Let me just start off by saying, “I’ve got no problem with
women in ministry!”
Resolutely and definitively.
I have no theological qualms with women serving in any
role within the leadership of the church. I belong to a denomination that since
its founding has ordained women. I am thankful that my tradition affirms the
gifts and graces of preaching, shepherding, and leadership without gender
distinction. Throughout my ministry, I’ve been surrounded by gifted women
preachers and leaders. At the church that I currently serve, we welcome without
hesitation the prophetic/pastoral voices of women from the pulpit. I’ve no problem with women in ministry.
And I thought that was enough…which is why I’m STILL a
part of the problem.
Recently I had a wake-up call. Rachel Held Evans tweeted, “Imagine being a
female professor of Hebrew & ANE literature at a seminary & knowing
there are male students in your class who (because they read John Piper)
consider your expertise worthless due to your gender. 😡”
I happened to see this Tweet just prior to prepping to
teach undergraduates at a Christian University. This hit me like a ton of bricks.
So, I had to do a little homework. Recently on the @desiringGod page, an
interview was posted in which John Piper is heard saying that women should not
be seminary professors. Because seminary is for ministry preparation and since
only men can prepare for ministry as pastors, women wouldn’t be models for those
ministers.
Can I be honest? I had to look hard because I don’t
follow anything related to John Piper. About all that John Piper and I have in
common theologically is that we both think Jesus is a really big deal. We’d be
fairly opposite from one another on several issues, so I just don’t pay
attention.
Which is part of the problem.
John Piper has a large following. 466,000 people follow
his Twitter Page. In the Christian world,
that’s a big deal. Maybe not Taylor Swift big deal, but at least Brittany Spears
big. Again, he and I are opposites…I’m
not a big deal at all.
When John Piper speaks, Christians listen. And in this
case, it would be easy for me as a man to dismiss his voice as irrelevant out
of disagreement and move on. However, to
do so would miss the point. Women continually live in the residue of this
misguided theological trajectory that continues to deny women their calling to
give voice and leadership to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
John Piper is a complementarian. That tradition suggests
that the roles of men and women are compliments to one another and those roles
are best not confused. Men are to lead
the church. Women are capable of any number
of meaningful roles, but not church leadership.
Drawing from a few proof texts in the Scriptures (I might note my tradition
is not a proof-texting tradition), women are to remain quiet in church. Their voice
is negated by “biblical mandate” and their position is subordinate to men.
I’m not inclined in this post to go through the biblical witness
or theological tradition to which I belong that would enable me to say, “hogwash.”
I could point to passages in Joel, the theological trajectory of the book of Acts,
the historic-cultural context of patriarchalism of the Ancient World, the problem
of Priscilla and Aquila, the ways in which Jesus continued to validate and
empower women, the visible witness of anointing when I’ve listened to preachers
like Tara Smith, Nina Gunter, Tara Beth Leach, Linsy Stockham, Aeromie Dockins,
Danielle Strickland, Beth Moore and been impressed by the cutting edge leadership
of people like Carla Sunberg, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Katie Hayes, Rachel Held Evans,
Megan Pardue, and Robbie Cansler. Oh, I guess I just did what I said I wouldn’t
do.
Anyways…
But for me as a man to simply blow off John Piper and
move on would perpetuate the problem. It fails to acknowledge the injustice of
such theological traditioning that continues to suppress women under the weight
of nominal biblical evidence. It does nothing to name the residue of those theological
errors and leaves women walking into classrooms and stepping onto platforms wondering
who has already written them off.
I used to think, “They (people like Piper) have a
different theological tradition than I do.” I would choose the cowardly means
of non-engagement. I would choose the easy way out, “agree to disagree.” But
what happens when that with which you disagree becomes an issue of justice and
a betrayal of the image of God? What happens when that which you disagree is an
attempt to quench the Spirit of God by denying the voice of the Spirit through
women? What if denial of the pulpit plays
into the larger cultural story of a society that continues to invalidate women
through denial of equal pay, endorses misogyny, and leaves women victim to oppressive
encounters with power?
This isn’t something that should be easily blown-off and
passed by. That’s too easy. Especially for me. I’m a 6’3, 280lb white, middle-class, protestant,
college-educated, veteran, former college-football playing MALE. I’m the one just about every system in
America is designed for. It’s too easy
for me to blow things off and think they don’t matter.
You know why? Simply
because they don’t matter to me.
Well, this matters! I’ve had a wake-up call. Denial of a
woman’s voice is an injustice and stands contrary to God’s imago dei. We must, those of us that believe in the equitable voice
of the Spirit, call into question those that continue to perpetuate the fallacy
of invalidity. We must empower women in
local leadership. We must call on the carpet those churches in our traditions
that validate the right of a woman to preach but wouldn’t consider a woman for
a lead pastor role because they “wouldn’t be comfortable with that.” We need to
ask God to raise up more women church planters, affirming and encouraging (and financially
investing) in their apostolic gifts, those who will offer alternative contexts
of pastoral leadership and communal equality.
We need to stand up and speak up.
WHOOPS! There I
did it. Did you see that, I just projected and got all preachy?
I NEED TO DO THAT! I need to ensure it starts with me. Just
because I regularly call women on staff at my church doesn’t mean I’ve adequately
validated their space or listened well as they’ve negotiated the residue and
outright resistance of those that would seek to tell them they aren’t worthy. I
must become a vocal advocate, an empowering leader, a keen listener, and an
engaged activist. I can’t blow it off.
It’s too easy and makes me part of the problem.
