Madre's Missives

Women today can indeed be grateful for the achievements of our ancestresses.  Due to their tireless activism and undergarment burning, today women have separate yet equal professional sports teams, are recruited to fight in military combat, and as of this week, can abort our babies on demand with an over-the-counter drug.  Gee, thanks ladies.

Sarcasm aside, there are definitely benefits to some of the achievements of feminism in our culture.  A women may own her own property, get an education, and pursue the career of her choice.  And if she works hard enough, wants it badly enough, and has just the right opportunities, there is almost nothing that a woman can't do. 

In this world, God created us to be in relationships with one another.  In His wisdom and love for us, He gives us vocations - relationships into which we are placed that provide the opportunities for us to live out our faith in service to others.  And many of those vocations are not grounded in the sex we were also given.

There are, however, another set of vocations that are inexorably linked to being male or female.  No matter what certain state laws say, no man can marry another man and become his wife.  No woman, no matter how hard she tries, no matter the opportunities that cross her path, not even the great and mighty Madre, can ever be given the vocation of "father."  "Pastor" is another one of those vocations that is given only to men.

But many Christian denominations do ordain women.  The last statistics I saw about a year ago stated that the majority of students at ELCA seminaries seeking ordination were female.  These women, like Ms. Gorges, the author of this Cafe article, usually herald this as another victory of feminist "gospel" reductionism over sexist inequality in church leadership that would keep women from "rightfully" being ordained.

Ms. Gorges writes, "I believe that Jesus' commandment that we love one another permits no inequality, no injustice, and no sexism. I know that Jesus surrounded himself with strong women — women he trusted, women he listened to. Some financed much of his ministry; some were called disciples. For me, the messages of inequality in the Bible are surpassed by the ones that liberate us. I cannot ignore the harsh words I find in the Bible; I simply cling to a gospel of love that utterly transcends them."

The problem is that our understanding of equality is not the same as God's.  We are all equal in Christ.  When it comes to our salvation, the only "label" that matters is whether you are in Christ or apart from Christ.  Nothing else matters - not your age, your sex, your race, your ethnicity nor your economic status.  We're all equal there.  But in our relationships with one another, there are significant differences.  All of these things matter.  "Equality" doesn't even enter into the picture.  We would be foolish to sweep them under the rug and pretend they don't.  Unfortunately, women often play up a double standard of heralding the achievements of feminism and the independence of women and how we are really just like men, sometimes better.  But then when it's convenient, women will resort to claiming victim status or the need for special accomodations be made simply because they are women.

God doesn't play by our rules or our sense of justice.  He loves us too much to do that.  When He sends His Son to die for all our sins, we complain that it's not fair that even that other guy's really bad sins are forgiven in Christ too.  We decry the injustice that really nice people, like Mahatma Ghandi, who loved mankind and wouldn't hurt a fly are condemned and truly evil people, like Jeffrey Dahmer, who did horrific and unspeakable things to other people and reportedly came to faith in Christ alone for salvation before their death might be forgiven for their sins and live eternally in Christ.  That's just not fair.  Thank God.

However, the real injustice is advocated by Ms. Georges.  Women are the crown jewels of creation.  We are the culmination of God's creative work.  We are God's gift to man.  To strive for equality with men in the world is to despise what it means to be a woman in God's eyes.  Women submit to the sacrificial love of the men given to care for them not out of fear or the Law, but out of faith which expects nothing but good from our heavenly Father, our earthly fathers, our Bridegroom and our bridegrooms.  Our Father has not withheld anything necessary or good from us, even when it costs the death of His only-begotten Son to save us from our sins.  Our Bridegroom has given His very lifeblood for us, taking upon Himself all of our sinfulness and swapping it out for His righteousness.  Faith tells us that the men given to care for us in similar earthly ways will do so too.

But when we take our eyes off Christ, we don't see things that way at all.  We are tempted to see things like Ms. Georges does, who laments, "I was cast as an angel in the nativity play so often because I was a girl. The boys had more choices. A boy could be an angel, a shepherd, a wise man, Joseph, or the innkeeper. When I think about the future, I wonder if I will be able to help the girls in my future congregation surpass the limits that bound me. I hope they will learn that their gifts are not unwelcome because they are girls."

When I think about the future, I wonder if I, by the grace of God and the working of the Holy Spirit, will be able to help the girls in my congregation see the truth of who they are in Christ.  I hope they will learn that they have been lovingly chosen to receive the gift of being created women and seek to serve their neighbors through the unique vocations they are given.  But most importantly, I pray that they will remain faithfully receiving God's gifts for them in Christ delivered in His Word and Sacraments.

It's interesting that we are all called as Christians to be "Christ-like." Jesus came as servant to all, and in being "Christ-like" we are to follow his lead.

Yet, some folk want to deny women the right to follow this lead by declaring them to be "jewels" and above servanthood.

I say, let the women truly be Christ-like servants, and let them serve by leading worship, especially when called by God to do so.

I've been in worship services led by women who truly reflect the love/Word of God to the assembled, better so than some of the men I've worshipped with.

But, I suppose women can be servants to all by performing the all-important tasks of making the coffee and bringing the doughnuts, right?

What this debate centers on is interpretation of scripture, with two legitimate methods of approaching scripture differing on this point.

As it always does, this debate results in proof-texting on either side of the debate, with both sides talking over the other one.

Why not appreciate the fact that both sides are doing their best to live out their understanding of Scripture, and let it be?

The fact that denominations outside of the LCMS allow women to be be pastors does not in any way detract from the message of God's love found in the Gospel.