Have We No Right? by Mabel Williamson

Read for: Discipleship with Lois
Rating: 3.5

Have We No Right? was written in 1957 by Williamson, a missionary to China. She asks this question about the rights of missionaries in other countries. A lot of her examples were outdated, but I think that the main point of the book raised a good thought, mainly that as missionaries we are to follow the teachings of Paul to become all things to all people, so that we do not hinder the message of the Gospel. Becoming all things to all people may mean giving up some of the rights that we are accustomed to in America, Williamson points out. One of those rights is gender equality. In America, although in reality it may not always work out this way, there is still a high prevalance of the ideal of gender equality. In other cultures, though, it is taken for granted that men are better than women, and all the customs revolve around that fact. As a woman missionary, I may want to lead meetings or sharing the Gospel, but the culture that I am in might find that out of my place, so my unwillingness to give up that right might hinder the advancement of the Gospel. So, I think that the point that Williamson was making about the rights of missionaries was better than the way in which her book was written.