Emerging Women

By Liz Dyer

For most of my life I pretty much believed what someone else told me the bible said. That isn’t to say that I didn’t read the bible or study the bible – but I interpreted within the guidelines of what someone else told me it said (a pastor, a commentary, a particular author etc.). Over time I began to realize that I could not accept some of the popular interpretations and I began to dig deeper. One of the topics that I began to look into was the issue of a woman’s role in the church. I was surprised to find out that this was an issue that not only divided Christians and non-Christians, mainliners and evangelicals, liberals and conservatives but also conservative evangelical Christians themselves. I was also surprised that there were some very big words that were being used to describe the two main sides of the issue … egalitarian and complementarian.

Egalitarianism = Belief that there are no biblically mandated timeless distinctions between men and women in the church. They stress an equality of men and women, not merely for salvation or in essential personhood, but in opportunities to hold every office and play every role that exists in church life.

Complementarianism = Belief that there are certain timeless restrictions on women’s roles in the church. They stress that persons in positions of authority can function in loving, supportive ways that do not lead to the abuse of those in subordinate positions. Certain roles are altogether prohibited for women.

As I started to dig into this issue one of the first things I noticed is that it is difficult to find anyone that totally agrees on where the lines are to be drawn. Is it only that women cannot be ordained? Or is it that they cannot preach at all? Or teach? Or speak? Serve as deacons? Teach in seminaries? What exactly is it that they can and cannot do? Who decides and on what basis?

Then there are all the irrationalities and contradictions to process. Why is it okay to teach children and other women, but not men? Why would it be okay to stand up and deliver a message to a group of people but not stand behind a pulpit? Is it really that much difference in teaching a 17 year old male and a 19 year old male? Why would it be okay for a woman to lead a whole nation but not a church that has 50 members? Why does the bible speak favorably of a woman judge who led, taught and had authority over men and women, a woman apostle and women who led church in their homes?
As I continued to dig and search I came to the conclusion that Paul was not a sexist, that women are not clearly forbidden to teach, preach, shepherd or lead in the church and/or the home and that Jesus was a liberator of women.

Here are some of the reasons I am an egalitarian:
1. Scripture affirms that women were leaders in ministry – Phoebe was a deacon, Priscilla was a teacher, Lydia was an overseer.
2. Paul calls Junia an apostle in Romans 16:7
3. If Scripture allows for some ministry roles then we can’t disallow it. The era and culture of the day prevented widespread ministry roles, but Paul doesn’t say that women can’t serve in leadership roles.
4. In I Cor. 11:5 Paul says that women were praying and prophesying in church. In I Cor. 14:34-35 Paul is not restricting women from speaking – otherwise women would not be allowed to sing, give testimony, or say anything at all in church. I believe that Paul was actually refuting the faulty sexist tradition that was prevalent in his day. For more on this read what Cheryl Schatz wrote in her post “Who Dared To Contradict Paul?”
5. In I Tim. 2:11-14 the idea of women being forbidden to teach men is not a universal rule. If we make this universal and transcultural then we have to make all the commands of I Timothy transcultural. Cheryl Schatz also has an excellent post on this point.
6. Jesus treated women different than culture. He taught them and considered them His disciples – Mary of Mary and Martha and the woman at the well are good examples.
7 Given examples of women’s ministry in the Bible it is wrong to take one or two passages that could be situationally conditional and use them to deny or substantially restrict a group of laborers. The burden of proof lies with those that are doing the restricting and I believe they fail to provide the needed evidence. Dave at Clouds of Heaven has an excellent post on this idea here.

My name is Liz and I am a follower of Jesus Christ who lives in Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth area). I am married and have two sons. I enjoy reading, blogging, listening to music, going to movies, the emergent conversation and hanging out with friends and family. I recently started a blog called Grace Rules. I named my blog Grace Rules because although I have a history of letting things like rules, regulations, law, convictions, and stuff like that rule my life, I am determined to become a woman who is ruled by grace and love.

By Beth Booram

“It’s time for our reality to catch up to our poetry.” Andy Jacobs

Just days after Obama was elected, I was watching the news when former Indiana Congressman, Andy Jacobs, was interviewed. I don’t recall why he was, but I do remember observing his strong emotions as he described waiting for the election returns and wondering if his personal dream of seeing an African American as President would be realized.

At one point, Jacobs named the source of his inspiration when he referred to the Declaration of Independence. He recited the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Then he said with unabashed conviction, “It’s time for our reality to catch up with our poetry!”

That statement separated itself from all the other comments Jacobs made. It hung suspended by itself, containing a weight and significance I couldn’t ignore. I immediately transposed this thought to experiences in my life when the gap between reality and poetry was too far adrift. One experience pressed forward, its nerve struck by the truth of Jacob’s remark.

Most of my life, I have been involved in vocational Christian ministry in environments where women are excluded from certain roles and types of ministry within the church. As a woman, I have heard the poetry of women being valued and regarded for their contributions—being considered equals to men. But reality often displayed a different truth.

For example, I remember one Sunday morning, sitting in a service where a group was being commissioned for a short-term mission’s trip. The senior pastor introduced the team and then asked all the elders to come forward to lay hands on them and pray for them. I watched as the scene unfolded: a handful of men, and only men, mounted the platform with stately importance.

While the pastor prayed, I kept my eyes open and took in the drama as all male elders gathered around the team, their eyes closed, their faces composed of somber seriousness. They placed their hands on the shoulders of the harbingers—suggesting a transmission of kingly power and authority. I asked God, “Why?” “Why are only men invited to participate in this pastoral act?” The event spoke volumes to me. The subliminal message was clear. Men have a spiritual authority that women don’t have.

