CrossPolitic: Thanks for doing this interview, Joseph. It is great to see your newest book is out: It’s GOOD to be a Girl!
Joseph Spurgeon: Thanks for interviewing me.
CP: Why did you write this book?
Spurgeon: All throughout church history, the church has had various controversies thrust upon it from within by false teachers with false doctrines or from without as the world pressed in with questions and sins that had to be addressed. These controversies always required faithful teachers to expound the truths of God. Whether it was the issues of the Trinity and Christology in the early church or justification by faith and biblical ecclesiology in the time of the reformation, pastors had to be faithful to preach wherever the battle raged. They would often sound like a broken record repeating the truths of God on the issues of their day. I wrote this book because the biblical doctrine of anthropology is ground zero for the battles we face. Both from without and within the church, there is today a denial that God has made us and that he has made us as man or as woman. Feminism and its just-as-ugly twin sister, LGBT, are the result of a failure to worship and honor God as creator and Lord. The fruit of this rebellion is boys and girls who are being led astray to disastrous consequences both for them personally and for western civilization at large.
Now, I don’t have delusions of grandeur that I can roll all of this back on my own, but I can write some things that might be helpful to young people. This book and the first book for boys are my attempt to help parents lay a simple foundation on biblical sexuality. God did create us, and He created us male or female. It is all very good. Again, these books are my attempt to stand in the breach and fight the battle of our day.
CP: How have people responded to this book?
Spurgeon: I just released It’s GOOD to be a Girl! on Thanksgiving, so there has not been much time yet to gauge a response to this book but the previous book It’s GOOD to be a Boy! has received a very positive reception. I have been sent pictures and videos of dad’s reading the book to their sons. I’ve heard from fathers that it was their son’s favorite book. It has been quite a blessing to be able to impact a lot of families for good and to give fathers a way to discuss what it means to be a godly man. Even some of the bad reviews have been encouraging. For example one of my favorite reviews said, “I am raising four sons, but this book teaches boys to value their strength in ways that are competitive and aggressive. It also would appear to compare boys’ and girls’ roles as differing in ways that encourage boys towards being in leadership roles over women. I’ve not read the girls’ version yet but my guess is that it encourages girls to be quiet, meek, submissive, humble, modest, servants… aka, future sex slaves of their husbands. Gah. Don’t read this to your kids unless you want them to grow up to be monsters.” I can’t wait for the reviews to come in for It’s GOOD to be a Girl!
CP: How is this one different from your other one It’s GOOD to be a Boy (see our CrossPolitic interview here)?
Spurgeon: While the format is similar, the obvious difference is that we are talking about what it is to be a girl. Masculinity is good and so is femininity. I have two daughters and they are one of God’s best gifts to me. Their natural strengths of nurturing and caring are precious. I really wanted to celebrate the way that God has uniquely designed women. God made women to be helpers, life-givers, nurturers, adorners, worshippers, and his daughters.
CP: Our culture tries to make men and women interchangeable. How does this book encourage true feminine gifts?
Spurgeon: In the beginning, God created male and female and said that it was very good. Man was created first and woman was created to be his helpmate. Rather than a competition of the sexes, God created a completion of the sexes. God gave Adam a mission to fill and subdue the earth. Eve was made to help him complete that task not by competing in the task nor by trying to take over the work given to him but rather she was given the awesome responsibility and privilege of giving and nurturing life. God created the man to lead and his wife to submit to his leadership. When by faith, men and women walk in obedience to the sex God made them, it is good. Femininity is very good.
Yet, we live in a time when feminism is celebrated but femininity is not. Women are taught that if they are to have value, they must set aside the things God designed them for, and instead compete with men. Our world doesn’t need any more little warrior princesses screaming about their “rights.” Rather we need daughters who love and embrace the way God designed them. God made girls to help, give-life, nurture, adorn, worship, and trust. Femininity is beautiful.
CP: What are you hoping that girls will get from this book?
Spurgeon: I hope this book will be a help to fathers as they try to encourage their wives and daughters. To fathers, as they live out their created purposes and teach their daughters to do the same, and to girls as they are bombarded with lies from the culture. Our culture claims to celebrate women but what it really celebrates is women throwing off their femininity and rebelling against God. Girls don’t need more books about how they can be fighters and presidents. They don’t need to be told that they have their value in trying to be someone God hasn’t designed them for. Rather, I hope that girls will be glad to have someone just say what God says about being a girl. It’s Good to be a Girl!
CP: Thank you for doing this interview, Joseph. To our readers, get your copy today: It’s GOOD to be a Girl!
______________
Joseph Spurgeon is Pastor/Church Planter, Sovereign King Church.
www.Psalm82.com | www.SovereignKingChurch.com
4.5