The CBE Scroll

Today, August 21st, the Associated Press released a tragic story from Watertown, New York (view full story). For Mary Lambert, the decision from her young pastor ended 54 years of service as a Sunday school teacher. The decision was reached after adopting a “literal interpretation” of Scripture. That passage, as you may have guessed, is 1 Timothy 2:12: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man…” The pastor, however, thinks that women outside of the church are not limited by the biblical command. Rev. LaBouf wrote this on Saturday: “‘I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to’ outside of the church.”

So if he truly believes that women can “perform any job” outside of the church, I would assume Rev. LaBouf would not oppose women being teachers, say in public or possibly even private schools—as long as they did not teach anything about the Bible. But if women can be capable and even gifted teachers in that setting, why would he be opposed to letting those women use their gifts in a Sunday school setting? The inconsistencies abound. Even most complementarians I know do not oppose women teaching Sunday school. They take the word “man” as literally as possible to exclude children. Therefore, women can teach male children but not adult males. Then of course, the decision for when a male child becomes a male adult is arbitrarily drawn—usually during the adolescent years. And aren’t children the most impressionable of all?

With the same level of “literal interpretation,” I hope LaBouf takes the command for “men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing,” which appears in 1 Timothy only a few verses earlier. The “literal” interpretation becomes nothing more than a “selective” interpretation to justify a theology that restricts women. This inconsistent interpretation is demonstrated in any church that is concerned about the *apparent restrictions* placed on women in 1 Tim. 2:12. They are quick to limit women from teaching, but not as quick to command the men to lift up their hands while praying, or even to stop them from disputing. A holistic and biblical perspective of gender recognizes that our identity is not in gender, but in Christ, as articulated by Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11-12, and 2 Corinthians 5:16-17.

While Mary Lambert’s story made the Associated Press today, we at CBE hear stories like this all the time. CBE affirms that God uses the gifts of all people, regardless of gender. When I speak with our members I ask them what they appreciate about our ministry; most say “knowing they’re not alone.” Lambert is also not alone either, and our prayers go out to her.

Sometimes the simplest conversations can turn out to be the most complicated. Take for example, the insistence of a relative of mine that a woman should accept her husband’s last name in deference to his headship. Even though I pointed out that the idea of a surname is a relatively recent invention in human history—not even addressed by Scripture—the conversation meandered into several uncomfortable moments leaving him to resolve it by admitting he just preferred it. There was a certain quaintness and comfort in the tradition from which he wasn’t yet ready to part. Admittedly, I understood, even if I disagreed.

While egalitarians are often accused by patriarchalists of capitulating to culture and its demands, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a trap from which the patriarchal side cannot boast freedom. For example, after coming across a website that sold “modest clothing”—which as it turns out requires Victorian clothing patterns—I found that “virtuous” women wear bonnets or that godly women prefer floral prints. Of course, if one prefers ruffles and lace, then by all means, fill the dresser drawers. That is not a problem. The problem I found was an idolizing of a culture of the past, an infusion of the days-gone-by with images of virtue and the insinuation that only the clothing of a particular era or only those who looked a certain way were truly godly.

I was then reminded of a full-page ad I once saw for a conservative Christian boarding school in a leading conservative evangelical magazine. The image used stock photography of a smiling and pleasant looking blond-haired woman, sporting some smart black glasses and a black business suit. The tag line for the school was something like, “Do you want this woman to be your child’s advisor?” What seemed to be implied was that the kind of woman who wears a business suit and takes her career seriously is probably in some way evil, corrupted, or a feminist seeking to destroy your children’s morals.

There is a serious danger when one invests virtue in mere appearance. Whether it is long hair and dresses or power suits, virtue is not in the packaging. That is why I cringe when a perfume labeled “Virtuous Woman” is being sold at the Christian Retail Show. How can virtue be captured in a scent?

I’m reminded of Flannery O’ Connor’s classic short story, Good Country People, in which Manley Pointer, a used Bible salesman from “Willohobie, not even from a place, just near a place,” came knocking on Joy-Hulga Hopewell’s door selling Bibles. Joy-Hulga lost her leg in a hunting accident and spent her life mourning her displacement from society by burying herself in her schooling and earning her Ph.D. A Bible salesman didn’t really impress her, she long lost her belief in God and boasted a new “born-again” freedom in nihilism.

