Empowerment through Humility
I grew up in a world with a lot of theological certainty and rigidity. We had rules and labels for everything. We were Reformed Christians who believed in purity, patriarchy, and the proper way to dress on Sundays. People who weren’t like us were pagans or heathens or liberals or misled or, of course, feminists. It was a world without any gray areas. It was a world lacking in humility.
I left behind my fundamentalist upbringing eight years ago, and I’ve been growing ever since in how I understand myself and my faith, exploring more of those gray areas. I’m sorting through my beliefs, holding onto the things that still hold meaning for me. Despite this work, however, I still have a tendency to put labels on things, a tendency I’m working to reverse. Maybe a part of me is still looking for the certainty that black-and-white thinking offers.
When it comes to self-labelling, I often call myself a Christian feminist in an attempt to combine my core values into a term I can communicate quickly. But I’ve found the term Christian feminist isn’t always sufficient to hold the nuance of who I am and who I want to become. Many Christians may have negative preconceptions about the word feminist, and many feminists may have negative preconceptions about the word Christian. The term Christian feminist just seems like an oxymoron to some.
In addition, the more I learn from womanism, the more I can see feminist as a problematic term in that feminism has not always been as inclusive as we might like to believe. Not to mention that terms are just limiting, and once we label ourselves, we tend to tape up the box and stop growing.
When I call myself a Christian feminist, I’m trying to communicate that I value my faith and I value my passion for equality and justice. I hold these values in a deeply connected way, and my faith informs my feminism.
I’ve been contemplating how practicing both Christianity and feminism impacts my life and sense of identity, and why that’s important. My faith gives me a belief in the inherent equality of all people, and this empowers me to speak up for others and for myself. It gives me motivation to strive for a more equitable world. I know I won’t get everything right, but I’m committed to growing and learning as I go.
Something I’ve been thinking about is how my faith centers on Jesus, and how learning from Jesus’s life is what informs how I live and where my ideals come from. When I reflect on how I can better live out my values, I remind myself that Jesus loved others with humility and compassion in his day-to-day life by lifting up the marginalized and oppressed.
Jesus gave a blessing honoring those who were humble and who cared about justice: “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:5–7 NLT). These verses speak to both attitude and action. An attitude of humility can be a powerful tool in the pursuit of justice and mercy. In the ultimate act of compassion, Jesus gave himself in humility to save others.
I can’t separate my faith from my feminism, and I need to continually remind myself that without humility and compassion, without love, my pursuit of equality and justice is for nothing. Without looking outside myself, without a willingness to sacrifice, how can I truly see and help others?
To be clear, humility doesn’t mean complete self-effacement. Taking care of ourselves and speaking up for ourselves is important, too. But humility does mean letting go of self-importance and pride. It means recognizing that we are not better or more valuable than others. It means that justice is inherently bigger than just ourselves or our individual rights. It means taking others into consideration.
In my writing, I talk a lot about empowerment because of the way I was disempowered as a woman in Christian patriarchy and because I see many marginalized people being disempowered by the powerful hierarchical systems that exist. I think about “empowerment” as a way to become a stronger individual, a person who is strong enough to help other people and help bring positive change in the world. And this kind of empowerment is impossible without humility and love.
When we combine our activism with true humility and love for others, real change can be made; real empowerment happens. If I pursue equality for myself, I am bettering my life. But if I pursue equality for others too, then I am helping to better the world.
So if we must have labels, perhaps “humble empowerer” can be one we strive for as we navigate the gray areas of life, using our faith to bring light to our communities.
is a writer, reader, and publishing professional who lives with her husband in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After leaving the stay-at-home-daughter movement, she started over by studying creative writing at Michigan State University, working in education and literacy, and eventually finding her way to an editorial position in book publishing. Find her at caitwest.com and on Instagram and Twitter at @caitwestwrites.
Photograph © Etty Fidele, used with permission
