Do You Know What I Know?
You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.
-CS Lewis, A Grief Observed
Do you know what I know?
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
-Noël Regney
Quiet. Peace. Be Still. Love is the only way.
Paul, Apostle of Christ is an excellent movie. It conveys the radical wonder of the Good News as experienced in first century Rome. Paul had an experience with Jesus that transformed him into an entirely new human. He eagerly shared this message with people everywhere. But, his message was just as challenging then as it is today. In this scene, the Christians are at the circus- and not the good kind. They are awaiting their death. Men and women speak up to remind them of the way of Christ and their hope in Christ. Following this, Luke will pray with those facing death. He acknowledges that there will be pain, but it will be brief. Hold on. Jesus awaits you.
Where do we go from here? We go into the quiet place, as Paul taught. We settle down. We wage war against the powers of the air, not each other. The powers keep us from our Sabbath rest, Jesus. What about women in the church? Let whom the Spirit speaks through speak. Let whom the Spirit has gifted to teach, teach. Let whom the Spirit enables to prophesy , prophesy.
But chaos could break out. Yes, it could. Freed people can be exuberant. The Judeans did not like it when Peter had fellowship with Gentiles. He had to explain to them that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles in the same manner as them. Peter held fast to some of the Jewish customs and gradually distanced himself from these Gentiles later. Paul reprimanded him for it. When the Spirit moves, letting go of traditions that create needless separation seems to be one of the first things removed from our grasp. This is always a challenge.
Let us be kind and hospitable to one another. Henri J.M. Nouwen writes in Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life: “Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” As In Leviticus, if you make a space for God, He will fill it. Approaching that space is a holy process, but forms a community centered around Him (literally, the tabernacle was the center of the quadrants of tribes).
I mentioned the Rechabites in “Do You Hear What I Hear.” In Jeremiah, we read where they held fast to tradition in honor of their forefathers, who commanded them not to drink wine or other strong drink, or to live in houses, or to sow seed, or to plant vineyards, and compelled them to dwell in tents all their days. It was love and honor that bound them to this tradition. Jeremiah lauded their devotion to their ancestors. In the manner that love and respect drove them to hold fast, so too Jeremiah longed for God’s people to express such love and respect for Him. Tradition is not the issue. It is a community motivated by love and devotion to one another because of a love and devotion to God, a community of “mutual submission.”
That same entry mentioned another tradition that endured generations. The people of Israel had been worshiping Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses held up in the desert. Over time, the people began to worship the bronze snake and not the God who healed and gave mercy. The tradition supplanted the context and replaced YHWH. Bonhoeffer’s statement about Israel making the law God, and God a law is seen here as well. Relating to a Living God requires more pliability than implementing laws written in stone. What had a purpose at a particular place and in a particular time will eventually lose its meaning. When its purpose is not clear, and it becomes a distraction, or worse, a cause of separation, then perhaps it is time to no longer look to the past, but to the One creating a new future; perhaps it is time to remember the story of what all this was for.
In the Garden. man and woman were side by side. They were one with each other and enjoined perfect communion with God. But the curse brought hostility, violence, and death. Mankind was marred by the need to rule on their own terms. The relationship between man and woman became contentious and the need to dominate the other emerged. This is a product of the curse. Does the Good News fix this?
Jesus often talked about (Matthew 13 and Mark 4 for example) those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Seeing and hearing Jesus were the foundations of what He revealed about the Kingdom. What you saw and what you heard also depended upon what you were looking for and for what you were listening. Jesus flipped the world’s system with its genetic basis for divisions, hostilities, and hierarchies. The power structures of this world would not be the power structure of His Kingdom. Women were to tell the Good News and sit at His feet as the male disciples did. Children were welcomed. Those who were rich would find His road difficult. The poor, the meek, the despised-these would find His blessedness. Those who were last in the world would be first in the Kingdom. Nothing about His Kingdom was like the kingdoms of this world. Paul imitated Jesus. He entered the culture aware of the powers at work and brought the Kingdom. Paul inoculated the the culture with the Kingdom. Having eyes to see and ears to hear, they would become vessels of the Holy Spirt and reflect Jesus and His Kingdom in their communities. The Kingdom would then come on earth as in heaven.
