- This topic has 2 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 07/14/2018 at 9:09 pm by
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On the internet today, there are two strong Christian voices from two broad movements of Christians. These Christians are scattered throughout Christendom in a variety of churches: Christian egalitarians and Christian complementarians. The tension between them is producing massive amounts of communication on social media. Those in these movements appear to be using the cyberspace microphone in order to clarify, shape, and promote their respective Christian worldviews, or maybe I should say churchviews, with respect to what is “true” about marriage, family, church, and human society and about all the abuses in these areas.
A Little about Complementarians
The complementarian voice is coming mostly from Christian males who are in positions of Christian leadership. The term “complementarian” came into use in the late 20th century as some Christian leaders sought to redefine and soften the patriarchal position that had been held strongly by Christian leaders for many centuries.
Those on the complementarian side of the church divide say that truth is absolute, as defined by God. They firmly hold to every word of their many versions of the Bible, versions which happen to have poorly translated verses about women. They are unwilling to properly respond to the overwhelming evidence of male translation bias with respect to these verses. They want to revive and strengthen traditional Christian male-dominant practices in home and church. They believe they are fighting the good fight and staying true to the Bible. They blame feminism for the weakening of male influence and the decline of morality in society.
The truth, however, is that it is patriarchs who may hold the greatest responsibility for the emergence of Christian feminism in the first place. When in the late 19th century some American Christian women (standing alongside those who were fighting to free slaves) raised the issue of women needing to be freed from oppressive male-created laws, it was the male clergy of the day that stood up strongly against them. Thus, they drove Christian women–who were finding their God-given gifts and voices–out of the church and into society to fight their battle for freedom. So, patriarchal Christian men who were trying to protect their religious belief that man had God-given authority over woman, opened wide the door to secular feminism in America and started a train of Christian women moving in that direction. Yet, didn’t Jesus say that as believers we are not to lord it over one another? Did He qualify that statement by adding this exception, “…unless that ‘other’ happens to be female”?
A Little about Egalitarians
The egalitarian voice is coming mostly from Christian women. Egalitarians are also sometimes referred to as Christian feminists. Many of the good beliefs held by today’s Christian egalitarian/feminist movement have their roots in studies done by women like Katharine Bushnell (1856-1946) who discovered and lifted up biblical truth about God’s view of woman (her freedom in Christ). However, after decades of several developmental waves of the feminist movement, the modern day version has come to greatly over emphasize the concept of “equality.”
This emphasis has resulted in proponents taking positions on sexual sin (in the name of equality) that are not supportable by the word of God. Bible texts are re-interpreted in light of modern culture in order to support their evolved beliefs about sexual sin with the claim that this is necessary for the Bible to be relevant to today’s society. The movement is also ripe with oppressor/victim language (selectively defining victims). Their prime directive is to end the suffering of such “victims” and promote their happiness through equality (gender, racial, and economic). They promote the idea that Jesus’ mission was social justice. This all sounds good on the surface, but it misses the mark of the Bible’s message about why Jesus came and what the primary goal is for believers. Christians are called first and foremost to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. According to the ideology of today’s egalitarians, they would have classified Jesus as a “victim” and fought to prevent His crucifixion–the purpose for which God sent Him. They would have been found in good company with Peter, who when considering that Christ might be crucified proclaimed, “No, Lord, it shall not be so!” Jesus would respond to them, as He did to Peter’s when He heard his victim-saving focus, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”
Can the Christian House Stand?
The verse comes to mind: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Isn’t the church headed for a mighty fall with this huge ideological and practical break between Christian males and females? Today females are finding their voice on the internet, and their message is spreading to more and more women and gaining traction.
Isn’t it time to take a huge collective Christian breath of the Spirit of God and consider what is really going on here? If we can’t define the problem clearly, we can’t solve it. I suggest we soberly consider a few questions: 1) Just who is it that benefits if the Christian “house” falls? 2) Are the foundations of each “side” solidly built on the rock of God’s Word?
Here are my answers: 1.) Satan 2.) No, both movements are built on the sinking sand of the mixture of truth with false beliefs that have come from poor translations, biblical illiteracy, and the love of humanistic philosophy, all of which are the devil’s M.O. for deceiving people. So, what say you?
I wrote the above post several months ago when this forum was under development. Since then I have written more about complementarianism and egalitarianism in this article: Not Complementarianism or Egalitarianism but God’s New Creation Them.
The them message is so needed today! As I continue reading and researching on the internet, I see the them perspective emerging. Yesterday a friend sent me a link to a podcast done by Dallas Theological Seminary about gender and the Bible. Throughout it I could hear the them message even though sometimes a blurring complementarian fog rolled over it. Overall, I found the presentation very, very encouraging.
I am persuaded that the Spirit of God is moving to bring to light the truth about male and female together, which, after all, is the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28).
Thank you for writing this piece. I found it very helpful. I am in a situation where I constantly have to deal with what I now can see is complementarianism. Your explanation helped me get a handle on my thoughts and and better understand my experiences. It also gave me some direction as to how to pray for this very vocal person.
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