Loyal or Loose - 21 Questions
This is in response to yet another piece from the infamous “True Woman” conference, a check sheet PDF called “Wild or Wise - 21 Questions”. (See also my earlier response to their Manifesto Here.) I didn’t repeat the actual check box lines (never, seldom, occasionally, etc.), since I’m not interested in grading papers. ;-)
And once again, my goal in this is not to mock the original but to replace it with the real issue: what is Christian behavior and what is not? This is not a gender thing but a believer thing, but the control freaks just don’t get it.
This questionnaire is for all believers.
- Are you preoccupied with appearances? Are you more concerned about impressing others than developing godly character?
- Do you wear clothes that bring attention to you and your flesh, whether the style conveys sexuality, power, or rebellion?
- Do you dress like gangsters, perverts, or bums?
- Are you seductive to the opposite sex? Do you show off for them in a way that dishonors God?
- Is your life more about snaring a popular mate and less about being the kind of person someone else would want to be with for a lifetime? Is your career a greater concern than your spiritual maturity?
- Are you judging others by how well they play society’s “roles”, by whether they step out of your personal preferences?
- Do you go looking for trouble, or put yourself in compromising situations?
- Do you try to lay traps for people? Do you rationalize lying or cheating?
- Do you use flattery or deceptive speech in order to get ahead of others?
- Do you demand others bend to your personal preferences or consider such preferences to be on a par with scripture? Is your view the only view you tolerate?
- Do you demand your own way? Do you badger, threaten, or use guilt as a weapon against others?
- Are you rebellious? Do you demand your own way and even call it God’s way? Do you “kick against the goads” when God calls you to service? Do you refuse to follow God out of fear of society?
- Do you denigrate those who step out of the roles to which you have tried to assign them? Do you hide behind tradition or majority will?
- Do you worship another human being or consider them between you and Christ?
- Are you distracted with thoughts of conquest, lust, control, or manipulation?
- Do you physically or mentally dishonor God with rebellion, “beating your fellow servants”, sexual sin, or any other “idol” such as sports, career, or power?
- Do you in any way seek to punish someone if they refuse to obey your wishes, or even if they merely question you? Do you wield power over someone else and use it to get your way?
- Do you feed your mind with worldly values such as power, control, being served instead of serving, or claiming superiority by virtue of the flesh or societal privilege?
- Have you had many broken relationships due to shallowness or poor judgment of character? Do you view others as mere stepping stones, or demand loyalty from them while showing them none?
- Do you bash, mock, belittle, coerce, slander, or otherwise act in an un-Christian way toward those who are weaker than you or who simply disagree with you? Can anyone outside your circle of fellow believers tell by your behavior that you are a Christian?
- Do you make up check lists to instill guilt in others in order to force their compliance with your wishes?
While I’d certainly have asked other questions if I were trying to make a check list from scratch, these are written so as to counter the very loaded, anti-female questions of the original list. All believers, not just some, are to have basic Christian behavior and strive toward spiritual maturity. I realize this came from a conference aimed at women, but it still must be pointed out that no such equivalent burdens are ever placed upon men. Their conferences and “tests” always have to do with what are really just Christian standards, not male standards: leadership, responsibility, decision making, morality, deep Bible study, etc. The ones for women are biased away from those qualities and toward subservience to males.