One of the comments that I frequently hear after a woman has attended a True Woman conference, or read my Girls Gone Wise book, is, “It all clicked for me.”
Most change happens gradually. A child slowly learns to read. Braces slowly straighten teeth. A bush is slowly trimmed and shaped into a hedge. But then there are those changes that happen all at once. They are “Click!” or “Aha!” moments when our perspectives suddenly shift, and we begin to see the whole world in a different light.
Jan O’Reilly described the feminist click in the first issue of Ms. Magazine, in 1971, in an article entitled “The Housewife’s Moment of Truth.” The feminist click was that moment when a woman suddenly realized that sexism was responsible for woman’s problems, and was filled with rage and anger against men. It was the moment she embraced the feminist perspective and the personal quest to effect change.
The True Woman CLICK is both different than--and similar to--the feminist one.
It is different in that the recipient’s “Aha” is not about the existence of sexism, but about the cosmic purpose of womanhood. The truth that “clicks” is that God created womanhood, manhood, marriage and sex to teach us profound realities about the nature and character of God, and to put the message of the gospel on display. As a woman who experienced the CLICK recently exclaimed to me, “When I realized that my womanhood is all about displaying the gospel, it radically transformed the way I live.”
The True Woman CLICK is also different in the emotion that it evokes. The Feminist CLICK fills a woman with anger and defiance. The True Woman CLICK fills a woman with a sense of wonder at the purposes of God, and her part in His grand design. When the truth about the meaning of her womanhood CLICKS, she is filled with feelings of worship and joyful surrender to God’s plan.
The Feminist and True Woman CLICKS are very different, and yet they are similar in one key way: Both motivate action.
A feminist CLICK inspires a woman to demand her rights, and to insist that men change. A True Woman CLICK inspires a woman to embrace her God-given responsibility, and to ask God to change her. Both CLICKS result in the woman being committed, intentional and passionate about applying and spreading the message that has gripped her heart.
How about you? Have you experienced the True Woman CLICK? If not, I suggest you listen to John Piper’s message about The Ultimate Meaning of True Womanhood, to the True Women Choose Wisdom message I delivered at True Woman 2010, or to my message for leaders on Leading in the Moment.
If you have experienced the True Woman CLICK, tell me about it—and how it has impacted your life and changed your perspective on male and female relationships. And, make sure to talk about it with your friends. Your story might be the very thing that makes True Womanhood CLICK for them.
Join the Discussion