Fathom Magazine interview w/ me about Vixens

This interview with me ran in the latest issue of Fathom Magazine.  Today we’re happy to have as our guest Dr. Sandra Glahn. Sandi earned her ThM at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) and her PhD at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in Humanities–Aesthetic Studies. A professor in the Media Arts and Worship department at DTS, she teaches courses in writing, medieval art/spirituality, gender, and sexual ethics. She is the author of more than twenty books, including the Coffee Cup Bible Study series. But today we want to talk with her about her latest book Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting the Sexualized, Vilified, Marginalized Women of the Bible (Kregel Academic), which just came out.

Tell us about Vindicating the Vixens.

Vindicating the Vixens has been on my heart and mind for more than a decade. As I studied history and cultural backgrounds at the doctoral level, I ended up revisiting some of our Western-influenced interpretations of the biblical text.For example, the woman Jesus met at the well in Samaria had five husbands, true enough (see John 4). But why do most people assume that means she was faithless and immoral? Women in her time and place did not divorce husbands five times. The man with the most recorded divorces had only three. If a woman did initiate legal proceedings, she had to do so through a male. Women could not simply walk into a court of law and speak on their own behalf. So, it’s unlikely that “the Samaritan woman” had divorced five husbands.Additionally, when we read that this woman’s current man was not her own, we assume she was living with some guy. Because that’s what it would mean in the West. But in her world, it is far more likely that she had to share a husband in a polygamous relationship in order to eat.Put these factors together, and you realize this person was probably not a beautiful young woman with loose morals. More likely, she was an older woman who had endured the death of a husband several times (war was the number one cause of death for men), been dumped a time or two, and consequently having to share a husband in order to survive. Additionally, the text says she was waiting for, looking with hope for, the Jewish Messiah (4:25).So we have, probably wrongly, assumed this woman was guilty of sexual promiscuity, and that Jesus was confronting her about her sin. More likely, Jesus was bringing up her greatest point of pain before revealing to her that he is the very Messiah for whom she has been waiting. For everyone else in Jesus’ world, the Lord seems to subtly veil who he is. But with this broken woman hanging on to hope, he comes right out with it.This woman is one of many whom the contributors to Vindicating the Vixens reconsider in light of what we know about cultural backgrounds, not only from new data but also from having more varied “eyes on the text.”

You’ve been known to talk about the importance of having varied eyes on the text. What do you mean by that?

Scholars from underrepresented groups looking at the Bible see what many of us in privileged positions have missed. They have brought to the text observations from a powerless perspective, which is the perspective of the typical person to whom Jesus ministers. (Like this great message from the perspective of those who are hearing impaired.) The body of Christ is made up of many parts that need each other to function as a healthy whole. But we’ve missed out on what some of those parts have to offer.In our book the contributors look afresh at Eve, Hagar, Sarah, Tamar, Rahab, Deborah, Ruth, Huldah, Bathsheba, Vashti, Mary Magdalene, The Samaritan Woman, Junia, and even the Virgin Mary—who gets marginalized by Protestants. And we look at them through the eyes of sixteen biblical scholars, each of whom hold a high view of scripture. And they all hold at least one advanced degree in Bible and theology. They are men and women; complementarian and egalitarian; American and Australian; black, white, Arab, and authors of books like Discipleship for Hispanic Introverts. Their varied backgrounds mean they bring insights in the text that the majority culture in North American has often missed—and exported. And as a result, the authors’ combined efforts provide a fresh look at the kindness of God and his heart for the vulnerable. (You can watch some of them talking about this book.)

What made you decide to do this project?

First, I believe men and women—not just husbands and wives—are supposed to partner in ministry. The church father Jerome had Paula partnering with him, though many think theologically trained women are a recent innovation. They are not. A greater emphasis on social history (as opposed to studying only troop movements, kings, and empires) has come from the academy due to women’s greater involvement in higher education in the past half-century. Trained social historians bring new ways of culling out data from the text—like what I just said about marriage practices in the Near East.But also, my deep friendship with some international students, especially those from Mexico, combined with travels to several continents told me we needed more than a Western perspective when doing observation, interpretation, and application.Additionally, part of my job used to involve serving as editor-in-chief of DTS Magazine for Dallas Theological Seminary, and I also teach theologically trained writers. So not only have I spotted some great writers, but I learned of projects people were doing that needed greater audiences. Sometimes the great writers were those doing this work.As a sampling, there was the student doing a thesis on Bathsheba (Sarah Bowler); a scholar who wrote a book on Arabs in the Bible that changed how I saw Hagar (Tony Maalouf); and a whole corpus of work on Bible stories that included women and men in need of vindication (Carolyn Custis James). For ten years or more I’ve been keeping a mental note of how these all fit together, and I could hardly wait to coordinate it.

