Biblical Womanhood is Practical Theology

The women of our church recently finished a bible study on the book of James. Like the other studies we have done, this one proved fruitful in our lives and conversation. As we completed the study on Thursday night, this theme kept running through my head:

"A heart changed by Christ means a life changed by Christ."

What do I mean? James has gotten a bad rap over the years. Some have seen him as too practical. Too works focused. But as we studied this helpful book, we found rich truths and Christ-focused exhortation. We didn't hear "law." We heard "Christ." James is practical. James does deal with everyday issues that we face as Christians. Things like suffering, financial blessing or hardship, favoritism, and our speech. How many times have you wondered how the gospel of Jesus Christ applied to one of those particular issues? I know I have. The overarching theme of James is that Christians should look markedly different than the world, and nowhere is this more difficult to live out than in the myriad of issues I just mentioned. It is hard to trust Christ in the midst of suffering. It is hard to see Jesus as your treasure when the treasures of this world are piling up all around you. It is hard to control your tongue and see those around you as image bearers, not your own personal punching bags. You see where I am going with this? A changed life has implications. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ means something for how we go about our daily lives. We should look different.

But we need theology, you might say. We need to treasure Christ. We don't need more rules.

And I get that. I really do. Legalism is a death sentence for faith. But legalism, as I have said before, is not the same as James saying "faith without works is dead." Legalism is saying "faith is dead" and "works make you alive." James ties them both together (faith and works) to give us a better, more biblical picture. James gets that works don't save you, but he also gets that faith means something--namely that it should produce good works. It should lead to faithfulness.

So what does this have to do with biblical womanhood?

Everything.

If a life changed by Christ has implications, then it most certainly has implications for us as women. While James never touches on gender roles or manhood and womanhood, he does show us that our theology should impact our practice. Our knowledge should lead to a practical theology of living. As women, this means that our lives should look different than the world around us. How we work in our jobs should look different than the cutthroat world around us. How we treat our husbands should look different than the male-bashing world around us. How we view our children should look different than a world around us that sees children as a nuisance and expendable. How we serve our church should look different than a world that says "my glory is what matters most." How we respond to singleness should look different than a world that says your single years are for your own self-exploration and fun. Biblical womanhood is not the gospel, and you will never hear me say that. But biblical womanhood is only possible in the life of a woman who has been freed by the gospel. Biblical womanhood is theology in practice. It is believing that we are created as image bearers. It is believing that being female matters in God's economy. It is believing that our gender tells a beautiful story about our Creator.

James, like the rest of the New Testament writers, believed that our theology mattered. But he didn't stop there. And neither do they. The New Testament writers understood that theology will always lead us to fruitful living. They got that from Jesus, who told us that if we abide in him, we will bear fruit (John 15:1-11). As we grow in godliness we will grow in how we look to a watching world. We should increasingly look different as we abide in the One who looked so different they killed him.

I don't teach and study what it means to be a woman simply for biblical womanhood's sake. I do so because I believe that a changed life means something, and nowhere do we see that in more stark contrast with the world than in our understanding of men and women.

Why I Will Keep Talking About Biblical Womanhood

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching an interview with music artist, Pharrell. Known for his musical genius, he again was in the news with the launch of his newest album, GIRL. I have not heard the album, so I can’t speak to its content. But his comments about the album struck me more than anything else. When asked why he felt the need to do an entire album devoted solely to women, he remarked that he loves women. Women are valuable. Women are great. And the fact that women face so much inequality in the world, he felt it was the least he could do. I get that. I was tracking with him there. But he went on. He talked about pay inequity and limits on their ability to choose what they want to do with their own bodies. He even put his crusade for women in the same category as gay and lesbian rights. He essentially said that in 2014 America, we have no right to tell people how they should live or who they should love, and women get the worst of it in his opinion.

As I listened to his rant about equality and freedom, I kept thinking that he spoke with such authority. No one else can be his authority, or your authority, but even in his cry for independence he was speaking as one with authority. I was struck by how we really are doing what is right in our own eyes in 2014 America. No one has the right to tell us how to live. No one has the right to say anything is absolutely true. Your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth.

And that is why I won’t stop talking about biblical womanhood. Why, you say? What does Pharrell have to do with biblical womanhood? Because as long as the culture feeds us an image of women that is contrary to God’s word, I will keep talking about biblical womanhood. As long as little boys and girls grow up thinking that it doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl, I will keep talking about biblical womanhood. As long as women (young and old) continue to believe that sex and flaunting their body is what makes them valuable and attractive, I will keep talking about biblical womanhood. As long as we continue to think that equality as image bearers means sameness of roles, I will keep talking about biblical womanhood.

