What image does a Christian woman convey?

Since I’m working very hard on completing the book on women that I’m compiling, this morning I decided take the easy way out for the next few blog posts and find some quotes about women. So I googled “quotes, Christian, women” looking for inspiration. The majority of what came up was I’m sure really good, but everything struck me as sickly sweet, sugar coated, milky, vanilla. Maybe it’s just me, but I found the quotes incredibly unattractive. They were mostly about being a good wife and mother–don’t get me wrong, these concepts are all vital–but so stereotyped.

Then I came across these quotes by John and Stasi Eldredge, from their book,Captivating Revised & Updated: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman’s Soul. This was more what I was looking for.

“A woman is a warrior too. But she is meant to be a warrior in a uniquely feminine way.”

“You see, women have been essential to every great move of God. Yes, Moses led the Isaelites out of Egypt, but only after his mother risked her life to save him! Closer to our time, Clara Barton was instrumental in starting the Red Cross. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin put fire into people’s heart to end slavery in the United States. Rosa Parks kicked the Civil Rights movement into gear with her quiet act of courage. Eunice Kennedy Shriver created the Special Olympics. Mother Teresa inspired the world by bringing love to countless thought unlovable. And millions of other women quietly change the world every day by bringing the love of God to those around them.”

This last week I had an email conversation about the type of image a Christian woman conveys, especially in leadership. The man commenting wrote that he didn’t want a woman leader to have “a masculine message with a masculine demeanor… deep authoritative voice… in a women’s body. Not repulsive, just not attractive.”  He linked to a picture that he thought demonstrated what a Christian woman might be like that at first shocked me–it was of a fairly provocatively dressed but very beautiful woman who I doubt is a believer. But the image has not left me, because the message it conveyed was very feminine and yet very powerful. A woman can be strong, a warrior,  and yet retain all the beauty of her femininity. The warrior princess that Stasi talks about.

This picture is of a famous statue in London. A warrior queen named Boadicea

 Photo Credit: victoriapeckham via Compfight cc

What do you think?