More on Women: homologeo

It is God’s intention that after we become Christians we grow. He tells us to “grow up into Christ.” Paul at one point rebukes some followers of Christ for not growing. He calls them babies and says they should be adults by now. We are also told that the gifts of the Spirit are given so that Christians can become equipped to serve. It is intended that we grow to the point where we can serve others, equipped for the work of the ministry.
A big part of our growth is concerned with us re-orienting ourselves to relate to things the way God does. Even our salvation is dependent on this sort of realigning. Before the fall we were not acquainted with good and evil. We were perfectly aligned and oriented with God. We shared His world-view. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit they became aware of evil and we, their children, have become intimately acquainted with it.
In Romans 10:9 we are told that we if we will confess that Jesus is Lord we will be saved. The word confess is a great Greek word. It’s a great Greek word for gay people to know. The word is homologeo. Logeo is from the word Logos, which is the spoken word or message as communicated. Jesus is actually called the LOGOS of God. The message, the communication from God to man. Homo of course means same. So homologeo means to say the same thing. In other words to take on God’s perspective and relationship – if God calls something a spade, we call it a spade. If He calls something sin, we call it sin. If God pronounces something good, then we consider it good and call it good, too.
This doesn’t sound too hard to do at first. But our growth is dependant on this adjustment of ourselves, this reorienting ourselves to match God. We are told that God’s ways are not our ways and that His thoughts are not our thoughts. That His thoughts are higher than ours. He also judges by the heart, when we tend to judge by the outward appearance. Our culture also plays a huge part in how we relate to things. If our culture tells us that polygamy is wrong, we can’t quite wrap our minds around the fact that this may not actually be a dictate from Scripture. If we are raised singing 3 songs in church and praying before service, or not having musical instruments in our service, or whatever in church or in our life, we may not quite be able to understand that this may not exactly be what God requires of us. These realizations are our opportunity to grow. To the extent that we are willing to allow God to mold us into HIS image, we actually grow. To the extent we harden our neck and refuse to be shaped into His image is the extent that we are in rebellion. That never sets well with God.
Now this growth comes about in various ways. One way is simply to read God’s Word. His Spirit will cause the Word to come alive sometimes, parts will jump out at us and we may be confronted with the need to be conformed to Him in some area.
Sometimes God’s Spirit will convict us. For example, let’s say we grew up in the south and our whole family and the town we grew up in frequently told prejudiced jokes. Everybody does it, right? You’re just having some fun. And you recently heard a great one. So you share it and immediately feel self-conscious and kind of bad. You realize that telling that joke may not have been truly pleasing to God. This is conviction. Next time you might hold your tongue. As you grow, you might steer such a conversation back to something more pleasing to God. This is changing your actions and your beliefs to lineup with God’s.
Some of the more difficult growth challenges are loving our enemies. Turning the other cheek. Not cussing in traffic. Not cheating on our spouse. Etc.
The word of God promises that the Spirit of God will guide us into all truth. This growth is initiated by God. In I Corinthians 3:18 we are also told that if we will look at Jesus as though we were looking at ourselves, we will be changed into what we are looking at. In other words, we will be changed into the image of Jesus. Changed into His image. Restored step by step into the original “us” – we were created in His image initially if you will remember, in the Garden of Eden. God initiates this growth, too. It says we are changed into His image, Jesus’ image, as we look at Him by the Spirit from glory to glory. In other words. We look at Jesus as though we are looking at ourselves and the Spirit points something out to us: “Look at how patient you are.” (Because we are seeing Jesus as ourselves, and Jesus IS patient.) Then we are changed into a more patient us. This is a marvelous truth in the Scripture.
Notice that the Spirit points out what it is we are to be growing in. We are not expected as 2nd graders to walk into class and know that we are supposed to learn how to compare and contrast today. They just show up hungry to learn. Willing to learn. Willing to grow. We have to stay willing to learn and to grow.
In Christ, in the Spirit world, you are either growing or falling. There are not plateaus in Christ. If we refuse to move forward when the Spirit moves us, we are falling away from him. We must be careful to respond to the Spirit when He moves.
Okay, so if we are to be open to growth and obedient to change our world view to match God’s we have to begin to see ourselves the way God sees us as well as others. Homologeo.
This is one of the hardest things for us to do. We are rather comfortable with either thinking everything we do is groovy or that everything we do is terrible. We either usually have a hard time seeing that we are sinful, or that we are loved by God.
For most people in the LGBT community it’s typically the later when we get right down to it. Our culture has ingrained in us that we are unacceptable to God. Women have also been taught that we are somehow less than men in God’s eyes.
The gay issue is a huge and varied one. I’m not going to tackle that at the moment. But I want to address being women.
The church has perpetrated on women an atrocity by teaching that they are less than men. They have controlled governments and homes with this same concept. It has caused much heartache.
The Old Testament tells of Adam and Eve and a curse that was meted out to both of them. In fact everything fell, the earth is fallen, the animal kingdom, the universe at large.
The Scripture God tells us that Eve was deceived, she was tricked, but Adam sinned with his eyes open. That means he knew what he was doing and she didn’t. Where does the blame sound like God places it? Historically it is placed on Eve. But God indicates Adam is the one who gets the real blame.
Additionally, Jesus came to be the second Adam, the anti-thesis to Adam. Adam was the lost one. Jesus is the one that saves. Eve isn’t mentioned. Why? Because she was the instrument through which Jesus was able to come and save us. When the curses were being handed out in the Garden of Eden, promises were also handed out. The promise was made that Eve’s son would bruise Satan’s head and that Satan would bruise His heel, and that this Son would deliver them and restore the results of the Fall. Adam isn’t mentioned.
Jesus was born of a Virgin. No man was involved. It had to be this way. And we are told why… Because Jesus couldn’t have the fallen part of Adam inside of Him. So where does the fallen nature come from? From the man. He is certainly the more cursed of the two. Mary’s contribution to Jesus’ birth does not have sin inherit in the process. Jesus could choose to obey. The rest of mankind can’t choose to be right; we are fallen when we get here. We have the seed of man in us. We are descendents of Adam.
Additionally the man who is given more responsibility is accountable for more. We judge by the outward. We think authority is the thing to get. We want to climb the ladder. But in some respects, being the one in charge is not the best place to be! Men have the final word and authority as God designed it, because He holds them more accountable.
This position has been tremendously abused throughout history. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Those in authority, who line themselves up with God, can be greatly used of God to bless others, to help others, to teach them and provide for them. But authority running amuck, living independently of God, seeking their own selfish position become power-hungry dictators who run all over the ones they are supposed to be caring for.
The church has added to this frequently by not being aligned to God themselves. They have imposed this view on women and allowed men to run amuck unchecked. This has impacted our government and our culture.
I want to spend some time telling you that even though the Church has done this frequently, they are not reflecting God’s perspective of women. We want God’s perspective of women. We want God’s persepective of ourselves. We want to homologeo.
Jesus went out of His way to include and address women. It wasn’t done in His day, but He did it. Many women were instrumental in His ministry and in Paul’s.