We all know the story (or at least I assume we all do) of Peter being delivered from prison. James has just been killed by the sword, Peter is in prison about to suffer the same fate when an angel of the Lord intervenes and delivers Peter from the hands of Herod. The story is told in a very Greek comedic style, so if you haven't read it, go read it now!
If you do read it, pay particular attention to verse 17. The phrase "Tell James and the others." Basically Peter is recounting the story to people that were praying for his release and his final instruction is of the utmost important. "Tell James..." In this short phrase, Luke has illustrated something very important. Peter will disappear from the story, and James will now be the head of the church in Jerusalem. Luke has just made the transition from the apostles being the leaders of the church to a second generation Christian (James) taking over a leadership role.
The "passing of the torch" is very significant because as Judges 3 reminds us, we are always one generation away from turning and worshipping a different God. In other words, people have short memories, and if there is no one passing on the story of faith, then the generation following will forget all about what God has done in the past.
Reading about this passage, and teaching on it this morning caused me to ask our congregation the question, "what are we passing on to the next generation?" Not necessarily by our words (though those are important), but by our actions (decisions we make, how/if we are connected to a body of believers, etc.). Since posing that question, I have been thinking about what it is our churches have been passing on for generation after generation. While this is not meant to bash the church at all, because I think that the church has been established by God to be used in his mission, and as a witness to the rulers and principalities of the heavenly realm (Eph. 3), I do think it is ok to critique the church where there is a shortcoming or in my view a very damaging view of Scripture. With that being said, I think that the church has a terrible view when it comes to their stance on women and the roles that they can hold in the church.
For some reason, we have used the Bible to oppress women instead of liberate them and tell them that they are of equal value as men. Galatians says that "there are neither Greek or Jew, male or female..." In other words, there is no distinction between sexes in the Kingdom of God. Yet the church seems to be the last place on Earth to embrace this kind of thinking. I mean if you look in the business world, the academic world, or any other aspect of our society women are in leadership roles all over the place, yet we as a church hold them back.
We cannot continue this legacy of treating women like this in our churches. God has gifted women with wonderful talents and skills that are just waiting to be used, yet are not utilized (unless teaching children). Incidentally, women are not the only group of people our churches oppress. Single people are another big group of people that we oppress in the church, by relegating them to a different Sunday school class (sometimes in a completely different building) as if they are a different group of people all together such as college students or youth aged students, or not allowing them to have certain positions in church, etc. But that is for a different post.
The way we treat women really hits home with me, because I have an amazing wife, who has the same degrees I do, is qualified to be a pastor more than I (her giftings are compassion and mercy, she is a great counselor, I could go on). Yet she is going to school now to become a teacher in a middle school (please note, being a teacher is an admirable occupation, and my wife will be a great teacher). My point is, that she is doing this because there are very limited jobs she can get in a church setting. Now let me say that I am so pleased to be at a church where she can be Youth minister and utilize her skills that God has given her. So please don't hear this as an indictment on the church we are currently serving. My point is simply this, we have women in our churches right now who God has equipped to be wonderful instruments in His redeeming mission, but are just sitting in our pews not being utilized because they were born the wrong gender.
Now let me say this little disclaimer. I am not saying that we need to go in cavalier style and change everything all at once. What I am saying is that we need to search Scripture and start having the conversation about women and their roles in the church. Looking at examples of women that were involved in leadership positions of the church, looking at passages that talk about women in the church (yes, even those that may seem at first to say the opposite of what I am talking about), and honestly discuss if our views of women match what is said in Scripture.
So that is what I plan to do, my next blog posts will try to look at different women in Scripture, different passages dealing with women in Scripture and hopefully at least start a conversation about the message we are sending either explicitly by your speech about women, or implicitly by our complete silence on the subject and maintaining of the status quo.
In my opinion, sexism is no different from racism, and the message we are sending to the generation coming up after us needs to change. Anyone would be up in arms if someone were not allowed to be a deacon, pastor, youth minister, etc. because of they were black, asian, or hispanic. I think it is about time we started viewing this topic through that same lens.
As I said, my hope is to look at one passage every day and to really look at the women of our Scriptures and hopefully start a conversation that moves us from our oppressive attitudes towards women and we can pass on a legacy that is pleasing to God.
So I hope you enjoy!
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