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jeopardyI totally snagged this concept from someone on facebook, but I’m in agreement, sometimes I think what our faith really needs is a good Jeopardy game.

“I’ll take legalistic bovine poo that’s not even in the bible for 400, Alex.”

Or how about “My Herman Netics looks like a soggy plate of pasta, Alex.”

“Fancy ninja move or simple cranal rectal inversion? for two hundred, Alex”

So I read an article, a poll, a study  that was taken among Christian women and it kind of just  broke my heart. 0, Zero, said they wrestled with fear a lot, and only 3 percent ever experienced a lot of doubt or confusion. We’re all just walking in complete joy, fulfillment, and spiritual freedom 24/7.

You know what that really means?? We’re all lying. Lying is actually a sin but I’ll get to that in a moment.

The next heartbreaking part was actually about sin. You know what the number one sin women allegedly wrestle with? Not any of the seven deadlies,  “lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride.” Or lying. Nope, the number one “sin” was actually disorganization, by a staggering 50%. Number two, inefficiency, at 42%.

Women seem to believe the two “sins” that afflict us the worst are the “sin” of disorganization and the “sin” of inefficiency. I nearly cried because I see that truth reflected in so many of  the woman around me. Those are politically correct “sins.” Socially acceptable “sins.” Many women I know really are wrestling with that shame/pride dichotomy around disorganization and inefficiency. We’re trying to “do it all, have it all, and be it all,” and our perception of sin really is related to our inability and our failures to actually, “do it all, have it all, and be it all.”

I put “sin” in quotes because “disorganization” and “inefficiency” are not in the bible anywhere, and if God cares about either one of them, He sure didn’t say so.

All in good humor here, but has no woman ever stabbed her boyfriend with a cocktail fork,  drug his clothes out in the street, set them on fire, and then posted the whole thing on you tube? Asking for a friend…..

No, no I totally jest, but the weight of all that perfectionism and repressed need for control, efficiency, and organization, just felt really suffocating and painful to read.

Also, pretty much unbiblical. Legalistic. Not helpful. It turns women into production units, commodities valued only because of our efficiency and organization, our output, our works. Also, apparently we’re supposed to be joyous, spiritually fulfilled, sin free, and in complete denial as to the nature of ourselves and others at all times.  What a horrendous and incredible amount of pressure…..

What a lie.

It also means we’ve learned this deception somewhere along the way, partially in our churches and from one another, because those were are all Christian women.

Also, how boring! No seriously, I can say this because I know we’re all lying, and it’s already been a done deal, but you need to expand your horizons, try some other sins on. Diversify!  What do you even repent of, having lost the tupperware lids??

I can be a bit snarky sometimes but the whole matter really makes me feel sad. The one time Jesus even addresses women’s “organization” and “efficiency,” is actually in rebuke. Yep,  in rebuke.  As in, your value and worth are NOT supposed to reside anywhere in your organization and efficiency.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

There is nothing inherently wrong with being organized and efficient, but there sure is something terribly wrong with half of all Christian women having no idea what sin is.

Becasue what you can’t see, you can’t set free.

 

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