In heaven there is no marriage nor being given in marriage. The Sadducees had to wrestle with several things when Jesus rebuked them for reading divorce ( to attack resurrection) with their reductio ad absurdum argument. This is one. You do not understand the Kingdom of God. There is no husband and wife in His Kingdom. In heaven, as Paul would write, there is no male or female, no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, all are like angels, all are as one. Surely this is the Kingdom of heaven in its fullness- New Humans in their fullness thriving together in the New Creation. I am not arguing to erase all distinctions. That is not the point. The point is this: the distinctions we cling to, the distinctions necessary to advance the Good News in first century Rome, are not what distinguish us in the fullness of the Kingdom. Other religions may teach that, but the Good News of Jesus is Good News to all subordinated to the power structures of this world. In His Kingdom, you and your voice are invited to participate.
In the New Creation, our Garden life will be restored. The tabernacle and the Temple reflected this idea in their imagery. The body of Christ becomes the New Temple. In the New Creation, New Humanity will be fully realized. This is our telios. We will all stand side by side once again, united in covenant love with one another, each reflecting Christ in equal manner, but perhaps with different gifts. Those things that separate us now- be it Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female- those domains of the powers will not define us or control our relationships. This is what the Spirit is forming in His world. We cannot continue to look to the snake (the past) and expect to see what Jesus is doing today.
The criteria for teaching or leading should never have been based upon gender, but evidence of maturity in the Spirit. How many men have we had lead that also led lives of deception and chaos? I know of a few. So do you. Some women may get carried away. So do some men. Give the Spirit room to breathe anyways. The Spirit moves to unify through acts of love and encouragement , but also forms a quiet order. Our worship of God will stand in contrast to the world, not based on gender roles, but based on the mutual love and order created by the Holy Spirit within Christ’s body. It will reflect the Head, Jesus.
We have heard the traditions and the laws, just as Saul did. We related to each other based upon what we heard the scripture saying. Paul heard and saw the light of Jesus, and this experience peeled back heaven for him. He had an “apocalypse”, or revelation. He became blind and as helpless as a child. That is when the Spirit began to mold him. Like John in Revelation, he heard one thing, but what he saw radically changed him. This is how he came to know Jesus. Each of us must see Jesus in His world, in His light, and expereince His love at work. When you experience Him, it will change you. What you have always heard will be undone by what you see. What you know will be transformed by who you know.
To conclude, I offer two examples to answer a question related to this topic: Who has been hurt? First, the question is perhaps the wrong question. But, if you want to apply the Hippocratic oath to this, then perhaps it is fitting to ask, have we done any harm? I gingerly contend that we have. But, a better question may be, have we advanced the Good News? I think we have, but there have been missed opportunities. After all, if the Spirit falls on sons and daughters, yet we forbid the Spirit to speak through half of our population, then yes, we have missed opportunities. I do not think the verse about quenching the Spirit refers to this idea in particular, but it is a useful comparison.
Amy Grant
I have talked to people who attended Belmont Church of Christ in the 1970s and 80s. In the 1980s, the church underwent a schism, dropping the Church of Christ denominational tag and adopting a non-denominational status (which, interestingly enough, was an initial aim of the Restoration Movement). What triggered this split? In fairness, there were several changes that came along with the Jesus Movement. The church had been in decline as people migrated from the city to suburban areas. The emergence of the Jesus Movement revitalized the church. However, one event in particular pulled the trigger on this division. A teenage girl with a heart for Jesus wrote songs that she wanted to share with her faith community. She had two strikes against her: she was a girl and she played guitar. On a Sunday night, the elders, by majority vote, allowed her to do so in keeping with the idea of offering a “psalm, hymn, or spiritual song.” In fairness, it could have just as easily have been the guitar as the fact that she was a girl, but the die was cast. Those offended by this, including two elders, left the church.
How do you think this advanced the Good News? A young girl with a heart for Jesus experienced the sting of the law. Her desire was to live the shema of Deuteronomy 6. But there was an obstacle. The tradition did not allow for this. Just as Judas was critical of a woman (See “Song of Songs: better than ice cream” entry) pouring expensive oil on the feet of Jesus, so too, this young girl was criticized for her act of worship and adoration; just as Peter was criticized for crossing ethnic barriers because the Holy Spirit was at work. Who was hurt? You tell me. I think we can do better.
