Recently the women’s ministry of our church set out to put women to work in the congregation according to their spiritual giftedness. When asked on a survey to list their spiritual gifts, 90% didn’t answer. I was stunned! Did they not know their own giftedness? Were they embarrassed by their gifts? In conversations that followed this survey, women made the most astounding statements regarding their own spiritual giftedness. One woman stated that she had been taught that only men had spiritual gifts; women had talents. Another woman stated that she didn’t have any spiritual gifts; she just did whatever needed to be done. Yet another stated that she was afraid to tell people her gift because it wasn’t “lady-like”.
Each of these women pursues the same question from a different point of view: are godly women a gift to their congregations? Experience teaches unforgettable lessons and these women have been very good students. They discovered that they were a liability, not an asset, in their giftedness. Consequently, these women have shut down their attempts to use their gifts completely.
The Pattern
Our home was once just a house to me. It was a foundation with walls and floors. The furniture inside belonged to someone else as did the experiences within. Now, the walls are colors that I love. I remember painting them in the wee hours of the morning. The floors are materials that I had a part in choosing. I remember the sweat that went into installing them. There have been meaningful or funny events in every room in our home. Those memories are ours. These layers of meaning have added richness to my understanding of this structure we call home. It is no longer just an architectural establishment; it is a creation of love, time, and personality.
This discussion of women in our churches is the same way. While our heritage teaches us to say, and believe, that we only look at the Bible for our guidance in church life, it’s not always true. Current culture and centuries of history influence how we understand the Bible’s teachings on any given subject. Whether or not we recognize it, we are products of the world we live in.
Our current culture spotlights workplace gender equality efforts. Nightly news programs tell us that the glass ceiling women once faced is more like cellophane now. Pay scales are leveling out. Human resource managers proudly describe their family leave plans for both men and women. In other words, if men and women work the same, they are equal.
History’s attempts at gender equality center on the feminist movement. Women’s suffrage and reproductive rights have been aggressively pursued in the United States. Now the feminist movement has turned its attention to other countries for the battle here is well in hand. After all, there is a woman who is a legitimate force in the race for president!
Restoration churches, on the whole, have fought against this tide of change. While our women joined the workforce, they haven’t been invited to join the kingdom workforce with all they have to offer. In fact, most churches have created women’s ministries as a place for women to minister to other women. In theory, a great idea! But the motivation behind that idea is questionable. Are churches actually trying to avoid the question of gender equality by segregating men and women?
Modern history has tried to redeem the concept of gender equality by focusing on the feminist movement. Culture has tried to redeem the concept of gender equality by focusing on the workplace. Restoration churches have yet to offer their redemption to the concept of gender equality. Does the church have a responsibility to redeem the idea? The answer isn’t clear cut or well defined. However, for too long we have refused to ask the question because the answers seem too complicated. I don’t intend to offer answers here as they would just scratch the surface. Instead, I want to examine the influencing factors that make up the questions.
Biblical History
The Old Testament portrays women as property of their husbands, as was to be expected by the culture. They are excluded from Yahweh’s worship when they are unclean every month. While Jewish worship in New Testament times is even more rigid in its attempts to keep women separate in worship, Jesus doesn’t always respect those partitions. He engages women in spiritual conversation on multiple occasions and welcomes Mary as a disciple at his feet.
The New Testament church seems to have struggled with this concept a great deal. There was no LAW to tell them how worship should be done. Jewish Christians drew from their temple experiences. Recent pagan converts drew from their own worship. There were deities represented as women in their worship and women were part of public pagan worship. Usually, that involvement was sexual. Perhaps God, in His great wisdom, wished to protect women from such exploitation in the name Christianity.
Both Jewish and pagan influences held sway over the churches described in our New Testament. I believe that Paul did his best to offer advice on balancing the two with God always in focus. However in today’s reading, Paul’s teachings on women are inconsistent at best and downright confusing at worst! To one church, he tells women to be quiet always. To another, he reminds women to cover their heads when participating in worship. When we are trying to be the New Testament church, which instruction do we follow?
Current Church Culture
Restoration churches love a good idiosyncrasy. Women can stand on a stage as part of praise team but not pray aloud in front of a man. Women can teach a bible class for teenagers but not adults. Women can serve potluck dinners but not distribute a communion tray. It seems that we have developed a culture of norms that confuses an outsider. If we were really honest with ourselves, we might admit our own confusion! Many churches seem to have created the idea that women’s ministry is the answer to gender equality. While ministry to women by other women is valid and needed, it does little to alleviate the tension.
A woman may be the CEO of a corporation but she may not offer her expertise in efficient management to a church. A woman may be a professor of Jewish history but she may not present in a Bible class. A woman may be a professional speaker but may not share her testimony with the church. These are such strong contrasts to one another that it stands to reason that one perception is mistaken. Is it that culture is wrong? Or could it be that the church has refused to wrestle with the question of gender equality?
Redemption is the business of God. He sent His son to redeem humankind back into relationship with Him. The church is now the hands and feet of that mission. We have been given this mission of reconciliation, bringing the world back to its originally intended order. Does that include gender equality?
The Problem
Life in the restoration movement has been very challenging for me. I have struggled to find a “home”. You know that elusive place where you are safe to be all that you really are and to share all that you long to become. As a woman in the churches of Christ, I have felt that being gifted wasn’t really a gift at all. My gifts seem to cause strife either to myself or to the church at large. I have spent a lifetime wondering if I was mistaken about my giftedness; maybe these are just things that I am good at for the purpose of making a living.
I am a woman in the church of Christ. I was born and raised in the churches of Christ. I graduated from a church of Christ college. I married a church of Christ minister. I currently attend a church of Christ. I bring my children to that same church of Christ. I understand the rich heritage, and the ugly baggage, that comes with the name church of Christ. I live in the church of Christ world, with all of its complexities. I love church, as God’s choice of instrument in the world, and give my life to her mission. I respect the past to learn from it. I long for the future where God is King of His people again. I live in the present seeking choices that bring about that future. I have committed my life to restoration churches and their desire to be the kingdom of God right here and right now. I am in need of redemption.
