Tag Archives: Women in Ministry

No Battle Between the Sexes – Part 5

No Battle Between the Sexes – Part 5

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another … Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  (Colossians 3:12-14)

Christ’s last instructions to the church were for men and women to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Over the last twenty centuries, the church has had many struggles with fulfilling Christ’s command to make disciples of the nations. There have been high points and low points throughout history as the Church has sought to fulfill the Great Commission. Roadblocks to disseminating the gospel include natural disasters, persecutions, and unwillingness or inability. Not enough attention has been paid to the fact that one major problem has been the limiting of half of Christ’s disciples in their legitimate kingdom work solely because of their gender. Nearly twenty centuries after Christ ascended to Heaven many in the Church are still debating whether or not women may serve equally with men. 

In the first four essays of this series, No Battle Between the Sexes, we demonstrated conclusively that God does call and gift women for His service equally with men. Here is a summary:

1. Patriarchy was not God’s plan. Throughout the Bible and history we see that women and men serve Christ together. In our first post (4-4-19) we looked at the story of creation in the Bible. Humans were created male and female as equals, with an equal image of God. They were to serve with mutual respect and authority and rule the earth together (Gen. 1:28).

2. In the second post (4-11-19) we followed what happened to humans in history. Complementarians try to make a case citing traditionthat women are to be in subordination to men. What actually happened was that after Adam and Eve fell, men sought to maintain power and control over women. In spite of the fact that God clearly commissioned Adam and Eve as equal partners in the garden, throughout history women have been treated like second class citizens as men seek illegitimate rule over them. God was meant to be the ruler over His children, but men began to interpose themselves in a hierarchy of leadership.

3. In the third post (4-18-19) we looked at the complementarian attempt to justify their position of the eternal subordination of women to men theologically. But the Bible does not contain a single verse that says that men are superior to women. Complementarian theology is weak at best and as we have demonstrated it falls short of the standard in God’s Word and His leading throughout history. 

4. In last week’s post (4-25-19) we focused on the philosophical aspects of the view that women were only created to serve men. Without using proper exegesis to come to the truth, one would expect to find errors in other areas of complementarian thinking and this is indeed the case. Complementarians pretend to give women ontologicalequality with one hand and then they take equality away with the other hand by insisting that women’s subordination is necessaryand permanent. This is just a sleight of hand.

5. In this week’s post we will show that once complementarians begin to interpret the Bible in a way that supports their theology (eisegesis), consequences follow. Abuse in the form of domestic violence is one of the most tragic consequences of viewing women as inferior to men. We must not treat abuse in our churches as a secondary issue. For those women who live with domestic violence it is a centralissue; they live with a logical conclusion of women’s submission to sinful men.

Many may be surprised to find that domestic violence is just as common in the Church as their community. As demonstrated in the chart at the beginning of this post, many Protestant pastors still do not believe that there is a problem with domestic violence in the Church. In the last few decades many organizations have been striving to expose the problems. #MeToo and #ChurchToo have been helpful, but the problem is how to change the hearts of those who have already made up their minds and won’t look at the facts.

Complementarians are responding to the problem of abuse in the Church by blaming egalitarians for the abuse rather than looking at their own theology. Complementarian theology promotes a power differential between men and women, and it fosters physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse. 

For example, one woman after being repeatedly abused by her husband, Sally (a very real story, but not her real name) went to stay with her sister for two weeks. While she was gone, her husband went to the elders of their church and had her excommunicated. Aside from the obvious disregard of Christ’s instructions for the process of discipline given in Matthew 18, this church thinks that male hierarchy is more important than the safety and lives of women. 

