As a kid (I can say that now that I’m 18, right?) I always attended public school. And as y’all know I’m sure, discussing religion was strictly forbidden. When I chose to go to school here, one of my main concerns was the fact that it’s a Baptist school, a religion I knew just enough about to know that it certainly wasn’t “me”. Now, I feel thankful that I didn’t let that scare me away. One of my favorite things about Baylor is that I’m able to be guided in school by my faith and beliefs openly, even if they don’t match up perfectly with Baptist beliefs. In my months here I’ve learned that it is OKAY and even WELCOMED to question the bible and even the Lord. Instead of having the Baptist beliefs shoved down my throat I’ve been learning to trust the Lord but to question what I believe and where I stand spiritually. This has had me thinking lately… what do I really believe? Can I even claim to be a Christian? I won’t bore you with explaining what I’m learning about myself personally but I would like to share a topic that recently got me thinking pretty deeply. Maybe this will ignite some question’s in your mind about what you stand for and what beliefs define who you are.
In order to graduate from Baylor it is required that all students attend two years of chapel (held Mondays and Wednesdays for about thirty minutes) and take two courses on the bible and Christianity. Every Monday in chapel we have a guest speaker come talk to us. This week Rachel Held Evans was the lucky soul who got to walk out on stage and speak to us. Rachel is a writer who is spending one year preparing for her next book on biblical womanhood. As of last October she is and will continue to live life according to how a Christian woman is supposed to live according to the bible. I was surprised to learn some of the things the bible says us women should be doing. She isn’t following all of the rules for a full year but she is going to practice each one for some period of time. Some of the things she is doing include calling her husband Master for a week, camping out in a tent when it is her time of the month, covering her head when she prays, improving her homemaker skills such as cooking and sewing, not cutting her hair, not having authority over a man, not gossiping, and not teaching in church. Her next task will be dressing in the traditional modest clothing from head to toe for one month.
Women today are strong and powerful but the Bible says that this is basically forbidden. Many people claim that the Bible is law and claim to live by it’s rules. I believe people pick and choose what they want to follow and what they’d prefer to be ignorant to. This being the case, what authority does the Bible really have? If you follow half of a cake recipe but ignore the other half there really isn’t a purpose in having the recipe in the first place, the cake won’t turn out either way!
Is God angry with me that I am becoming educated instead of perfecting my sewing skills? I don’t think so. I believe that faith is shaped by experiences and effort. Because of this I don’t believe that one book can state everything human kind is supposed to believe. Faith is an individual thing, and while people with similar views can congregate together to celebrate in the Lord, in the end they will all have different thoughts, views, and ideas.
Today, I’m thankful that Rachel Held Evans came and spoke at chapel. I’m also thankful that I go to a school where I’m encouraged to grow spiritually. My days are spent learning how to solve matrices, build databases, and discovering what the economic conditions were like during the revolution. But when all my homework and studying is complete for the evening I’m able to sculpt myself even further by reflecting on spiritual experiences. I’m thankful that I’m in an environment that promotes growing and individualism in faith and belief. And while I don’t believe that the Bible is the book of rules, I do believe that God loves me and invites me to challenge my beliefs. I have a feeling the Lord guided me to go to Baylor for a reason : -)
I hope I didn’t scare anyone away in sharing some of my thoughts and opinions. I invite you to join me in questioning what YOU stand for and who you are spiritually, whether you worship God, Jesus, Allah, or any other higher power.
Below is a link to Rachel Held Evan’s blog and a short video introducing her study on biblical womanhood.
Welcome to the blogging world! Excited to view the "younger" generations thoughts :) I think your religion views are right on. You always need to keep an open mind and continue to discover who are are and what is right for you. I've always been a firm believer that the most important thing is your relationship with God. As long as you are passionate about what you believe in, then that is what matters! Good luck and keep enjoying life :)
ReplyDeleteYou are indeed lucky to go to a university that welcomes religion. I think it's awesome that you are a strong woman and willing to tackle it in your blog. One thought I had though was that there are many places in the bible where woman ARE powerful--like the woman in Proverbs 31 who buys her own land with her own earnings and is obviously quite a leader. I think we all have to read the entire bible and interpret it the way that makes the most sense to us--after careful consideration and prayer. And, that never ends, we spend our lives trying to discern the life God desires for us. Our beliefs continue to change throughout life and I think the main thing is to just keep trying to strengthen our bond, our relationship, with Christ.
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