There is a direct line btwn how a man treats the women around him and how he treats the Church.
A lot of folks are struggling to make sense of leaders who use their positions of authority to abuse women. They can't figure out how a person could be committed to ministry & do such things.
Let me suggest that such a person was never committed to Christ's Bride.
More likely, such a man was using the Church the exact same way they were using the women they abused.
Correspondingly, a man who does not honor & protect his own bride will not honor & protect the Bride of Christ. A man who views women as source of self-gratification will view the Church the same way.
The same is true for those who refuse to hold such men accountable. Those who will not defend a woman from attack by an abusive man will not defend the community or nation they're called to serve from similar abuse.
Giving attention to how men treat women is not special interest advocacy. It is a litmus test on who a man is & how he'll relate to every other role of public trust.
Failing to stop such a man & hold him accountable is a measure of our own faithfulness. A man who won't protect women from an abusive man won't protect their church, community, or nation either.
If we learn anything this week, let it be this:
How a man treats women & how he'll let them be treated predicts how he'll act in every other duty entrusted to him.
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As another scandal comes to light, we need to remember that the problem isn't simply that *women* aren't on boards or in places to offer accountability. It's that men & women who lack virtue are sitting in seats where good men & women should be.
Healthy communities require at least 2 things: interdepence & virtue.
1) Yes, both men & women are necessary. Our corresponding gifts & life experiences are designed to work together b/c even at our best, we're limited & need each other.
2) But both men & women must be virtuous. I've lived long enough to know that both men & women will happily cover up & minimize scandal for their own ends. They'll do it in different ways, but they'll both do it.
It's the perfect combination of deep affection for a place, love of people & all their foibles, & respect for the natural world.
I know other folks might have higher ambitions, but I don't need to write the next great novel. I'd just want to write stories that honor place & people as much as All Creatures honors Yorkshire.
I am so enjoying watching folks fall in love w/ the new #AllCreatures. I grew up watching the original w/ my dad & I have to say, my understanding of manhood was pretty much formed by how a man relates to the natural world around him. No offense guys.
Another neat thing watching the show this time around is already knowing the stories & having previous scenes in my head. New series diverges from both book & previous series in some ways but also stays pretty close in core characterization.
You can practically see Samuel West channeling Robert Hardy's Siegfried Farnon in certain stances & phrases. And it's wonderful. West definitely owns the role but also honors previous embodiment.
I gotta say my favorite type of women are Deborahs who tell the men around them: "There's nothing to fear here. Trust in the Lord & do what's right."
There's something invaluable about a women's ability to break the cycle of intimidation & bullying that men so often try to trap each other in. It is a thing of beauty & a joy for ever.
B/c sometimes the most important thing we do for each other is not to take the responsibility off another person's shoulders; it is to support & enable them as they meet it.
Follow this thread backwards for more clarity on short selling. My thread yesterday was, at best, imprecise & most likely, flat-out wrong. Plus Angela has made graphics!
Here's the benefit of having written books on both humility & discernment: There's just no escaping. I spoke out of ignorance & that ignorance led me to overconfidence in my opinion. You simply can't know what you don't know.
This is a good example of staying in one's lane. One might understand what healthy, ethical dynamics look like in general, but that doesn't mean they can look at a certain phenomenon & pronounce it healthy or unhealthy. To do that, you must have knowledge of phenomenon itself.
We code it in language of stock prices & sell high/buy low, etc. But the entire model is based on the stock price falling--not getting in on the ground floor of a company & rising w/ it. In short selling, you're actively rooting for someone else to lose b/c that's how you profit.
I'm not trying to be precious here. I understand that the stockmarket involves certain amount of risk & that part of healthy growth means accepting that this risk as part of investing. This is something different.