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Judging Another's Spiritual Calling
How can I challenge definitively the way God chooses to work in another mature believer's life? This idea can certainly be abused: we have only to look at the news and the history books to see the way that Christians have used "God told me" to justify all sorts of unquestionably wrong behaviour. But what do you do when a woman, whom you personally know to be a godly, mature believer, tells you that she feels "called" to be a pastor? I was confronted by just such a person during my year abroad in Scotland. Even though I was much less comfortable with the idea of a female pastor back then than I am now, I was hesitant to pronounce it wrong. Was she mistaken, deluded, sinful? Or was she simply an honest woman trying to be available to God's call on her life? I couldn't say for sure, so I deferred judgment. Fourteen years later, I am looking for a more definitive answer.
Inconsistencies in the Practice of Patriarchy
As mothers and Sunday School teachers, women are given huge influence over the spiritual training of young (girls and) boys. But at some point in their development into young men, that influence is transferred from women to men. Why is female spiritual influence over a male okay at one point and not at another? Isn't the shaping of a young mind one of the most powerful influences that mind will ever experience? What does this say inherently about women as leaders, or about some men who are content to let women do all the "lesser" work of raising children until the diapers and flannelgraphs are done?
Even as a teenager, I was bewildered by the fact that in churches where women are not to have any spiritual leadership over men, it was still okay for missionary women to have leadership over men (Lottie Moon and Elizabeth Elliot are two historical examples of missionary women who are respected by traditionally patriarchal denominations). Are the unreached equivalent to the little boys, able to be taught by women until they reach a certain point of maturity? Is there a special dispensation for a woman to lead when a man is unavailable or unwilling to do so?
Impracticalities of the Patriarchal Position
In comparison with previous centuries, the twenty-first century affords women extraordinary freedom. We have access to education and jobs (among other things) like never before. All else being equal, I wonder how many universities would hire a man with a BA to teach a subject when a woman with a PhD in the same field is available (although perhaps the wages might not change much - there is still more progress to be made). Wouldn't they want the most qualified person they could find to impart the highest level of knowledge to their students? And yet, when it comes to many churches, a woman is barred from even applying to teach simply because of her gender. In this model, Bible training, teaching experience, even spiritual maturity, can be a moot point simply because of her gender. Is this what God meant when his inspired authors wrote about divisions between men and women - that it is better for any man to teach than one well-trained and godly woman?
Negative Effects of the Patriarchal Position
One of the worst examples of patriarchal ignorance I have ever witnessed was when famous missionary and author Elisabeth Elliot came to speak at a conference at my Bible college. It was a conference, mind you, not a church service, and yet, as she got up to speak, handfuls of young men got up and walked out as witness to their disapproval. I am still offended by their rudeness. Sometimes, men who believe that women should not teach men can fool themselves into thinking that they have nothing at all to learn from any woman. Although I don't believe it is inherent to patriarchaly, its practice can lead men to view women as inferior, forgetting that every time Jesus speaks about spiritual power and leadership, it is in terms of submission and self-sacrifice.
Another area I have wondered about is how a strong division between the genders can negatively affect a community of believers. In my own experience, I have found that the wider the divide between men and women, the weirder I feel around men. I try to be normal, but some won't even make eye contact with me unless perhaps their wives are near. I feel cut off from half of my community, both in the areas of receiving and giving. In contrast, in churches where gender is not such an issue, I have enjoyed the rich friendship and camaraderie of both women and men without that same sense of awkwardness.
Another negative effect that can occur with gender divisions is the effect it can have on the spiritual maturity of the women themselves. A woman once remarked to me on what a relief it was to have her husband as the spiritual head of her home - she could just sit back and let him make the decisions! She meant well, and perhaps spoke hyperbolically, but I was dismayed. I wonder how many women are content to take a more passive role in their own (and others') spiritual development, simply because they feel that someone else (ie, their husbands or pastors or other male leaders) are ultimately responsible for it.
Positive Examples of Female Leadership
Some of my first experiences of women in leadership were negative, and reinforced my discomfort with the thought of a woman behind the pulpit. Some were either extremely liberal in their biblical interpretations, and/or biased in the opposite direction - women with something to prove. Others were just fluffy, not really preaching at all, but sharing their thoughts in a devotional or sentimental way.
It really wasn't until I went to Regent College that I began to witness positive examples of godly women preaching before the whole body of believers. Spirituality professor (and dear friend) Maxine Hancock spoke in Chapel with passion, conviction and academic excellence. She taught alongside her mostly male colleagues not primarily as a woman but as a learned, prepared and gifted speaker. (You can find a few talks here.)
We also had the privilege of hearing from many other Regent profs and their wives as well as male and female Regent students at our church in Vancouver, which was located on the University of British Columbia campus. Deriving its roots from a Brethren background, the church's leadership was shared amongst men and women from within the congregation and beyond, and I felt enriched by sitting under so many different members of God's household.
These are just a few examples from my own experience, but they exposed me to the great gifting that God has bestowed on men as well as women to teach and to preach. It made me question whether my initial discomfort with women preaching was due more to my own background and experience than to a black-and-white scriptural mandate.
Room for Another Interpretation in the Bible
Ultimately, the above questions, experiences and observations must bow to what the Bible says on the subject. I know that this is where I will lose many of you, and for different reasons - some of you won't recognize the authority of Scripture, others won't see room for an alternative, sound interpretation of the Bible's teaching on gender roles. As for me, I felt freed to pursue this topic further after I read an academic, evangelical article on 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters which made room for a more egalitarian viewpoint. Tears came to my eyes as I read, and it was then that I realised just how deeply this topic has touched me. How encouraging it was to know that there are others who love God and the Bible who have been able to maintain their integrity while holding such a view.
Understanding of What it Means to Be Human
I have come to believe that it is in the community of men and women that we most fully live out our humanity. We look like God when we live in harmonious community with each other, because He is His own community - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. No man or woman alone can bear God's image to the extent that men and women together can. Adam-Eve-God. Husband-Wife-God. Mother-Father-Child. God of course has no gender but has imparted masculine and feminine characteristics to each of us, which reflect different aspects of His divine character. He is described in Scripture as both a protecting, providing, and disciplining Father, and a nurturing, wise and helpful Mother.
Men and women need each other. Just as a child needs a mother and a father (I am speaking in terms of ideals here, I mean no disrespect to the amazing single parents who do their best with the cards they've been dealt), just as a business or even a country is best run (in my opinion) when there are many voices - men and women need to hear from each other. So how should this play out in the church, which Paul described this way in Galatians 3:28:
There is neither Jew nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free,
nor is there male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If each gender (and indeed each individual) bears God's image in a unique way, how can the church afford to effectively silence half of its members? If men and women in community reflect God's image, what is lost when only men can lead? Just as a child is ideally raised by a mother and a father, isn't the church best served when men and women can share their diverse and complementary strengths in raising up a mature church?
Final Thoughts
I know that I've thrown a lot out here. Please understand, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything at this point - I'm just trying to articulate my thoughts so I can critique them as I proceed more deeply (and academically) into this topic. Just the act of having to write out my ideas has been helpful in challenging the validity of my logic or exposing my tendencies toward cynicism or overgeneralization.
I'm excited to explore further, but also a little nervous. This topic has a powerful tendency to divide, turning our opponents into heretics or oppressors or - even worse - liberals! I am happy to have many friends on each side of the fence, and just about everywhere in between. I pray this will protect me from reducing any person, made in God's image, to a one-dimensional caricature.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. - Ephesians 4:2-3
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