This past weekend, women invited friends, neighbors, and even some mere acquaintances from park play-dates to join them at the 2014 Mars Hill Sammamish Women’s Ministry retreat entitled Image: A Theology of Beauty. Over 100 women packed overnight bags and traversed the mountain pass to spend the weekend at the beautiful Suncadia Resort near Cle Elum, Washington. Many who had never been to a retreat before came to hear truth—God’s truth about true beauty. Women drowning in a “me-soaked culture,” worn down and bone weary of pursuing the ever-changing, elusive image of worldly beauty, striving to achieve more, look younger, and feel better about themselves packed a conference room to hear truth that would dispel the lies so prevalent in our culture.
Deacons Missi Wilson and Shadlie Kensrue began on Friday evening detailing how our culture defines beauty, a beauty that is unreal and ever changing, and how that is perpetuated by social media via the thousands of images we are bombarded with daily. During discussion groups, women throughout the room voiced discontent with their physical appearance, exhaustion over striving, comparing, and competing, and the continued disillusionment and despair of not measuring up to the image the world has prescribed us.
Deacon Melana Bontrager shared through personal stories the effects of sin and suffering, how we all suffer and we all sin. She explained that we are made in God’s image, yet since the time of our mother Eve in the book of Genesis, we have been deceived by Satan’s lies and have sinned by desiring to have the glory that belongs to God alone. Instead of being transformed into God’s image, we conform to the world’s image. As the Holy Spirit exposed lies and convicted of sin, women began to confess their sin and their desire to walk toward God in repentance:
“I was scheduled for additional liposuction treatments because of my dissatisfaction with my body, but now I realize I bought into the lies of our culture and want God to change my focus from myself to him as my creator.”
“I had abused my body through drastic calorie reduction dieting to conform to the world’s image. And God is teaching me not only is that unhealthy for my body, but I was believing the lie that God made me wrong . . . something was wrong with me. Truth is, I am made in his image and he is beautiful.”
“I have allowed my insecurity of what others think of me to cause me to isolate myself and judge others. This is keeping me from “true community” with my sisters in Christ and keeping me from loving them like Jesus. I am praying that Jesus will keep reminding me of my identity in him and that the need for approval from others will lose its hold on me.”
Deacon Stacey Tomisser closed the event by explaining how beauty is redeemed. God is beauty. He sent his only son, Jesus, to rescue us and change our hearts. He has given us himself and we are invited into his beauty to behold his glory.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
“Whether you know it or not, all the longings of your life for beauty are longings for this: the light of the gospel of the beauty of Christ who is the image of God. Turn to Jesus as Lord! Open yourself to the Spirit of Christ. And the veil will be lifted.”
–John Piper
When we are beholding Jesus—eyes fixed on him, heart in his hand, resting in his plan, and trusting in his goodness—that is when we reflect true beauty, his beauty.
“Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
As the weekend drew to a close, women jotted down on scraps of paper the lies they believed and placed them at the foot of the cross. Then, choosing truth, they selected a Bible verse from a basket and worshiped their creator, replacing the lies with his truth.
Contact your local church to see which Women’s Ministry events are being held in the near future.
Join us for the Women’s Training Day at Mars Hill Bellevue on Saturday, March 29 when Elyse Fitzpatrick, nationally known author and speaker, will teach from her book Found in Him. We will explore the wonder of the incarnation and the glory of our union with Christ, which offers us a sure path to ultimate acceptance and true belonging through the power of the gospel.
