Challenging Faith

I know this may sound like heresy coming from a seminary-graduated former pastor, but if I’m to give advice to Christians who are caught at the crossroad of making an important decision, I’d tell them to stop praying, even though as a former pastor, I taught - like every other good pastor - about praying fervently on everything. From my own experience and from observing Christians around me, I’ve noticed how often prayers can become paralyzing. People either believe they must wait for a sign from God before taking any meaningful actions, or they use prayer as an excuse to procrastinate on making important decisions. But God has given us the faculty to analyze, make our own decisions, and own our lives. What I’m saying is not that you shouldn’t pray, but that prayers and actions must go together. We can certainly pray before making crucial decisions. But as we pray, we must also act. God gave us the faculty to take responsible steps: gather as much information as possible, analyze...

Reading the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10 with my Female Christian Ministry Leaders cohort this morning, a fresh perspective dawned on me. Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made - likely overwhelmed by fixing up a feast for Jesus and his entourage all by herself, while Mary, her sister, was sitting and listening to Jesus teach instead of helping. It’s not that Martha didn’t want to sit at Jesus’ feet and spend time with him like Mary did. But in a culture that valued hospitality and conditioned women into domestic roles, Martha felt obligated to all the busy work she was doing. But then Jesus’ response to Martha’s request for Mary to help was completely countercultural: Mary “has chosen” what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. Wait, what? Mary had a choice? This must have come as a shock to many who were present at the time. It’s mind-blowing, because women in that culture didn’t really have the option to not take on domestic res...