Women as Mothers II
Titus 2:3-5
The final PART of the Pattern is,
Domestically Inclined
In verse five, Paul says the older women should teach the younger ones to be “homemakers.” The literal meaning is, “those who stay at home,” and carries the thought of being domestically inclined; having a desire to create a home and to use it as a primary point of ministry and service. This is a special challenge in our day when motherhood is viewed as an inferior choice my many and an illegitimate choice by radical feminists!
Years ago, and some of you may remember this, the Chrysler corporation had billboards advertising their minivan which read; “Who was the idiot that coined the phrase, ‘Stay at home mom?’” Those billboards made me angry! I know what the company was trying to communicate; they wanted to sell their product. But the terminology used, whether intentional or not, just reinforced the idea of moms being second class. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
I fear the culture around us has had more influence on us than the Scripture itself. The materialistic worldview of our culture has seeped into the church. For many people things have become more important than relationships. Many couples claim they can’t afford to have and raise children, but my observation is, that’s an excuse more than a reason. Often, those same people spend outrageous sums of money on pets or some other thing of much lesser value.
In ancient Israel, God condemned the idolatry of the people and how they sacrificed their children to the Canaanite god, Moloch. We are tempted to look at them with disdain and say, “how foolish, we’d never do such a thing.” Yet today, little children from Christian homes, whose lives should be primarily shaped and molded by the care of their mother, are shuttled off to daycare and “sacrificed” on the altar of career or possessions. Or they’re plunked down in front of the widescreen to watch some video concoction of a humanistic expert who says this will make them miles ahead of their peers when they begin school. I tremble because I know God will not overlook our carelessness and disobedience.
I believe this text we’re looking at, as well as others; teach that the primary place for mothers to exercise their God-given abilities is in the home. It’s not the only place, but it’s the primary place. I repeat, it’s not the ONLY place, but it’s the PRIMARY place. I know, our culture and the feminist movement have degraded the position of motherhood, but as Christians we shouldn’t be taking our directions from them.
Mothers, what greater impact could you have on the culture than to raise godly sons and daughters – as many as the Lord decides to give to you and your husband? Don’t send your children off into someone else’s care so you can minister to another group of people. Make your children your primary ministry and show them by your life and example how to reach out to others. Let God develop your ministry in your home. When you’ve been successful there, He can expand it far beyond what you’ve ever dreamed.
I will admit, there may be some cases where a mother with young children must work outside the home, but that’s not the ideal. If you’re a single mother, you may have no choice. But even there, I believe it’s part of the extended family’s responsibility, and the local church fellowship, to help you. That way, your time spent away from home is kept to a minimum. Most people I know who feel that the mother must work outside the home in order to “make ends meet,” just need to trim the “ends” a little shorter so it’s not so hard to make them meet. By reducing what we must have to real needs, instead of wants, it’s possible to live on one income. One of the positive effects of the Covid pandemic is that it brought many mothers back home from the workforce an...