The Call Nashville (07/07/07)
I posted “Why Christian?” last year addressing the event I share now. On July 7, 2007, I went to The Call Nashville at the Titan’s stadium. It was an interdenominational gathering to pray and worship. I was a bit skittish, because sometimes these events get unusual. As I found a seat, I noticed people in line to pray from a stage on the field. There were a lot of people gathered to pray and worship down there as well. A young girl stepped up to the mic and began to pray. I did not expect what happened next. Her prayer was so moving and rich. She prayed as someone who really knew Jesus. Her prayer was passionate and full of allusions to scripture. There was nothing trite or rote about it. I began to feel a wellspring from within bubbling up. I tried to fight back the tears, but they broke through. I don’t know why exactly. All I know is that the Holy Spirit was doing something through the prayer of that little girl. I longed to know Jesus the way she knew Him. I desperately wanted my family to know Him this way. I heard and saw something inexplicably overwhelming. I asked Jesus to know Him the way she did.
I never would have had this Damascus Road type of experience- small scale, but meaningful nonetheless- in a church setting with our traditions. Did it advance the Good News? Without a doubt, what I experienced that day was the Good News proclaimed to our community. Who is hurt by our current practices? I would have been, for one, had someone not afforded her the opportunity to speak aloud to Jesus that day .
Eventually, I struggled to stay at our church for some time after that. What I wanted, I could not find. I have an inkling of what Paul meant when he said the Holy spirit prevented him from traveling to Asia. I believe we were prevented from leaving, even though we tried other churches. The Holy Spirit challenged me with these questions: What if this was the only church at Nashville? What would Paul write? First, I had to confess that I had been bitter and critical. I watched some good friends, whose family still attends here, leave our church over this issue (in fairness, it was only one part of the problem). I had to voluntarily submit to the leadership of the church. I had to resolve to lead a quite life, give thanks, encourage others, serve others, and let the Head be the Head. Only then did I find the peace of the Holy Spirit. I did not have to agree. The Holy Spirit will move as He sees fit. It is not up to me. I cannot push Him, I cannot stop Him. So we are here, in this place because this is where the Holy Spirit has planted us.
Yet, I feel compelled to answer these questions because they have been asked of me. There are innumerable women who have been hurt by practices that are aimed to silence them. Rachel Held Evans and Beth Moore are just two that have endured hostility by those who cling to such traditions. In Sunday school, our girls are not allowed to lead prayers. Women are not allowed to read scripture aloud in the assembly, but can do so in Sunday school. Women are not allowed to share communion comments, though who knows better how bodily anguish can give way to the joy of new birth. When it comes to communion, they are not allowed to pass the trays while standing, but ostensibly they can pass the tray from the seated position. There is no scenario in which this practice makes sense.
The church has taken several steps to provide more opportunities for women while assuaging those hesitant to see this happen. Women participate in leading our singing. The approach taken has shown respect for all involved and has enhanced the worship experience. Women are allowed to share from the podium, though it is usually in an interview formant. Women have leadership and teaching roles in youth Sunday school through the high school years.
I have nothing further to add. I ask that we evaluate the words of Paul in the context of first century Rome and its staunch system of hierarchy, in respect to how he defined the Good News, reflecting upon the example and teaching of Jesus, with acknowledgement of the roles women played in the early church, with a better understanding of what Paul actually said (and what he did not say), and in order to present the Kingdom to our community with beauty and truth and without hinderance. What changes? I cannot say exactly- hopefully, our perceptions for now: what we hear, what we see, and what we know (and how we know/ experience Jesus). All I can ask is that we make space for God’s Spirit to inhabit the center of our heart, soul, and “muchness.” Though difficulties may await, I ask that we remember this scene form Paul, Apostle of Christ: Quiet. Peace. Be Still. Love is the only way. I pray that we allow the Spirit to do something new if it means that His Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. I pray that whatever steps we take honor what the Spirt reminds us through Paul, love edifies. Peace begins with you. Love is the only way.
