Seven Needed Revisions within Complementarianism John McKinley
Editor’s note: This article was presented at the 2021 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and then published in slightly revised form by Fathom Magazine (https://fathommag.com/) under the title, “The Need for a Third Way Between Egalitarianism and Complementarianism.” It is reprinted here with permission from the author and from Fathom. Dr. McKinley is not egalitarian, and we are grateful for his contribution to Priscilla Papers. ~Jeff Miller Publisher’s note: “Evangelicals and Women”—a study section of the ETS—hosted Dr. McKinley’s presentation, published below, in 2021. As I was privileged to moderate his paper, I can attest to the crowd he attracted, the pressure he faced, and the courage, grace, and obedience to Christ he displayed. Prompted by the Holy Spirit to address these issues, John also spoke of his profound love and respect for his wife and daughter. His responsiveness to God is undeniable and a model to us all. ~Mimi Haddad Complementarianism is a theological model of women and men that faces two problems.1 The first problem is the perception that this theology demeans women. When many people hear the discourse about role distinctions of women and men, they hear an emphasis on inequality. Some people also hear an implication that women are ontologically inferior, or they are more vulnerable to deception than men are (since many prominent proponents of complementarianism insist that God excludes women from teaching the church or functioning as pastors or elders). Many women have been hurt by complementarian institutions.2 I know that many proponents of complementarianism do not intend these impressions and experiences. We should all deplore this impression that complementarianism makes some women feel diminished, inferior to men, and less valuable to God. To meet this problem of perception, I propose six items below that should be emphasized because they are ways to affirm women in church practices. I expect that many who identify themselves as complementarian will agree with most or all these six emphases. Some who bear the label of complementarian will disagree, which is another problem. The second problem facing complementarianism is that many proponents of the position disagree so strongly with the six emphases presented below that they do not belong to the same position, despite the way that both sets of proponents embrace the label of complementarianism. The two competing definitions for one label causes confusion that could be fixed by pursuing a distinct position that is neither egalitarianism nor normative complementarianism (restriction of women from teaching men and from leadership functions in churches). To address this second problem, the seventh proposal is to articulate a Gender Humility theology of women and men which affirms the ideas already embraced by many who otherwise identify themselves as mild or soft complementarians. An alternative to normative complementarianism and egalitarianism is needed to continue
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• Priscilla Papers | 36/2 | Spring 2022
the work on thinking about sex distinctions, relationships, and God’s calling to individuals. The seven proposals are listed as follows: 1.
The goal of humility
2.
Jesus is our goal, instead of restrictive gender stereotypes and roles
3.
Women are the image of God alongside men
4.
Paul’s meaning of the head-body metaphor according to his actual use of it
5.
Update theological discourse and Bible translation
6.
The metaphor of the church as a family
7.
Distinguish a third way of Gender Humility
1. The Goal of Humility Humility is a lowly posture brought about by God in a person so he or she can serve others.3 God the Son humbled himself into human life and served people. He brought divine revelation down to the level of his students’ understanding. He accommodated himself to their needs for healing, instruction, reminders, and friendship. Everything he did was for their benefit, to serve their needs. Jesus reversed himself from rabbi and Lord to be a slave for his students and suffer for their redemption. He urged this same humility to his apostles. He warned them against taking up a position above others the way that people normally do in leadership, pointing them instead to serve each other as he served them.4 The humility of Jesus is God’s goal for each person, so complementarianism should promote the humility of men and women toward each other above concerns for authority, rights, and power. Christians are called and moved by God in a race to the bottom for humble service that can only be humble because no one keeps track, like the left hand not knowing what the right hand is giving. Love does not keep a record of wrongs, and humility does not keep a record of rights—neither personal privileges nor good deeds that might be praised. The largest ideas of leadership supplied from our culture are authority and power, but Jesus has displaced that mistake by supplying himself as the contradiction—humility and service. We can know we have been humble when others feel supported by us, but we are relatively anonymous. Rachel Green Miller warns that we “. . . need to be careful not to let our appropriate discussions on authority and submission in the home and church become the lens through which we see all male-and-female interactions.”5 Instead of seeing everything according to authority and submission, our lens should be the humility of Jesus toward one another. He possesses all the authority as Lord of creation and the sole head of the church, and Jesus operates by serving the others around him constantly. He worked to lift others up. His work was to equip, encourage,
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