Last week Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, released her new book entitled, “Lean In”.
Over the weekend, there was a lot of controversy, some of course, deliberately manufactured to promote book sales. Why? Because her basic point is that yes, there are societal, cultural and physical obstacles to women’s success and achievement, but that it’s often we who sabotage ourselves.
Look, I can understand why that’s controversial. For the tone if not the substance. She speaks pretty bluntly to women about stuff that’s hard to hear. But I also believe that her message should resonate with every woman who proclaims herself a follower of Jesus Christ. It’s just as important for us to be “in” as it is for a woman who wants to be a general or CEO or entrepreneur, but instead of earthly achievements, we should be thinking about our eternal destiny.
I firmly believe that women have a unique ability to change the world. So many of our world-changing events, our epiphany moments if you will, have been initiated by women, including the civil rights movement in our own country.
Very often we hear the beginning of this story as one of mere coincidence. Ms. Parks just happened to be tired and just happened to not feel like walking to the back of the bus. Portraying her actions as one only of happenstance is a tool commonly used to make the earth-changing contributions of women seem less than they are.
Rosa Parks, however, was no accidental activist. She was angry, not tired. She and a group of committed women were light-years ahead of their male cohort. They had been planning this bus boycott for almost six years before the right time finally presented itself. She was in.
In Proverbs 31, we see another amazing example of a woman who was all the way in.
She was a woman who yes, had a family and who managed her household. That’s a given. But she was no Betty Crocker. She was an employer, and investor and a philanthropist. Known and respected by rich and poor alike, she was just as active in her community and the marketplace as she was capable in her home.
Over the next few months, we’re going to talk a lot about the Proverbs 31 woman. I believe that we have presented a fairly one-dimensional view of the calling and the contributions of virtuous women. Know up front that you’re eventually going to disagree with me. But I hope that you will make your contributions to this conversation and leave convicted and inspired to get in…all the way.
