The CBE Scroll

Pastor Cho Yonggi oversees the largest congregation in church history (about 3/4 of a million). Years ago as he was looking for new leaders to oversee his house fellowships, the Lord confronted him with six questions.

1. From whom was I born? The answer: a woman.
2. On whose lap was I nurtured? The answer: a woman.
3. Who followed me throughout my ministry and helped to meet my needs? The answer: women.
4. Who stayed until the last minutes of my crucifixion? The answer: women.
5. Who came to anoint my body in the tomb? The answer: women.
6. Who were the first witnesses to my resurrection? The answer: Mary Magdalene, a woman.

These were the reasons Cho gave for how God showed him that women should also be allowed to lead the contemporary church. Very counter culturally, Cho allowed that to happen in his church in Korea and we see the results — the largest church in history.

[Source: The Century of the Holy Spirit by Vinson Synan, Nelson Publishers, p. 255.]

“I would have enjoyed seminary so much more if it wasn’t for the women.”

So were the words of a minister I was introduced to one day several years ago. Mindy and I were together, and both of us were introduced, but he looked right past her and ignored her “hello.” She was invisible. He heard I was a Ph.D. student at a reformed seminary and wanted to know if I was enjoying it.

“It’s been challenging,” I told him. “But I’m learning from the best and I’m enjoying it. Where did you go to seminary?”

He told me, then added those words that have stayed with me for years.

Of course my curiosity got the best of me. “What was it about the women that ruined seminary for you?”

“The questions,” he replied curtly. “They interrupted the class with their questions.”

As the conversation continued, I learned that he saw seminary training as only for men. According to him, while it was acceptable for the men to ask questions—or even challenge the professor (perhaps even a right of passage)—it was a nuisance when women did it. They were to learn at home from their husbands, to ask them the questions.

At that time, I wanted to give him as much room as possible. I didn’t know the man all that well and wondered if he might just need some direction. Added to this was the fact that some people I knew attended his church. I needed to figure out the best approach to helping someone like him along.

Unfortunately, I never got to do this. Within little time I discovered that his problem went beyond a misunderstanding of gender roles. He really wanted his women silent. Women in his church were to receive communion only from their husbands and only with their husband’s permission. He started a blog seeking out every “feminist heresy,” which he seemed to see as the root of all evil. Women were infantilized, better “seen and not heard.”

He was not alone.

During a seminary class one day, a female student, one of the few at this seminary at that time, asked a challenging question. The professor answered and class moved on. A few male students behind me started talking when she exited the room after class.

“Why do you think she’s here?” asked the one.

“I don’t know,” answered the other.

I stood to pack up my things, watching and listening. There was a look of bewilderment on their faces. It was as if no one wanted to ask it, but they all thought it: “What would she do with a seminary degree? It’s not like she can be a minister.” Someone might as well have dressed up a monkey in a suit and sent it off to seminary.

There was a moment of silence.

“Maybe she’s trying to find herself,” said another student.

Ah, yes. Of course. They all nodded in agreement. She couldn’t possibly be there for the same reasons they were! If she was, then she was a feminist. Was she secretly working for the other side? There was a little Monty Python reasoning going on: if she weighs as much as a duck, then she’s made of wood, and therefore she’s a witch!

Or maybe, like Dorothy Sayers once wrote, there is nothing in her shape that keeps her from wanting to study Aristotle. Maybe, God made human beings, male and female, to learn, grow, and improve themselves and the rest of humanity. Maybe he gives each of them a desire to pursue what they do best. Even more importantly, maybe God made her to learn about him and maybe she is human after all.

I like to imagine that these students went home that day and took a hard look at their wives or daughters or sisters, and asked themselves the hard questions. That’s just the optimist in me. But I know that there are plenty of men, like the patriarchal minister, that will spend the rest of their lives fighting women as seductresses eager to take a man down.

Why should any one be so intimidated by the other gender? Why is their “manliness” threatened by the humanity of women? Why do human beings, whether against another gender or race, feel better when they force silence and submission on another person?

