I heard Mr. Lee give a lesson this morning (2nd in a series) about how he personally came to the decision that the Bible supports that women have more freedom of ministry in Christ than has been traditionally allowed in the church. To be clear he has stated several times that this was his interpretation after much prayer and study over 3 years. Furthermore he is not alone since the other 8 members of the elders of his church came to this unanimous conclusion before announcing their lift on restrictions on women in ministry at MBCC.
During the brief time there was for Q&A one man used our text (1 Corinthians 14..specifically verse 33) to ask “If God is indeed ‘not a God of disorder but a God of peace’, and since the elders decision has caused a great deal of turmoil in the body at MBCC, wouldn’t it just be more peaceful to leave things the way they’ve always been?”
Lee handled the question beautifully by talking about his need to follow God’s leading as he acts as a shepherd of this church and his accountability as a shepherd for this new revelation.
But the man’s comment dumped me back into old despair…
The very idea that the man, who has had it his way for 2000+ years should get what he calls peace at my expense and the expense of all of the wonderfully “non-traditionally” gifted women who have been *silent* all these years just raises my pulse. So I started thinking of other circumstances where the “ruling party” would have appreciated keeping their way at the expense of those who’d been kept low and realized that his argument is as old as the earth itself:
* In order to keep peace, maybe it would just be better if we kept our slaves working in the fields picking cotton and continued to own them as property–Cotton Plantation Owner
* In order to keep things peaceful, maybe it would be best if we just allowed corporate fat cats to not only have our money to bail their companies out but also to keep their private jets and their 6 figure salaries–Lehman Brothers CEO
* In order to keep things peaceful, I’d prefer if it wasn’t illegal to buy and sell underage girls for my own use as a plaything–Man Involved in International Sex Trade
* In order to keep things peaceful, let’s slaughter 6 Million Jews, homosexuals, and Christian pacifists and start over with a better strain of people–Hitler
* In order to keep things peaceful, I’ll just stay married to this man and turn a blind eye as he molests each of you repeatedly.–One of the many mothers throughout time who has chosen a man over her child
* In order to keep things peaceful, let’s not teach little girls to read. —Iman of a small village in Afghanistan
* In order to keep things peaceful, let’s kill the man and I’ll take his wife–King David
* In order to keep things peaceful, I prefer if you not talk to me about how my food gets to my plate but would prefer to eat my cow in silence–President of the Cattlemans Association
* In order to keep things peaceful, say you are my sister.–Abraham to Sarah…TWICE!
* In order to keep things peaceful, find Elijah and kill him because he keeps talking bad about me–Jezebel
* In order to keep things peaceful, let’s crucify Jesus who calls himself the Christ so he’ll shut up–The Sanhedrin, Pilot, Herod, the Pharisees…
The next time you demand your own peace or comfort, think about what has to happen for you to have that freedom…and who it has to happen to.
What are some of yours????