Because at the end of the day it’s not about biblical womanhood at all. It is about the authority of God’s word. Do we believe it to be true? Do we believe God has really spoken and we can take him at his word? Or do we need a new interpretation or a new vision for a new day? We can’t move on from God’s word. We can’t graduate to something more compelling or culturally relevant. I have heard it said that women need theology, not more teaching on gender roles. I get that. I really do. Women need theology, that is absolutely certain. And more of it. But understanding how God wants us to live in this broken, sin-cursed world is theology in practice. It’s the theological legs to a body and head filled with knowledge. Biblical womanhood is theology in practice.

It really isn’t a new notion to ask the question, “who has the authority to tell us how to live?” We’ve been asking it since our first parents believed those very words breathed out by the Enemy. The cultural questioning of authority is really a questioning of God’s authority, asking if God can really be trusted.

So I will not pack up and go home on the biblical womanhood front. I know a lot of good friends who aren’t willing to do so either. We are here for the long haul. It’s not because I like a good fight. It’s not because I want to enter into endless debates about the meaning of headship. I really don’t. It is precisely because the world around us is telling a story about womanhood that is contrary to God’s word. And we know a better way forward. Every day we encounter women who are broken and battered by a world that is telling them lies about what it means to be a woman, and we know the Great Physician who not only can heal them of their sins, but also show them why they were created in the first place. Every day we hear lies about God’s image and his rightful authority over his creation, and we know the truth. These aren’t silly arguments that evangelicals like to get into. They are eternal matters that tell a story about our creator, God.

Pharrell is right. Women are good for society. But it is precisely because they bear the image of the One who created them that they bring value to this world. Women have value because they image Another. They point to God and his glory displayed in his creation. And that, my friends, is why womanhood matters. 

The New Face of CBMW

Boy, has it been quiet around here. The boys came home from the NICU on March 11 and it has been a whirlwind of night feedings, day feedings, bottles, and sweet cuddle times with our twinsies. Needless to say,  I have had little time to think, let alone write. But I'm slowly emerging from the fog of having two newborns.

That's why I'm here to tell you some exciting news! The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (an organization I greatly care about) has launched a new website. And that's not all. There are a number of new initiatives bundled into this fresh change to the site, one being a new women's channel exclusively devoted to our female readers. I am the assistant editor of the site and I am very excited about the team of writers we have lined up! CBMW is where I got my start writing publicly and I consider it a great privilege to be back working for them.

So head on over to the CBMW site today (or any day this week) and check out the new content we have in a variety of venues. Our desire is to continue to provide excellent resources and commentary on a myriad of gender related issues from a biblical perspective. CBMW has always been about Christ and the Bible. That hasn't changed. When you have a chance, visit CBMW today. There is something there for everyone!

What Does it Mean to Be "Pro-Woman"?

There is a lot swirling around in the media these days about whether political candidates are “pro-woman.” So much so that some of even labeled this political season as being about the “war on women.” And honestly, it’s hard to decipher what is true and what is for show. Who really cares about women? What about their personal lives? Does it matter if they have been unfaithful? These are questions go back much farther than just this political race.

Unfortunately, in our culture the litmus test for being pro-woman is a stellar voting record for things like healthcare (i.e. abortion rights), equal pay, and the like. It doesn’t matter that they cheat on their wives or use women for sex. Or does it?

In God’s economy being pro-woman means a lot more than checking “yes” on a voting ballot or raising your hand in affirmation on the Senate floor. Anyone can do that. Being pro-woman means first embracing women as equals, namely treating them as such. And it’s hard to treat a woman as an equal when you only talk to her when you want your sexual needs met. Then she’s not an equal, she’s a commodity.

To value women means seeing them as important in every stage of life, from conception to death. To value women means loving one woman faithfully in the covenant of marriage for a lifetime. To value women means refusing to capitulate to a culture that sees plastic as beautiful.

We can talk about women’s rights all day without really ever getting to the heart of the matter. I’m thankful that I can vote. I’m thankful that I can own property if I want to. I’m thankful that I get paid the same as my male counterparts at school. I’m thankful for the education I have received. But in all honesty, I feel the most valued within the four walls of my house. Within God’s good design he created men, women, and marriage with a plan and a purpose. And there is no place that I am more loved and appreciated than when my husband treats me as his equal, his friend, and his partner for a lifetime.

Political ideologies don’t make anyone pro-woman. The real test of whether a man values a woman is seen in the trenches of everyday life, not in stump speeches and ad campaigns. The pro-woman rhetoric we hear daily on the news is just that—empty words.

