The CBE Scroll

Jesus calls each of his sheep by name, and they hear and know his voice (John 10:1-16). Sheep encompasses rams and ewes, males and females. Ewes can hear the voice of their Shepherd just as clearly as rams. While Jesus made a clear distinction between sheep and goats based upon their actions (Matthew 25:31-33), his sheep are not separated into masculine and feminine groups.

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (John 10:16b TNIV, italics added)

Everyone can follow our Good Shepherd directly without any mediators or middlemen. Yet many teach that a husband is supposed to tell his wife what God’s will is for her and their family. This idea that husbands have spiritual authority over their wives can cause ewes to second guess their ability to hear the Shepherd’s voice. These teachings encourage a wife to heed the audible voice of her spouse even when it contradicts the inaudible voice that she is hearing within her spirit. Fallible men can end up usurping the Holy Spirit’s direction for their wives, and wives are encouraged to become followers of men instead of God.

Since many of the decisions that we make in our lives are not clearly a matter of right or wrong but are based on the promptings of the Holy Spirit, wouldn’t it be negligent to tell a wife that she must follow the leadership of her husband unless he asks her to sin? And how does this not convey to wives that they are spiritually inferior to their husbands because they were born female instead of male?

When I first became a Christian, I was very zealous. Some might say over-zealous. I was one of those Christians that make you want to cover your eyes while peeking through your fingers so that you can see what damage was being done. I was so bowled over by the power of the gospel, I was sure that everyone else would thank me for telling them about Jesus. Unfortunately, to my surprise, not everyone thought it was the great news as I thought, and not everyone received it as joyfully as I did. Their response surprised me… but didn’t stop me. I often continued to pursue them with the truth, because I thought that if I could only explain it clearly enough, then they would see what I was seeing. Sadly, my well-meaning zeal only served to alienate them from me and from the gospel.

Suffice it to say, this same thing happened when my suspicions were confirmed about God’s love for equality. For many years, I had been so conflicted because of what I thought the Scriptures taught about men and women. I feared that if such a hierarchy were true, then an incongruous nature about God was being revealed, and that greatly troubled me. But it wasn’t true. It really is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Gal 5:1), and the freeing nature of the truth overwhelmed me so much, I wanted to tell everyone about it. What I saw and understood was such great news, I was sure everyone would thank me for it once they really understood what those passages of Scripture really mean and how Jesus really views women. If only I could explain it clearly enough so that they could understand! My persistent excitement and eagerness to bring freedom dribbled down into an excess of obnoxious argumentation. Rather than helping people understand, I found myself offending, instead. I lost a few friends in the process and was so disheartened by it that I was effectually silenced.

Something I learned after I had walked with Jesus for a few years is that if you live out the gospel, then skeptics will eventually inquire about and welcome your good news. The proof is in the pudding.

Recently, I found myself worshiping next to an old friend who grew up in a church with a strong hierarchical stance in the church and in the home. I have never had any biblical or theological debate with him about biblical equality, but I assume that he thinks that the office of the pastor is for men and not women and that the head of the household is the man. I don’t think these beliefs are based on any conscious biblical investigation but exist simply because these ideas are the bedrock of his church culture. But that day, he chose to be at our church, and, coincidentally, that day, our woman pastor was preaching. Sitting next to him, I heard him laugh at her jokes and could tell that he was listening attentively. Discussion about the sermon later confirmed that he had indeed learned from her — a woman.

This is when I realized something I should’ve known all along. I’ve been saying all these years that it didn’t make sense why revelation from God spoken out of a woman’s mouth would be nullified simply because she was a woman. If children can learn from a woman, and other women can learn from a woman, why couldn’t men? Truth is truth no matter who speaks it. But this time I didn’t have to argue it. It just happened in real time. A man learned from a woman (how revolutionary is that!). And it dawned on me that perhaps that is how this revolution will really take place — not solely and primarily through arguments and debates (although there is a time for explaining and theologizing) but — by living out the gospel of equality. If it is really true, then it will stand the test of time and prevail. It will prevail! And I’m looking forward to that day.

by Donald Guffey

I wonder what comes to mind when one meditates on the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Does the thought of gender even come into the picture?

Yet it seems that the ideal the church has placed on masculinity is often at odds with the fruit of the Spirit. We live in an age where the church is obsessed with “men being men” and “women being women.” This is evident in the plethora of Christian books on the issues of manhood, womanhood, dating, and marriage that emphasize a man’s wild heart and hunter/warrior spirit. But is this really how a man is supposed to be? Is this overly macho, blue-faced Mel Gibson from Braveheart (who, if you recall, did the whole movie in a skirt…I mean kilt) the only idea of maleness?  

As a male preschool teacher who loves to sing, knit, and hug people, I am a bit disturbed at the concept that God created me with a wild heart and warrior instinct. For if this is the case, then as a sensitive, emotional, nurturing man, I am obviously defective. As a young teen in junior high, I learned quickly that my personality didn’t fit the mold. Because I was a softer male type, the other students constantly harassed me. However I was determined to be who I was in spite of the opposition because there was just something inside of me that said that I was fine the way I was.

