Rachel Held Evans's Blog, page 57

6 Things You Should Know About (+ A Giveaway!)

Update: Congratulations to Gayla Gower, Alana, and Alex - winners of a free copy of "Red Letter Christians" by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo...compliments of Thomas Nelson. ​

1. Election Day Communion 

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This is a brilliant idea that encourages churches across the country to hold communion services on the evening of November 6 so that Christians of all political affiliations and denominations can “share this sacred act of communion together, reaffirming our allegiance to Christ.”  The purpose is to bring people together on a day that often divides. Already, 265 congregations, schools, and groups in 44 states have pledged to participate. Looks like a group in Chattanooga will be holding one. Hope Dan and I can make it.  Be sure to check out the Web site for more information. 

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2. Malala – A Young Woman of Valor 

Malala Yousufzai is a 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by members of the Taliban this week for her outspoken advocacy for the rights of girls in her country to go to school. She blogged for the BBC about education and won the National Peace Award in Paskistan last year. 

As many have noted, this happened just before the first annual International Day of the Girl, meant to highlight gender inequity around the world—particularly as it concerns lack of education, child brides, and slavery.  You can learn more about that, including how you can help, here. 

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3. The Crowd, The Critic, and the Muse by Michael Gungor 

I just finished this one and really enjoyed it.  Beautifully and honestly written, The Crowd, the Critic, and the Muse explores some of the toughest questions confronting artists these days, particularly in our increasingly loud and cluttered creative culture. I read it while trudging through my own creative desert and it proved to be just the oasis I needed. Michael Gungor writes with humor, insight, wisdom, and grace. This is one of the only books on creativity I’ve read that speaks directly into some of the things I struggle with as a writer whose work is digested…and criticized…primarily online. You can get it here. 

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4. Haiti Bloggers 

Help One Now Haiti has a pretty amazing team of bloggers reporting from Haiti this week, including Sarah Bessey, Jen Hatmaker, Mary DeMuth, Kristen Howerton, and Dierdra Riggs. (You can find them on Twitter with  #Help1Haiti.) Some great posts coming out of the trip this week include Sarah’s “In which God doesn’t look the same anymore,” Mary’s “5 Myths About Haiti,” and Kristen’s “Standing Firm and Looking Forward.” 

If you are interested in partnering with Help One Now with microfinance loans, you can make a one-time donation here.  You can sponsor a child in tent city here.

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5. Launch Team update 

We had more than 300 people apply to be part of the launch team for A Year of Biblical Womanhood, and because I absolutely hate not including everyone—especially when just about everyone had amazing ideas and meaningful words of encouragement—I’ve left the selection process to my team at Thomas Nelson. They’ve got their work cut out for them, let me tell you. Expect to hear in the next couple of days if you’ve been chosen. (Ugh! This feels like Calvinism!) Thank you all so much for your ideas and enthusiasm. Brought me to grateful tears! 

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6. Red Letter Revolution by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo

Red Letter Revolution by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo released this week and is a delightful read. Presented in a conversational format, in which Shane and Tony essentially talk through what it means to be “red letter Christians,” touching on everything from violence, to community, to Islam, to sexuality, to liturgy, to saints, the book is highly practical and, as always, incredibly challenging. This is a great book to start with if you’re new to the “red letter” movement, and I’m happy to report that Thomas Nelson has provided 3 copies for me to give away today!  So, if you’re interested, leave a comment indicating that you would like a copy of Red Letter Revolution by midnight (EST) tonight. I’ll randomly select three winners from the comment section (using random.org). 

Good luck!

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So, what should I know about? What else is happening in the world? 

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3 Reasons Rachel Rocks

Hi, it's Rachel's husband Dan. She doesn't (yet) know I wrote this. She's actually taking a shower right now. She'll probably wish I didn't say that, but it's true. After already working through a sizable "To Do" list this morning Rachel is now "getting ready for the day" (that's a phrase we use a lot around here).

I thought I would take a couple minutes and tell you a few reasons why Rachel is awesome.

1) She's a great leader

Leadership is a responsibility that changes hands depending on roles, tasks and situations. When it's Rachel's turn to take the lead on something, I can always trust her to do a great job.

My wife's career decisions aren't simple little hobbies she entertains herself with. "Writer" and "Blogger" are two of many important roles Rachel embodies. These two in particular directly contribute to our income and livelihood.

Guess what? She does a great job.

2) She's passionate about other women succeeding

Rachel knows that women in leadership roles are in difficult positions. That's why she often writes for them and roots for them.  I'm proud of her for it.

