Six Points and Eight Suggestions for an Egalitarian Advancement Methodology

            I’m a Christian Biblical egalitarian. That means, in part, that I believe and support the position that, according to the bible, women are equal to men in virtually all aspects of life including the home and the Church. I believe that women can teach men biblical doctrine and hold the church positions of pastor and senior pastor.

            I wasn’t always an egalitarian. Up until 2002 I was a biblical complementarian. A complementarian is a Christian who generally believes that a man is the authority in the home (the woman is subordinate) and only a man can be a pastor. In 2002 I enrolled in a complementarian Southern Baptist seminary. I took biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) classes from complementarian professors. However, when I applied their immensely invaluable methods for interpreting the bible I was immediately and thoroughly convinced that the bible both allowed and encouraged women in an equal role with men.

            There are many issues of social injustice for which the Christian can engage racism, poverty, war, healthcare, etc.). Through prayer (an interest) everyone pursues a topic or two on which to focus. There are three reasons for why I am a vocal and continuous advocate for egalitarianism:

•  It’s the biblical truth.
• We Church hinders its mission when it only uses 50% of its pastoral leadership pool.
• Patriarchy is one of the most ancient forms of social injustices. [I’m currently writing an article about how the ancient Israelites conceptualized the rise of social injustice, particularly in Genesis 1-11, 19 and Judges 19.]

            Those last two reasons are significant. The Christian Faith has an endgame, a goal. It’s referenced many times in the bible, but most clearly in 1 Corinthians 15, Romans 8, Revelation 21-22, Psalm 110, and Daniel 7. It is when the world will be completely redeemed, and all oppression eliminated. One significant aspect of the Christian Faith is participating in Christ’s reform or elimination of these oppressive institutions. Patriarchy is one of these oppressive institutions.

So, I would like to offer some points, suggestions, and general guidance on what I believe is the best method to achieve the egalitarian goal. The suggestions are based on the points, and both suggestions and points derive from demographic research, Scriptural teachings on the gospel and the accompanying gospel methodology. This method is about playing the long game by the direction of the Spirit and within the movement of the culture, by both speaking and living the truth in love. It isn’t about bullying, excluding, mocking, or using “politics” to achieve quick but temporary goals. Rather, it is about a patient, incremental, and Spirit-led process of more permanent transformation and redemption.

 

Point One: The Holy Spirit has been moving the Church towards greater egalitarianism and will continue to do so. God will accomplish this because God wants to accomplish this.

Point Two: The movement of the culture is in the egalitarianism’s favor. (See the demographic pics on this post.) Most people WANT egalitarianism to be true. These factors (especially from the previous point) give egalitarians and overwhelming advantage.

Point Three: We won’t convince hard complementarians. Even if the egalitarian reading of Scripture is recognized by everyone, hard complementarians will always find an excuse. Example: many hard complementarians were willing to change 2,000 years of Trinitarian doctrine [i.e., Eternal Subordination of the Son] in order to establish the validity complementarianism, and even those hard complementarians who disagreed with them considered altering the Trinity an “agree-to-disagree” issue. The latter group is far more a concern than the former. It means that hard complementarians think that permitting a woman to proclaim the gospel is a far bigger problem than altering the doctrine of the Trinity.

Point Four: Most soft complementarians will be content with egalitarianism even if they disagree (again see polling pics). They’ll shrug their shoulders, agree-to-disagree and live with the inevitable result regardless of the outcome.

Point Five: Complementarians stake their position on this subject based on their interpretation of the bible. In the Southern Baptist Convention, biblical inerrancy is a badge of Christian fidelity. But complementarianism is the most important badge of biblical inerrancy. For someone to state that a biblical inerrantist can be an egalitarian (particularly if that someone is a noted leader like Beth Moore) is like telling a stereotypical 1^st century Pharisee, “One doesn’t need to be circumcised to be a faithful. In fact, one doesn’t need to be a Jew in order to be recognized as part of the children of God.”

Point Six: Have you noticed that many hard complementarians come-off as mean-spirited and unappealing? They often display language, humor, and attitudes which are demeaning, misogynistic, and turn-off both soft complementarians and the undecided.

Suggestion One: Focus on the goal. Don’t make egalitarianism an end in of itself. Stress that egalitarianism is a means to proclaim the gospel, make disciples, and make the Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. This is completely true, it looks great to the unconvinced, and it helps to emphasize this to both complementarians and egalitarians.

Suggestion Two: In general, don’t argue with hard complementarians unless 1) there are others watching the debate who would be easier to convince, or 2) you want to test the strength of an egalitarian argument against real “opposition”.

Suggestion Three: Focus mainly on those just beginning to form opinions and positions on egalitarianism & complementarianism. If the hard complementarians won’t be convinced, and the soft complementarians won’t care, then the struggle should be with the undecided future. People become complementarians because they are born into a system and worldview which tells them that complementarianism is the correct way the world should work. As biblical egalitarians, we supposed to be a part of God’s plan in Christ to right the world. We want to create a worldview in which people are born into this world in which every child grows up assuming women and men are equal in home, church, and world (Prov 22:6).

Suggestion Four: Don’t try to win the argument; try to win the person. This is exactly what Jesus did when he spoke with the woman at the well (John 4). When he mentions something that makes her uncomfortable (v. 17-19), she brings up a divisive theological-political issue (v. 20), possibly as a distraction to change the subject (see Acts 23:6-10). Jesus doesn't take the bait. His response is to go much deeper into the problem than in the surface, contentious matters, but still making the matter personal for the woman (v. 21).

Suggestion Five: Make your arguments appealing and palatable to others. Figure out who your audience is and then decide how best to frame and communicate the truth in a way that would be more accepting to the person or people. Choose appropriate and appealing terminology. All faith traditions, races, nations, cultures, and wings of the Church favor ideas, terms, emphases, and doctrines that others may not. Figure out what those are for a given fellow believer or group, figure out how egalitarianism relates and supports it, and then make your appeal that way.

Suggestion Six: Be biblical in your arguments. Most people do not arrive at religious conclusions based on careful, logical examinations of the various arguments, biblical or otherwise. However, logical arguments (particularly from the bible) help secure people in their convictions. Therefore, stress the importance of Scripture and the biblical basis for egalitarianism. As noted above, a position of biblical fidelity and egalitarianism undercuts the arguments and preconceived attitudes of the hard complementarians who are also trying to convince the undecided. I’d add that most complementarians (even the hard kind) don’t have a great biblical basis for their position because their faith traditions have excluded all those who could offer a proper egalitarian defense. With some familiarity of the subject, it’s fairly easy to mop the floor with a complementarian with biblical arguments. But, again, hard complementarians won’t change, so humiliating them won’t advance the gospel. We want to love them but be strategic in how we approach them on this subject.

Suggestion Seven: Be loving, merciful, and patient with complementarians. Let complementarians know that you want to work with them for ministry and mission. If we want complementarians to be inclusive of us, then we need to be inclusive of us. Both soft complementarians and the undecided will note our good attitudes and appreciate it. We want soft complementarians and the undecided to look at egalitarians and think, “Wow! Those egalitarians love the Lord, preach the gospel, and love even with whom they disagree. I like having them around.” Soft complementarian tolerance of egalitarians and their position is 75% of the victory. Time will insure the remaining 25%.

Suggestion Eight: Pray. We need to find out what God wants us to do as individuals and as a group to achieve victory. And then we do it! Pray before you jump into an argument. Pray for mercy and patience when amongst or talking to hard complementarians. Pray for the best way to communicate to an undecided.