It's time

“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah!  Father of all mercy!  God of all healing counsel!  He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.”  2 Cor. 1:3-4 (The Message)                                                                                                                                           
This was the message we heard from Nicole this week.  She bravely shared with us how living through a past full of abuse enables her to share her story, “break the silence,” and come alongside others who are suffering.   Like Rachel Scott’s story, it’s a story of redemption.  It’s a story of not giving up.  It’s a story of believing that God does what He says He does.  It’s a story where we realize that regardless of what has happened in our past, God can and will redeem it, giving us a hope and a future.


I want to go someplace beyond the personal pain we carry at times, and speak to the men who may be reading this.  Nicole sent us all a not-so-subtle message concerning the role we play in the lives of the women we see every day.  The fact is, they see how we look at them, hear how we talk about them, and can sense what we expect from them.  Ladies, please know that I’m not saying you are helpless in how you respond — not at all.  What I am saying is this: In the day in which we live, we need men to be godly in the way they look at and treat women.


I don’t think we can get away from this, so I don’t want us to.  I want to say that one of the ways that we bring redemption and healing to our world is for the men of our world to stop objectifying women — to honor them as Christ honors the church.  To put it plainly, treat them like you would want another guy to treat your sister.  Lead them spiritually by honoring them for who they are, not what we can take from them.  It’s not a new message to men, but one that bears repeating, and one we heard from our sister in Christ this week.


It was the men she surrounded herself with during college that “redeemed” the idea that all guys weren’t creeps — that there are some good men out there that still treat women with dignity, honor and respect.  You don’t see that watching Jersey Shore or Three and a Half Men.   The fact that the Situation is now in rehab and a recovering alcoholic, and Charlie Sheen (who was living with two prostitutes) is now doing a Fiat commercial, making fun of his “house arrest,” should tell you that somewhere in the fabric of our society, we have gone astray.  I think it starts with us, guys.

My prayer for us is for the way we look at women to be redeemed, so we can all be whole again.  It’s God’s desire for us; may it be ours as well.  I say it’s time.