If you want to know if a man is pro-woman look no further than his own household. Paul knew this clearly when he told Timothy that a man who fails to provide for his family was worse than an unbeliever, and while it is impossible for a man to truly live this out if he is not a believer, God’s standard is still his standard. He is the creator of both men and women, and he gets to decide how we live. This is the litmus test for his beliefs on women. This is how we know if he values the fairer sex. It is only in the daily sacrifice and servant leadership displayed in quiet corners of his sphere of influence that we can truly know if he is pro-woman.

Hope for Homosexuals

A few years ago a girl I knew remarked that she felt strange visiting her particular hairdresser because she was a lesbian. Knowing that this woman was attracted to women, not men, made her uncomfortable, and eventually she moved on to someone else. She meant no ill-will towards the hairstylist. She was a solid believer, valued God's word, and prayed fervently for lost people to come to Christ. But when it came to the homosexual hair stylist something just didn't sit right with her. I think her response is quite common for many of us within the conservative Christian community. While we all agree that God doesn't hate homosexuals, when it comes down to actually ministering to them we simply don't know what to do. Our response to those in the gay community tends to be similar to our reponse to the person in the throes of grief--in fear we either don't say anything or say way too much of the wrong thing. We don't intentionally treat homosexual people with contempt, but our fear of the unknown tends to overtake our desire to do good by them. I know I have seen it in my own life way too often.

I had the opportunity this week to listen to the panel discussion from T4G on gay marriage. It was basically a question and answer session with Mark Dever asking questions and Dr. Mohler answering. And true to his form Dr. Mohler was extremely helpful in addressing the reality of homosexuality in our churches and communities, while also providing a course of action for the church.

One of the things Mohler said that really stayed with me is that all of us, post-puberty, are broken in our sexual orientation. We live in a post-Genesis 3 world, and as a result we have all sinned sexually in some way. Our sin just manifests itself in different ways, from the guy who is enslaved to pornography to the girl who likes other girls. Sexual sin is sexual sin, and sin is the great equalizer. We are all equally fallen, but by God's abundant grace we all have a way of escape from the sin that entangles us. Homosexuality is not the worst sin a human being can commit. Rejection of God is (Mark 4:22-30). While Romans 1 reminds us of the heinousness of homosexuality, it also tells us that wrath, envy, slander, gossip, disobedience, impurity, and the like all fall under the condemnation of God. Every one of those sins is stemming from a heart that does not believe that God is good and worthy of our worship. We want to worship the creation, rather than the Creator. That idolatry manifests itself differently in our varying personalities and sin tendencies.

The problem with our arguments against homosexuality is that so often they are framed in the context of human behavior rather than concern for the souls of lost people. We think the behavior is gross and so we treat it as such. But what we have to remember is that the people we speak of are image bearers just like us. They are living, breathing human beings who are enslaved to sin and the worship of the god of this age. In Romans 1 the issue is that we worship the creation, rather than the Creator. This leads to a whole host of sins that condemn us. Yes, homosexual behavior needs to change. But so does slander, gossip, murder, jealousy, and even heterosexual immorality. It is all stemming from worshipping something other than God.

Our response to homosexuality must move away from the ideological and political, and move more towards dealing with the hearts of people. Within all of us is a God-shaped void that in our sinful state we will fill with everything but God, because left to ourselves we hate him. What people need is a bigger view of God and of his great love for us in sending us Jesus, who can take away any sin we struggle with--including homosexuality.

Jesus went to the sexually sinful, broken, despised, and rejected of his day, not because he wanted to endorse their behavior but because he wanted to show them that they were worshipping the wrong thing. But the point is that he went to them, regardless of how gross and strange his culture thought they were. And as Christians we have an answer to the guy or girl struggling with same-sex attraction, his name is Jesus. By God's grace, we must be a place where no person struggles in their sin alone, but finds an answer for their sinfulness and hope for change no matter what sin they struggle with.

For a more thorough assessment of this and for some practical instruction on how the church can help homosexuals, you can listen to Dr. Mohler's interview here.

A Christian Response to Gay Bullying

It seems the topic of bullying has been in the news a lot more recently. Maybe it's the rise of social media and a variety of avenues for young people to taunt each other, or maybe it's just getting worse. I don't know. But I do know that I've seen a lot of discussion regarding the basis for gay bullying. Often the push for tolerance of homosexuality follows the sad news that another gay student has committed suicide. As Christians, how are we to respond to such claims about tolerance? How are we to love and care for hurting people, regardless of their lifestyle, without abandoning the Bible's clear teaching about sexuality?

