In our church a woman will never baptize someone, be a
bishop (head of a congregation), an apostle, or the prophet. We will never be able to heal the sick with
the laying on of hands or bless and pass the sacrament. The mistake many make is that just because
women may not seem to hold higher “status” in the church that we are somewhat
repressed, deprived, and looked down on to be not as important as the men. I often find this ironic since I have never
felt oppressed in anyway because I was a woman. I think it has to do with the fact that I
understand and see things from a different perspective then someone from the
outside looking in.
The difference between the world and God is that the world
puts importance and status on almost the exact opposite of what God does. The world is worried about body image and
physical perfection, God is worried about our hearts and if they are filled
with charity and love. The world thinks
true happiness comes in fancy clothes, beautiful houses, and the latest gadget,
while God knows that happiness comes from losing one’s self in other people and
not being concerned with “frivolous things”.
In regards to the church, the world sees importance and status in
positions of leadership which are filled only by men, while God knows that to
enter His kingdom and obtain His blessings one needs to have no position of
significance in His church but only a willing heart and the desire to serve Him
with all one has. His highest and
greatest blessings are available to all regardless of position or gender. Therefore, a woman serving in the nursery is
entitled to all the same blessings in God’s kingdom that her bishop is if both
were found to be equal in their dedication to the gospel. Their position is a non-factor. Their gospel devotion is everything!!
While gospel devotion really is the only thing that matters,
it is important to note that women do hold high positions within the church and
are sought after and asked for their input, insight, and direction on matters
within the church. Their roles are no
less significant then the men – just different, which brings me to another
important difference between the world and God.
The world marks equality as being EXACTLY the same, God marks equality
as fulfilling one’s role in the way He intended it to be and has blessed us to
be able to do based on divine characteristics inherent to our gender. God made men and women different on purpose,
both physically and emotionally, but He still values each of us as equally
deserving of his love and desire for us to return to Him.
And so, if God almost always puts an emphasis on the
opposite of what the world does, and if He in no way suppresses or thinks less
of women, then I would argue that if women want to see where they are truly oppressed, they need look no further then the magazine covers in the grocery
store or to the latest television show where their value is reduced to the
flawlessness of their skin or the size of their waist instead of the brilliance
of their mind, the love in their heart, and their devotion to the will of God.
For a great perspective of how women are viewed in The
Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints please watch this video:
*Please note that I am not an official spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all opinions are mine.
For official releases on church doctrine please go HERE and HERE.
1 comment:
Great stuff, Megan, thanks for sharing. The world is extremely messed up in their view of womanhood. It is not making us more like men. It is valuing us and what makes us woman. I wish more people understood. :)
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