June 12, 2024 • 12 mins
Do you believe that if a woman were the only person on the planet, Jesus would have died for her?
For more information or to submit your story for show consideration, please visit https://www.righttolifestories.com.
If you'd like to support the production of Right to Life, please visit our GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/ad5966e8.
For more information or to submit your story for show consideration, please visit https://www.righttolifestories.com.
If you'd like to support the production of Right to Life, please visit our GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/ad5966e8.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
>> Rebeca (00:07):
I'm Rebeca Seitz, and this is right
to Life.
I have always been a lover of
words. Seriously, I have favorite
ones. I'm such a geek about it.
Cacophony, ethereal,
malaise. Exquisite.
(00:30):
Jacaranda. There are some words that it just
feels good to know them or say them. And then there are
word pairs. You know, like, my brain likes to
match and balance things, so word pairs are a
good time for me. Like soaring and sunken,
admirable and revolting, greedy
and generous, passionate and
(00:50):
lackadaisical, which is another favorite word.
Anyway, there are two words that I always
have to think about for a minute to make sure I haven't
mixed up their meanings. It's been this way with these
words for as long as I can remember.
When I say them, you might roll your eyes and
think, come on, Rebeca. Those are easy. Not for my
brain. My brain has
(01:13):
to send its little minions running to the file cabinets in the
back to remember which one means
which. The words
are covert and overt,
which one means out in the open, and which
one means under the radar. Every
time I have to go through the thought process
(01:33):
of covert starts with cover so that's the
one that's not obvious. Growing up and living
my adult Life in the Southern Baptist world, there were
both overt and covert values
that I ingrained into my own being just
as surely as I memorized Bible verses and
filed them, a way to guide me whenever I faced
(01:53):
questions and dilemmas. The overt
ones I sometimes questioned. I think you've probably
picked up on the fact that I go hard toward
wisdom, talking things through with
the goal of getting to that kernel of truth.
Well, that, for me, is a fantastic time.
The covert ones, though, those
(02:13):
teachings that are simply part of the fabric of
Southern Baptist living and being, I
didn't really think too closely about them until
much later in my walk.
One of those teachings stepped out of the
shadows and into the limelight of my consciousness
when I picked up a book by a Southern Baptist
(02:34):
pastor's wife, Sue Monk
Kidd. The book was Dance
of the Dissident Daughter. Suddenly, I
realized I'd internalized a life guiding
principle. Subconsciously, the
idea that I, as a woman,
mattered less to God than a man.
(02:54):
Or maybe without a man,
I didn't really matter at all.
Now, if I said that out loud to a pastor or a
women's group leader, I think the odds are high that I would
receive an immediate response of, no, no, no. God loves
women. You've got it wrong. We don't teach that
(03:15):
don't we point out every Easter that the first
people the risen Lord revealed himself to
were women? And don't we nurture and
support moms? Look at all the ministries that we
have for that very purpose. We even honor them
during service on Mother's Day. And I
think that whoever said those things to me would sincerely
(03:36):
believe every word.
But look at the covert teaching regarding
Southern Baptist women. We can't serve the
Lord's supper. We can't preach.
We can only teach if the audience is women or
children. The only time that
I saw a woman on the raised platform at the front of the
(03:56):
sanctuary is if she was getting
married, holding her baby for baby dedication
day, or standing on the choir risers
for me. This visual representation of
where women could and could not be, of
what they could and could not do, of how our
value is recognized almost
(04:17):
exclusively in relation to our
role alongside a man or a child,
was incredibly powerful.
So powerful that it
overruled the overt teaching in
my mind. Do you
know that saying that actions speak louder than
words? That's what I'm talking about here.
(04:40):
I could see the consistent actions of the church
regarding women and easily identify
that women had all sorts of
restrictions that the men didn't have.
Now listen, this is not a show about theology, so why am
I bringing all this up? Well, because I
know some fellow Southern Baptist women are listening to this.
(05:00):
You've texted me, and if that's
you, I want to ask you a question.
If a woman is faced with the dilemma
of dying while giving birth or
getting an abortion to save her own life,
what's the right choice?
Did you say die to give birth? I did,
(05:21):
too. For decades, without
hesitation. I didn't even think about it.
