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The issue of women’s roles in church and home is sensitive, even among those who believe nearly the same things. For that reason, our special report on the subject took two months longer than I expected. More than one or two Baptist spokesmen (and women) declined comment—some possibly fearful that we would mangle their quotes and embarrass them; others maybe concerned that we might quote them accurately.
We did not make any effort to contact those who torture Scripture to upend the biblical teaching on the roles of sisters and brothers in Christ. Gender roles are not the only place we differ with those who diminish scriptural authority. Give up the scriptural authority and you become a mere passenger as your theology leaves the rails. The people we quoted in these stories agree with me and each other on biblical authority, and on nearly everything else. They believe that wives should submit to the servant leadership of their own husbands and that the pastor of a church should be a man. Beyond these two convictions are interpretations and matters of prudence that lead some to ordain deaconesses, others to appoint sisters to teach co-ed Bible classes or lead singing, and other churches to do none of these things. We spoke with one leader who believes that a woman is biblically qualified to teach nearly any class in a Baptist seminary. A few won’t tell us what they believe, though I’m certain they also affirm a biblical, complementarian viewpoint.
So what is the rub? First, I think there is a well-founded concern that compromise can lead where we never intended to go. That happened in recent SBC history. Some who “merely” wanted a kinder convention, tolerant of other views of Genesis and Jonah, are now affirming transgender pastors from their pedobaptist pulpits. In a culture that lampoons biblical morality, we want to be very different from that culture. It makes some leaders who would utilize the sisters in every role but elders careful lest they be thought liberal. Second, trust has been wounded for those who’ve been treated disrespectfully because they are women. They still agree doctrinally with the most conservative of us, but they have been offended by condescension or abuse on the part of some male leaders.
Taking on the mind of Christ as we try to live in unity does not compromise scriptural truth, but it does move us to root out those places where we have been proud, thoughtless, inappropriately ambitious, bitter, peevish or even rude when we are right.
Gary Ledbetter, Editor
In nearly every debate within the body of Christ not involving the nature of God, man or salvation, go back to Philippians 2:1-11. Taking on the mind of Christ as we try to live in unity does not compromise scriptural truth, but it does move us to root out those places where we have been proud, thoughtless, inappropriately ambitious, bitter, peevish or even rude when we are right. Can you preach Philippians 2 without stepping on everyone’s toes?
That means the brothers should not speak as though the fairer sex is also a less competent one. That’s not true. Our wives and sisters don’t submit because the men in their lives are smarter or work harder—we are all of the same essence, and our giftedness is fully necessary to the body whether we preach, help, give, encourage or do any other thing the Spirit empowers for the edification of all. We should not behave as if a deacons or elders meeting is a secret society—grown-up stuff in a way that other gatherings are not. It’s proud, even vain, to behave in this way and can needlessly provoke resentment. Christlike humility will move the brothers to seek ways to serve the body of Christ rather than seek position or acclaim offered by fellow sinners.
The mind of Christ will move the sisters to submit to Christ and the precepts written in the Scriptures that God inspired. It will move them to forgive real and perceived slights more readily. It will help the sisters avoid being easily provoked and less apt to bitterness when provocations inevitably come. It will lead them to seek places to serve their churches rather than seeking recognition and affirmation from fellow sinners.
This is not a “can’t we all just get along?” piece. If we accept that love is an active concept, so is humility. Christ humbled himself by doing something. He tells us to do something—esteem one another better than ourselves. This means look for ways to honor, value, encourage those around you as they seek to serve God with the gifts given to them. We additionally miss some of the gifts God gave our churches when we diminish the other sex. There are consequences when God’s people undervalue humility and servanthood. Certainly this discussion will continue as we seek God’s way in a confused and confusing culture. But we must also stop letting the delightful differences between brothers and sisters be an impediment rather than the complement they were meant to be.