As a “good country” person, Pointer won the trust of Joy-Hulga’s mother, and found himself a guest at their dinner table for the evening. He also managed to win a taste of Joy-Hulga’s lips and maneuver her into a date in a hayloft. After his incessant begging, she gave in to Pointer’s request to see how her wooden leg attached. She took it off and put it back on. Then he took it off and put it back on. This happened repeatedly until he removed it and pushed it away from her.

Now somewhat frightened, Joy-Hulga watched as Manley pulled his Bible out of his briefcase. To her surprise it was hollow, containing a flask, a deck of playing cards, and an assortment of unsavory items. And then it hit her, “aren’t you just good country people?” she asked in shock.

“Come on now,” said Manley avoiding the question and moving uncomfortably closer, “we ain’t got to know one another good yet.” Joy-Hulga tried pushing away and demanding her leg back, but Manley thought she protested too much for a woman who “didn’t believe in nothing.”

“You’re a Christian!” she hissed. “You’re a fine Christian! You’re just like them all—say one thing and do another. You’re a perfect Christian, you’re…”

Manley tossed his Bible and her wooden leg back in the briefcase, and climbed out of the loft. “I’ve gotten a lot of interesting things,” he bragged, “one time I got a woman’s glass eye this way.”

O’Connor’s point is ultimately about Hulga’s nihilism and the wooden leg is an example of her usual literary tool representing the human condition known as “the grotesque.” With the theft of her leg, came the theft of her belief in nothing, for only something could hurt like that. Even more, as he disappeared for the last time, the Bible salesman turned to Joy-Hulga and said smirkingly, “you ain’t so smart. I been believing in nothing ever since I was born.” Her lesson came at the hands of one who looked and talked like “good country people” but on the inside his heart was as wooden as the leg.

Try as we may to define persons by our standards, the human heart is where we find the real person and it is a treacherous place. Christ came to save sinners, we would do well to remember that no amount of window dressing, whether by clothing or perfume, can do what only he can accomplish.

We aren’t always able to separate what we believe culturally from the actual truth. And at times, people intentionally use cultural identifiers to make a statement. But don’t be fooled, while the devil may have the blue dress on, there are both floral dresses and power suits in his closet as well.

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Flannery O’Connor, “Good Country People,” in Heritage of American Literature: Civil War to the Present, Vol. 2, ed. By James E. Miller, Jr. and Kathleen Farley (New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1991), 1917-1929. All quotations are to this edition.

It’s wonderful, and perhaps all too rare, when countries realize their mistakes and take steps to correct them. China Daily reports that the imbalance between the numbers of boys and girls in China is growing so severe that if left unchecked there will be 25 million men in China between 2015 and 2030 with no hope of finding a mate.

Many Chinese parents abort the wife’s pregnancy if tests show the fetus is female so that they can try again for a boy. As a result, there are 119 boys born for every 100 girls in China; the rest of the world averages between 103 and 107 boys for 100 girls.

But China has stepped up legal action and has prosecuted 3,000 cases of gender selective abortion for non-medical purposes over the past two years.

China’s State Population and Family Planning Commission’s (SCPFP) three-year-old “Care for Girls” program offers hope that the imbalance can be corrected by providing social benefits, including cash payments, to families with only girls, in order to boost the status of girls and women. The program has significantly reduced the boys-to-girls ratio in the 21 counties that ran the pilot program. The SCPFP will now extend the program to all provincial regions.

Population Research Institute reports that over a hundred million baby girls in China have died by abortion, infanticide, abandonment and neglect since the beginning of China’s one-child policy in 1981.

Families in other countries are now adopting abandoned Chinese baby girls to do what they can to rescue these precious children of God.

Kirsten tours with a theatrical production of Don Richardson’s Peace Child. In her down time, she greets people as a receptionist for our missions ministry here in Montana. As a 20 year old, she heard me teach on the value of daily Bible reading. This morning, four years later, I noticed that she was writing out the gospel of John longhand. I asked her about it. She told me that four years ago, after she heard me teach about Bible study, she decided to starting writing the Bible out longhand. Since 2002, she has written out during her daily devotional time the following Bible books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Johsua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timonthy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation. She is presently writing out the gospel of John and Ezekiel. She told me, “I have filled up notebook after notebook.”

As we spoke, I noticed an engagement ring on her finger. I told her that I hope her fiance knows what a treasure he is getting in her. In fact, the writer of the Proverbs wrote that “her worth is far more precious than jewels.”

You can access Kirsten’s ministry at Sidewalk Productions.

