Worthy

The complementarian-egalitarian debate is alive and kicking in some parts of the church. For some reason this area of theology evokes extremely strong opinions from some people on both sides. I suspect that much of the rancor arises because people have been personally wounded by those who disagree. Few subjects in the church seem quite as likely to vilify one’s “opponents.” One blog I read recently gave the impression that egalitarians were being led by the devil.

Perhaps that is why I found Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher’s book, Worthy: Celebrating the Value of Women, to be a breath of fresh air. I wasn’t overly familiar with their writings, and I didn’t read the book endorsements, so for the first several chapters of their book I was under the impression that they were going to bring forth an egalitarian argument. I was therefore surprised when they affirmed a complementarian perspective. You might see why I thought that from these quotes:

“We are saying that women—as a sex—are not more sinful than men. Women are not more deceivable than men. Women are not less intelligent than men. Women are not more prone to error than men. Women are not more dangerous than men. Women are not more arrogant or domineering than men. Women are not to be viewed with more suspicion than men. All women are born into sin, unrighteous by both nature and choice—as are all men” (ch. 2).

“What should you see when you see a Christian woman? You should not see a snare, a temptation, and a pitfall. You should not see an object of sexual gratification, a threat to power, or a crafty usurper. You should see a mother and a sister, a family member in the faith. See someone who, regardless of her past, wears the righteousness of Jesus Christ. See someone who God adopted as a child—a fellow heir of the kingdom—someone who is still commissioned to be the necessary help that is needed as we fight against the evil one. See someone who the Spirit of God fills and gifts for service as a blessing to the world, the church, and her home. See a woman who will one day rise from the dead to reign with Jesus forever. Tell her that’s who she is. Tell her the Gospel” (ch. 3).

“What is the significance of women’s presence throughout Jesus’ ministry and especially in the last hours of his life? Women were a marginalized social class. Faith would be expected from one of the Twelve, such as Judas and Peter. But it is the women who followed him without betrayal or denial. The chief priests, the elders, and the high priest of Israel should have recognized their Messiah. But a woman anoints the King. The unexpected, despised, rejected Messiah is followed by unexpected, despised, rejected people. But Jesus does not despise and reject these unexpected disciples. He sees, receives, and affirms them, and promises that they will never be forgotten” (ch. 5).

“A Christian woman’s vocation is simple: make disciples and teach them the truth about the One who has come. That doesn’t mean that women who are gifted and so inclined shouldn’t seek to fulfill this commission in part by raising godly children or loving their spouses in his name. But that particular vocation is no longer primary… Single Christian women no longer have to await motherhood in order to bring others into his covenant people. This shift away from the sole option of motherhood to joining their brothers in disciple-making is seen in part in the change from male circumcision to male and female baptism… Women were shown to be members of the [old] covenant only through their relationship to a circumcised male. But now women are free to enter into the new sign, baptism, whether they are bound to a believing male or not; a woman’s circumcised and baptized Husband has already come” (ch. 11).

However, I’d say one of the best quotes comes from their conclusion:

“As your fellow believers—church members and leaders—wrestle with hard questions, search the Bible, and consider how to faithfully live together as a family of believers; do not view them as enemies. View them as God does—as family. You share the same blood—that of Christ—and the same future. View them as necessary allies, gifts of grace, given by God for your good. You need this Spirit-filled family to sharpen, challenge, and shape you, just as much as they need you.

“Christian faithfulness requires compassion toward Christians who disagree with us. We realize that as sincere Christians go to the Bible to develop their doctrine, we often come away with different, yet Christian convictions. This is why we have paedobaptists and credobaptists. This is why we have congregationalist and elder-ruled churches. This is why we have Christians who serve in the armed forces and those who are conscientious objectors to war. This is why we have complementarians and egalitarians. People who love Jesus, believe the Gospel, and submit to the authority of Scripture, come away from the Bible with differing but sincere convictions.