What do you hope to accomplish?

Originally, I hoped only to help us read the Bible more accurately as we read about these women. But a happy result of the project was that the team of scholars went beyond simply exonerating those wrongly vilified or marginalized to explore what we have missed in the larger story by misunderstanding the smaller stories and how they fit into the whole. Now I see how the Tamar-posing-as-a-professional-sex-worker narrative fits into Joseph’s story in Genesis—which scholars have often assumed she merely interrupted. What emerged from all these micro-narratives was and is a clearer vision of God’s heart for the vulnerable in the meta-narrative.Before even writing, all of the authors agreed to donate profits to the International Justice Mission. So in a tangible way, we also hope our scholarship will lead to lives changed for the better for “the least of these.”

Read the chapter on Rahab by Eva Bleeker.

You can read an excerpt from Vindicating the Vixens about the context and cues from one of these heroines, Rahab.

In terms of ramifications for scholarship, I hope readers will see the absolute necessity of inviting to the table a more diverse group doing translation and interpretation than what we have typically had. I hope that we will never again see a translation of the Bible published that has only men or only women or only people from one “camp” looking at the text, but that we will instead celebrate our differences and seek diligently to include a variety of people due to our belief in God’s love for unity in difference.

Where can we find Vindicating the Vixens?

You can find the book at Amazon, Christianbook.com, and at the Dallas Seminary Book Center

The Next Supper

Check out what this painter did with DaVinci's masterpiece. Love it.

For Racial Unity: Please join me for this important event

   Please join me for an important luncheon and panel discussion sponsored by AWMP.Racial Unity: A Testimony to the WorldThursday, July 30, 201512:00 pm to 2:30 pm$25.00 if preregistered ($30 at the door for nonmembers, $20 at the door for members, $15 for member if preregistered.Recent events have surfaced the underlying tension and distrust between races that has long existed in the United States. How can we as believers lead the way in peacemaking? How can we support our brothers and sisters? Join our interactive discussion with a panel of guests, including yours truly, led by Moderator Johanna Fisher.Park Cities Presbyterian Church4124 Oak Lawn AvenueDallas, TX 75219Meet Our July Panel 

• Johanna Fisher Johanna Fisher, moderatorKCBI radio host of the Johanna Fisher show and founding member of Fellowship of Professional Women Dallas.
• Dorothy Burton  Founder, President & CEO of Christians in Public Service, Inc.
• Dr. Maria DixonAssociate Professor of Communication at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
• Dr. Sandra GlahnAssociate Professor in Media and Worship at Dallas Theological Seminary
• Susie HawkinsVolunteer, teacher, writer, and speaker in women's ministries in the local church and the Dallas business community.
• Sonja JacksonLicensed Marriage and Family Counselor

 Read more about the panelists and register on the AWMP web site. I hope to see you there. And invite a friend. This is an important conversation.   

Racism: Blind to Privilege

Here is the post I wrote yesterday for bible.org's Engage blog:

I had never considered myself a racist. When I was kid, my parents helped me send the coins in my piggy bank to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work. And I have family members who are African-Americans and Latinos. So I thought I was good.

I got a glimpse at my blindness when I took Greek from an African-American professor. He told us that racism was not a white problem; it was a sin problem. He gave international examples of darker and lighter groups hating each other. Afterward, I said I wanted to be color-blind, and he stopped me. “You need to see the color,” he said. “God made it. It’s just that the color does not matter in terms of equality.” I realized then that my elevating of “blindness” was itself a form of racism. The very thing God celebrated, I was ignoring outright—and congratulating myself.

Another glimpse came during a trip to the east coast. I had lived in Virginia for seven years as a teen, and at that time, Monticello—home of Thomas Jefferson—was my favorite of the historical sites within a day’s drive of DC. But returning decades later, I was shocked when I saw for the second time the evidence of Jefferson’s past as a slaveholder. What upset me most was that his record had not fazed me before. I could no longer downplay Jefferson’s evil by rationalizing that he was a product of his times. Jefferson knew the abolitionists’ arguments. I had excused him. How could I have been so blind?