Churches allow men to treat women this way in part because of the influence of men like Drs. Wayne Grudem, Bruce Ware, and John Piper and has led many to accept the position of male rule. (See post 4-18-19 for the history of the rise of complementarianism.) As a complementarian, Piper has been consistent in his view that only men may be in leadership positions in the church. In a Desiring God podcast entitled “Sex-Abuse Allegations and the Egalitarian Myth,” Piper lays the blame on egalitarians for the abuse of women and girls because they have neglected God-created gender differences. He says that it is egalitarians’ fault that men have forgotten the “special care” men owe women. He asserts that only male leadership can cause humanity to flourish and protect women from abuse. For Piper it is “maleness” that qualifies men for leadership and care for women. But what about sinful men? Piper says that women may have to endure some abuse anyway.[1]

Piper goes on to clarify that women should submit to Jesus first, but Jesus says she should submit to her husband, therefore she must submit to her husband’s abuse in order to obey Jesus. If the husband is abusing her, what is her response? She should try and sweetly convince her husband to change his mind. Otherwise, she must endure the abuse for a season: “If it’s not requiring her to sin but simply hurting her, then I think she endures verbal abuse for a season, and she endures perhaps being smacked one night, and then she seeks help from the church.”[2]

Piper later clarified that abusive husbands are breaking God’s law and should be reported to civil authorities. This is commendable, but does not stop the problem. It is too late for the woman who must live with the fear and the pain. It is not enough to blame egalitarians for the problem rather than face the problem of a faulty theology. Piper has forgotten that men are sinners and not all men are the loving, gentle providers for their families that they should be. Too many men use Piper’s teaching to justify abuse.

Abusers are not limited to the laity. Ruth Tucker recounts how her pastor husband would grow angry with her and on one occasion, “he began pummeling me, pushing me, knocking me to the floor, and kicking me.”[3]With his bible in his hand, her husband demanded that she submit to his authority. 

As we have demonstrated, complementarian teaching does not present consistent biblical truth. In the Bible, human flourishing has nothing to do with gender roles and everything to do with spiritual rebirth in Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is Christ in you as lived out through the fruit of the Spiritthat results in holy living (Colossians 1:21-27, Galatians 5:16-25). By emphasizing gender over the true gospel of rebirth in Christ, the complementarians make a grave error. Maleness is not a morality or a character quality. 

By emphasizing maleness as the primary qualification for leadership, the complementarians have continued to place females at risk by putting gender ahead of godly character. It can allow sinful, abusive men to have authority whether or not they have demonstrated spiritual maturity. The same patterns of abuse against women are as evident in the Church as in society, even if they go unnoticed. Of course not all men who believe in female subordination are perpetrators, but the low view of women as taught by the complementarians does exacerbate the problem. 

The consequences of holding the view that women were created solely to serve men are very disturbing. Yes, many godly men are leading their families well, but “ideas have consequences” and the pervasive idea of women’s inferiority have led to much abuse. The consequences of a subordinate view of women, that they are somehow “equal but different,”—with “different” meaning lower status in roles have led to physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse. It is not Christlike.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”(Matthew 20:25-28)

My prayer is that God will open the eyes of complementarian leaders like Wayne Grudem, Bruce Ware, and John Piper. I pray that these men could see the consequences of the influence they have. Would that they would study the Bible, history, theology, philosophy, and ethics more honestly and realize what harm they are doing in the Church. What a wonderful change it would be if men and women serving together would take the Gospel to the nations. As the Church obeys Christ many more people will come to know the peace, forgiveness, love, and joy of the Gospel.

[1]John Piper, “Sex-Abuse Allegations and the Egalitarian Myth,” March 16, 2018 https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/sex-abuse-allegations-and-the-egalitarian-myth.

[2]John Piper, “Does a Woman Submit to Abuse?,” September 1, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OkUPc2NLrM.

[3]Ruth A. Tucker. Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife: My Story of Finding Hope after Domestic Abuse(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016). pgs. 72, 73.

No Battle Between the Sexes – Part 4

No Battle Between the Sexes – Part 4

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Jesus is reigning on high as Lord of all. Women and men are called to take this Good News to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). At Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell on all the men and women who were gathered empowering them to carry out this task (Acts 2:17-18). The Holy Spirit also gifted women and men alike to serve in the Church and the world (I Corinthians 12:4-14). 

Mutuality, not patriarchy was God’s plan. Throughout the Bible and history we see that women and men serve Christ together. In our first post (4-4-19) we looked at the story of creation in the Bible. Humans were created male and female as equals, with an equal image of God. They were to serve with mutual respect and authority and rule the earth together (Gen. 1:28).

