What's in the Bowl?

During a spring trip, my wife and I purchased a glass bowl. It's colorful and handmade. When I turn the bowl upside down, nothing falls out. Does that make it empty? I have been learning to think about this question differently.

My wife and I travel to the mountains each spring for a writer's conference. These trips have been an annual highlight for us. It's a chance to get away as a couple, and the conference feeds our love for words. We purchased this bowl during our most recent trip. Our enjoyment of these weekends and these conferences is in the bowl.

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We purchased the bowl at a market showcasing locally-crafted goods. Baskets, furniture, woodcrafts, Fiesta tableware, glass, candles, needlework, metalwork, paintings, and more. This outlet has a museum-like quality, complete with a top-notch dining menu, which we have enjoyed several times. It's here that we purchased the bowl, and all of that is in the bowl.

Most of the glass items on offer are handmade. Many are made onsite, including our bowl. Visitors can see the hot kilns where glass is worked and classes are taught. A little research reveals that the master craftsman's name is John. He's married to Susan, and they have a daughter, Holly. John has been working with glass for more than 25 years. That's in the bowl.

I was born in those mountains, and my ancestors lived there for many generations. Some were farmers, some shopkeepers. One of my grandfathers was a coal miner. The other delivered ice before becoming mayor and water commissioner for their small town. Nostalgia for that place and my people are all in the bowl.

Then there's the potential. What else will we put in the bowl? Where will it land when it's no longer ours? All of these possibilities are in the bowl.

I am learning that Things are much more than just things, thanks to Esther Lightcap Meek, who inspired this post with her book Doorway to Artistry. This is in the bowl, too.

Twincaretakingmutualsubmissionism

Twincaretakingmutualsubmissionism is a word that won’t ever become ‘word of the year’. It’s so long that I think I’ll abbreviate it TCMS.

Notice that it’s an ‘-ism’. It refers to a philosophy. The word philosophy means the love of wisdom and wisdom is the skillful use of knowledge. So words like this communicate someone’s understanding of lived knowledge. In this case, that ‘someone’ is me.

So I don’t bury the lede too deeply, let me state that I’m using this made-up word to look at gender roles. These days philosophies like complementarianism and egalitarianism have hardened into adversarial camps. Some of the fruits at the extremes of these two views are so distasteful that many resist using the words anymore. Thus my alternative. Let me break it down.

Twin

‘Twin’ is used to convey two ideas:

Unity and duality

We could talk about ‘the twins’ as a unit. “The twins are coming for Christmas”. Likewise, we can refer to male and female together as humanity. But twins are also individuals and both Nature and Scripture honor the distinctness of male and female. So when we say “The twins are coming for Christmas”, we are referring to both a unit and a binary.

Sameness and difference

Our understanding of ‘twins’ includes both sameness and difference. Fraternal twins share parents and a birthday. Identical twins share a genetic sequence. And yet it’s possible to see difference. Even identical twins express their genetics differently. Male and female share the Imago Dei ⏤ God’s image. Both share God’s love and unsurpassable worth. We share the gifts of the Spirit and corresponding responsibility. And we share life in God’s kingdom, without discrimination. And yet we acknowledge that God saw fit to create us male and female. And as God’s creatures, we humbly receive the identity our Creator has given.

Caretaking

When God formed us from the dust of the earth and breathed life into us, he gave us a purpose ⏤ together. This was before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Our joint purpose was to rule over the earth as God’s caretakers. We do this as companions; the woman being the man’s helpmeet (‘ezer). Several psalms use this same word ‘ezer to refer to the way God helps us. Women help men care for God’s Creation just as God helps us.

Mutual Submission

So many discussions about gender and roles gravitate toward debates over authority. A Christian understanding of relationships between men and women have to begin with an understanding of people in general.

Oneness

In Jesus’ prayer recorded in John 17, he petitions the Father to make us one, just as the Father and the Son are one ⏤ the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father; the Father in the Son and the Son in his Church. This is the oneness of the Trinity. It is a relationship of pure love.

Power

Philippians 2 shows us that the all-powerful Christ displayed his power by humbling himself, taking on (lowly) human form and surrendering his life by a means of execution intended to maximize cruelty and humiliation. Kingdom power is ‘power under’, not ‘power over’. ‘Power for’, not ‘power against’.

Source

Scripture tells us that woman was formed from man and that men are born of women. Emphasized is a mutuality of source.

When God looks at us, he sees both sameness and difference. But there’s no superior or inferior. When God shows favor at all, it’s to those who are marginalized and powerless ⏤ until they’re not. We need a better conversation around these things ⏤ one that reflects God’s heart.

What we know and have seen

“Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you people do not accept our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ”

— John 3:11-12

Here Jesus is talking with Nicodemus who doesn’t seem to ‘get it’ about this you must be born again stuff. Imagine Jesus explaining (testifying as a witness) to someone about what he knows and has experienced. And they can’t quite get it.

Now imagine that same person’s only picture of God’s kingdom is the Church’s witness to them. I think they’re in big trouble.

Does today’s Church really know what Jesus knows? What have we actually seen of Christ’s kingdom that we can give first-hand testimony to? Most of what we talk about is second or third hand — hearsay testimony. And our sources aren’t always so good: a politician or fundraiser, a friend sharing some random spiritual thought, a motivational poster.

In fact, even many of the arguments we make about earthy things are suspect these days. We talk with certainty about things we can’t be certain about.

If we are so careless in our handling of spiritual things — even earthly things — how can we ever hope that people will find freedom in Christ?

Let’s refresh our knowledge of God’s kingdom from what Jesus actually says. Let’s speak from what God has actually done in our own lives. Even better, let our own choices and behaviors be better testimonies to the values and virtues of God’s kingdom.

It’s time for a better story.