I don’t know. But between the two above-mentioned instances, some events happened that probably led to some of the scales falling off.

First, I took Russian lessons, and only after six weeks’ practice could I correctly pronounce the formal word for “hello.” I went to Belarus as a journalist with a medical mission team, and these smart people struggled with a language that’s actually much easier than English. While there, I—a “word” person—had to operate from a vocabulary smaller than a kindergartner’s, and I suddenly reconsidered my assessment of the immigrants I had assumed were uneducated.

When I returned, I asked a Russian friend if she had difficulty operating from a limited number of words. She exclaimed, “Yes! That is the hardest part for me being here! In Russia, I am an engineer with an enormous vocabulary. Here, I can hardly express myself.” She was an engineer? I had no idea. After that, I started asking about the backgrounds of immigrants who cleaned my office after hours, and I discovered physicians, engineers, and pastors of enormous churches—all sacrificing the respect they received back home in order to have access to Christian education.

When I learned that a theology student was attending a church full of illegal immigrants, I asked how he could worship with people who were clearly breaking the law just by being here—and he balked. I respected this man, so I wondered aloud how he could view their actions so differently. He pointed to Paul’s approach with Onesimus, who was in Rome illegally. First, Paul shared the gospel and discipled him. Once Onesimus was useful for service, Paul sent Tychicus back with him to comply with the law. But first things first. In that conversation, I realized my own loyalties were more American than gospel-focused.

Recently, some of my guy students have acknowledged their blindness to male privilege, and their attitudes have brought others healing. Not long ago, when I was at worship, I noticed that the artwork advertising a sermon series depicted only men. Later the person leading worship said, “The men will now come forward to take the offering” when he meant “the ushers will come forward.” Sure, the ushers happened to be men. But nothing in scripture says a woman can’t usher. And the reference to gender suggested women might not be welcome to do so.  

The more I notice such gendered statements, the more I realize how much grace members of minority groups have constantly extended to those of us who live with racial privilege. We are blind in ways we don’t even know.

So here are some suggestions for moving toward unity in diversity. They are only a start!

1.     Know that God loves racial diversity. The music of the Ideal Day will include every tongue, nation, and tribe worshiping him (Rev. 7:9). It will look like the opposite of Babel as the nations converge to offer their maker praise. Racial diversity in our worship foreshadows the coming Day.

2.     Mourn, weep, and repent for the church’s past sins. I often hear, “Sure, Christians tolerated and even supported slavery. And at times, the KKK. But that was then. Today, I have nothing to do with that.” But what if Nehemiah had taken such an approach? Instead, he took responsibility for the sins of the group. Notice how he describes what he did when he heard about God’s judgment for his ancestors’ sins: "I sat down abruptly, crying and mourning for several days. I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Then I said, ‘Please, O Lord God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant with those who love him and obey his commandments… I am confessing the sins of the Israelites that we have committed against you—both I myself and my family have sinned. We have behaved corruptly against you, not obeying the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments that you commanded your servant Moses’” (Neh. 1:4–7). Believers should have the same response to those who bring up the Crusades. They were part of the church’s past. Instead of downplaying them (especially by saying, “But the Crusades were not as bad as ____,”) the church has opportunity to say, “Yes! Our ancestors did that. They were so wrong. Many before us have repented, and we repent too. May Christ have mercy. How can we show love to those who differ theologically?”

3.     Assume we all have privilege-blindness. One way to gain better sight: initiate conversation and listen well. When I meet one-on-one with fellow believers of other races and draw them out on the subject, I find that almost without exception they acknowledge experiencing racism in the church. But they don’t want to get pegged as “touchy,” so they usually say nothing. In the same way that I won’t bring up how we introduce the ushers, their love has been covering numerous statements made by oblivious people.

4.     Love variety, as God does. Model it on preaching teams, on committees, in posters. Quote people of other races in your messages and examples. Add variety to your music. Invite people of different races into your living room and meet them in their homes. Believe your team is deficient if you have a completely homogenous group. Actively pursue a combination of differences.

