Women in Ministry

I have always thought that there was 2 areas lacking in Ridley teaching.  The first is talk of Charismatic Spiritual gifts.  Sure, we kinda touched on it a bit in one of the Theology classes, but not much was discussed about speaking in tongues/healings today in the Pentecostals.  Second is the issue of Women in Ministry.  Ridley deems itself to not take a stance.  However, this means they allow women to teach and preach in lectures/Chapel.  Thus them "not taking a stance" seems to me to mean they are egalitarian.  Indeed in my 3 years I felt strongly that this was assumed.  And any complementarian just have to keep their mouth shut when certain topics came up.  If we say anything, I felt like we were like the "haters".  Indeed, it is a bit like how Christians feel in the outside world in relation to the topic of homosexual marriages.  This I strongly dislike.  Snide remarks and jokes would come up in classes which degrades the complementarian view, but there was no chance of the opposite happening, as it would obviously offends the women.  This is BS as far as I'm concern.  More and more I dislike Ridley in their biases and air of superiority (Don't take me wrong, there are great aspects of Ridley, which I am super grateful for.  However, their air of superiority and looking down on other views and other denominations are not one of them).  I guess they come from a background where the Anglican church was strongly complementarian, and thus feel that they are the minority and are fighting against it.  However, in my personal experience it is the opposite.  Most churches I know seem to have women teaching and preaching.  To say anything against it is taboo and basically being a hater against women.  This strongly feminist push is way too much inline with the world and society's thinking.  And I'm wary especially since it fits too much with how non-Christians think.  The arguments of how much more intellectual and less chauvinistic we are than the oldern times, and thus allow women full reign.... this is exactly the same arguments used by those who push for homosexuality being a norm and should be accepted as not sinful in the church.  In fact, the same passages are sometimes used (eg. In Christ there is neither male nor female, slave nor free etc...)!

For me, my life would be so much easier if women could be allowed to be pastors and preach.  I do believe that women are equal, and have the same abilities.  However, I do not believe that life is about us, about males nor females, about our individual rights and freedom.  Life is about God.  We submit to God.  This means we have to do difficult things, or things we may not like or agree with.  Things like loving our enemies, which makes no sense.  Things like thinking of others before ourselves, which make no sense.  Thus when it comes to things such as submission of the wife to the husband at home, or the idea that God calls men to be pastors, are things which test our commitment and devotion to God, that we would put God first and foremost, not ourselves.  There is a strong feministic pride to all this I feel by those who uphold women as pastors, a lot of times from males who think that because they are male and if they agree with females being pastors it means everything!  That they are uphold truth and justice for the women cause.  

Anyway, as I was saying: my life would indeed be much easier for me if I could see it that way.  The world is always attacking us of our views of the Bible, our views of sin, our views of things in life that we reject.  Indeed we are always ridiculed and mocked, and viewed as haters by those who find out we are Christian, even before we have a chance to open our mouths.  I feel the same persecution within the church, being a complementarian amidst all the egalatarians.  And yet, I know that majority is not always right.  I look at the Bible, and feel that there is a strong structure that God sets up.  Whether from the story of creation, whereby after Eve's initial sin and leading Adam astray, God held Adam accountable first and foremost.  Whether in the Epistles where passages say that men should be leading.  There is a structure.  Not necessarily due to our abilities.  But because God is setting it up.  Thus we should submit to authorities.  Thus we should listen to our pastors.  Thus we should submit to our parents.  Not cuz they are necessarily better or smarter or wiser, but because of their position that God has put.  It is the same with males and females.  It is funny, cuz people seem to assume that guys always are dominant and want power and authority and ruling.  However this is totally not true.  Indeed we live in an age whereby guys do not want to step up, do not want any responsibilities.  They just want to sit at home and play computer/console games and watch anime - to have fun.  Do guys want to step up and take responsibility?  No.  Indeed many guys are happy for women to step up and do things, as it means they don't have to do it.  Yet is this the call of the Bible?  In contrast, God calls men to step up and lead, to sacrifice, to be strong.  With women pushing for leading and authority, men are just happy to step back and be little boys.  It is a cycle of a problem, one leading to the other.

Am I willing to stand amidst persecutions?  Even persecutions from my Christian brothers and sisters who think that they are doing women a favour and defending women rights?  To be seen as a dying breed, surely to go out of extinction as humans get smarter?  I am!  I must stand amidst all of this.  Be seen as a minority.  Live, and die for my conviction.  People say this is a secondary matter.  Funny how people's view of what is primary and secondary vary though.  This may not have to do with salvation.  However, it does affect the Church, the understanding of God, as well as individuals' lives.  Thus this is important.

I must admit that I have not spent a lot of time thinking extensively on this topic, of exploring the passages in Greek and Hebrew, of forming a complete theological opinion.  I am sad that Ridley has not provided space for this issue.  I feel that the role of gender, identity, and sexual ethics is the grounds to be fought at the moment and in the close future ahead.  Christians, especially seminary-trained Christians, need to have formed a framework of thought on these matters, no matter what their final conclusions may be.  I hope to be able to do this during this semester, in my Capstone experience with the subject of Church, Ministry, and Sacrament.  I had originally hoped to do this next year, whereby I will devote a whole semester on just this one subject, but now I have to do it amongst the other 3 subjects... sigh.

Anyway, may God help me, and lead me, and guide in my formation.