Some of you may know that
this week was the MTV VMA Awards. This
event honors the year’s best music videos and is always known for its
provocative and controversial performances.
This year, Beyonce was the
final act of the night, performing for 17 minutes a medley of her songs, ending
with her winning a prestigious award. At
one point in the performance, Beyonce was highlighted by a huge screen behind
her, with the word “feminist” in big, bold letters. Her anthem to womanhood is that sexuality is
power.
And
the internet blew up in approval. Scores
of people on Twitter were praising Beyonce and her definition of feminism. She is who they want to emulate. She is who they admire and look up to.
And
my mama heart was grieved.
I’m
not surprised by anything I saw Beyonce say or do. Because she lives as a product of the world
she is a part of. She uses her beauty
and sexuality to define her, and sets a raunchy performance as a standard for
the “freedom” women and girls should strive for. Her brand of feminism is alive and well.
And
I’m not going to tear her performance apart.
Because Beyonce doesn’t know who she is in Jesus – if she did, this
performance would not have been what it was.
Instead,
I want to call out to the women of God.
It is time for us to raise a different standard of what it means to be a
strong woman.
It
is time that we walk as women of bravery, fighting the battles in our lives
with the armor of God.
It
is time that we courageously go where others will not, in the Name of our great
God, to see justice for the poor and marginalized.
It
is time that we exemplify purity in our dress and in our relationships, because
the boundaries God sets are not hindrances to fun, but instead the gateway to some
of the deepest fulfillment a human heart can know.
It
is time that we are women who are inclusive, not exclusive; women who build
others up instead of tearing them down because of our own fears or hurt.
It is time that we rise up and make
the Name of Jesus great, instead of trying to find our own 15 minutes of
fame.
As
people, we are wowed by huge performances that reach millions, just as
Beyonce’s did. But friends, that is not
how the battle God is asking us to fight is waged. We wage war on the enemy through mundane,
everyday choices. It is choosing God’s
ways over our own, over and over again.
It requires a death to
ourselves. I no longer get to call the shots in my own life.
“I have
been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
When I am defined, as a woman, by the
truth of God’s Word, the health of that choice flows onto the people around me. My husband, my children, my friends, my
co-workers, and the strangers God puts in my path receive the benefit of God’s
work in my life!
It
may not seem glamorous, like a beautiful pop star performing for millions
onstage.
But
it is the definition of beauty. . .revealing the beauty of the heart of God by
being the woman that He has called us to be.
It brings the attention of others. .
.not to myself. . .but to the loving heart of God that will bring lasting
healing to hurting hearts.
It means that as we decrease, He
increases.
It’s
time for us to walk in this world as the women of God He has called us to
be! Let’s show this world what it really
means to be a woman! Will you join me?
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