In the second post (4-11-19) we followed what happened to humans in history. Complementarians try to make a case citing traditionthat women are to be in subordination to men. What actually happened was that after Adam and Eve fell, men sought to maintain power and control over women. In spite of the fact that God clearly commissioned Adam and Eve as equal partners in the garden, throughout history women have been treated like second class citizens as men seek illegitimate rule over them. God is the ruler over His children equally, but men began to interpose themselves in a hierarchy of leadership.

In the last post (4-18-19) we looked at the complementarians’ attempt to justify their position of the eternal subordination of women to men theologically. But the Bible does not contain a single verse that says that men are superior to women. Complementarian theology is weak at best and as we have demonstrated it falls short of the standard in God’s Word and His working throughout history. 

This week we will focus on the philosophicalaspects of the complementarian view that women were only created to serve men. Once complementarians began to interpret the Bible in a way that supports their theology, consequences followed. Without using proper exegesis to come to the truth, one would expect to find errors in other areas of their thinking and this is indeed the case. 

Philosophical inquiry includes getting answers to questions in four areas: epistemology (knowledge), ontology or metaphysics (being), teleology (purpose) and ethics (values and practice). To have a balanced worldview, all four aspects of philosophy should be consistent with each other. If one part of a worldview system is not in balance with the others, the philosophy is inconsistent. 

God created in an orderly fashion. He also made human beings in His image. Most Christians agree that part of the image of God is to be able to think and reflect in an orderly manner. There should be a unity between ontology and ethics in order to have a consistent worldview. 

When the complementarians say that women “are equal in being (ontology) but different in roles (ethics)”, they are essentially inconsistent in their philosophy. This is important because complementarians have said that a woman’s subordination is both necessary and permanent. If a woman’s role status is essential, then it must be part of her nature (being). This is a false dichotomy.

Gnostic errors in the past have tried to separate the physical from the spiritual, but orthodox Christians recognize the essential onenessin our being. Christians have traditionally understood that humans are holistic beings. The Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is/are One. A human is also one complete being. Women are complete in every way as equal children of God. As a human reflecting the Image of God and gifted by the Holy Spirit for service, there is no false division of her person so that men can justify subordinating her. Men came up with this idea to justify their hierarchical thinking. 

Another reason that many just accept the idea that women must be in necessary and permanentsubordination to men is that they are following what other scholars have said. Christians in our day just accept the complementarian views of Drs. Grudem, Ware, and Piper without looking further. Untrained Christians do not know how to counter the complementarians’ duplicitous arguments even when they sense that something is wrong. It is our hope that these posts will enlighten those who want to know the truth.

One wonderful example of a man who had a hierarchical view but changed his mind when faced with the evidence is the popular writer, Dr. C. S. Lewis. Dr. Lewis promoted a hierarchical view of gender in his early works such as in the Space Trilogy – Perelandra, That Hideous Strength,andOut of the Silent Planet .Following Thomas Aquinas and other philosophers, Lewis believed women were created (essentially) to be in subordination to men. Characters in Lewis’s early novels reflect his view of the superiority of male over female.

Lewis was a traditionalist and just accepted the hierarchical view. He lived in the post-Victorian age when women had few opportunities outside of the home. He was also a college professor at Oxford University at a time when women were not granted degrees for their work. During a space of thirty years, Lewis gradually changed his thoughts on gender after his marriage to Joy Davidman and his friendship with Dorothy L. Sayers. He also had several outstanding female students in his classes. By the time he wrote The Chronicles of Narnia (1949–1956), Lewis was treating the characters in his stories as equals. (Remember King Peter, Queen Susan, King Edmund, and Queen Lucy?) Dr. Lewis had learned first-hand that women could equal men intellectually. 

What changed Lewis’s philosophy? C. S. Lewis came to realize that “Christian responsibility is dispersed horizontally in terms of appropriate talents, rather than vertically downward through a hierarchy based on class, gender, or religious status.”[1]Another way to say this is that C. S. Lewis came closer to the view of mutuality of service based on gifts, rather than on the hierarchy of the complementarians. Dr. C. S. Lewis actually came to the true Biblical, historical, theological, and philosophical position. Dr. Van Leeuwen demonstrated that the more mature C. S. Lewis would not have wanted a “Sword Between the Sexes”. 

