Half the Church- A Review

Disclaimer: In case anyone is wondering, I don't get paid for book reviews. I just do them because I like to read other blogger's book reviews, so I figured I would throw mine into the mix.

I recently finished Half the Church by Carolyn Custis James. I think I first heard of it on this blog, but I can't remember and am too lazy to dig through the archives. After I read a review of it, I put it on my wishlist and forgot about it. My lovely sister-in-law, who is an even more voracious reader than I am, bought it for me for my birthday and had it sent to my house.

This book is about finding God's purpose for women in the church and in the world. James specifically addresses the suffering women endure throughout the world whether it be through sex trafficking, honor killings, or domineering husbands. One of James's big issues with Christianity today is that so much of what we focus on for women has to do with marriage, parenting, modesty, and contented singleness. These messages don't apply to ALL the women of the world. What James wants is for the Christian community to recognize is that there is more to being a woman than just being a wife or mother. Yep. You heard that right. Sounds feministic doesn't it?

I can see how many women would balk at this assertion. Surely being a mother is God's highest calling for a woman, isn't it? James doesn't think so (if I understand her correctly), and I don't either. Earlier this year (on Mother's Day to be exact), I disagreed with what my pastor preached for the first time ever. He asserted that being a mother was God's highest calling for a woman. To be honest with you, I sincerely hope that isn't my highest calling in life. If it was, then I haven't been reaching my fullest potential for the past 24 years. If it was, dear friends of mine haven't reached God's fullest potential in the past 50+ years. God calls us to do his work. This can be carried out in a number of ways: sharing the Gospel, teaching children, caring for the sick, encouraging friends, mentoring new believers. All of these can be done through women who aren't mothers. All of these things were done by my mother while my brothers and I were growing up. In fact because my mother went out of her way to serve OUTSIDE of our family, I was able to see what it was to be a true servant of God. My mom took great care of our family, but she looked beyond her comfort zone of family and sought to help those outside of her family. Her greatest calling was to serve God, not just her own family members.

So James believes we as women should seek to move out of our little comfort zones and serve those around us. We should be concerned for the downtrodden and abused. We should take that concern and act upon it. We should be integral members and workers in our churches. We shouldn't sit demurely on the sidelines while our husbands do all the work in the church. James does go a little far, however, in her opinions of what women should be allowed to do in the church. 

She seems to waffle between the complementarian and egalitarian views of how women should serve in the church. From what I could surmise, she seems to think it might be okay for women to be pastors. I'm firmly against that. I believe the Bible clearly states that women are not to hold positions of authority over men in the church. She does, however, make a good point that we spend far too much time arguing over how much women should be allowed to serve. Just let the Holy Spirit guide, and let the women work!

James's main point is that men and women need to work together in what she calls the "blessed alliance" to further the work of the kingdom. I wholeheartedly agree. Too many women are caught up in their families and homes and neglect the work of the Lord. This is not to say that God wants women to neglect their families for strangers. This is not to say that taking care of one's children is not the work of the Lord. This is not to say that women may need to do a little less outside of the home when their children are very young. This IS to say that women need to be furthering the work of the kingdom. Stop making excuses!

I know I don't have children and don't know how hard that can be. I'm sure I'll have to step back from SOME of my outside responsibilities when and if I do have children. I will not, however, stop serving in ALL areas that are outside of my family. If I did, that would be selfish. That would be detrimental to my children.

I know this sounds horrible, but I sincerely hope there is more for me in life than just being a mother. I trust God will use me both inside and outside of my family.

Lord, Change My Attitude- Book Review

I just finished reading a great book during my daily devotional time. It's called Lord, Change My Attitude Before It's Too Late by author and pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel. MacDonald also hosts a radio program on Moody radio called Walk in the Word, and his church has started several other churches throughout the Midwest. He has a great ministry.

I heard about this book back in 2009 during our Seminary Wives Fellowship meetings. The professors' wives were all reading through this book together and then presented the chapters to the rest of us. During the time, I was having a really bad attitude about my life circumstances. I was living 900+ miles from home, was poorer than dirt because of seminary, had started my teaching career, and rarely saw my husband because of his seminary and work schedule. To top it off, I really didn't want to be at these SWF meetings because they were held in the same building that I taught in. The last thing I wanted to do was come back to the building where I had already spent 8+ hours earlier that day. Needless to say, my heart was ripe for the message of this book. I decided to put it on my Amazon wishlist, and my dad bought it for me for Christmas (we both have a slight obsession with purchasing books off of Amazon).

I started reading it shortly after that, then put it down for a few months, then picked it up again around the next Thanksgiving, then put it down for a few months, and I just finished it this morning as part of my devotions. I wish I would have had the time to finish it in a shorter time frame. Oh well.

The book is divided into 10 chapters with every odd numbered chapter describing a bad attitude and every even numbered chapter describing what to replace that bad attitude with. A lengthy epilogue wraps it all up nicely. The five bad attitudes covered are as follows: a complaining attitude, a covetous attitude, a critical attitude, a doubting attitude, and a rebellious attitude. Upon first reading the chapters, I caught myself thinking "Oh, this doesn't apply to me," and then ended the chapters thinking "Ouch, it actually does apply to me." I really do have an attitude problem.

I really appreciated how MacDonald explained how to fix these attitude problems. I'm all about application. I also liked how he applied the story of the Israelites and their wilderness wanderings to these bad attitudes. He contrasted how the Israelites chose a life of wilderness wandering because of their complaining attitudes. They could have had a life in the Promised Land if they would have trusted God's timing. He didn't just pull random verses out of context to prove his point. He systematically went through the story of the Israelites and applied it to his principles delineated in his book. He relied heavily on Scripture throughout the book. It's easy for Christian authors to fall into the trap of throwing Scripture into their books as an afterthought. MacDonald doesn't fall into this trap. He builds his book around Scripture.

I strongly recommend this book to individuals struggling with contentment in their lives. If you can't understand why you are so unhappy all of the time, pick up this book and apply the principles to your own life. But if you're not prepared to apply what you read to your own heart and life, you will never change. MacDonald says in his epilogue, "If you're not turning to Him (Jesus) and walking intimately and personally with Him, you will never escape the wilderness. Even if you are a Christian, but are trying to do it yourself, it won't work" (p. 262). What a great reminder for all of us!

Next on my list to read...Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.