The Super Bowl Halftime Show & Empowerment

“Pretty Vulgar!”

“A lot of folks aren’t liking it, but I’m inspired to go dancing after watching it!!! Jaylo makes 50 look amazing!!”

“Disgusting at best.”

“JLo at 50 is better than me at 23.”

“Stunning as always!”

As a female student in the art department of a state university, I get the chance to see and hear firsthand what our culture’s definition of empowerment is. Most of my fellow students tell me that empowerment means doing what you want without regard for how others feel or what they will think of you. Empowerment is self-determined, loud, in-your-face, and always self-focused.

Many of my classmates would say that if you felt uncomfortable about something a woman was doing, you were just uncomfortable with seeing a woman be empowered.

The day after the halftime show my social media was flooded with very different opinions. Some of my school friends claimed it as a victory for women empowerment and girl power. Others, without even watching what happened, condemned the entire performance point blank.

Both responses shocked me for some reason. I couldn’t seem to fall in either camp. So, during my ceramics class that afternoon, I began to ask God what empowerment meant to Him.

After all, isn’t He the one who empowers each of us?

As I was throwing a mug at my wheel, this thought came to mind:

Empowerment doesn’t mean doing whatever you want. It means doing whatever is right. It’s up to each sex to work to figure out what that is…and then do it.

Esther wasn’t empowered when she spent six months doing “self-care.“ She was empowered when she listened to the voice of God and had a hard conversation that changed the world.

Samuel wasn’t empowered when he slept in. He was empowered when he was awakened and attuned to the voice of God and answered the call.

Moses wasn’t empowered when he stayed quiet because he was an introvert. He was empowered when he obeyed God’s call for his life and spoke to the people of Israel.

When God empowers us, it does not mean we have free rein to do whatever feels good to us. It means we humbly seek His will, and then do it.

So, the nine minutes of worldly women empowerment ended Sunday February 2, 2020. But Christ’s empowerment of His children is every week, every day, every minute as we seek His guidance through the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:3-6 says,

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness…”