That's how ingrained my own lack
of worth and value as a woman
were.
But then I met people like Samantha from episode
one. You remember her. She had an ectopic
pregnancy. She needed that D and C to
(05:43):
save her own life. Her existing
child needed her to get that D and C so
mommy could come home alive. Her future
child needed her to get that D and C so that her
future child could exist. Her husband
needed her to get that D and C while he fought for
this country halfway around the globe, so that there
(06:03):
would be the love of his life waiting when he got
home. And I met
people like Emily from episode three. Do you remember
her? She was pregnant with twins, one of
which had an abnormality that made it very likely she'd
have a miscarriage, thereby losing both
babies to save one
she aborted the other.
(06:26):
Today, the happy and lively 13 year old
Harper has life because
of her mother's abortion.
These stories awakened me to something that
is not included in the church's teaching
about abortion. Even if I accept the
covert teaching that women don't have value
(06:46):
in and of themselves, what about their value to
their children, to their
husbands? If a woman already has
children or a husband, her life matters, right?
We should make sure to protect her
life, right? Protecting
her is pro life,
right? I had to dwell on
(07:09):
these thoughts for a while. And, look, maybe you do,
too. I did not realize how much
I had internalized an absence of
my own self worth until I had to
think about these questions.
I mean, we're taught that God loves
us, right? There's nothing we can do
to earn more of God's love or get less of
(07:31):
it. I've heard at least a thousand sermons on that. You probably have,
too. John 3:16.
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son. The world.
Not men. The world. God loves the world.
Women, too.
That can be a hard lesson to internalize
(07:53):
when the only one ever preaching the
sermon is male.
But truth is truth, and God's
love is God's love, right?
Do you believe that? Truth is truth,
apart from what any of us has to say about it,
and that a significant truth is that
(08:14):
God is love? Maybe it's a love
beyond our comprehension. Maybe it's a love beyond our human
definitions, but still, God is love,
right? And if you believe
that God loves everyone, then there's
another really hard thought to consider.
If God loves a woman just as much as
(08:35):
he loves a man, that means that the
woman has worth on her
own. Not just as a mom,
not just as a wife,
not just as a daughter.
She is loved by God
because she exists
(08:56):
before, after, even without all of the
relationships, on her own, as a
single, solitary human being.
Worthy.
Do you believe that? Let me put it
to you as a Southern Baptist romans five
eight, says, but God commends his love
toward us, and that while we were yet
(09:19):
sinners, Christ died for
us. Us.
Not, men. Us.
so I have to ask. Do you
believe that if a woman were the only person on
the planet, Jesus would have
died? Or her?
(09:44):
Look, maybe you don't. Maybe the covert
teachings of the church have instilled in you like they did in
me, a fundamental belief that women are not
quite as worthy as a man.
And that's understandable. Listen, I get it. I
really, really do.
I lived in that belief for a very long time.
(10:05):
There's a scripture in Isaiah, chapter 30, that I kept
taped to my computer for several years. It
reads, your ears will hear a voice
behind you saying, this is the
way. Walk in it.
Only recently did I go back and remind
myself of the verse that comes right after this
assurance. It says, so you will
(10:26):
desecrate your silver plated idols and gold plated
images. You'll throw them away. Listen, get this.
You'll throw them away like
menstrual cloths. Menstrual
cloths. If there is anything that a
woman knows, it's how we throw away whatever we
use during our periods, right? I bring those
scriptures up now to say this.
(10:48):
Perhaps your belief that a woman
isn't quite as worthy as a man
needs to be thrown out like a pat
or tampon. Right here
in this moment, in the quiet
of your heart and mind, just
consider
you are worthy in
(11:11):
your own Right,
worthy of kindness, of
care, of love,
of Life. You
are worthy of Life too.
What does that voice behind you say? Sister?
Listen to it closely. Follow one
(11:33):
Thessalonians 5:21, which reminds us to test
all things. Hold fast to what is good.
Is it a good and right
teaching that God loves
women? Is this the
way? If so,
walk in it.
