The Feminine Mystique with Mike Gunn

Resource Review 

“The Feminine Mystique” was a teaching by Pastor Mike Gunn several years ago at Mars Hill; I think when he was still a pastor here. Now he is a pastor at Harambee Church in Renton, but he is still very close to Mars Hill Church and I even sat a row behind him and his wife a few weekends ago at the big leadership training conference hosted at Ballard.

What is the teaching? It goes over Proverbs 31 as well as tougher verses on women’s roles, such as 1 Timothy 5:14. Some of you have heard Mars Hill’s teaching on this. Some of you haven’t. I hadn’t heard Pastor Mike’s ”version” until a few weeks ago, and immensely appreciated it. His style and delivery are different than our teachers here (ie, Pastor Mark, Deacon Wendy Alsup), and it’s great to hear the same biblical message from another voice. In particular, I like his bashing of the 1950’s ‘ideal woman.’ Because sometimes I get paranoid and start thinking that is who we are supposed to be as a woman…

“This issue of the ‘traditional home’ of Leave It to Beaver is not biblical. You gotta understand that - this is NOT what we’re aiming for, ‘let’s get back to the 50’s.’ No way. That was a mindless woman that was dressed in the nicest dresses of the day, just staying home and being neat with an extremely neat house. That nothing was out of place… some weird ideal that she got to play with some of the ‘cool things’ he was earning, like dishwashers and stuff like that, but she didn’t have any connection with reality. This is NOT what we’re talking about, and if you go back to Leave It to Beaver because I’m going through this, you’re truly mistaken with where I’m trying to go. I’m trying my best to aim towards what God says a woman ought to be, and I hope as a woman, so are you! And not just the construct of what culture tells you you should be or what you think you ought to be, but to become a woman who is godly.”

Personally, Mike has my tremendous respect for multiple reasons beyond being a founding pastor of Mars Hill Church.

First, he had my ear from the minute he started his lecture on “Understanding Islam” and suggested that it was neither a dangerous regime of terrorists nor a harmless, peaceful ‘other religion.’ Even after two years’ absence from my life in the Middle East living next door to my city’s Islamic religious police, I still felt sensitive about all the uninformed and typically polarized opinions of Muslims. Pastor Mike was the first person I’d heard speak on the way-too-broad category of “Islam” in a way that rang true with my experience.

Next, I got to talk with him in-person and he mentioned loving Lauryn Hill’s “MTV Unplugged” album. I almost fell over and died of happiness, because that is one of the most provocative and Christian albums I have ever heard. And it’s not been very popular at all. But her lyrics are genius.

Third, he came to Missions Fest last October and spoke quite passionately about missions to cities in the basement of a very suburban-set church. It’s too bad it seemed that the only people who didn’t glaze over or become visibly agitated trying to merge the concepts of “mission” and “city” were a small handful of us brouhahas from Mars Hill / Harambee.

Last, he talks the way my mind thinks: tangents and stories. I love it.

So, all this to say… listen to his teaching.