MAY I HAVE A WORD? S u san M ichaelson
Which Women?
direction (Priscilla and Aquila teaching Apollos in Acts 18:26; Junia named as an apostle in Romans 16:7; and Chloe as church leader in 1 Corinthians 1:11 among them) are marginalized.Those of Millions of women and girls in Asia and us who would challenge their hermeAfrica endure overwhelming suffering neutical and exegetical assumptions are because of poverty, greed, ignorance, and dismissed as radical feminists. In their view, oppressive cultural imperatives. That so we are willfully ignoring the clear word much of it is preventable makes it all the of God to pursue selfish, sinful, egalitarmore heartbreaking. Most of us in the ian agendas.They, on the other hand, are West, and especially in the United States, protectors of the purity of the church. are blessed beyond measure by compariI am absolutely supportive of sound son; our women-specific challenges are Christian doctrine but remain noncalibrated on a vastly different scale. For plussed that this frankly minor question evangelicals, that difference invites us to has taken on a life of its own. Ironically, roll up our sleeves and partner with the the most vocal complementarians tend pioneers who have shown us the desper- to view the mid-20th century American ate needs of these victimized women. suburban TV household — think Ozzie Sadly, however, far too many evan- and Harriet or the Cleavers — as the gelicals are embroiled in women’s issues ideal biblical view. Meanwhile, egalitarof another sort to be able to respond to ians are said to be trapped into following such an invitation. Instead of whole- the dictates of our culture rather than the heartedly pursuing the example set by word of God. (I’m not making this up.) Jesus to liberate and elevate women The problem, of course, is that the trapped in bondage, they are distracted cost of preserving blunt patriarchal subby the effort to preserve men-in-charge mission structures is high. These comchurch- and home-leadership schemes. mitments prevent a church from minisIndeed, to evangelicals so oriented, one tering wisely and well to all its members. of the most serious sins is allowing gifted When only men hold positions of official and educated women to breech the per- authority, women in the congregation ceived divide reserving leadership posi- are deprived of close personal ministry tions and ordained ministry for men. relationships with their pastors and elders. Following close behind is the failure of The safeguards in place to prevent wives to properly submit to their husbands. inappropriate counseling intimacies from The Council on Biblical Manhood and developing between a male pastor and Womanhood, a standard-bearer for this female congregants have a downside perspective (known as complementarian- (apart from their high failure rate).Women ism), believes that the authority of are held at arm’s length in awkward Scripture, the health of the church and relationships with their pastors and elders the family, worship, and the advance of at times of great spiritual and emotional the gospel all rise or fall on this point. need. In some situations, battered women Adherents spend stunning amounts also face the nightmare of being sent of time, energy, and assets toiling over home to do a better job of submitting turgid books, articles, and blog posts because their male ecclesiastical judges arguing for this understanding of Scrip- either don’t believe them or blame them. ture. In a nutshell, they read 1 Timothy Then there is the squandering of tal2:11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:2-10 and 14:34- ent and resources. Women are encour35 as gender-role trump cards for all aged to get seminary educations — and time. Passages that push hard in the other incur debt to finance them. Graduates can PRISM 2 0 1 0
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teach university classes, present papers at conventions, speak worldwide, and write for the Christian academic and lay world, but if they are caught exhorting an audience including men in a patriarchal setting, they will be publicly rebuked, castigated, and blacklisted. Diane Langberg and Carolyn Custis James are notable examples of educated, accomplished, godly women who happened to have crossed that line. Of course, a good bit of the effort associated with keeping women on their own side of the line has to do with clarifying where the line is. As is so often the case, when theology hits the street, it’s not so easy. I was once permitted to teach adult Sunday school — as long as an ordained elder was present. What about women teaching teenage boys? Leading worship? Participating in leadership teams? Then there are the well-known mission field exemptions, where women do whatever is necessary, leading in ways that would never fly at home. The truth is that patriarchal churches cannot function without women doing far more than a restricted reading of the trump-card verses would permit. The resulting silly and self-justifying interpretive hairsplitting consumes absurd amounts of time and demeans all involved. Is this really what preserving the purity of the church and upholding the sacred authority of the word of God is supposed to look like? In the meantime, those other women and their problems are out there, begging for the church’s gaze and commitment — females who are mutilated, aborted, kidnapped, raped, and sold.Whenever we choose to pour time, energy, and assets into one endeavor, something else necessarily goes begging.Women are indeed a problem for the evangelical church. The question is, which women? n Susan Michaelson holds an MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary and an MBA. She teaches New Testament at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pa.