>> Speaker (11:54):
You've been listening to Right to Life on the
one 1C Story Network. If you have a story to
share or would like to learn more, please visit
righttolifestories.com. this show
is brought to you by the generous support of people who
value Life. To contribute, visit
righttolifestories.com and click on
(12:14):
the GoFundMe icon or get in touch.
>> Singer (12:28):
The 1C Story Network for
the love of stories.
I'm Rebeca Seitz, and this is right
to Life.
I have always been a lover of
words. Seriously, I have favorite
ones. I'm such a geek about it.
Cacophony, ethereal,
malaise. Exquisite.
(00:30):
Jacaranda. There are some words that it just
feels good to know them or say them. And then there are
word pairs. You know, like, my brain likes to
match and balance things, so word pairs are a
good time for me. Like soaring and sunken,
admirable and revolting, greedy
and generous, passionate and
(00:50):
lackadaisical, which is another favorite word.
Anyway, there are two words that I always
have to think about for a minute to make sure I haven't
mixed up their meanings. It's been this way with these
words for as long as I can remember.
When I say them, you might roll your eyes and
think, come on, Rebeca. Those are easy. Not for my
brain. My brain has
(01:13):
to send its little minions running to the file cabinets in the
back to remember which one means
which. The words
are covert and overt,
which one means out in the open, and which
one means under the radar. Every
time I have to go through the thought process
(01:33):
of covert starts with cover so that's the
one that's not obvious. Growing up and living
my adult Life in the Southern Baptist world, there were
both overt and covert values
that I ingrained into my own being just
as surely as I memorized Bible verses and
filed them, a way to guide me whenever I faced
(01:53):
questions and dilemmas. The overt
ones I sometimes questioned. I think you've probably
picked up on the fact that I go hard toward
wisdom, talking things through with
the goal of getting to that kernel of truth.
Well, that, for me, is a fantastic time.
The covert ones, though, those
(02:13):
teachings that are simply part of the fabric of
Southern Baptist living and being, I
didn't really think too closely about them until
much later in my walk.
One of those teachings stepped out of the
shadows and into the limelight of my consciousness
when I picked up a book by a Southern Baptist
(02:34):
pastor's wife, Sue Monk
Kidd. The book was Dance
of the Dissident Daughter. Suddenly, I
realized I'd internalized a life guiding
principle. Subconsciously, the
idea that I, as a woman,
mattered less to God than a man.
(02:54):
Or maybe without a man,
I didn't really matter at all.
Now, if I said that out loud to a pastor or a
women's group leader, I think the odds are high that I would
receive an immediate response of, no, no, no. God loves
women. You've got it wrong. We don't teach that
(03:15):
don't we point out every Easter that the first
people the risen Lord revealed himself to
were women? And don't we nurture and
support moms? Look at all the ministries that we
have for that very purpose. We even honor them
during service on Mother's Day. And I
think that whoever said those things to me would sincerely
(03:36):
believe every word.
But look at the covert teaching regarding
Southern Baptist women. We can't serve the
Lord's supper. We can't preach.
We can only teach if the audience is women or
children. The only time that
I saw a woman on the raised platform at the front of the
(03:56):
sanctuary is if she was getting
married, holding her baby for baby dedication
day, or standing on the choir risers
for me. This visual representation of
where women could and could not be, of
what they could and could not do, of how our
value is recognized almost
(04:17):
exclusively in relation to our
role alongside a man or a child,
was incredibly powerful.
So powerful that it
overruled the overt teaching in
my mind. Do you
know that saying that actions speak louder than
words? That's what I'm talking about here.
(04:40):
I could see the consistent actions of the church
regarding women and easily identify
that women had all sorts of
restrictions that the men didn't have.
Now listen, this is not a show about theology, so why am
I bringing all this up? Well, because I
know some fellow Southern Baptist women are listening to this.
(05:00):
You've texted me, and if that's
you, I want to ask you a question.
If a woman is faced with the dilemma
of dying while giving birth or
getting an abortion to save her own life,
what's the right choice?
Did you say die to give birth? I did,
(05:21):
too. For decades, without
hesitation. I didn't even think about it.
That's how ingrained my own lack
of worth and value as a woman
were.