I attempted to answer this question in a post today on the Christianity Today blog for women (Her.meneutics). It's not an easy answer, but it's something we all must think about, especially as homosexual behavior becomes increasingly normalized.

In the post, I said:

"Christians must bridge the gap between bullying and the cry for tolerance. We cannot turn a blind eye to sinful behavior of any sort, whether it’s homosexual behavior or hateful bullying. And we also must clearly define bullying, focusing on physical and verbal abuse rather than simple disagreement with another’s actions."

Read the rest here.

Interview with Mary Kassian

A little over a week ago I interviewed Mary Kassian for The Gospel Coalition's review site. As always, she had a lot of good stuff to say. We talked about her latest book, Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild, and how our understanding of manhood and womanhood has everything to do with the Gospel.

Here is a taste of what she said in the interview:

"Manhood and womanhood are important, because men and women living according to Scripture display the Gospel. That is why there has been such an attack against gender, marriage, manhood and womanhood. If the evil one can pull those things apart, then we lose a display of who God is. When we get it right, we put the Gospel on display."

There's more where that came from. You can read the entire interview here.

A Sad and Slippery Slope

A while ago I overhead a conversation about why someone would choose a church far away from where one lives. When asked, this particular person responded as follows:

“When I saw the church had a female pastor I knew that they would probably be more accepting of gay people like me.”

In a split second, and unbeknownst to him, he confirmed a conclusion that has been raging for a long time: a reversal of gender roles in the local church is a slippery slope to the reversal of believing God’s design for sexuality.

Often outsiders provide a clear window into a church culture that we fail to see because we are so immersed in it. My friend saw from the outside what so many of us fail to see on the inside. While I think it is a helpful commentary on what unbelievers think of the church, I think it says profound things about where our theology leads us. Denying that egalitarian beliefs provide a slippery slope to accepting homosexual behavior is merely postponing the inevitable.

But the issue is not about homosexuality at all, really. By the time a church moves into a reversal of gender and sexuality they typically have long given up the most important thing of all—submission to God’s authority over all things.

What I overheard that day is far more important than whether or not women can be pastors or homosexuality is a sin. And those are important things. It has to do with a church that is no longer living under the authority of God’s word. It has to do with a church that is no longer proclaiming the Gospel.

Sometimes the clearest arguments for our beliefs come in the most unlikely places. But this man’s belief is not a point to be argued. It is his life. Understanding God’s design for manhood and womanhood has tremendous implications for the souls of men and women. If a church abandons the truths of God’s word there, it will abandon God’s word in the most important places—namely the Gospel. The atoning work of Christ for sinners like us cannot be true in a church culture that denies the very essence of who we are created to be.

The loss of the Gospel in a local church has devastating ramifications for the souls of men and women in those congregations.

The Genealogy of Jesus

Have you ever wondered why certain women are in the genealogy of Jesus? Have you ever been surprised when you go back and read their stories? On Friday, I came across a post at the Christianity Today Women’s blog that caught my attention. The initial post was not about Christ’s genealogy per se, but it was about the truth regarding Mary’s shame over her pregnancy. The author seeks to argue that Mary was not shrouded with illegitimacy claims for the remainder of her life because of the nature of her betrothal to Joseph. In other words, she was not considered an unwed mother. What struck me most were the last few paragraphs that served as a rationale for why Mary was not stuck with the scarlet letter of adultery for the rest of her life.

"Finally, some argue that Matthew is emphasizing Mary’s marginality by highlighting four immoral women in Jesus’ genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (called the wife of Uriah the Hittite) (see Matt. 1:2-17). However, it is arguable that all four have histories of faithfulness in the face of troubles. Tamar is credited with doing the right thing in holding her father-in-law to account for failing to look after her. Ruth is repeatedly praised for her obedience to her mother-in-law and to Boaz. Bathsheba was taken from her home by King David, and the text places no blame on her for his misdeed. Only Rahab is identified as a prostitute, but in saving the Hebrew spies and siding with Israel, she redeemed herself and her family — she is a heroine of the story. It remains unclear to me what motivated Matthew to compose his genealogy as he did, but we can rule out the suggestion that the list reinforced Mary’s suspected sexual impropriety."

In all of these cases the text is silent regarding their actions. The Bible doesn’t explicitly say, “and Tamar committed sin by sleeping with her father-in-law.” We know enough to understand that God does not approve of adultery and deception. But God used the line of Judah to bring the Christ into the world. The Bible also doesn’t explicitly condemn Bathsheba for committing adultery (and we also aren’t told if she is forced into it or not). But we are not told exactly that there is no blame placed on her. Again, God used her son, Solomon, to carry on the line of David.