If you don't think women deal with a double standard, especially in churches, you're probably a guy. I know because I'm a guy and for most of my life I didn't really give that sort of thing a second thought.

Watching how her critics have responded to Rachel over the last few months has been a revealing experience for me. I'm now convinced that all it takes to be "controversial" or "divisive" in our shared evangelical sub-culture is to relay slightly uncomfortable facts to a moderately sized audience while simultaneously possessing a vagina.

3) She's smart, kind, strong, feisty and gentle all rolled into oneThe mountain of research Rachel processes for each of her projects (or sometimes just a single blog post) is incredible.She's an encourager.She gets excited about other people's ideas and successes. She roots for the underdogs of life and she has a soft heart for the misfit.She's strong, but not calloused. She's impassioned when challenging an idea and gentle when challenging people.

These balances aren't easy to maintain but she does so with grace.

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I say all of this because Rachel is my wife, my partner, and my teammate.

You don't hear from me often because most of what I do is behind the scenes. But today I wanted to state publicly so there's no misunderstanding:

I have Rachel's back and I'm doing everything in my power to make sure her voice is heard.

That's what teammates do.

I love the Bible

It is said that after Jacob wrestled with God, he walked
with a limp.

So it has been with the Bible and me.

I have wrestled with the Bible, and it has left me with a
limp.

But I am glad. I am glad because this limp has slowed me down
a bit. It has humbled me. It has forced me to stop running so fast and sure
down the path of certainty that I forget to listen, to pay attention, to ask
questions, to build altars, to wait.

I have wrestled, and I love the Bible more now than I have
ever loved it before. I love it more than when I demanded that it answer all of
my questions, more than when I forced it to fit my cultural categories, more
than when I tried so desperately to make it all resolve, more than when I pretended
like it never bothered me.

I have wrestled with the Bible. I have spoken my fears out
loud—about the genocidal conquests in Canaan, about the slaves, about the
“untouchables,” about the seven days, about the concubines and sister wives,
about the instructions on silence and submission and head coverings. I have
lived in the tension, and I live in it still.

I have wrestled with the Bible, and, try as I may. I cannot
make it in my own image.  I cannot cram
it into an adjective, or force it into a blueprint, or fashion it into a weapon
to be used against my political and theological enemies. It simply will not be
tamed.

But oh, how I have tried to tame it!

Because a blueprint would be easier.

Because a to-do list would be easier.

Because  an
inspirational desk calendar would be easier.

Because an affirmation of everything I already believe would
be easier.

But the Bible is not a blueprint. It isn’t a list of bullet
points to be followed or a to-do list to be obeyed. It can’t be crammed into an
adjective or forced into a theology.

No, the Bible is a sacred collection of letters and laws,
stories and songs, prophecies and proverbs, philosophy and poems, spanning
thousands of years and multiple cultures, written by dozens of authors and
inspired by God.  It is teeming with
metaphor and imagery, tension and contrast.  It defies our every effort at systemization.
It defies our every attempt at mastery.  Indeed,
it forces us into community—with God and with one another—precisely because it
is difficult to understand, precisely because it was never meant to be read
alone.

Differences in interpretation should not lead us to question one another's passion or commitment to Scripture, but rather invite us into conversation with the shared assumption that we are all struggling toward truth, all trying to figure it out. 

Those of us who have wrestled know that no one's interpretation is inerrant. ​ Those of us who have wrestled know we can be wrong.

I love the Bible more now than ever before because I have
finally surrendered to God’s stories.

God’s long, strange, beautiful stories.

We asked questions.

God told stories.

We demanded answers.

God told stories.

We argued theology.

God told stories.

And when those stories weren’t enough, when the words themselves would not suffice, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, laughed
among us, wept among us, ate among us, told more stories among us, suffered
among us, died among us, and rose among us. The Word entered our story and
invited us into His.

The Word became flesh and said, “Watch me. Follow me.  See how I do it. This is what I desire.”

And the Word loved—

Loved the poor,

Loved the rich,

Loved the sick,

Loved the hungry,

Loved the zealots,

Loved the tax-collectors, 

Loved the lepers,

Loved the soldiers,

Loved the foreigners,

Loved the insiders,

Loved the slaves,

Loved the women,

Loved the untouchables,

Loved the religious,

Loved the favored,

Loved the forgotten.

Loved even the enemy.

When words were not enough, the Word took on flesh and
became the story.

I love the Bible, but I love it best when I love it for what
it is, not what I want it to be…when I live in the tension and walk with the
limp—

The limp that slows me down,

The limp that delights my critics, 

The limp I wouldn’t change for the world,

The limp that led me to God.

