My initial hope was to read about women in the church, write some posts, and be done with it. But as is often the case, the more you know the more you realize how much you don’t know. I have more questions than I started with. I’m keenly aware of my lack of knowledge regarding the context of these difficult passages and the history of how the church has viewed women. Even more—scholars themselves say different things!
We Will Get It Wrong
Tish Harrison Warren says, “We do the best to exegete and then we fall on the grace of God.” That’s encouraging as I think through women’s place in the church: my theology is never perfect, and God will still use me. It’s encouraging as I read other perspectives, too. Godly people can have significant blind spots—it can be me or you or any of our heroes. We’re all a work in progress. We’re going to get it wrong. And that’s why we need Jesus.
However, we don’t just need Jesus for our inaccurate beliefs. We need Jesus for the harsh ways we articulate them. The greatest danger in this conversation is not incorrect theology but lovelessness. This doesn’t mean we can’t be angry over others’ beliefs—sometimes that’s fitting. It also doesn’t mean we can make the Bible mean whatever we want. Our theology is not inconsequential. But if we cannot listen to the grievances of those we disagree with, we aren’t loving.
Complementarianism without love is nothing. Egalitarianism without love is nothing. It doesn’t matter what our view is, if we express it without love no one will be able to hear us.
No False Dichotomies
In my last post, I shared some of my grievances about being a woman. Admittedly, it was told from a particular angle. So I want to make clear what I’m not saying.
I’m not saying a woman’s body is irrelevant. I’m not saying it’s okay to devalue stay-at-home moms, the home, motherhood, pregnancy, or children. Because they have been devalued. It’s why discussions on women in the church get so visceral. Both sides feel their work and gifts are unseen. One feels their teaching and leadership gifts are devalued, the other feels their homemaking is devalued. And both have been. By focusing on women’s ordination, I’m not advocating that we ignore the home. If we are to value women as women, we should support them wherever God calls them. I refuse to accept the false dichotomy that pits some women’s gifts, goals, and desires against others.
In the recent movie, Little Women, Jo March doesn’t desire to ever marry. She’s bold and ambitious and wants to be a writer. Her sister, Meg, has always wanted to be a wife and a mother. In one scene, Jo begs Meg not to get married. Meg famously replies, “Just because my dreams are different than yours doesn’t mean they’re unimportant.” She is exactly right. The conversation around what women can or should do cannot be reduced to an either/or.
Why I’m Writing
I’ve never desired to be someone who writes about gender. I don’t want to talk about what women can do as much as I want to do it. But as a woman who wants to teach the Bible, this is a topic I can’t ignore. I’m reading about it anyway, so I might as well write about it, too. Most of all, I’m writing because I love Jesus, Scripture, and the church. I want to see Scripture interpreted rightly and used rightly in our lives.
But as I said, we’re all a work in progress, myself included. I’ll share the most compelling arguments for women’s place in the church, but there’s no guarantee that my views will stay the same for the next five or ten or twenty years. There’s never a guarantee, because only God is changeless. Change is perhaps the most consistent thing about us.[1]
At the end of her recent book, Lore Ferguson Wilbert writes, “Wherever I may err, though it be unintentional, please disregard my counsel and heed the Word of God and the Holy Spirit instead.” I want to repeat that for anything I write here. Comments and discussion are welcome. But most importantly, look at the passages for yourself. Research. And pray.
Past Posts on Women’s Ordination:
Absolutely Certain About Women’s Ordination
My Story as a Woman in the Church
[1]Heraclitus said something like this.
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