The thing that is so sad about this statement is that it implies that God used only obedient women to bring about his purposes. What hope is there for the Tamar, Bathsheba, and Ruth of today if they were not really what the text says they were? If what this author is saying is true, there is certainly no hope for me?

The reality is we can look at Bathsheba and Tamar and say that yes, they committed sexual sin, but God redeemed their lives and their families in the most amazing way—Messiah would come through them. The circumstances and family line surrounding the birth of our Christ were so unlikely, and so not king-like. But that is the beauty of it all. It’s our story, too. We are the Bathsheba’s, Tamar’s, Rahab’s, and Ruth’s. We were all once Gentiles, sinners, immoral, and outside of God’s family. But he redeemed us, just like he redeemed them.

The great part about their stories is not that they were faithful in the middle of trouble, but that God can, and does, redeem awful people for his glory. God chooses the unlikely to bear his name, so his grace and salvation is made much of. This is the Christmas story, and it is our story too.

The State of the American Woman

In October Time Magazine came out with a cover story on The State of the American Woman. CBMW responded in the initial weeks following the story. You can watch the full response video here.

Today they put up a blog post I wrote about the stories of the woman profiled in the issue. My main point was that womanhood as God defines it is not a cultural construct that shifts with cultural expectations. It is defined by God and it is unchanging.

Here is an excerpt from the end:

The hope for the American woman is not better pay, more career opportunities, perceived equality, or even a well-kept home and family. It is in Jesus Christ alone and in his plan for his people. We don’t believe in womanhood because we just think men should be the “dominant” ones. We believe in womanhood because God said that is what we are. And that is what we must be and teach.

You can read the entire post here.

SBTS Panel on the Trinity

Sorry I have been so quiet lately. It has been a hectic few weeks around here with school, work, and church. So the blog has been low priority. Plus I did some writing work for the Seminary that I wanted to point you too. Southern Seminary and CBMW co-sponsored a discussion on gender and the Trinity a few weeks ago. I had the pleasure of the attending and covering the panel for the seminary paper and for Gender Blog. Drs. Bruce Ware and Gregg Allison were the panelists, and Dr. Randy Stinson (President of CBMW and Dean of the School of Church Ministries) moderated. It was an excellent discussion. I was struck again by how clear the Scriptures are in not only the doctrine of the Trinity, but gender roles as well.

You can read my overview of the event here.

And listen to the audio here.

Enjoy!

Are Christian College's the Last Bastion of Traditional Values?

We are now seeing, among my generation in particular, the many effects of a culture that increasingly normalizes sin. Lisa Miller recently published an article about the rise of homosexual clubs on Christian college campuses. The birth of these clubs is largely due to the influence of Soul Force, a self-proclaimed Christian group that travels to Christian colleges and universities in order to free homosexual and transgendered students from oppression—namely religious oppression.

What was most troubling about the article is not that students are starting homosexual clubs in a community that claims the name of Christ. The problem arose long before these groups ever formed, or even before Soul Force arrived on their property. For many of the schools these students are acting contrary to the doctrinal and lifestyle statements of the institution. And the arrival of Soul Force may only have encouraged these behaviors, not created them. Even though some of the schools mentioned in the article are not sanctioning the clubs, they are not stopping them. An unofficial club is merely a matter of semantics. These schools abdicated their roles as leaders and guides of the next generation long before the students “came out.” And the issue is more a matter of discipleship than of discrimination.

While it could be said that a Christian college or university is not the “church” there is still a sense of shepherding on the part of leadership simply because they profess the name of Christ. They have rules and responsibilities of those who are members of the community, one being (on some campuses) that a student must be a believer. Miller gives several examples of students who are living contrary to these standards set by the institution, including a young woman biding her time until graduation day, who will then depart for her tour with the Soul Force bus openly declaring her lesbianism. How does she slip through the cracks? And what does it say about the institution?

Miller calls Christian colleges “the last bastion of traditional values—places where parents can continue, in absentia, to protect their children from the corrupting influences of the world.” But she goes on to say that this is no longer a valid idea due to the cultural acceptance of homosexual behavior. In the wake of same-sex marriage acceptability, Christian colleges are losing their ability to condemn this behavior, especially when, as she says, “they are wedged between their genuine desire to support the students and their obligations to donors and alumni.” This is when it becomes problematic for them. If we allow students to gather around homosexuality, what is to stop a “Gluttony Club” or “Pornography Club” from forming? Our hope is not in Christian colleges, and parents and students (and even the Church) should not treat it as such. And while our hope does not rest there, they still must function as members of the universal Church, one that never condones homosexuality, or any sexual behavior that deviates from what God has designed.