But then I met people like Samantha from episode
one. You remember her. She had an ectopic
pregnancy. She needed that D and C to
(05:43):
save her own life. Her existing
child needed her to get that D and C so
mommy could come home alive. Her future
child needed her to get that D and C so that her
future child could exist. Her husband
needed her to get that D and C while he fought for
this country halfway around the globe, so that there
(06:03):
would be the love of his life waiting when he got
home. And I met
people like Emily from episode three. Do you remember
her? She was pregnant with twins, one of
which had an abnormality that made it very likely she'd
have a miscarriage, thereby losing both
babies to save one
she aborted the other.
(06:26):
Today, the happy and lively 13 year old
Harper has life because
of her mother's abortion.
These stories awakened me to something that
is not included in the church's teaching
about abortion. Even if I accept the
covert teaching that women don't have value
(06:46):
in and of themselves, what about their value to
their children, to their
husbands? If a woman already has
children or a husband, her life matters, right?
We should make sure to protect her
life, right? Protecting
her is pro life,
right? I had to dwell on
(07:09):
these thoughts for a while. And, look, maybe you do,
too. I did not realize how much
I had internalized an absence of
my own self worth until I had to
think about these questions.
I mean, we're taught that God loves
us, right? There's nothing we can do
to earn more of God's love or get less of
(07:31):
it. I've heard at least a thousand sermons on that. You probably have,
too. John 3:16.
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son. The world.
Not men. The world. God loves the world.
Women, too.
That can be a hard lesson to internalize
(07:53):
when the only one ever preaching the
sermon is male.
But truth is truth, and God's
love is God's love, right?
Do you believe that? Truth is truth,
apart from what any of us has to say about it,
and that a significant truth is that
(08:14):
God is love? Maybe it's a love
beyond our comprehension. Maybe it's a love beyond our human
definitions, but still, God is love,
right? And if you believe
that God loves everyone, then there's
another really hard thought to consider.
If God loves a woman just as much as
(08:35):
he loves a man, that means that the
woman has worth on her
own. Not just as a mom,
not just as a wife,
not just as a daughter.
She is loved by God
because she exists
(08:56):
before, after, even without all of the
relationships, on her own, as a
single, solitary human being.
Worthy.
Do you believe that? Let me put it
to you as a Southern Baptist romans five
eight, says, but God commends his love
toward us, and that while we were yet
(09:19):
sinners, Christ died for
us. Us.
Not, men. Us.
so I have to ask. Do you
believe that if a woman were the only person on
the planet, Jesus would have
died? Or her?
(09:44):
Look, maybe you don't. Maybe the covert
teachings of the church have instilled in you like they did in
me, a fundamental belief that women are not
quite as worthy as a man.
And that's understandable. Listen, I get it. I
really, really do.
I lived in that belief for a very long time.
(10:05):
There's a scripture in Isaiah, chapter 30, that I kept
taped to my computer for several years. It
reads, your ears will hear a voice
behind you saying, this is the
way. Walk in it.
Only recently did I go back and remind
myself of the verse that comes right after this
assurance. It says, so you will
(10:26):
desecrate your silver plated idols and gold plated
images. You'll throw them away. Listen, get this.
You'll throw them away like
menstrual cloths. Menstrual
cloths. If there is anything that a
woman knows, it's how we throw away whatever we
use during our periods, right? I bring those
scriptures up now to say this.
(10:48):
Perhaps your belief that a woman
isn't quite as worthy as a man
needs to be thrown out like a pat
or tampon. Right here
in this moment, in the quiet
of your heart and mind, just
consider
you are worthy in
(11:11):
your own Right,
worthy of kindness, of
care, of love,
of Life. You
are worthy of Life too.
What does that voice behind you say? Sister?
Listen to it closely. Follow one
(11:33):
Thessalonians 5:21, which reminds us to test
all things. Hold fast to what is good.
Is it a good and right
teaching that God loves
women? Is this the
way? If so,
walk in it.
>> Speaker (11:54):
You've been listening to Right to Life on the
one 1C Story Network. If you have a story to
share or would like to learn more, please visit
righttolifestories.com. this show
is brought to you by the generous support of people who
value Life. To contribute, visit
righttolifestories.com and click on
(12:14):
the GoFundMe icon or get in touch.
>> Singer (12:28):
The 1C Story Network for
the love of stories.
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