Is It Sinful For Single Women to Be in the Workforce?
By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
Today I critique Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife, highlighting her legalistic teachings and their harmful effects on women in faith. I assert that Alexander propagates self-created, unilateral standards about women working outside the home that contradict biblical examples, lack grace, and puts burdens on women. I urge readers to reject Alexander’s burdensome doctrines and instead seek supportive ministries that align with true biblical teachings. Recommendations at the end.
Among other writings on my site, including creation praise, encouragement, and doctrine, I critique false teachers. I also call out prominent influencers who are doing a disservice to the kingdom of Jesus. I do not hate them and I wish them no ill will, certainly no more than Jesus has promised on Judgment Day if they do not repent. I truly wish the false teachers, like today’s focus of Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife, will come to repentance. If so, I would happily greet them as a sister in heaven.
I write negatively about them because of the damage they do to sisters in the faith- and of course because of the damage done in Jesus’ spotless name.
Let’s take a look at an essay Lori Alexander wrote recently discussing her problem with women working outside the home.
Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife is a legalist, among her other doctrinal errors. GotQuestions says about Legalism, that though
“the word “legalism” does not occur in the Bible, it is a term Christians use to describe a doctrinal position emphasizing a system of rules and regulations for achieving both salvation and spiritual growth. Legalists believe in and demand a strict literal adherence to rules and regulations. Doctrinally, it is a position essentially opposed to grace.
Sadly, there are those who feel so strongly about non-essential doctrines that they will run others out of their fellowship, not even allowing the expression of another viewpoint. That, too, is legalism. Many legalistic believers today make the error of demanding unqualified adherence to their own biblical interpretations and even to their own traditions.
If you have absorbed Lori’s misinterpreted content for very long, you know this describes her to a T!
I bring this up for two reasons. First, you might not know how large of a following Loris has. She is not on a speaker circuit, there are no photos splashed around of her preaching before adoring crowds. Yet across various social media, behind the scenes so to speak, she has a HUGE following that the public does not see. Lori relentlessly propagates her brand of false Christianity on these social platforms every day. The constant, daily stream of her KJV/Pelagianism/Legalism/Michael Pearl-idolizing makes an impact.
And that is the second reason I write today’s critique this up- the impact on women. The near-seeming truth of her doctrines have confused people. Many have come to me asking because they are experiencing Lori’s legalism’s detrimental effects: confusion, worry, guilt, and burdens. Jesus spoke about this when He rebuked the Pharisees’ activities, who by the way, were Legalists. Jesus condemned their legalism as a twisting of God’s Law and a barrier to His true righteousness.
And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger... (Matthew 23:4).
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (Matthew 23:23-24).
I’ve had more than one woman write to me and ask for help in parsing Lori Alexander The Transformed Wife’s doctrine. Distressed to the point of tears, they want the splash of clear, refreshing truth to help them out from under the oppressive religious burdens Lori has laid on them.
The apostle Paul warns us of legalism in Colossians 2:20-23: “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.” Source here
As for Lori Alexander’s essay Is It Sinful For Single Women To Be In The Workforce?, I will now rebut.
1. Lori is apparently replying to a reader question. Lori said in that article, “Is it sinful for single women to be in the workforce? I cannot say that it absolutely is or isn’t, but I will give a few of my observations.“
She has said many times absolutely that it IS sinful for women to be in the workforce.
Sadly, Lori says here that if a married woman with children works outside the home she is a sinner and a blasphemer. She puts clauses, conditions, and personal stipulations based on behavior on her interpretation of married women working being in sin. Lori is laying a charge of sin and blasphemy on women who work outside the home but the Bible does not say this.
Here, someone tried to correct Lori on her stance of married women working being in sin-
But to no avail- Additionally no longer even qualifying her stance that it’s married women who are sinning by doing so, but seemingly including single women in her twisted legalist interpretation too, in this tweet and the one below-
2.Lori said in her article: “There was no woman in the Bible who was away from her home all day working for a boss and paycheck.”
An over-generalization to say there were NONE. And by the way, yes. There was.
Sheerah was the daughter of Ephraim, son of Joseph. The Bible states in 1 Chron7:24 Sheerah was a builder. Rachel was a shepherdess. Shepherding means you are not at home all day but in the fields far from home. Lydia ran a business. The Old Testament Midwives, unnamed and names as in Shiphrah and Puah, had jobs. They are known to us BY their job title! Deborah worked as a Judge/Prophetess (and she was married, too!) Priscilla was a Tentmaker. Esther, Candace, Sheba- they were Queens. Women such as Susanna were patronesses & benefactors.
3. Lori said: “There was no workforce back in biblical times like there is today.” That’s just crazy. Of course there was. For example, Acts 19:24-
For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing considerable business to the craftsmen;
James 5:4 talks of laborers and wages, who does Lori think hands out the pay to the laborer, except for a boss? Just because computers, offices, and cubicles didn’t exist back then Lori cannot envision work/labor/employment as it is factually mentioned in the Bible for men AND women.
