GENDER JUSTICE: A THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul.  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul (Mark 8:36).”  These are powerful words of Jesus spoken not just for men but for the whole of humanity.  The question that is being addressed in this article is “What is in it for men when we talk about gender justice?”

Much is said as to how women benefit from the implementation of gender justice, but what are the positive theological reasons for men to be actively implementing gender justice in the work situation, within their families and in their churches?

At the moment in most cultures and society, men have gained the whole world through the way that women have been treated throughout the centuries and as a result have lost their own souls.  Gender justice is not a 20th or 21st Century phenomena introduced by European or American radical feminists in order to gain positions of power in society, industry, commerce, education, religion and family.

Gender justice has existed ever since the word justice was first used, but more specifically since the time that Jesus walked the streets and roads of Palestine, proclaiming  the Good News – the existence of the Kingdom of God amongst those and in the lives of those, who live by God’s rule of loving “your neighbour as yourself.” (Mark 12:29-31)

In church conferences, seminars and sermons constant reference is made of the equality that exists between man and woman, and that God created both man and woman in God’s image.  Unfortunately that is often as far as the justice issue goes -- words sweetly spoken but action and practice remaining as they have always been, only to be changed as men see fit. 

GENDER AND SEX

It is necessary to define what is meant by “gender” and what is meant by “sex” in order to fully understand the issue of gender justice.  Biologically we are born either “male” or “female”.  However, the way that societies decide how a male/man or female/woman behaves is how male and female gender is determined.

Gender is the “state of being male or female, chiefly in cultural or social contexts.”  (Concise Oxford Dictionary 1999) Your sex is what you are, and will always be, your gender is how you live, your state of being male, your state of being female.

In Africa for boys to look after cattle, and for girls to fetch and carry water, is gender behaviour that children are socialised into and so become the normal way of behaviour for men and women.  For young women to prepare and serve food to the men in the home and family, and then to eat later what is left over is a gender difference, culturally practiced and decided by society.  For a man to be waited on by the women in “his” household is how his gender has come to be defined by cultural norms.  It is not as a result of his biological sex.

The terms used to describe the marriage relationship between a man and woman is indicative of the gender roles that have been allocated to each one.  Whereas a woman will speak of “her husband”, a man will often refer to “his woman”.  The relationship that exists between a man and woman as a result of marriage is that of being “husband and wife”.  For a man to speak of  “his woman”, rather than “his wife” refers to something that he owns or as an object.

When you refer to the one who shares a bed with you as your “husband” or “wife”, there is implicit in the terminology the idea of a relationship, in the same way as it exists in the words “mother” and  “father”.  Whereas, if a woman is referred to as “my woman”, the suggestion is that of the man as the owner, and woman as slave, or servant, the one who submits.  These are issues of gender justice, not ones of biological sex.

THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is rich in the good news it has to offer to the whole of humanity.  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his own Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  This is probably the best-known biblical text and Christians are very happy to quote it to others.

But elsewhere Jesus says, “I have come that you may have life, life in all its fullness.” (John 10:10) What do these two terms mean, eternal life, life in all its fullness?  If we look further in chapter 3 of John’s Gospel we find that “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not have life, but will remain under God’s punishment.” (John 3:36)

The question here is then: What kind of obedience is displayed that prevents a person from not having life?  What is the relevance of all these three texts in our day to day living?

THE GOSPEL IN TODAY’S WORLD

The fullness of life offered to all is a life based on justice for all of God’s creation.  There can be no fullness of life if 49% (male) of the world’s population have more of that supposed “fullness” than the other 51% (female).

The good news of Jesus Christ is that there is forgiveness for those who claim this fullness for themselves whilst denying it to others.  Jesus offered forgiveness to Zaccheus after he admitted to exhorting extra taxes from his clients, and as a result really came to know what it meant to be put right with God, to be reconciled.  He experienced “life in all its fullness” as he began to relate to his clients in a just and honest way (Luke 19: 1-10).

The story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) puts the concept of fullness of life into yet another perspective.  The need to demonstrate love irrespective of ethnic differences, in this case, or gender and sex differences is one of the issues at stake in this story.  The teacher of the Law knew the laws but he did not know his neighbour. 

The ability to express true love, which treats other persons in the way you would want to be treated yourself, focuses on the issue of gender justice. When we love someone as we love ourselves we make sure that all their human needs are cared for, that we do not inflict any form of pain on them -- emotional, physical or psychological, that the person is included in decision making, that they are respected and cared for.