The poetry was getting old and beginning to sound sentimental. My heart ached for more than lyrical rhymes. The lines of verse were beautiful and noble, right and hopeful. And those who recited them assumed that I would be satisfied with listening to the poem. But what they failed to realize is that poetry awakens the heart. Mine wanted more than pretty language. I wanted the lines to become piercing, prophetic, and convicting. I wanted reality to catch up with the poetry.

Certainly, all of our lives, including mine, are riddled with gaps: places where what we say and what we do have an embarrassingly large space between them. I admit that I can be satisfied with hearing or speaking poetry but not allowing it to get under my skin and raise my ire toward action. I like the way it sounds but am too lazy and indifferent to work its truth into life.

So, right now, I am letting this statement sit on me so that I feel it’s weight. I am praying to see and address the gaps between poetry and reality in my world.

Beth Booram has a passion to explain and model a way of living responsively to God in the midst of life’s varied landscapes. As a writer and speaker, she is highly creative, often utilizing artistic elements , contemplative exercises, and engaging interaction. Beth has authored a number of excellent works. Her most recent are The Wide Open Spaces of God (Abingdon Press/ September, 2007) and Picturing the Face of Jesus (Abingdon Press/April, 2009).

I have a post up at Christianity Today’s Gifted for Leadership blog on some of the issues that often prevent women from using their voice and stepping up into leadership – Emerging into Leadership.

What other barriers to do think stand in the way of women feeling free to be leaders?

I just wanted to point out a couple of recent blog posts that may be of interest to emerging women here -

Nadia Bolz-Weber gives her thoughts on women in ministry.

and

Tony Jones posts a comment that explores gender as social construct

Often when the topic of women in ministry is brought up, I inevitably hear someone say that the issue is just too controversial for them to deal with.  Either the topic is not permitted in their church context or they have very complementarian friends who might “be offended” if they broached the subject.  So for them keeping the peace dictates their behavior.  They just don’t go there.  Others may be supportive of women in ministry, but just don’t want to rock the boat or may think that there are far more important issues to address.

Whatever the case, the outcome is that the topic of women in ministry is simply brushed aside.  The problem with that is that in choosing not to engage the issue, those people are, for all practical purposes, making a choice to keep women silent.  To defer judgment on whether or not to let women pursue their callings is to say no to women.

So the question is – is risking offend a few people, getting personally ostracized, or having some tough conversations worth hurting not just women but those that they could be serving?

I’ve also been in churches that acknowledged that this can be a controversial issue – but that choose to err on the side of love.  They didn’t want to risk muzzling the spirit of God because of a theological (cultural?) debate.  They admitted that they could be wrong, but that they would rather respect and affirm the image of God in women than risk being judged for silencing God.

What’s the experience in your churches?  Is this issue addressed or avoided with a litany of excuses?

The Chocolate Cake Sutra, by Geri Larkin, is a fun and nuanced look into the lifestyle and actions that lead to a “Sweet Life.” Larkin writes as a Jesus-friendly Buddhist and her prescriptions sound familiarly scented not only with “Sweet Life,” but with the Abundant Life offered when we live in harmony with the Spirit and act in ways that incarnate the kingdom of God.

You can find a review here .

The prologue and introduction are full of fodder for growth and an interchange of ideas. Let’s start with the story Larkin tells of a “young man named Eugene who was desperate to find a truly holy person with whom he could study.” After much searching, Eugene eventually happens upon a guy in woods who works for a hot-shot holy woman called Jaya, who has an incredible reputation for what she can do for her students’ spirituality. It takes Eugene taking three years and many near-death experiences to even gain admittance into Jaya’s complex, where he is instructed to wait in the shrine room. Eugene is told it won’t be long before Jaya is able to meet with him.

So Eugene waits. But he really has to pee.

“‘I have to go to the bathroom,’” Eugene says to Jaya’s assistant.
“‘You have to stay in the shrine room.’”

Eugene sure waits his best, and at last, hours later, he aims at a corner of the shrine room and pees like nobody’s business, whereupon he is dragged away by two acolytes, with the largest bellowing,

“‘How dare you!’”

“‘You show me a place that isn’t holy, and I’ll pee there!’”

“‘He stays’.”

“It was Jaya.”

1. What is your reaction to this approach to the holy?
2. What can communities of Christian disciples learn from this story that can be applied to worship?

In her introduction, Larkin isn’t afraid to deal a significant blow (or is it constructive criticism?) to her celebrity crush, on a serious count of spiritual arrogance.

Larkin writes, “The Interview was about a movie he had just directed. It was about Jesus Christ. As a card-carrying Buddhist, I have have always been moved to tears by the last hours of Jesus. Even as I write, I can barely fathom the depth of love and compassion for the people harming him. It is the best love story ever.” Larkin goes on to describe the situation that sparked her accusation:

My crush was responding to criticisms of his interpretation of the story…As I remember it, the interviewer asked how he would respond to someone criticizing his film.
A pause. ‘I’d forgive them.’
Oh, no. The arrogance in his voice told me he had it wrong. It was that ‘I’m-better-than-you tone that gives me the goose bumps because it’s the same tone that says ‘You don’t get God because he’s ours.’

3. What is it like for you to read about a non-Christian pouring her heart out over her love of Jesus? What feelings and ideas come up for you?

4. What is your sensibility about what differentiates self-perceived spiritual accuracy from self-deceived spiritual pride?

5. What’s your favorite story or quote in the book so far?

Will Sarah Palin be the worlds’s most powerful woman? She could be one heart beat away.
With either ticket, barriers are coming down, and that’s good to see.

The glass is breaking in the ceiling.

Here is an interesting link mp3 from PBS from Alaskans on the unknown and interesting woman who could be VP. Pros and cons.

So, McCain throws a big curve ball.
Politics just got more interesting.