Poverty and injustice discriminate. And the health and well-being of women around the world suffer because of it. Many of us who live in privilege do not worry about their daughters being raped during war or being forced into prostitution. Many of us who live in privilege do not think about injustice and inequality at all, because it doesn’t seem to be a necessary or pressing concern. We are in a place to make the choice between apathy and becoming aware. But the vast majority of people who live in poverty do not have that choice to make, because the structures that surround them or the people who are in power over them have already made another choice: to force their advantage.

I do not mean to deny the agency of people living in poverty, no, far from that. What I do mean to do is to ask why injustices, largely against women and children, are allowed and at times even encouraged. I mean to ask what systemic and theoretical structures exist that perpetuate harmful perceptions and actions about and against certain groups of people?

Why do women form the majority of heterosexual cases of HIV/AIDS? A number of factors might explain the growing number of women who are infected with the virus. In many places, girls are pressured to be married young, often to older, more experienced men who may already have multiple wives. Typically, these girls also live in places where educational and economic opportunities for them as women are extremely limited. Even if they are fortunate enough to know about the danger of HIV/AIDS, their cultural tradition may not protect their rights or provide them the choice to either abstain from sex or request to use a condom if they suspect their partner is infected. In areas of political unrest, many women are raped in war crimes, being made susceptible to HIV infection against their own will.

Direct correlations can be made between the spread of HIV/AIDS and human trafficking, particularly sexual trafficking. Women who have been abducted into the illegal sex industry do not have the choice of whom they will be with, and are often at risk for violent sex. Many people who are trafficked are lured with the false promise of a good job or an educational prospect. Once in captivity, many are brought across borders where they know no one and do not speak the language. They are isolated from outside contact and warned not to plan escape; threats are made against them and their families in order to maintain submission. Because of the coercion and deception involved, the estimated 12.3 million people who have been trafficked are considered victims of modern-day slavery. Lest the question arises of how so many fall for “too good to be true” offers, it should be recognized that the hopelessness of poverty breeds desperation and an ambition to do anything that might make life better.

In speaking of the vulnerable, we might also consider the millions of young girls who undergo what is commonly labeled “female circumcision.” However, circumcision is probably not an accurate term, considering the health risks involved and the pain that it causes in sexual intercourse, childbirth, and even urination. For this reason, the practice is more appropriately called female genital mutilation, or female genital cutting/modification, out of respect for those who have had the procedure done. While it is practiced for a number of different reasons, including as a rite of passage, most cultures that perform the cutting acknowledge that it is done in order to control a woman’s sexual desire and keep her chaste.

The work of many organizations that directly fight injustice is essential in these times. So also, is the work of CBE. It is especially relevant for vulnerable women living in poor countries, because the last thing that those who are living in situations of oppression need from the church is more male hierarchy. If the church promotes patriarchy, then what could ever free these women from the injustice in which they are caught? If the church excuses, and even advocates for hierarchy, then the church may have little theological or theoretical basis upon which to call into question the structures of injustice that women face all over the world because of their gender. Patriarchy is incompatible with justice for women.

Injustices against women are not just isolated incidents; rather, they result from many societal and even theological factors. These are interconnected issues, linked by the views that many around the world hold that women are second best, meant to be dominated or needing to be controlled by men. CBE is necessary in order to set a precedent of dignity and equality of women and men in places where people of privilege live, as well as, and perhaps even more urgently, where people live in poverty, desperation, and vulnerability.

So how can those who lead lives of privilege stand by and claim ignorance or apathy? Will they? Or will they — will you and I — do what we can with the gifts, tools and influence that we have in order to change the minds of those in power, change the structures that oppress, and change the lives of the hurting?

Being an Agent of Change
Step 1: Educate yourself about injustice against women.
Step 2: Tell others.
Step 3: Support organizations that do the work.

Available resources for education:

Good News About Injustice, by Gary Haugen
Cut Flowers: Female Genital Mutilation and a Biblical Response, by Sandy Willcox
“Sexual Exploitation and Violence toward Women: Global and Local Concerns,” recording by Ellen Armstrong
“Helping Christians Set Trends for Oppressed Women in India,” recording by Ellen Alexander & Beulah Wood
“Sexual Trafficking, Prostitution, and the Global Sex Industry,” recording by Lisa Thompson
World Hope International

Leah

Editor’s note: This is a condensed summary of Leah’s “As We Speak” lecture series, originally presented at Cornerstone Music Festival, July 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2006. She addressed injustice against women in the topics of HIV/AIDS, Human Trafficking, and Female Genital Mutilation.