When Jesus was taken to be executed on the cross, 11 of the 12 men abandoned him, but the women stayed.

When Jesus’ body was buried, the women were the first ones at his grave.

When Jesus rose from the dead, the men were hiding, so the women announced his resurrection.

Women and men living and leading as equals is the way of Jesus, but somewhere along the path, the church lost its way.

We allowed the patriarchal norms of society to influence how we treat women. We allowed misogynistic men to distort the teachings of Jesus and the early church. And we allowed a handful of descriptive Bible verses to be plucked out of context and used to subjugate women.

For far too long in the church, sexism has been baptized and called God’s will. Enough is enough.

Even in the midst of deeply patriarchal cultures, we see Jesus and the early church continuing to elevate and empower women.

It’s way past time for us to do the same.