5.  Acknowledge both the accomplishments and the sin. How can we acknowledge people like Jefferson? The Old Testament gives us a model. Here is how the author of 1 Kings sums up David’s life: “David had done what [the Lord his God] approved and had not disregarded any of his commandments his entire lifetime, except for the incident involving Uriah the Hittite (15:5).

5.     Repent for the church’s current sins. And pray that the Lord will reveal where blindness exists. Ask God to help you—us—to become tools that build the kind of church Christ wants to show his love to a divided world. 

United: God's Vision for Diversity

In this second of a two-part series, we hear from my guest, Trillia Newbell, author of United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity. 

Q: What would you say is the clear benefit of diversity?

A:By building into diverse relationships, we display the reconciliation andredemption of Christ to a world that is broken and divided. True unity is foundfirst through being reconciled to God and then to each other. To walk in thatunity arm in arm with people of every tribe and race is to declare to the worldthat Christ’s blood is enough for the fight for racial reconciliation.Additionally, diversity displays a true understanding of the grace of God.Personally, God was working in me what I believe is clearly displayed throughScripture—diversity benefits the church, displays the last days, demonstratesthe power of the gospel, and glorifies God.

Q: Friendships with women who were different than you wereinstrumental in living out your desire for diversity.

A:Yes. My longing for diversity was being fulfilled not because God had broughtin more black people (though I would have been thrilled if that had been thecase), but because He had united me with people who were unlike me. God knew mydesire for diversity and graciously provided Lillian (Chinese) and Amy (white).Lillian grew up in the United States with Chinese missionary parents. Amy grewup outside of Chicago in a Christian home. And then there was me, a black girlfrom the South. Amy, Lillian, and I got to know each other deeply. We becamefriends. Our differences didn’t pull us farther from each other; rather, theyunited us. God employed our differences for our benefit and mutualencouragement.

Q: To a church that desires to have increased diversity,what suggestions would you offer?

A:I was taught by leaders whom I respect that it is okay to have a desire fordiversity in music, activities, and the general environment. It is okay tothink that, overall, the music, activities, and general environment shouldconsider the entire congregation. Did you catch that? I’m not justsaying music; it’s the activities as well. My church had wonderful events, butthey were often geared toward one audience. If your church is truly seekingdiversity (in any way), your activities must be diverse. This includes theactivities for women. As we begin to view members of our churches as members ofGod’s family and thus as members of our family, our prejudices begin tocrumble. Racial reconciliation is not only possible; it’s a must because we arethe very family of God. That’s astounding. We are created equally. When Christcalls us to himself, He does not look at who we are in terms of ethnicity, nordoes He call us because of who we are in any other way except that we are deadand in need of new life. We are equally saved. As a result, our churches shouldbe the most gracious environments on the planet. More than any other place, thechurch should be more open to and excited about having people unlikethemselves. This gracious environment must begin in our hearts. We have to lookto Jesus and ask for grace to emulate His grace.

Q: What about building diversity within your own family?
A:A practical way to begin building diversity in your church is to build itwithin your family through teaching and learning about different cultures andethnicities throughout the year. Learning the history of other culturescan assist you in understanding the perspective of other cultures. Asyou learn with your children, don’t limit your knowledge to textbooks andmini-biographies. Get creative and cook a new meal. Or introduce your family tothe culture and music of those who are different from you. Invite otherChristians into your home for lunches, dinners, or parties. Include members ofyour church or your neighbors. Find those who are different from you, take aninterest in their lives, and invite them over for a meal.

Q: But the importance of diversity ultimately goes back tothe Bible.
A:Yes. Seeing the importance of diversity in Scripture should make us want toexplore how we can emulate this today. Ultimately it’s all about His glory onthis earth and reflecting Him to a broken world. I hope you’ll also be capturedby what I believe is God’s vision for diversity. Again, for me it goes back toGod’s Word. I find that the picture given for churches seems to be one made upof multiethnic, multicultural, and economically varying individuals. Diversityis worth having, because diversity is about people, and people are worthfighting for. If God is mindful of mankind, shouldn’t we be (Psalm 8:3–4)?

Is Racism Still a Problem?

Today I'm happy to have as my guest Trillia Newbell, author of United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity. 