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An invitation to join the “Year of Biblical Womanhood” launch team

It’s hard to believe that this time last year, after marking Rosh Hoshanah with the sounding (read: tooting) of my shofar and the baking (read: burning) of my challah bread, I celebrated the conclusion of my “year of biblical womanhood.”

Sounding my shofar after a tashlich ceremony at the conclusion of Rosh Hashanah. Not pictured: frightened birds

A few months later, with trembling fingers, I hit “send” and delivered my 100,000+ word manuscript to Thomas Nelson, where my talented and longsuffering editor took one look at it and said, “can you trim this down a bit?”  

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​My "glory" after 365 days without a haircut

And now— after several rounds of edits and a bit of controversy—it’s nearly time to share my experience with you. A Year of Biblical Womanhood officially releases on October 30...just 20 days from now!  

Of course, this means it’s time to put on my promotion hat, a task made much easier by the fact that I believe so strongly in the message of this book.  As always, I promise to share this part of the journey with as much transparency and honesty as I can muster—when it’s fun, when it’s frustrating, when it’s rewarding, when it’s crazy, when it feels right and when it feels wrong.  

 Don’t worry. I won’t be inundating the blog with promotional material and review—our series and discussions will continue as usual—but for those of you who want to take a more active role in getting the word out about A Year of Biblical Womanhood, I want to let you know about a cool opportunity offered by my publisher. 

In addition to a scheduled blog tour, we’re inviting up to 75 readers to be part of a Launch Team for A Year of Biblical Womanhood. 

As a member of the Launch Team, you will get: 

a complimentary, electronic, "Advance Reader's Copy" of A Year of Biblical Womanhoodaccess to one of those cool secret Facebook groups behind the scenes participation in a national book launch

You'll be expected to:

read the bookparticipate in the Launch Team Facebook group write an honest review of the book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble during launch weekspread the word via social networking and word and mouth 

If more than 75 people apply, my team at Thomas Nelson will make a selection based on their own criteria. 

The best thing about blogging is that it keeps me in constant communication with my readers. I wrote this book for you. I thought of you through every “biblical” experiment, through every first draft, through every re-write, and through every marketing decision.  So bear with me over the next 20 days as things get a little crazy, and please feel free to tell me if you have questions, concerns, or ideas.  

This book is meant to be a conversation-starter. I can’t wait to see what ideas you bring to it! 

(By the way, the book includes more than 20 pictures!)​

UPDATE: Thanks for your interest! We're no-longer accepting new applications.

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View Application Page 

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What Evangelical Means [And Doesn’t Mean] To Me

Since there has been some, um, discussion around the interwebs about whether I am an evangelical, I thought I’d issue something of a clarification. 

I usually identify simply as a Christian, but when pressed, I’m happy to identify as evangelical. I like to tell people that evangelicalism is like my religious mother tongue. I revert to it whenever I’m angry or excited or surrounded by other people who understand what I’m saying. 

But folks disagree on exactly what evangelical means, and often I don’t fit the stereotype. I vote for democrats sometimes. I haven't listened to contemporary Christian music since I was in high school.  I believe the earth is more than 6,000 years old. 

So, for those who think that all evangelicals look the same...or for those who think they should….here’s a clarification. 

What “evangelical” means to me:

It means, in the Greek, “gospel” or “good news” (evangelion). And so, as an evangelical, I am a follower of Jesus who is committed to proclaiming the good news that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not. 

It means, traditionally, an impassioned personal response to the gospel and a commitment to the scriptures that point to it. And so, as an evangelical, I am deeply invested in my faith, at both a personal and communal level, and I believe that all scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, challenging, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that people faith are equipped to love God and their neighbors. 

What “evangelical” doesn’t mean to me:

It doesn’t mean allegiance to a single political party. 

It doesn’t mean restricting the roles of women in the home and church. 

It doesn’t mean interpreting an ancient Near Eastern creation account as science. 

It doesn’t mean an absence of liturgy, sacrament, and tradition. 

It doesn’t mean individualism. 

It doesn't mean certainty. ​

It doesn’t mean opposing gay rights. 

It doesn’t mean Southern Baptist. 

It doesn’t mean unilateral support for Israel. 

It doesn't mean lack of ecumenicism. ​

It doesn’t mean exclusivism. 

It doesn’t mean exclusion. 

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Now, folks will disagree with what I’ve said here, but that just goes to show that evangelicalism is fluid and amorphous, its definition up for debate. 

Labels tend to divide and distract, so I don’t want to dwell here, but on the occasion that I identify as evangelical, this is what it means to me. 

Hope that clears some things up. 

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So, what does evangelical mean to you? What does it not mean? 

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