Sola Deo Gloria!


Touchstone Magazine has become a frequent website I visit. It is a magazine promoting Christian orthodoxy or as the editors borrow from C.S. Lewis in its subtitle: "mere" Christianity. It features the writings of Christians from the three major streams of the Christianity: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant. It has an traditional (i.e. conservative), yet ecumenical approach to Christianity. Yet all the writers are maintain an allegiance to their respective Christian traditions. Timothy George, J.I. Packer, Thomas C. Oden, and R. Albert Mohler, are frequent contributers representing the evangelical wing of Protestantism.

I tend to like the overall gist of the magazine. Orthodoxy comes form the Greek word orthodoxos meaning "right opinion; praise; glory". Christian orthodoxy is basically outlined in the ancient Creeds developed in the ecumenical councils of the early Church.

But I have this against Touchstone. There are hardly any contemporary orthodox authors from non-European backgrounds. Where are the members of the Majority World? Where are the African Americans, Latinos, and Asian American theologians? Now are are female authors, but rarely are evangelical egalitarians (Christians for Biblical Equality). Most of the theologians, biblical scholars, and intellectuals featured in Touchstone espouse a complementarian theology and strongly maintain it is important for Christians to adopt such in order to included in the boundaries of Christian orthodoxy.

I feel for my sisters in Christ who maintain orthodoxy have to wrestle between it and their identity as women. To be truly female in orthodox Christian traditions is to maintain one's place: under the "sacrificial leadership of men within the divine creation order." Although their is rich biblical and theological scholarship have challenged hand have refuted the exegetical claims from the complementarian camp, egalitarians are in the minority within classical Christian circles. Wesleyan-Holiness and Pentecostal traditions early in their histories have argued a biblical and theological case for women's call to preach the Gospel and minister in pastoral leadership for over one hundred years. The African Methodist Episcopal Church has ordained women since nearly its inception. In recent years three women have been elected to the bishopric. Because of the current historical climate of feminism and the gay rights movements, anything that "smells" like feminism (especially for many editors of Touchstone), it is shut down and dismissed as borderline, if not, downright heretical and inimical to the Gospel (i.e. Together for the Gospel official document link).

Though women were ordained clergy in the early history of the Church, Christians theologians maintained that only males can sacramentally represent Christ fully in the ordained priesthood (Orthodox, Roman Catholic) and/or that males in church leadership is analogous to the "headship" of husbands in the home and Christ and his Church (conservative evangelicalism , see Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood's magna carta, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood).

Some like Leon J. Podles and R. Albert Mohler have asserted that a "feminization of Christianity' over the last fifty or so years, if not, centuries ago. According to a 2006 report in the New York Times, women make up 51 percent of recently enrolled seminary students yet in mainline denominations women clergy make up 3 percent. Most evangelical denominations, with the exception the Wesleyan-Holiness, Evangelical Covenant, recently the Christian Reformed, and the Pentecostal Churches (AG, Church of God TN, Pentecostal-Holiness, Foursquare), do not ordain women. The Church of God in Christ, the largest black trinitarian Pentecostal denomination does not officially ordain women to the pastorate. Women are licensed evangelists and missionaries and ordained military chaplains. However, bishops can appoint women to pastor church within his jurisdiction but they are not officially called "Rev.", "Elder", or "Pastor" but the traditional Sanctified Church title for revered older women "Mother", "Evangelist", "Prophetess" or "Shepherdess".

What's an orthodox Christian egalitarian women and man to do? She or he do not have a kindred fellowship with those of a liberal theological stripe. She or he has more in common with her complementarian Christian brothers... and sisters! Yet when one Christian women is convinced by Scripture and the Holy Spirit to minister as the Spirit wills, she is giving "biblical boundaries" to minister because of her womanhood. Where is she to go? The harvest is ripe for the harvest. The sheep need a shepherd but she is denied the office because she is told God does not call women to shepherd the sheep because it would undermined the divinely ordained social hierarchical relationship with male and female.

Why is this an important issue for me, you ask? Because as the title of this post says, it is for God's glory alone I write this. I believe the most fundamental relational issue in the world today second to humanity's broken relationship with God is humanity's broken relationship with humanity. Male and female are in a constant struggle. Though most say it's for control and that may be true. I must say it is essentially the quest to relate with each other as male and female. It is truly a crisis of identity. What does it mean to be human as male and female. For centuries theologians have labored to study this theological problem. Yes, this is a theological problem. Sin though defeated at the Cross, it has residue with the barrels our humanity.

We as the Body of Christ still await the Second Advent of our King and the redemption of our bodies. Our bodies are sexed. We are sexual beings. Yet with the modern theories that have developed the category known as "gender" has been included in our cultural lexicon. Gender means the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Gender is formed and informed by our various cultures. Yes their are biologically gender differences. But cultures play a key role too. The paradox is gender has helped and even confused the debate among sincere orthodox believers.

This will be a long journey of discovering what God has created. We are a undone people. The Church really has to dig deep in the wells of Scripture and in the unsearchable depths of the Spirit of God. The Gospel of reconciliation doesn't just reconcile us back to God but reconciles us back to each other. The Church is the new Eden. Yet we are a undone people ever submitting ourselves in the hand of the Potter to mold us into the image of his Son. I hope to continue in faith in this discussion within the Church. The issue of women in ministerial leadership should be a non-essential issue in the Church. But the issue has roots in the essentials; the doctrine of God, the doctrine of creation, the doctrine of sin, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of the Church, and so forth. The Gospel is truly hindered when believers refrain from speaking in love. Anger rests in the bosom of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:9). Our witness must be true to Christ and the glory of the Father. A dying world is watching for us to fulfill the Master declaration that we are the city upon the hill whose lights shines for all men to see. May it shine bright so the world may glorify the Father who is in heaven and his Son who sits at his right hand forever. Amen