On the Last Day everytongue and tribe will be represented in the glorious chorus praising God withone voice. Yet today our churches remain segregated. Can we reflect the beautyof the last day this day? United willinspire, challenge, and encourage readers to pursue the joys of diversitythrough stories of the author’s own journey and a theology of diversity livedout. Civil Rights leaders offifty years ago fought hard to overturn the “separate but equal” Jim Crow laws.America has come a long way since the 60′s. Our public facilities, parks,pools, and educational facilities—once segregated—are now filled with a varietyof ethnic groups enjoying the benefits of togetherness. Yet, our churchesremain separate but equal. In a time of great progress, why does the churchremain relatively unmoved? —Introduction to United: Captured By God’s Vision for Diversity

Q: Is racism still a problem in thiscountry in 2014?

A.To be honest, it’s easy to feel discouraged about where we’re at today, and—inthose moments—I have to remind myself about the progress that has been made,most especially in broader society. We know that civil rights leaders of fiftyyears ago fought hard, risking life and limb, to overturn the “separate butequal” Jim Crow laws. Those leaders hoped that blacks and whites would enjoylife together and that blacks would no longer be subjected to discriminationand hate crimes. This was the dream for the entire nation. Martin Luther KingJr. famously shared his dream that “one day right there in Alabama little blackboys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys andwhite girls as sisters and brothers.” America has clearly come a long way sincethe 1960s. Our public facilities, parks, pools, and educational facilities—oncesegregated—are now filled with a variety of ethnic groups enjoying the benefitsof their liberties. Yet our churches too often remain separate but equal.

Q: After so much progress in society, why does the churchremain relatively unmoved?

A:Perhaps we are all tired of the conversation about race. It doesn’t take muchto recognize that our country continues to be divided along racial lines.Perhaps it seems that the country is moving toward unity, but it’s afaçade—just check your local news. And though our society may want to move on,we can’t, and neither can or should the church. Maybe our churches remainsegregated simply because it’s comfortable. There’s nothing malicious to it; weare just more comfortable with “our own.” But also, it might be becausediversity and racial issues are scary. Talking about race and racialreconciliation can be downright terrifying. No one wants to offend, and in ourpolitically correct society, who would blame you? If you say the wrong thing,ask the wrong question, or call someone by the wrong name, will they be angry? Areyou black or African-American? Chinese or Asian? Hispanic, Latino, or Mexican? Thisis an explosive topic, and sometimes it seems that the wisest course of actionis to avoid it at all costs.

Q: You believe it’s vitally important to fight through therisks and the discomfort in order to fully live out the Gospel of Christ.

A:Yes. We can so clearly see throughout Scripture that God celebrates thediversity of His creation. He does not distinguish between races: He createdman in His own image, sent His Son to save the world, and saves anyone whobelieves. God calls Christians to be imitators of Christ and to walk in love.If He doesn’t show partiality, neither should we. The problem with the currentchurch model and experience for most of us is that while we affirm these truthswith our lips, Sunday morning reveals a different story.

Q: Your father played a big part in shaping your desire toembrace diversity...

A:Absolutely. I remember sitting on my Dad’s lap as a young girl while he toldstories about being beaten for not standing to sing “Dixie” at a sporting eventand about the torture and pain that many blacks experienced in the South. He’dend his sobering stories, which never failed to rile me up, by saying, “But,Trillia, we need to love everyone regardless of race or religion.” As a result,I grew up wanting to accept everyone, despite my own rejection at times. It washow my father raised me—to love those who hate you.

Q: How did becoming a Christian change your perspective on identity?

A: What I began to discover shortly after high school as I started growing in my Christian faith was that my identity is notsolely that I am a black female, nor is it dependent on what others think ofme. My identity is in Christ. When I find my identity in Christ and not inoutward appearance, there’s satisfaction. I’m satisfied in Him because He lovesme. I finally understood that my identity is not my own—my identity isn’t aboutme. But it’s one thing to know this truth; it’s another to understand it andhave opportunities to apply it. I am thankful that I have found thoseopportunities within my church and throughout my walk with Christ.Understanding that my identity is no longer in my blackness, what I do anddon’t do, or how others view me has been incredibly freeing. This knowledgeallows me to enjoy my relationship with Christ and my relationships withothers. It has also provided me the opportunity to enjoy my identity as a blackwoman in a better way. Being black is a part of my identity. But it isn’t myentire identity.

Stay tuned for part 2.