Women are meant to work with men in God’s kingdom. Women are equally empowered and given authority for kingdom work by the Holy Spirit. In modern patriarchal churches, women have been stripped of their opportunities as God’s image bearers to serve even in leadership positions. When there is an unbalanced view of the scriptures, men, women, and society all lose. While men spend more time making sure they get to be in charge rather than studying Scripture, history, genuine theology, and consistent philosophy they miss out on the whole of God’s beautiful plan of redemption. Without the help of the other 50% of the “so great  a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) the Gospel is not reaching as many as it could.

These posts (“No Battle Between the Sexes”) are meant to expose the erroneous thinking of the complementarians so that Christians will “Renew Their Thinking” as the name of our blog suggests. It is possible to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:23) even as Dr. C. S. Lewis was.

Our posts so far have demonstrated that the hierarchical thinking of complementarians is Biblically inconclusive, historically inaccurate, theologically incoherent, and philosophically inconsistent. In next week’s post (Part 5) we will explore the dangerous and tragic consequences of continuing to hold a view of women’s supposed inferiority. The subordination of women is ethically irresponsible. 

[1]Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, A Sword Between the Sexes: C. S. Lewis and the Gender Debates (Grand Rapids, M: Brazos Press, 2010) page 257.

No Battle Between the Sexes – Part 3

No Battle Between the Sexes – Part 3

And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.    (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

Before He ascended back to Heaven Jesus gave the Church the Great Commission. Men and women were called to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). At Pentecost the Holy Spirit fell on all the men and women who were gathered empowering them to carry out this task (Acts 2:17-18). The Holy Spirit also gifted women and men alike to serve in the Church and the world (I Corinthians 12: 4-14). 

That men and women are to mutually serve in the Kingdom of God is born out in the Bible and history. In our first post (4-4-19) we looked at the story of creation in the Bible. Humans were created male and female as equals, with an equal image of God. They were to serve with mutual respect and authority and rule the earth together (Gen. 1:28).

In the second post (4-11-19) we followed what happened to humans in history. Complementarians tried to make a case from tradition that women are to be in subordination to men. But the truth in the Bible does not match complementarian teaching. What actually happened was that after Adam and Eve fell, men sought to maintain power and control over women. In spite of the fact that God clearly commissioned Adam and Eve as equal partners in the garden, throughout history women have been treated like second class citizens as men seek illegitimate rule over them. God was meant to be the ruler, but men began to interpose themselves in a hierarchy of leadership.

In this post we will look at the complementarian attempt to justify their position of the eternal subordination of women to men theologically. We will see that besides not having enough biblical or historical support for their doctrine of subordination of women to men, their theology is weak at best.

In the last forty years, several men, notably Dr. Bruce Ware and Dr. Wayne Grudem, have attempted to prove subordination of women theologically. Every time someone raises the question about women in church leadership, complementarians throw out the “equal but separate” doctrine. That is supposed to be the end of the discussion. What they mean is that women can be equal in their inner being, but they must always have subservient roles to men. One chief justification for their assertion of the subjugation of women is Ware’s monograph, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance.[1]In this work Ware asserts that the divine persons are not “co-equal” as Christian orthodoxy has always maintained, but that the Godhead is “hierarchically” ordered. The details of Ware’s work are too many for this short essay, but suffice it to say that he leaned heavily on verses such as I Corinthians 11:3: “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” Ware says that this subordination of Jesus to the Father is true in all eternity.But the passage does not indicate that “head” describes an eternal state.Jesus reigns in Heaven with the whole Trinity – Father and Holy Spirit – now. and men will not still be “heads” over women in Heaven. 

Another problem with Ware’s depiction of the Godhead is in the way that he used the illustration of the Trinity as a family with a Father and Son. Ware and Grudem forced a parallel between the Father and Son to a husband and wife.Besides the inconsistent notion in that relationship, in Ware’s theology the Trinity is compared to creaturely relationships. However, as Christians, we should be looking at the Scriptures for our understanding of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as they truly are: equal in power, majesty, and glory. It is theologically incomprehensible to turn the proper hermeneutical principle of exegesis into a projection of human characteristics onto God. Humans reflect God’s image; not the other way around.[2]

In the Fall of 2016, a debate was held at the Evangelical Theological Society’s annual conference. Grudem and Ware defended their complementarian positions. Drs. Millard Erickson and Kevin Giles challenged the complementarian position, demonstrating that eternal subordination of the Son to the Father contradicts the Nicene Creed, the Reformation and post-Reformation Protestant confessions, and the Evangelical Theological Society’s own doctrinal statement.Erickson and Giles clearly demonstrated several reasons why the complementarian theology of gender is incorrect. For one thing, neither Erickson nor Giles appeals to the doctrine of the Trinity to support their egalitarian position. A three-fold Trinity is not analogous to a twofold male-female relationship. Complementarian theology is an incoherent theology. 