“We must not shy away from discussion and debate about what the Bible teaches. But we must bear in mind that we hold our differing convictions as members of a larger family. Let us not turn genuine brothers and sisters in the faith into enemies, but remember to show compassion in each disagreement. We are part of a bigger realm, the kingdom of God, in which brothers and sisters disagree as we wait together for our King to come and make us (and our doctrine) perfect… Christian conviction should compel Christian unity, not excuse Christian division. We should strive to stand and serve together to as great an extent as possible with all who confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died for our sins and rose from the dead.”

As people of the Book, we can disagree on many things without turning our co-laborers into enemies. We need to remember who the true enemy is. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against… the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12 ESV). Let’s not create more wounds by attacking those within our own eternal family.

“My beloved children, let us not love merely in word or in tongue — Contenting ourselves with complimental expressions of regard, or with giving our Christian brethren nothing but fair speeches; but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18 Benson Commentary).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

The Family Tree

Our church is beginning a study of the book of Matthew, which opens with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. There is much that could be said about each person listed, but I want to note five people in particular—the five women. Women were not typically included in genealogies at that time, and this genealogy would have been sufficient even without them listed. So Matthew, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, must have had good reason to mention these five names.

Tamar - “Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar” (Matt. 1:3 ESV).

Tamar’s story is found in Genesis 38. She was married to Judah’s son Er who died. By Jewish law she was entitled to go to her brother-in-law Onan so that she could bear a son. Onan refused and God put him to death. Judah promised Tamar she would eventually go to his other son Shelah, but Judah reneged on his promise. Tamar had to find another way to carry on the family line, and she managed to trick Judah into being the father by posing as a prostitute, and thus she bore Perez and Zerah.

This is a bizarre story by modern standards, and yet it points out the fact that God will accomplish His purposes even through the sins of people. Judah and Tamar both made questionable choices, but God carried on the family line of Abraham through them.

Rahab - “Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab” (Matt. 1:5).

The story of Rahab from Joshua 2 and 6 is probably more familiar. She was a prostitute who had her home in the wall of Jericho. When the Israelite spies came into town she hid them and helped them to escape the authorities because “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us” (Josh. 2:9). From the stories she had heard about the Exodus (which took place 40 years earlier!), she knew enough about God to believe that He was going to overthrow Jericho. When Israel marched around the city and the walls fell, Rahab and her family were saved. Matthew’s reference to her is actually the first in Scripture that indicates her marriage to Salmon. Matthew evidently drew this from other rabbinic teachings.

So we have here another woman who was not only a prostitute but also a foreigner. Israel had been instructed to completely destroy the cities that didn’t make a peace treaty with them (Deut. 20:10-18), but Rahab’s actions and her acknowledgment of the God of Israel saved her life and earned her a place of note in the genealogy of the Messiah.

Ruth - “Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth” (Matt. 1:5).

We probably all know the basics of Ruth’s story. Naomi was living in Moab when her husband and sons all died. Her daughter-in-law Orpah stayed in Moab, but Ruth accompanied Naomi back to the land of Judah. There was no guarantee of a happy ending for Ruth. She was husbandless, childless, and a foreigner. The passage that is often cited at weddings was actually Ruth’s declaration of her love for her mother-in-law, “Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). The rest of the book of Ruth tells how she met Boaz and found favor with him and became his wife. Once again God used an unlikely woman from an unlikely place to carry on the lineage of Jesus.

Bathsheba - “David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah” (Matt. 1:6).

Much has been written about David’s sin with Bathsheba. Fewer authors have contemplated Bathsheba’s point of view. When David summoned her to the palace, she would have had no ability to say no to him. It’s not clear whether she knew what was coming or if she had any desire to be unfaithful to Uriah. Like many women, she may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the king should have been out at the battle instead of walking around his rooftop. Not only does she end up pregnant, but her husband is set up to die in battle, and then her child dies. That’s not exactly a recipe for happiness. However, she then gives birth to Solomon, who bears the royal name, is known for his wisdom, and becomes an ancestor to the coming Messiah. God took a very messy and sinful situation and redeemed it for His own good purposes.

