Why Queen Esther Matters for Feminism Today

I recently made a video about how bad I am at cooking. A 16 year- old girl commented on the instagram confessional, “I’m glad to know I’m not the only Christian girl bad at cooking. Now there are two of us.” Of course she was being funny and we both had a good laugh. We went on to discuss common misconceptions about women, girls, ministry, gender roles, and what it means to be a Christian during this new feminism movement.

While it’s important to look at the biblical model for households, it is also equally important to look at how God used women to accomplish His goals outside of the kitchen. As a Girls Minister, who works with teenagers for a living, let me tell you, one of the reasons women young and old have rejected biblical womanhood is because most teaching leaves out exciting Biblical stories with women in the starring roles. Thus enters the allure of the feminist movement.

 Today we are going to look at a woman with a leading role in the Bible and in history, Queen Esther. Esther lives a real-life Cinderella story, has an entire Biblical book named after her, and manages to change the mind of a king and the direction of a country through her wisdom, beauty, timely words, and place of royalty. Esther has an important message for Christian girls and woman who desperately want an exciting life, impactful existence, and secretly wonder if in order to accomplish these goals they must side with the feminist movement. Let’s look at why Queen Esther matters for the feminist movement of today.

Esther 4:14 is the most quoted verse in the entire biblical book of Esther.

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come into your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

This is her uncle appealing to Esther to stand up for the Jews who were being mistreated and to use her high position in order to get her convictions heard before the king.  The verse directly contrasts the idea that the Bible oppresses women.  God placed Esther as Queen in order to lead a revolution!

1. Esther only used methods and means that were effective. If Esther lived in 2017, she would not have attended the Women’s March. How do I know this? She had seen the King’s first wife, Queen Vashti, behave in a feminist protest by refusing to obey her husband, to submit to God-given authority, or follow the norms for the culture of the day- which resulted in her losing her crown. Esther was not about to repeat the same mistake.

2. Esther had a systematic plan in mind and motion. Esther was not interested in merely yelling loud enough or long enough to get someone’s attention. She wanted results and to keep her husband’s heart, interest, and trust. Esther did not merely make him change his mind as a result of a tantrum. She carefully planned and respectfully appealed to her king and husband.

3. Esther kept her dignity resulting in her keeping her crown. Esther was not rash in the way she planned to confront injustice. Esther did not demand action but requested her voice be heard and her plan carried out. Because of her patience and calm demeanor, her husband was open to hearing her concerns.

4. Esther was her own person while remaining submissive. Esther had her own ideas about culture, society, justice, and equality- and that is more than okay! In fact, Esther differing in opinion from her husband is a main plot of this story! She was her own person, with her own ideas, who respectfully brought her request to the king and he listened.

There are ungodly and unequal ideas, laws, practices, and crimes that must change for women in 2017. Culture needs to progress in how women are treated and Christians need to stand for those who are mistreated. In the midst of creating a better world for women, there is value in learning how women in the Bible used their power, influence, grace, patience, beauty, and position to change the minds of kings and the direction of history!

A Biblical Response to Teen Vogue's Abortion Advice for Teen Girls

(This article was published by The Christian Post, Southern Baptist TEXAN, and Hello Christian)

The startling article “What to Get a Friend Post-Abortion” was recently published by Teen Vogue, guiding teenage girls on how to comfort their friends who are recovering from abortions. Teen Vogue explains to their readers:

 The worst part of all this isn’t the procedure itself (which by the way is               completely safe as long as you have access to a good clinic) . . . but how you are   treated afterwards . . . she shouldn’t have to feel ashamed because she made the right decision for her situation . . . and that’s OK . . . she will need you-- not because the act itself is so terrible, but because the world can be.

It’s difficult to identify the most disturbing aspect of this article: A teen magazine meant to help girls learn about fashion and makeup is advocating murder? Standing up for equal rights for women is now synonymous with accepting and promoting abortion? Post-abortive teenage girls are encouraged to wear the F-Uterus pin (a uterus giving the middle finger) from Planned Parenthood as a response to anyone who asks if a post-abortive girl regrets her decision?

While reading this article dedicated to explaining how teenage girls should comfort their post-abortive peers, I wondered if the author were a professional counselor, a physician, a social worker, or a health care professional of any kind who was qualified to give impressionable young girls health care advice. Not surprisingly, the author only cites her personal post-abortive experience as a source of medical advice.

As a licensed professional counselor who works with post-abortive women, I find the most inconsistent and harmful aspect of this article the way the author masks it as a help piece, while directing teenage girls to do the very opposite of what will actually bring them health and comfort.  The author repeatedly tells readers they have no reason to feel shame and guilt. One would be hard-pressed to find a mental health clinician who regularly tells clients how they are supposed to feel--a fundamental tenet of Psychology 101. The very basis for processing grief and healing is identifying and exploring how an individual feels.

As a girls’ ministry director who ministers to hundreds of teenage girls weekly, I am praying for this generation of teenage girls to take stands for the principles of God’s Word. Generation Z is a generation who will no longer be able to be lukewarm in their faith or waver in their stance on religious, political, or social concerns. The spiritual issues that my Millennial generation labeled as secondary and non-essential will be non-negotiable for Generation Z. With culture pushing liberal agendas such as trying to brainwash people into believing they are not born male and female; this is the generation of Christians where the rubber must hit the road.    

As a pro-life advocate who recently prayed at a pro-life rally in the very courtroom where Roe v. Wade first began, I want teenage girls and women to know the pain and regret that abortion brings. Abortion is not the only option to an unwanted pregnancy. An unwanted pregnancy does not mean an unplanned pregnancy because God has a plan for every life that is conceived, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one came to be.” Psalm 139:6.

As a Christian Millennial young woman who sees her Christian peers regularly waver on controversial spiritual issues, I pray my generation will start saying “Enough is enough!” We must start standing up for the truth of God’s Word, or we will soon not recognize our country or even our churches. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” must be our battle cry. As Christians, we are on a rescue mission to bring as many people to Heaven as possible. We must stop being ashamed of what the Bible says about abortion, gender, sex, homosexuality, marriage and start proclaiming God’s truth to an unbelieving world.

Norma McCorvey, “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, famously stated, "However, upon knowing God, I realize that my case, which legalized abortion on demand, was the biggest mistake of my life." Abortion is not the unpardonable sin, but the decision to abort an unborn baby affects its mother and father for the rest of their lives. We are never hurting people by telling them God’s truth. If we truly want to help a post-abortive teenage girl, the only comfort is in offering God’s heart on abortion. Abortion is murder. Abortion is a sin. Abortion is also forgiven when we receive the forgiveness God offers through Jesus’ death on the cross.
 

Speaking Truth in Love, 

Julia J. Sadler