We have an obligation, as the Church, in a world increasingly confused about gender to speak boldly about what God says. Just because our culture views a particular behavior as acceptable does not mean that we turn a blind eye to it. Where will we be in 10 years if our Christian colleges, and our churches for that matter, do not teach and disciple people through their desires? It should also make us weep for these students. They are living out the darkness of Romans 1—and this is where we would be without the sovereign hand of God on us. And while the “last bastion of traditional values” may be on its way to being given over to the world, we know that the Church never will. Our obligation is to seek and save what is lost and teach them about how God’s glory is displayed in his creation of gender, perhaps even those lost on the Soul Force bus.

The Gender Matters Task Force

My friends in Minnesota have started a blog that, I think, will prove to be very helpful for the students that they minister to. They call themselves the Gender Matters Task Force and they are headed up by my brother and some of my very good friends from college. The GMTF is doing great things for the Gospel on the campus of Northwestern College (my alma mater) and I pray that God will continue to use them to stand firm for his design for our lives. I also pray that God uses their fervor to inspire others to do the same on their college campus.

My friend Kalli wrote an excellent post this weekend on God's design for us as women. She closes by saying:

"When we align ourselves with God’s design we must accept certain limitations. I am not man. As simple as that sounds, the implications are real and if I try to live like a man I will be greatly disappointed. We are only satisfied when we live in such a way that fulfills our purpose. Only then will the Creator be glorified and will we be truly free."

I could not have said it better, friend!

Co-Ed Pastoral Retreats?

I am so thankful that God has given us an Old and New Testament that points us in a clear direction regarding how our churches should run. From the Levite priests to the New Testament apostles and early church elders, God has been establishing for us a pattern of sacrificial, godly, and bold leadership from men patterned after Jesus Christ.

However, what would you think if next Sunday after the benediction at your local church, there were a man and a woman standing together to greet church-goers and offer prayer and counsel? This is not uncommon, and we see it quite often with pastors and their wives.

But imagine if this man and woman were married to other people. And they weren't a husband and a wife, rather they were a co-pastor team leading the congregation together while their spouses sat in the pews. Unfortunately, this is not a hypothetical scenario, because it is becoming increasingly common in some denominations to see male/female pastoral teams serving together. Instead of reviewing the theological arguments for godly, male leadership in the church and home, I think it would be helpful to look at the practical outworking about what it means for a church to have co-pastors of the opposite sex.

Consider the pastoral team of your local church: What would happen if on the next out-of-town retreat they took a new female pastor along? Suddenly there would be a new dynamic. There would be a host of wives (and a husband) left behind with the thought that their husband (or wife) is on a retreat, wrestling through tough issues with another person's spouse. Or what if your pastoral team decided to go to the next national pastor's conference? In that case, the idea of fitting as many pastors into a room as financially and ethically possible would become complex.
Or consider a co-pastor team. The pastorate carries many burdens and weighty issues. If shared with a member of the opposite sex, who is not a spouse, it could bring an unhealthy closeness that should only be protected within the bounds of marriage. When a man and a woman as co-pastors debrief after a hard session counseling a church member, they are left alone to share together the tough emotions and triumphs of personal ministry. This opens the door to a world of practical issues with regards to husbands and wives.

The New Testament commands for church government eliminate all sorts of complexities. It eradicates an avenue for questions in the minds of spouses. Suddenly pastoral accountability isn't nearly as awkward when one doesn't need to share temptations and sin issues with someone of the opposite sex.

God has always had our best interest in mind. No matter how hard we try to ignore or improve on his design, it is never a helpful scenario when men and women serve in such a close personal relationship as co-pastoring. But regardless of the "unhelpful" nature of it, Scripture simply doesn't allow for it. It is on this basis, and this basis alone, that we stand. As we look to God's Word to direct us, we are reminded that these commands are for our good, and for his glory.

*Originally posted here

C.S. Lewis and Gender

Many of us can probably remember our first C.S. Lewis experience. For me, I was introduced to Lewis’ works through the old PBS Chronicles of Narnia series. I loved these movies, and would often step into my bedroom closet just hoping that on the other side the world of Narnia and Aslan would be waiting for me. As I got older my encounters with Lewis became more intellectual. I distinctly remember thinking that I had long way to go at my first, and second, attempts at reading Mere Christianity.