The easy answer is sin. But when it comes to the complicated one—that is, why sin is manifested in this way—why do certain persons act in this way while others do not? I’m not sure why.

Amy Carmichael, fifty-plus years in India, a challenging thought indeed.

I would like to generate some discussion about how to attract men to CBE. At the conference last summer there was some mention about CBE wanting to do that — maybe it was even put in terms of a goal — I can’t remember. If any of you have been successful in doing that (signing men up), I’m sure it would be helpful to the organization if you would share it here.

Personally, I don’t have much hope that it can be done, at least in large numbers, due more to the nature of the way Christianity is practiced than the nature of CBE. Beyond the obvious reason that many do not agree with CBE’s mission, a lot of men don’t like something even more basic: going to church and other Christian organizations’ meetings. In Why Men Hate Going to Church [Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005], David Murrow presents a practical and realistic appraisal of why men actively avoid church — even Christian men. This is not the typical Bible book store book. Part of this book will make you see red, but it may be worth the effort. Murrow does remind the reader that he is presenting men as they are, not as they should be, and that while he does have to generalize to make his points, he realizes that many people do not match the stereotypical views.

According to published statistics, about 61 percent of the people in the pews are women and only 39 percent are men. Almost a quarter of married women who attend Christian churches attend without their husbands. Neither is this just an American problem. Women are much more likely to be involved in the activities the church believes makes you spiritual (or look spiritual): discipleship, attending Sunday School, holding a leadership position, attending small groups, having a quiet time, reading the Bible, sharing faith with others, etc. But “38 percent of men described themselves as spiritual but not religious compared with just 28 percent of women, suggesting ‘traditional religious institutions may be somewhat less equipped to fulfill the spiritual needs of men.’ [Gallup] This is further evidence that men are interested in God, but uninterested in Christianity as it’s currently practiced.” [Murrow, p. 65]

If the majority of people actually showing up at church are women, it only makes sense that pastors aim their sermons at those who are present. Listen to the words you’ll hear there: sharing, relationships, support, nurture, feelings, community, precious, tender, gentle. Worse yet are theological words: being saved (something passive and done to me?), lost (oh, yes, let’s ask for directions), bride of Christ (what!?), family of God (how about kingdom of God?), personal relationship with Jesus (not in the Bible; how about walk with Christ?), or worse yet, passionate relationship with Jesus (you mean sex?), intimacy with God (you mean sex?). And even worse yet, the songs we sing: “Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,” (Yikes!), “Away in a Manger” (The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head), “In the Garden” (the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their singing); and even praise music lyrics: “Hold me close, let your love surround me.” “Bring me near, draw me to your side.” “I’m desperate for you. I’m lost without you.” “You’re altogether lovely… altogether wonderful to me.” “Oh Lord, you’re beautiful. Your face is all I seek.” “You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song.” Between church and chapel at my university, most of these praise songs were sung within the last month while I was present. While I do love my savior, I don’t sing these songs. I don’t speak that way. Why would I sing that way? A lot of other guys in the room don’t either.

Most of this stuff would make a male heathen’s skin crawl. Lots of male Christians’, too, and probably some females’ as well. Is there anything CBE can do to communicate better with men? Maybe form a task force to look into it?

What can CBE do differently that would attract men? Is it possible for couples to live egalitarian lives and still recognize differences between the sexes? Statistics are apparently starting to show that Christians are living egalitarian lives more and more even while they profess headship heirarchy. I’m not sure how that works, but maybe the rank and file are ahead of the philosophers and theologians.

I have been driven to biblical egalitarianism by honestly evaluating what the Bible teaches in the light of historical research. I have never actually thought of myself as a “feminist”. Given the “lightening rod” kinds of connotations around that word, I am surprised I have not thought about it more. This is especially true, given the fact that I am a linguist, Bible translator, and teacher. I suppose that people would consider me a “feminist” but I have honestly never even given it a thought until today. I am actually quite neutral about this label. The label is less important than the content in the can anyway. I bet there are others out there that think like I do.