#119 - Women, Power & the Story of Joanna

The Marcella Project

I've been pondering power partially because of the election but also because I've been studying the life of a powerful woman in the Scripture. We rarely hear the Church teach on power, let alone about powerful women in Scripture and church history.

We hear of women taught as damsels in distress, and we listen to them framed as temptresses. If we hear about a powerful woman like Deborah, we're told she was God's plan B. Then, there is the example of a female villain, Jezebell. What does it mean to have power, and how are we to steward it? Moreover, why don’t we feel comfortable with power and Christian women in the same sentence?

I’ve had this conversation about power with women who hold top positions in their work, but when I suggest they are women with power, they squirm. Influence, yes. Impact, yes. But power? It’s as if that’s a bad mix.

What is power? Why are women squeamish about having it? And what should we do with it when we have it?

LINKS

The Marcella Project: https://www.themarcellaproject.com/

Article:https://fortune.com/2024/08/05/women-will-soon-have-more-money-than-men-first-time-in-history-mackenzie-scott-melinda-gates-playbook-philanthropy/

Playing God: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-God-Redeeming-Gift-Power/dp/0830837655

Redeeming Power: https://www.amazon.com/Reckoning-Power-Church-Fails-Wrong/dp/1587434156

Wood Between Worlds: https://www.amazon.com/Wood-Between-Worlds-Poetic-Theology/dp/151400562X