I did my midterm today, and I was pleased by the questions I got. We were given three cases and were supposed to tell how we would react or counsel the people involved. Here were mine:
#1 was about a woman who recently read books about egalitarianism and accuses her husband of male oppression while he tells her she should be cooking and taking care of the kids like the Bible says.
In a nutshell, I said I'd get them to both calm down and explain their positions rationally, and what they thought the other person was saying. Without ever making it seem like the husband is being corrected, talked down to, or chided, I would guide them through the Bible to see what it has to say on their issue. I think I'd start with Proverbs 31 and the picture of domestic life drawn there: woman works, makes her own money, has her own reputation and freedom, and her reputation and happiness bless her husband and his reputation.
Then I'd look at the creation account and make sure they see that there is no hierarchy involved other than God over Adam and Eve and their dominion over creation. From there, household codes in Colossians and Ephesians, if necessary, and a talk on mutual submission. Get them on the same team. I wrote for about 20 minutes on it, so I'm just recapping here.
#2 was perfect for me, because I was supposed to be talking with a young couple who live together and want to become members of the church. They claim that they're already married in God's eyes. It's perfect because this was me & Seth, but we were planning on getting married all along and never would have expected a church to let us become members.
In this case, I was both good cop and bad cop, in that I identify with their situation and I understand where they're coming from, but they also can't pretend to not expect that what they're doing is frowned upon. I'm sure that my professors expected me to use all the doom and gloom statistics about cohabitation that we learned, but being that they weren't/aren't true for me and Seth, they don't hold a lot of sway in my mind. But I did say that I'd bring them up and point out that not everyone can be "the lucky ones."
#3 was also good because it dealt with pastoral sexual harassment. The situation was that I had been in an internship for 10 months with a pastor bugging me, and what would I do now that I'm almost done? The first thing I said was that I'm surprised that I put up with it for 10 months! I basically said I would tell him to knock that s@*% out, and I'd go to the elder board and then the denomination, if I had to. I expressed the importance of protecting people, their souls, the church, etc etc.
Hopefully, they'll like my answers and I'll get good feedback on my decisions. As the time when I will actually be having more of these conversations draws nearer, I crave guidance.
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