C.S. Lewis is a staple of thought-provoking, engaging evangelicalism, which is why I was delighted to read a complementarian essay by my favorite Narnian.

In his book God in the Dock, Lewis pens an essay entitled “Priestesses in the Church,” where he expresses his dismay over the Anglican communion’s decision to ordain women. As a result of a shortage of priests, much like today, the Anglican church voted to bring women into the priesthood.

He says:

"To take such a revolutionary step at the present moment, to cut ourselves off from the Christian past and to widen the divisions between ourselves and other churches by establishing an order of priestesses in our midst, would be an almost wanton degree of imprudence. And the Church of England herself would be torn in shreds by the operation."

Lewis saw the decision to ordain women as one that would have lasting repercussions on his denomination. And it did. The very denomination that once moved in the direction of the ordination of women is now wrestling with the ordination of homosexuals. The Anglican Church now ordains more women than men.

Lewis saw that the ordination of women has everything to do with the doctrine of God. It is not simply about women being in the pulpit.

"To us a priest is primarily a representative, a double representative, who represents God to us and us to God. Our very eyes teach us this. Sometimes the priest turns his back on us and faces the East—he speaks to God for us: sometimes he faces us and speaks to us for God. We have no objection to a woman doing the first: the whole difficulty is about the second. But why? Why should a woman not in this sense represent God? Certainly not because she is necessarily, or even probably, less holy or less charitable or stupider than a man. In that sense she may be as God-like as a man; and a given woman much more than a given man. The sense in which she cannot represent God will be perhaps plainer if we look at things the other way round."

"Suppose the reformer stops saying that good woman may be like God and starts saying that God is like a good woman. Suppose he says that we might just as well pray to “Our mother which art in heaven” as “Our Father.” Suppose he suggests that the Incarnation might just as well have taken a female as a male form, and the Second Person of the Trinity be as well called Daughter as the Son. Suppose finally that the mystical marriage were reversed, that the Church were the Bridegroom and Christ the Bride. All this, it seems to me, is involved in the claim that a woman can represent God as a priest does."

And there is the reason. The ordination of women is not simply a preferential issue, like we decide music styles. Rather it is deeply rooted in a theology of God, a theology of his Triune nature, and theology of His Gospel. To abandon male ordination is to be set on a trajectory to abandon these fundamental doctrines. Lewis even goes so far as to say that moving away from masculine images and male priests is “against Christianity.”

According to Lewis, gender matters. Not simply in technical terms but for the Gospel itself. As is evident from his from his writings, C. S. Lewis saw in advance the problems that the church now suffers as a result of the ordination of women.

A Whole New Way to Learn About Gender...

Well, sort of. The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood launched their redesigned website over the weekend. It's full of free articles, audio, and back issues of the Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. They truly have done an amazing job. If you are looking for introductory reading, the Fall 2006 issue of the Journal was by women for women, and I frequently go to it as a very helpful resource.

They are the place to go if you are new to understanding biblical gender, or even if you have a little more knowledge on the subject. There is something for everyone.

So, check it out, add it to your favorites, and let them know what you think!

http://www.cbmw.org/

Does God Care How We Worship and Serve?

“Worship is worship. What does it matter how I do it? God cares about my heart and desire to bring Him honor.” So often in evangelical circles we adopt a philosophy that sees worship as primarily about my feelings, all the while saying that it really is about God. God can’t really be upset at me for serving Him in this way, can He?

So often in the gender debate we get bogged down on particulars—who can be pastor’s, who can lead in the church and home, who can preach, can my wife teach our mixed gender Sunday School class, etc. We get so stuck in the banter of church logistics that we are blinded to the real distortion—we don’t understand God. And this is not limited, primarily, to the gender issue. It shows itself in all areas of church life, even down to the teenager in the youth group who is mad about the modesty code.

A friend of mine asked the question recently, “What is a church to do when there are no men to fill the role of pastor, especially in another culture.” I am not going to get into my ideas here about whether or not women should go alone on the mission field. But I am simply going to say this in relation to the American church, often time we, in a genuine earnestness to serve Christ and His Church, make hasty decisions because it seems that at the time there are no other options (i.e. lack of men). Circumstances cannot be the deciding factor for correctness in our decisions, no matter how daunting the outcome may be.

The Israelites were not immune to this sort of thing either. God gave them strict commands for worship, and even told them to not mix their practices of worship with the pagans of the land. All through the books of the Old Testament we see the Israelite people on a trajectory to exile because they did not recognize the holiness of God in His commandments for worship. Every time reformation came with a new king we see the common theme, “but he did not remove the high places.” The high places were convenient, but the high places were also products of the idolatry of the land.

