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A striking increase in Christians is puzzling the news-givers. Various statistics show a marked increase in young people joining Bible-believing churches. And, most surprising to the commentators, men are leading this “uptick in spirituality,” though both genders are involved.
This news cycle reminded me of how the Bible shows God calling men and women together in mission. When it comes to some spiritual work, we see a representational leadership of man and a critical enactment of woman. The work needs both to succeed.
A Man and Lydia
I recently attended a small group Bible study with a friend. The participants were looking at Acts 16:8-15:
8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.
14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
My friend puzzled over how, in v9, Paul receives a vision in the night of “a man of Macedonia.” The man urges him to come. So immediately (v10) Paul goes and meets….a woman (vv13-14)! Note this. A unnamed man says come, but, when Paul arrives in Philippi, his gateway to Macedonia, a named woman, Lydia, facilitates his entrance. What is going on?
If you think of the region of Macedonia as a household, it is kind of a cool picture of gendered partnership in mission. The work is the entrance of the gospel into Macedonia. The man intercedes, representing the region. He brings the problem to the fore. He passionately presses the case with the apostle in the vision: “Come help us!” The woman, however, provides the connection point. She first accepts the message. Then she makes a home for Paul.
A man calls them to come, but a woman comes to receive them.
Partnership with Distinction
This passage demonstrates how Jesus Christ uses both the man and the woman for the gospel to go forward, in this case, to cross geo-cultural lines. Paul teaches this mission partnership with distinction in 1Corinthians 11:9, reflecting on Genesis’ stated purposes in God creating each one. We then see it well-illustrated in places like the closing of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Romans 16 greets 26 people. Based on the names, 16 of them are men and 10 are women. These tallies themselves tell a story of gendered partnership with gendered distinction in the early Christian community.
Christ recently pressed my wife and I into a difficult missionary service. As it played out, I saw again how the operation needed both of us. We had to really listen to each other and appreciate each other’s divergent gifts and perspectives to get through it. And we each had to repent of our very different sinful tendencies to move forward. We also had to lean into the asymmetries of our marriage to make it work. We came out of it freshly grateful for the other, and God’s gift to each of the other gender. Man and Woman made the mission.
Are you cultivating this kind of partnership in your mission?