Many complementarian errors were pointed out during the debate, but the most serious one is the breach with the historic doctrine of the Nicene Creed. This doctrine has been held as orthodox since AD 381. A thorough analysis of the Nicene Creed is too lengthy for this essay. One point of departure from orthodoxy for Ware is over the term “eternal generation”. Ware says, that the “doctrine is highly speculative and not grounded in biblical teaching.”[3]He asserts that in spite of the fact that the vast majority of Christians acknowledges the Nicene Creed as biblical and orthodox. It is surprising that it took nearly forty years before someone could point out the incoherence in Ware’s theology. Along with biblical inconclusiveness and historical inaccuracy, the complementarian theology is less than coherent.

To many contemporary Evangelicals, the Trinity is a hierarchy with the Father at the top. The Father commands and the Son obeys. This patriarchal image of God is then used to supposedly prove how men and woman are to relate – husbands/elders command, wives/women obey. Complementarians have distorted the Bible, history, and theology in order to substantiate their claim that women were created to be eternally subordinate to men. However, in our careful study of the Bible and history we find that women are created to serve equally with men. Complementarians have departed from orthodox theology because male hierarchy is the most important factor for them as shown in how it dominates their thinking.

Why does this matter? While complementarians are limiting women to menial tasks the Gospel is not reaching as many people as it could. It takes the whole army of God to march out into the battle and defeat Satan (Ephesians 6:10-17). The apostle Peter affirms that women and men are “joint heirs of the grace of life” (I Peter 3:7,11). The body of Christ would be better able to further the Great Commission task if she took steps to overturn the destructive theology that limits women in ministry.

Christians, let us love one another and let us love others enough to follow Christ as He has called us. All Christians, women and men have spiritual gifts to be used to build up the body (I Cor. 12:13). It’s not about who get to be the boss; it’s about who gets to serve.

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.(Matthew 20:28)

[1]Bruce A. Ware, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005).

[2]Millard J. Erickson, Who’s Tampering with the Trinity? An Assessment of the Subordination Debate(Grand Rapids;, MI: Kregel Publications, 2009), 68-69.

[3]Ware, 162.

Women in Ministry – Global Perspectives

Dear Readers,

I am going to be taking a short break from the weekly posts. I am going to study for a Doctor of Ministry degree. The track is called, “Leadership in Global Perspectives”. I am really excited about this opportunity.

My doctoral dissertation will be about women in ministry. I would like to write a book – a devotional – that includes stories of women that God has used in Kingdom work. God has called His daughters to serve in the Kingdom all through history and from all parts of the globe – hence the appropriateness of the Global Perspectives’ track.

My blog posts include over 200 women now. I would like to research the stories of 165(6) more from Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, the Islands, and other minority ethnic groups in Europe and North America. This devotional should be a daily encouragement to women to answer their call from God as so many others have done before them.

An important reason for writing the book is to show that God does indeed use women in ministry. But equally important is a list of resources for women to use. I have been blessed by each and every book or article I have read. An important part of the devotional will be a bibliography in the back containing a list of the many books available. Other women will be blessed too as they read these inspiring stories.

sandemans-new-london

So, I am off to London for 10 days with my colleagues. We will be studying global issues and how to minister more effectively to all cultures.   Christianity has always been a global religion, but now that the world has “shrunk” we have the opportunity to reach every nation with the Gospel.

There is only one place in the Scriptures that gives us an indication of when Christ will return. “The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14) Now with technology, GPS, easy travel, more cooperation between some countries, and the many new Mission Organizations I believe that we can reach every nation. This is exciting for all of us who look for and love His appearing.

When I return, we will pick up with fourteenth-century Christian mystics. In the meantime, check out some of the books listed in the Reviews. They will give you much to think about.