“People sometimes assume that because I’m a progressive 30-year-old who enjoys Mumford and Sons and has no children, I must want a super-hip church—you know, the kind that’s called “Thrive” or “Be” and which boasts “an awesome worship experience,” a fair-trade coffee bar, its own iPhone app, and a pastor who looks like a Jonas Brother.” Humorous words from the one and only Rachel Held Evans. Majority of Evans blog posts have this exact kind of humor, yet some still hold seriousness.
Evans is most famously known for her work, “A Year of Biblical Womanhood”, where she committed one year of her life to following the Bible’s instructions for women. This included such extremities such as, referring to her husband as “master”, sitting on the roof for gossiping, making her own clothes, not cutting her hair, and even camping out on her lawn during her period. Her blog drew a lot of attention and stirred up trouble. Is she mocking religion or just showing us the facts? She states, “My purpose in embarking on this project is not to belittle or make fun of the Bible, nor is it to glorify its patriarchal elements.”
In this post (http://rachelheldevans.com/love-orientation) , Evans speaks about homosexual and being a Christian. She starts the post with an attention grapping question, “I get a knot in my stomach every time someone asks me if I think homosexuality is a sin”. As I read through this post, I found just a pinch of humor but mostly sheer passion. Evans reviews a book, “Love is an Orientation,” and uses such descriptive words, “gently coaxing the reader into those uncomfortable grey areas.” Evans word choice grasps onto you and makes you think, “Our goal as Christ-followers is not to try to cram people into whatever our behavioral ideals might be, but to lovingly help people reconnect with God.” One part that made me sit back and ponder was when she asked what would Jesus respond to the question is homosexuality a sin? Her quirky self comes out in her response to that, “I feel a little irked that he didn’t address it directly!”
Overall, this excerpt was powerful. She was passionate about this very controversial topic and wanted to get her ideas out, as well as others. From this writer, I would hope to learn to write a piece that was so widely important yet has my passion and thoughts shine through it. I would also like to have her humor, I’m very envious of her quirky word choice and ideas.
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