The CBE Scroll

 In my last pastorate, I was invited to hold a monthly service at an assisted living center.  Each time I led this worship gathering and preached, one faithful attendee came armed with her Bible and a frown.  She would sit near the front and, as the service closed and I walked about to greet my white haired “congregants,” she always brought me the same admonishment.  “What do you do with the verse that says, ‘Women are to keep silent?’” she would ask with a stony face and cold condemnation. 

The first few times I spoke with her, I tried to explain about the verse, Greek, punctuation, the cultural context, the whole canon of scripture, (everything in my tool kit!), but I soon found she would have none of it.  So, I simply came to expect the frown, “the slap,” and the impossibility of having her understand.  I would love her to have known that I once questioned my own pastoral call as a woman, but the Lord was faithful and wouldn’t let up on the call or the reassurance that the strange, new gifts and urges that I was experiencing were from the Spirit.

Well, I have to say that God in God’s wonderful goodness continues to show me the wealth of that canon that I had put forth as my defense.  I was reading in Proverbs recently and was reminded of the support for the egalitarian perspective in so many passages of Scripture.

Proverbs 6:20-23 says:

My son, keep your father’s command (mitzvah) and do not forsake your mother’s teaching (torah).  Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.  When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you.  For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life.

I am touched by the coupling of the father’s instruction or commands with the mother’s.  And this is no lightweight word that is used for her teaching, as we know.  The word “torah” is also used for the Mosaic or Deuteronomic law, for prophetic utterances.  Wow!  But that mom and dad are mentioned in the same sentence and then this thought reiterated again for emphasis by saying “the commands are a lamp” (father’s contribution) and the “teaching is a light,” (mother’s contribution) is refreshing.  The mother is declared an appropriate teacher and her guidance of the son to be essential.  Mother and father provide something for the son’s safe and wise walk, and neither one is dispensable or less trustworthy.

One could say, “Ah, but she is teaching a child” – that’s permitted.  However, the teaching that follows, for many verses, is pretty steamy stuff about adultery so the recipient would seem to be a young man.

The reminder that there are many pieces of evidence in God’s Word that support the godly teaching of women brings fresh blessing and peace.  I remember my white-haired antagonist with gentleness, knowing that I never saw the joy of the Lord in her.  I can’t imagine the teaching and church culture she must have been subjected to in her younger days!!  Yet, this teaching still exists.  I am glad for my freedom and my call.  Thank you, my sweet Lord.

According to the Australian Oxford dictionary, the word EVIDENCE is “anything that establishes a fact or gives reason for believing something.”

While there are many evidences to show that equality among God’s children is a fact, one which comes to mind is the many descriptions given to those who follow Jesus and are his children. All these descriptions are without any hint of gender distinction and are directed to those who are referred to as ‘THE BODY OF CHRIST’ or ‘THE CHURCH’.

The references below are all from the NRSV – a gender inclusive version.

It is recorded in Matthew 5:13 that Jesus said to his followers, “YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH” and in the following verse “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.”

In John 15: 5 Jesus describes his disciples in this way: “I am the vine and YOU ARE THE BRANCHES”.

Later in the same chapter in verse 14, Jesus has this to say: “YOU ARE MY FRIENDS if you do what I command you”

Peter’s first letter is addressed to “Those who have been CHOSEN and DESTINED by God the Father and SANCTIFIED by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be SPRINKLED with his blood.”

In chapter 2, verse 5 these same people are named, “LIVING STONES which are being built into a spiritual house – a HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Verse 9 continues this theme with the addition of their being a “CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, GOD’S OWN PEOPLE, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

These and many other verses show the unqualified EQUALITY of all God’s children. Let us be encouraged by these truths and share them.

Not long ago we were alerted to an article written by the Rev. Dr Marie Fortune on her blog (see FaithTrust Institute) in which it was reported that a key spokesperson for complementarians stated that there were just two options for husbands whose authority was threatened.

“And husbands on their parts, because they’re sinners, now respond to that threat to their authority by either being abusive…..or more commonly to become passive, acquiescent and simply not asserting the leadership they ought to as men in their homes and churches”

Dr Fortune writes that this ‘insight’ was prefaced with the opinion that the problem begins with women who ‘rebel’ against their husbands who have been given authority over them by God; once again blaming the victim.

We could assume by these statements that here we have someone who has limited experience with domestic violence and has attempted to excuse behaviours which are obviously ungodly.

The third option of course is for husbands and wives to stand side by side as equal partners, faithful to each other and submitting to one another in love. No abuse here by either person and an opportunity to demonstrate true Christ-like qualities.