Mary - Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (Matt. 1:16).

Finally we get to the mother of Jesus. God had arranged the family trees of both Joseph and Mary. He brought them together in Nazareth and through angelic messengers ensured that Jesus would be born of a virgin as prophesied. Mary was evidently a woman of faith, as her song in Luke 1:46-55 brings together many scriptural references. Yet she too had to bear the pain of people thinking she was both a liar and an adulteress.

In each of these five women, we see evidence of God’s sovereignty over the course of history. He used sinful actions, untimely deaths, wars, mourning, pain, and shame to put people where He wanted them in order to bring about the birth of the Savior at just the right time and place. And through it all, He did not let these women be forgotten or overlooked. In a highly patriarchal culture, He made sure their names were included in the canon of Scripture.

From the beginning of time, God has used both men and women to accomplish His purposes, and He continues to do so today. Women are not merely supplemental to the story, but they have key roles to play in family, culture, and church. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal. 3:28-29). Every believer will one day see our names included in the Book of Life, not as ancestors, but as children of the living God.

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Not Good

In his novel Deadline, Randy Alcorn imagines hell as complete isolation, being left alone with just your own thoughts. Quarantine may be a small taste of hell for many of us. Drew Hunter writes in Made for Friendship:

“[We] find that friendlessness isn’t just depressing; it’s actually quite dangerous. When we come unglued from others socially, we come unraveled emotionally, psychologically, and even physically. This is because we’re embodied beings… So when we experience loneliness, it affects every part of us… relationships put us back together. Friendship is the missing medicine for many of our afflictions” (40-41).

God’s statement in creation, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18), was not a result of the Fall but before it. It also did not just refer to the marriage relationship. In His triune nature God is relational, and He made us for relationships as well. Hunter quotes Tim Keller,

“Adam was not lonely because he was imperfect, but because he was perfect. The ache for friends is the one ache that is not the result of sin… This is one ache that is part of his perfection… God made us in such a way that we cannot enjoy paradise without friends.”

Adam had daily access to God walking with him, and yet that was not sufficient.

“Wonderful as are both the presence of the Lord Jesus every day and the prospect of his coming on the last day, they are not intended to be a substitute for human friendships… When our spirit is lonely, we need friends… To admit this is not unspiritual; it is human” (John Stott as quoted by Hunter).

Matthew Stanford writes in Grace for the Afflicted: A Clinical and Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness:

“An active and supportive faith community cultivates life, while isolation beings frustration and fatigue… A strong faith community offers comfort and support, gains wisdom as it learns from one another, shares and upholds common values, strengthens one another, takes risks together, and always looks to encourage one another… The key is staying connected to a few trusted and supportive people, not trying to keep up with the gathering or community events that are wearing them down. Living in community is more about being connected to life-giving relationships than trying to attend events with people a person doesn’t know well” (ch. 15).

The author of Hebrews warns us, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin… And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 3:13, 10:24-25).

“We can’t experience this everyday encouragement with every person in our church. This command gets traction as we carry it out in smaller networks of relationships—in friendships. In other words, perseverance in the faith requires the practice of friendship. This means that we should view discipleship as a form of friendship. Real discipleship—helping others follow Jesus—happens in the rhythms of everyday life. Discipleship works best when we pursue it in life-on-life relationships” (Hunter 93).

As we’ve all been experiencing varying degrees of isolation during this pandemic, I hope we’re all realizing the value and need of our relationships within the Body of Christ. Like me, you may be discovering which relationships mean the most to you, or perhaps seeing a lack of true friendships that you hadn’t noticed till now. I would challenge all in church leadership to reassess all the programs of their churches and see whether they are contributing to the relational discipleship we all need. How much connection is there between members outside of Sunday morning?

Those who think that online services are just as good if not better than in person services have a very limited view of what the church is or should be. If teaching is all you’re looking for, then there are thousands of good options out there. But teaching is only one part of the biblical prescription for the Body of Christ. “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). We can’t grow up in Christ unless we grow together.

“In [Christ] the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21-22).

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.