Christians around us who support us. I've often come across to my own darling mother as a foaming-at-the-mouth lunatic just rabid for a boyfriend; but last week we had a wonderful, rational discussion wherein I presented to her some of the alarming statistics on the presence of men in the church, and my own experience with a lot of the very nice, but very unleaderly, men I've grown up with in the church, and how bleak the situation is looking for the church as a whole if people continue not to marry and have fewer and fewer children...and by the end of the conversation, she was agreeing to a lot of what I was saying!
And a big part of it was that I was calmly telling her that I wasn't desperate for my own sake. I told her, truthfully, that I'm praying for my own situation, and that I'm not all that worried about myself; but that my greatest concern is for the trend as a whole, and how it's affecting the Body.
Small waves are important. We have to affect the people around us who love us, as much as the church leaders, who may not know us as well (and if the church leaders are the ones who know us and love us, all the better; I attend an enormous church, and my pastors don't know me from Adam...yet).
Onward, Christian soldiers...the fields are ripe for the harvest. (Soldiers farm too, right?)
Shazia - Your comment was received and understood. Bless you sister! Keep praying!
With love
Hello there. Just a quick message to say how much I appreciate your blog. Even though I may not be able to contribute much on-line, please know that I am praying and acting as encouraged in this posting. I think praying and fasting are key and would be interested in any further thoughts about a structured 24/7 prayer initiative.
God bless you all, (hhhhm - should Christian charity extend to a blessing on Frieda Fruitcake too?!)
Catherine
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