I've been very remiss in blogging for quite some time now. Nonetheless, I've been reading steadily. More posts will be coming soon, but in the meantime, I'm going to cheat. The following is a lengthy comment I wrote today for a blog I've recently discovered. It's not entirely cheating, because the book I mention at the beginning will be book #6 for bookmeal.
But first, a disclaimer: my comments about my experiences with pastors are from my past. I am blessed to currently be in a church with a pastor who very comfortably relates to me and has given me freedom to develop my leadership skills - amongst the women and men of our congregation.
(To read the article to which I responded, click here. And now, my thoughts:)
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I'm in the process of reading the book, Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, edited by Gordon Fee, among others. I have finally gotten around to actively searching the Scriptures on this topic, despite my fears of where it could take me, because I know that "how I feel" is no real reason at all.
I am a pastor's daughter married to the son of a pastor, and I have lately been smiling to myself to realise that of the eight children between these two pastors, it's a woman (ie, me) who would be the most likely to follow in their steps.
I attended a very conservative Bible college in the States and was officially turned off to the male-authority view during my senior seminar when a fellow (male) student presented his paper in support of this view. When several other students brought up the hypothetical situation of a woman who was more qualified or more trained in a theological area and whether she ought to be allowed some measure of leadership/input, he was unwilling to make allowances. Being a Bible/Theo major with an emphasis in Greek and planning to pursue Biblical languages in grad school that fall, I mentioned the fact that the professor who taught the highest-level Greek course at that school was a woman, he responded with simply: "I would choose another school." Ouch! He also glossed over the fact that the two winners of that year's Greek scholar awards were both women, amidst a classful of men. I guess one of the men who didn't do quite so well would be better-suited to teach Greek, simply by fact of their gender.
I've never minded being a part of the male-leadership model in general; in many ways it is still more comfortable to me (at least in the sense that it is more familiar). It wasn't until grad school that I personally experienced a really positive, strong model of female “leadership:” speakers who were scholarly, not just sentimental, who spoke as disciples, not specifically as women.
It was difficult to be a passionate-about-theology kind of woman in churches where the pastor feels uncomfortable being around “a single young lady.” It’s not much easier being married with 3½ kids. If anything, my theological education seems to suggest that I’m a threat, out to usurp authority and proselytize all to my liberal ways, when in fact I simply want to talk with others who care about the topics and ideas that I enjoy so much, and as it happens, the similarly-passionate are usually men.
More than anything, I have struggled with the double standard with which the male-authority model is applied: Why is it okay for female missionaries to minister in a leadership capacity to other cultures? Why is it less “dangerous” or “sinful” for mothers and Sunday School to train boys? Anyone with any recognition of the role of a godly mother in the lives of her children will recognize the power she is given in “ministering” to men – for that, of course, is what young boys eventually turn into (I know - duh!). Susanna Wesley is one famous example for which there have been so many anonymous ones over the centuries. I endeavour to be one myself. :-)
And most of all, it just seems so incongruent with the spirit of Scripture (if not always the letter, at least at first glance). Within the reasonable limits of the culture, from OT Law to the actions and words of Jesus himself and even Paul's often-brusque manner, God’s way is always pushing the envelope of cultural mores, moving toward a higher view of women. In one sense, the Bible is a snapshot of history that ended two thousand years ago, and I think there is plenty of evidence within it to encourage believers to keep moving forward, until women are truly co-inheritors (Rom 8:17) and co-priests (1 Pet 2:5, 9) with men in the riches and grace of God. Each expression of the church is in the midst of that process, some further along than others, and that’s okay too.
Lastly, I must say that no careful reader of Scripture should be able to support any application of authority that turns the word “submit” into a bad word. If Christ himself modelled it, it is a beautiful thing, characterised by sacrificial love, not power, and as Dyfed mentioned, is utterly mutual amongst believers. The best submission is that which is not spoken of at all, but lived out in mutual love. It’s what makes my marriage work, at any rate!
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What about you, readers? Do you agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts...
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Monday, July 12, 2010
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Well said, Becky! I remember a Founder's Week at Moody when Anne Graham Lotz preached . . . she didn't "share," she really preached! Many male students stood up and left when she arrived at the pulpit, and I was so offended by their actions--first as a woman and secondly as a human practicing rules of politeness. That being said, I do struggle with the idea of women in the pulpit. I have not arrived at a place where I'm truly comfortable with the idea of men and women being equal in terms of teaching--not that I believe that women are any less capable or any less qualified. I applaud women who bravely stand and say, "These are my God-given talents, and I'll be damned if I'm not going to use them for His glory!" I just don't understand how God's intentions that there be "neither slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28) have become so warped into what we now see.
ReplyDeleteDamned, eh? Do you mean that literally, as in we'll be punished if we don't use our God-given abilities to his glory? I'm teasing of course, but it's an interesting thought! ;-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, thanks for your thoughts, Maridee. I have a similar memory from Moody when Elisabeth Elliot came to speak, and a troop of guys walked out in quite an obvious, self-righteous, and, dare I say it - Pharisaic? - kind of way. I too found it shameful on multiple levels.
I'll probably mention this in a later post, but I was quite intrigued to read (in the same book) that MBI started out with a much more egalitarian stance at the beginning of the 20th century than we ever experienced there nearly three-quarters of a century later (due in part to the rise of a separatist fundamentalist subcultures, interestingly coinciding with the establishment of DTS). Consider the following quote:
"MBI women openly served as pastors, evangelists, pulpit supply preachers, Bible teachers and even in the ordained ministry...Moody Monthly listed Lottie Osborn Sheidler as the first woman to graduate from the pastor's course, in August 1929." (41)
and
"MBI offers the clearest documention of a turn-of-the-century evangelical educational institution outside of the Wesleyan holiness camp that actively promoted public church ministry for women.None questioned Moody's commitment to a verbally inspired, inerrant Bible. Consequently, the early MBI stands as an appropriate educational symbol of 'fundamentalist feminism.'" (42)
Crazy, eh? Sort of like a story some friends mentioned recently (as told by Phil Yancey) about Moody men not being able to wear beards even though our beloved founder did!
Some Regent alumna friend of mine, I can't remember who now, did a paper for Regent (her MCS thesis?) on the history of women in ministry training at -- I think it was Moody! She dug into some archives there. These quotes are fascinating and reminiscent of what she was discovering in her research. I wish I could remember who it was. I'll go asking around among my contacts and see if I can find her.
ReplyDeleteThat would be good to know, Rosie. I was so excited to hear that Moody once had more balance to its approach. Even though I struggled there, God used it (specifically some students who went there) to ignite the passion that I have for Scripture and to challenge the weak views that I often had of it. Good old Moody!
ReplyDeleteFYI girls, the conversation has been continuing on the pastoralia blog: http://pastoralia.org/church/men-are-in-charge-because-the-bible-says-so
ReplyDeleteIt's worth a look if you want some brain food!