When is a joke not a joke........when its about a female linesman apparently

There has been much furore in recent days surrounding Andy Gray, his views on feminism and a throw away remark about a female assistant being able to understand the offside law. Gray's comments were seen by some as sexist, others as funny and others as just stupid.

The final nail in Gray's coffin at Sky came a few hours later when it later emerged that he had made inappropriate sexual remarks to a female co-host.

But why? Why has there been such an outcry against Andy Gray and his comments? Well largely it has been down to the feminist revolution of the 1960's and 70's and the advance of what i would call Germaine Greer feminism, which at its core states that women are equal with men, that they should have the same jobs and same opportunities open to them because we are all equal.

Now working for an evangelical church, an institution not noted for its positive attitude towards the feminist movement, I would agree to a certain extent with the feminist movement. We read in the book of Genesis,

"So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female He created them."

The view many people have about evangelical Christianity is that we view women as worthless, as nothing more than people who should be in the kitchen and looking after the children. But this is simply not true. Women have intrinsic value because they are created in the image of God just as men are, women are image bearers of God, just like men. Men and women are equal in the eyes of God, they are both God's creation and God's image bearers.

But this equality does not mean that we have the same roles, men have been called to be the leaders of churches and leaders of their families, this is not to demean the role of women. Women have many qualities that men do not, as a general rule women are far more caring, far more compassionate and empathetic than men.

Men and women are equal but not the same, and this is something that the feminist movement fails to take into account, today we have very much a blurring of the sexes, where the difference between the sexes is becoming less and less obvious. And this is where I have the real difficulty, men and women are image bearers of God, but we don't have the same roles. Let us celebrate these differences, celebrate what it truly means to be a feminist in the eyes of the bible, rather than confusing the issue by saying that men and women are the same in all respects.