Very often we think that because we want to worship and honor God we can forego His commands for the time being, recognizing that it should be different. God tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice because He has a purpose in all of His commandments—to point to Christ. To worship outside of God’s parameter’s is almost saying that our worship is what God needs, when in reality we are really showing the world, the Church, and God, Himself that His commands are a mere secondary issue.

The fact that the high places were not removed may have seemed like a noble and pure idea in the beginning, just like having a woman serve as pastor for a brief interim may seem like a pure and noble idea. But as we see in the Old Testament, failure to adhere to what God says leads to destruction. What the Israelites missed in their worship of God is the same thing that we miss in our worship of God. The specifications for worship in the Old Testament point to the same thing that the specifications for gender roles point to in the whole of Scripture—Jesus Christ. There was a mystery being displayed in the intricate details of the Pentateuch that was revealed when the veil was torn in two, and the Son of Man said “it is finished.” And there is a mystery being displayed in the Garden of Eden when God created man and woman in distinctly different ways and gave them both a role to play.

I have been a part of a small church that started fifty years ago as a women-led congregation because all of their husbands were unbelievers. The intent was noble and right, but there was a pattern of leadership set in that congregation that never went away. Fundamentally our disagreements about gender roles are too shallow, just like our disagreements about so many things in church politics are shallow. It all will eventually come down to whether or not we trust God. Do we trust that God is who He says He is? If we do, then we must trust that when He tells us how to live, He will provide for us the means to live in such a way. We must establish a framework of Scripture and God that ultimately sees the mystery that Christ has with His Bride. Maybe then our dialogue would get somewhere.

Going to the Chapel: Where is the Tradition?

There is an article in Tuesday's USA Today entitled "More Men Taking Wive's Last Names" which talks about the rise of men legally taking on their wives names upon marriage. Apparently it doesn't always go over very well with the friends and family who are waiting for them in the receiving line.

At first glance it might not seem like a big deal, but piggy-backing off of my post yesterday, this too addresses a pressing issue in our culture. We have made marriage into whatever we want it to be. Gone are the days of godly, and stealing a word from John Piper, “lion-hearted and lamblike” days of male leadership. Now we have a new wave of young couples redefining what it actually means to live in wedded bliss.

What does this mean for us? Is it really a big deal if men take on the last names of their wives? It’s just a name right? Not really. The fact that men are spending $350 dollars to legally become the subordinate in the relationship is something that should make us think. One husband said “I wanted to tweak the tradition while showing my wife I love her."

That’s a far cry from the words of our God through the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:25 where he says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Christ loved the church by leading her, protecting her, and dying for her. There is no question about roles and leadership in Christ’s relationship to His Bride the Church—yet His love for her is evident and undeniable.

So, what does this mean for us? If we embrace the idea that love means denying roles and changing “tradition” then we are showing the world that we have a Christ who abandons His Church—which is blasphemous and a hindrance to the spreading of the Gospel. The greatest act of love a husband can ever display to his wife is to love her as our Lord Jesus Christ so mercifully loved us. It’s not tradition that we are seeking to recover; it’s the authority of the Bible. Because after all, it’s not just a name—it’s an entire worldview.

What is gender anyway?

That is what a German boy and his parents are saying when he became the youngest person to ever undergo gender change treatment. Tim, who is 14, insists that he is a girl trapped in a boy's body, and has been doing so since he was 2. This should break our hearts. Here is a young boy, a child really, who is confused about how God has created him. And who is there to help him? No one. His parents affirm him, the doctors are all for it, and most of the world is embracing this young man's "gender disorder," siting that he is "clearly in the wrong body."

We are not left without an answer for young Tim. Genesis 1:27 tells us, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (ESV). God does not arbitrarily choose gender, nor (most importantly) does he make mistakes when he creates people. Before young Tim was even a thought, God ordained that he be a boy. He created him to be a boy, and to bear his image as a boy. That is the beauty of gender distinctions. That God creates men and women in his image, but he creates them differently, so there can be no confusion as to how you should behave as your God-given gender. And even more crucial than that, he creates complementary genders because it greater manifests his glory and points to Christ. When we abolish biblical gender distinctions, we open the door for more innocent, young people to be confused and socially constructed to think that gender is a non-issue.

My heart goes out to this young man, who no matter what chemicals are given to him, or surgical procedure happens to him, he will still be a man. Because that is how God created him. May God awaken his eyes to the beauty of being an image bearer in the body and role that he was ordained to have by a Holy Creator.