4. Lori said: “In order to be a nurse or a teacher, a woman must go deeply into debt and be indoctrinated into Marxism (colleges and universities)“.
Lori overgeneralizing again. Overgeneralizing is a cognitive shortcoming. I wrote about that here.
See that overgeneralized word in her tweet, “must”. No, a woman does not have to go into debt to become a teacher or a nurse. My own experience was that I obtained a liberal arts degree, then credits for a teaching certificate, then a Master’s degree in education and I did not spend a go into debt.
There’s scholarships, inheritances. Night school while working during the day. And not all colleges “indoctrinate into Marxism” lol. Overgeneralizing again. Same with nursing. Lori would cry out against the Egyptian midwives if they were living today. Genesis 24:59 mentions Rebekah’s nurse. Genesis 35:8 says this nurse was named Deborah and her burial site was specifically mentioned. Exodus 2:7; Ruth 4:16; 2 Kings 11:2 also mention nurses.
5. Lori said: “If young women need to make an income, it’s better to find work that doesn’t require a college education, debt, and indoctrination. They can be a nanny or something that fits with their nurturing nature that isn’t so exhausting and stressful“.
Isn’t it nice that Lori recognizes the need for income. Isn’t it nice for Lori Alexander to pass her hand over all women everywhere and limit our job options to obtain that income. This is classic Legalism. See definition above from GotQuestions again. And since when is a job of nannying NOT stressful??? We cannot make religious rules and laws for others where the Bible does not.
Yes, the Bible says that a wife’s primary orientation is toward the home, especially if she has children. That is a fact because it is stated and inferred many times in the Bible. It is good for women to be at home, especially if she has children.
But in certain circumstances both single and married women work outside the home and it is not a sin or blasphemy. Several women in our church in the past worked a full time job to put their husband through seminary. They did not have children. Women who work outside the home with children might be a wife who has a disabled husband, or he is on deployment, or in jail, or alternate on-days and off-days in shift work! Lori makes pronouncements that she deems an absolute (but the Bible doesn’t).
While wives and especially moms should be at home, not every circumstance is the same throughout the Kingdom of God on earth and there are decisions couples make every day that they make in prayer, wisdom, and doing their best to align with God’s standards. This is where grace enters the picture, but Lori lacks grace. It’s where a sister should extend grace in Christian liberty instead of making judgments based on no knowledge of individual circumstances.
Samuel Sey of the ministry Slow to Write is from Ghana. A post on Twitter had stated that young people should move out of their parents’ home when they become an adult. Samuel Sey replied to that post, saying,
This is bad advice. I lived at home until I got married. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Ghanaian culture encourages that, but it’s also consistent with Biblical wisdom. That doesn’t mean everyone should stay home until they get married. But I think it would be better if most did. However, if you stay home with your parents as an adult, you should help pay the bills, do your own laundry, and live as a responsible adult. Be a blessing to your parents, not a burden.
I agree with all of that, including that it doesn’t mean that every women always must stay at home till marriage comes about, as Lori Alexander has said, with absolutes and legalistic opinions.
She is so myopic on this topic. Why? Lori incorrectly believes the Bible says she cannot teach anything from the Bible except Titus 2:3-5. She restricts her vision of the Bible’s grandeur and glory to two verses. She forgets that ‘All scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, correction, rebuke’. Again, Lori IS a legalist. She is a false teacher who depends on DOING rather than worshiping. See this tweet I ‘corrected’ for her recently:
It’s not about what we have, (husband, children) because some are set apart for singleness, and some even married women are not given children. According to Lori, they’d be impoverished, lacking those things.
And it’s not about what we DO, (homemaker).
It’s about who we know: Jesus.
Avoid Lori Alexander’s burdens laid on you, avoid her twisted doctrines, avoid her errant stances. You will be the better for it. Recommended female ministries that teach about being wives and moms are linked below.
Sharon Lareau Chapter 3 Ministries, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/chapter3ministries and Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/sk_lareau/
Marci Ferrell Thankful Homemaker, Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/marci_a_ferrell/
Angela Mitchell Raising Apologists, FB https://www.facebook.com/raisingapologists and Insta, https://www.instagram.com/raisingapologists/
and see who those women follow and follow them, and so on.
Here are some other links. Daniel Schricker, Ph.D grew up in a cult and he has studied cults. Lori is a cult leader.
The Cult of Lori Alexander (The Transformed Wife) https://revivalreviewed.wordpress.com/2024/04/09/the-cult-of-lori-alexander-the-transformed-wife/
Red flags of a false teacher: https://the-end-time.org/2024/04/15/lori-alexander-red-flags-of-a-false-teacher-and-the-whole-counsel-of-god/
Can Christian women work outside the home? https://the-end-time.org/2025/01/25/christian-liberty-can-women-work-outside-the-home/