The Jewish law of loving God, (Deuteronomy 6:5) and loving our neighbours as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18) has been added to by Jesus, to include also loving our enemies as well (Matthew 5:4).  These are the Christian laws by which we are called to live.

Unfortunately the practice in many societies has been that of allowing the “law” or culture and tradition to decide what is accepted behaviour and what is not.  As a result women have been discriminated against, because the hierarchy of the church has chosen to live by the law and not through faith.

In his letter to the Romans St Paul speaks of the power of the Gospel over the power of the law.  “For the Gospel reveals how God puts people right with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end.  As the scripture says, “The person who is put right with God through faith shall live” (Romans 1:17).  A person is put right with God only through faith, and not by doing what the Law commands” (Romans 3:28).  These teachings are just as applicable in the 21st Century.

There is still the need for each person to be freed from the laws that imprison them, to be freed from traditional practices and cultural norms that deny true justice for both men and women to become the reality.  The Gospel is quite clear through the teachings of Jesus, and through further interpretation by great leaders such as St Paul that it is through our faith that we experience the fullness of life offered by Jesus Christ.  By allowing cultural traditions to continue to treat women as second class citizens, men are in danger of “losing their own souls.”

CULTURAL NORMS

To love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves enables people to rise above cultural norms and practices which inhibit that love from being expressed.  Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan women at the well (John 4: 1-42) released him from the Jewish norms of not speaking to women, of not asking for a drink from a Samaritan, from not drinking from the same cup as a Samaritan.  Merely being in conversation with a Samaritan woman was somewhat shocking to the disciples, as we read that when they returned “they were greatly surprised to find him talking with a woman.” (John 4:27)

Jesus himself had to break through the gender norms in order that this woman was able to engage in theological reflection with him, and through this exchange both were able to be released from the gender injustice in their own societies and to discover life in all its fullness.

The woman became the first Christian apostle and consequently many people in her village came to believe in Jesus.  In this story both Jesus and the woman gained from the experience, and kingdom values were passed on to the other Samaritans living in the area.

The importance of “gender justice” is not that it gives power to women and takes power away from men. “Gender justice” enables women and men to experience the true grace that is freely given by God.  To practice injustice is to live out of tune with God’s desire.  “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

The insistence of “gender justice“ in all aspects of society be they religious or secular will determine a style of living that is built on mutual respect, on tolerance and compassion.  “Compassion” -- not being or feeling sorry for someone but “suffering with” them.  To feel the same passion with someone means feeling the same pain, the same fears, the same anxieties, the same longings, the same doubts.

By having compassion the desire to injure, to inflict pain, to sexually violate and to physically abuse should no longer be a reality, because the one who inflicts will suffer at the same time.

Jesus had compassion for the crowd of 5000 people gathered to hear his teaching (Mark 8: 1-10).  He knew their hunger and made sure that they were fed.  Jesus had compassion on the sick brought to him, he was at one with them in their need and so healing was experienced by all.

GENDER JUSTICE

Gender justice is therefore a Gospel-based form of liberation for women and men.  Both women and men are appreciated for what they have to offer the kingdom, both are assured of God’s grace and forgiveness, both are able to rise above cultural norms which are gender determined and hinder the spread of Gospel principles.

No one is disempowered.  No one is given more power.  Both men and women are given a new form of power in the establishing and manifesting of the kingdom of God in the world, by word and life style.  Both are empowered by the Spirit to give to the church their God-given gifts and to do so in the way that God is calling them.

There is no gender justice when a person is not allowed to take office, or to preach, or be ordained into the ministry because of her or his sex.  There is no gender justice when a woman is denied Holy Communion because she is menstruating.  There is no gender justice when couples and families are not encouraged to sit together in church, and to celebrate their faith as a harmonious unit.

“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?”  “I have come  that  you  may have life, life

in all its fullness.”  The active implementation of gender justice within the church and within society enables both women and men to live out the justice of the Kingdom of God.  To practice gender justice puts both women and men in a right relationship with God.  For men to acknowledge their failure to do so, to confess this to God and to seek repentance offers to them a new chance to experience “life in all its fullness”.

To begin to practice gender justice offers to both men and women the possibility of finding their own souls again.  To live out gender justice is to live out the Gospel of love, to live life to the full, and through such experiences all can become true co-workers and disciples of Jesus Christ.

Janice M. Clark
The World Secretary of the
World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women
Maputo, Mozambique

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