My personal church congregation was wonderful and let me be who I was, loving and supporting me through this difficult time in my life. But I wonder what the majority of the church would think of me. Based on their assumptions about what it means to be a man, many Christians might even tell me that I’m out of God’s will.

In her book My Brother’s Keeper, Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen discusses an experiment with a group of college students to see how the fruits of the Spirit were perceived. A list of random traits, which included synonyms for the fruits of the Spirit, was given to the students and they were asked to label each trait as masculine, feminine, or neutral. Overall, most of the fruits of the Spirit were labeled neutral, yet many of the guys in the class labeled them as feminine traits. This is unfortunate, as God tells us all to exhibit these qualities—that these traits are Christian and not specific to one gender.

Here are the nine fruits of the Spirit, their Greek word, and their meaning:

• Love (agape):  brotherly and sisterly love, affection, benevolence (males are to be affectionate!)
• Joy (chara): gladness (men: don’t get mad—or aggressive, macho, or rough—get glad!)
• Peace (eirene): a state of national tranquility, exemption from the rage and havoc of war (so much for the mighty warrior looking for a battle to fight!)
• Longsuffering (makrothumia): patience, forbearance, slowness in avenging wrongs (help me with this one, Lord!)
• Kindness (chrestotes): “the good,” as being morally honorable, pleasing to God, and therefore beneficial (is it honorable and pleasing to God to rule over your spouse and demand submission?)
• Goodness (agathosune): uprightness of heart and life, goodness, kindness (I once heard a preacher say men weren’t suppose to be nice guys. Well, whose report will we believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord!)
• Faith (pistis): conviction of truth, belief; in the New Testament, of a conviction or belief respecting our relationship to God and divine things, generally included with the idea of trust and holy fervor (do you struggle with the mountain of gender stereotyping? With faith the size of a mustard seed, how about we tell that mountain to jump into the sea!)
• Meekness (prautes): gentleness, mildness (God’s definition of a gentleman!)
• Self-control (egkrateia): the virtue of one who masters desires and passions, especially sensual appetites (he can’t help it he’s just a visual creature built for sex, right? Wrong!)

I’ll leave you with this encouragement: God created us the way we are for a reason. We do not answer to culture. We answer to God, and he tells us how to be and to live. So it is my hope that we will all become secure in who God has made us to be. May God bless you all to overflow with the fruit of the Spirit!

There’s no denying that God created humans male and female. Everyone would agree on that fact. However, any instructions to God’s people in the Old Testament and Jesus’ disciples in the New Testament are pertaining to how to relate to God and each other. The ten commandments embrace all of the experiences of life at the time of writing and Jesus’ commands to his followers are summed up in just two – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind” and “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Nothing is gender specific about any of these commandments and a careful reading of the New Testament will not reveal specific instructions re what constitutes godly ‘womanhood’ or ‘manhood’ – maybe there is no such idea in the minds of the writers and more particularly in the mind of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

Surely if we are faithful, humble followers of Jesus and relying on the indwelling Holy Spirit, we will display God-likeness in all aspects of our human life, both in our family relationships and within the Body of Christ.

You know, of course, the story of The Little Red Hen and her friends—a duck, a cat and a pig (or a goose and dog and whatever animal your favorite version has). The Little Red Hen found a grain of wheat and, deciding to plant it, she asked who would help.

“Not I,” said the duck.
“Not I,” said the cat.
“Not I,” said the pig.

The Little Red Hen asked for help many times: when it was time to cut the wheat, to thresh it and to grind it into flour, to bake the flour into bread. Each time, her unwilling friends responded, “Not I–not I–not I.” To which The Little Red Hen responded each time, “Then I will.” And she did.

When the bread had been baked, The Little Red Hen asked again, “Who will help me eat this bread?” Her friends replied eagerly,

“I will!” said the duck.
“I will!” said the cat.
“I will!” said the pig.

“Oh no, you won’t!” said The Little Red Hen. “I will!” And she did.

I hope you can see the connection between this story and the account from Scripture of repairing the city of Jerusalem when the residents returned from exile. The high priest and his brethren led the way, apparently not considering that this was work for only common laborers. Some, the “nobles” from the town of Tekoa, refused to assist, but Nehemiah lists many others (chapter 3) who made themselves available. There are no expert builders and carpenters available? “Then we will!” said the priests, and goldsmiths, perfume makers, district leaders, merchants and women.

Women? Yes, the daughters of Shallum, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, helped their father with the work of reconstruction. No sons in the family? “Then we will!” said the daughters. And they did.

Were they sturdy teenagers who could tramp among the ruins to locate burned bricks and carry them to the building site? Or were they older women of means, perhaps heiresses or rich widows, who gave liberally to advance the project? Were there two of them—or six? We don’t know, but they are the only women mentioned among men and their sons who made a significant contribution to the work.

Never believe that what we as women have to offer our families, our communities, our churches, or the Kingdom of God is unimportant. Often all it takes is seeing where we are meant to help and saying, “Then I will!” and doing it.