Do You Hear What I Hear?
“Do you hear what I hear?” - Noël Regney, songwriter
“Let’s go in there and take them out!”- Tim Mackie
“Words don’t mean things, people do.” I first heard this expression from Tim Mackie of The Bible Project in his course on Ephesians. He developed this assertion with the statement, “let’s go in there and take them out!” What does that sentence mean? We can parse out its exact meaning from the lexicon by defining each word and then assembling the words to get at intent, but a more elementary and linguistically informative way would be to look at the context in which the statement is being used. Are they construction workers, a basketball team, movers, editors, bowlers, a group preparing for their dates, or are they Godfather-esque mobsters on a mission? Context is meaning.
When I was a kid, going to the circus was exciting. It meant animals, clowns, amazing acts, souvenirs, cotton candy and all that. The circus of the fist century was not that way at all! For first century Christians, going to the circus was to be thrown to the gladiators or lions. You were the entertainment. It was certain death for Christian families. Again, context is everything.
Context informs our understanding. If we misunderstand context, it can send us way off course. In 1990, the Hubble space telescope missed its intended target by trillions of miles, delaying NASA’s ability to acquire images reflective of the nature of our universe. Jean Olivier, deputy manager of the Hubble project for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, told reporters: "I don't know how to explain it. We made a mistake of about a half-degree and it wasn't caught by many people who worked the problem over the past many years. What else can I say?" Desert News, May 10 1990, described the miscalculation this way:
Astronomers relied on star charts made in the 1950s when they designed pointing instructions for the telescope, Olivier said. But the stars have moved since then from Earth's vantage point. The mistake was made when the scientists factored in the extent of that movement.
They corrected in the wrong direction.
Here we are, 2000 years away from the launch of the New Kingdom by Jesus Christ, the Messiah. From the very beginning, the dynamic Spirit has been working to form us, and from the very beginning we have regarded the New Creation from an Old Creation vantage point. This was the struggle of Paul as Jewish believers insisted on adherence to Torah practices. New Creation will be made of New Humans; Spirit led individuals living in communities that reflect Christ in their love for one another in the midst of a world governed by Mammon (power, position, privilege, and possessions). The image we reflect depends upon the context from which all other conclusions originate .
Welcome to the New Testament, the launch of this New Kingdom. The words of scripture are rooted in their context. Removed from their context, we can end up way off course. Which brings us to the examination of gender roles within the church. This must begin by examining how we read the scripture. There are several considerations that I have found immensely helpful. The text cannot mean something to me that it did not mean to them (original audience). Read books, not verses. When we read books we look for themes and structure and use of allusions and internal references. Books have a message and purpose. Verses are easily manipulated snippets. When we use proof-texting, we adopt a “fortune cookie” approach to scripture that loses its meaning. Paul’s words to the people in Phillipi, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, has nothing to do with football games or self-improvement projects and everything to do with living out the Gospel of Christ in a meaningful way, regardless of which circus awaits you.
The division over gender roles within Christ communities centers on how we read the scriptures, specifically the letters Paul wrote to the churches in first century Rome. If we want to understand the Gospel of Christ presented by Paul to these communities, we must begin at the beginning. Who was Paul? To whom did he write these letters? Why did he write these letters (what was the theme of his address)? What was Paul’s over-arching message to these communities (what do they all have in common)? How does Paul’s life inform his message? What was the cultural context? If we do not know how they would have heard the message of Christ, we cannot appreciate what it means for us today. The result could be a correction in the wrong direction, leading us way off course.
Before exploring what the text means for us, I think it is worth considering what is driving this discussion on gender roles within the church? If it is cultural pressures alone, then we obviate Christ as our primary allegiance. However, all of the epistles were written in response to cultural influences upon Christ communities. The missionary strategy of Paul, using Philemon as an example, was not to act as a social revolutionary, nor was it to assimilate. Paul did not condemn slavery as such, but this should not be mistaken as condoning it either. A slave rebellion resulted in the crucifixion of over 40 people during the time period of Paul writing this letter. To advance the message of Christ meant to look similar on the surface, but radically different in motivation and practice. Philemon receiving Onesimus as a brother was astounding! On the surface, he is still a slave, so accusations of rebelling against Roman society would be muted. On the other hand, he is a brother and so Philemon treats him differently than a slave. Also, Onesimus fleeing Philemon after wronging him in some way came with severe penalty under Roman law. Paul asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus and receive him as he would receive Paul, his “partner.” This was extremely counter-cultural. The motivation in our treatment of one another is devotion to Christ, which translates into regarding one another as “in Christ.” This devotion will call us to look similar to the culture at large, yet our interactions will resemble the Imago Dei described in Philippians 4.
If the Good News was completely subversive to Roman society, it would have been treated with hostility simply for challenging tradition and Roman sovereignty. The social structures of Rome were stringently defended. To challenge them was to challenge Rome. To subvert them completely would hinder the Gospel of Christ. Obviously, Christ followers did encounter such hostility (the letters to Thessalonica offer hope and encouragement to communities facing intense persecution), but it had more to do with refusal to participate in rites related to Greco-Roman gods and the emperor cult. Studying Roman society of this time period provides incredible insight into what it meant to follow Christ for these early Christians. Exploring gender roles within the church mirrors this very dilemma. Many church traditions have very defined gender roles, but if those roles are based more on tradition and not the Spirit forming communities that are both similar in appearance to societal norms, yet subversive in their devotion to Christ alone, then tradition has over-ruled Christ.
In 2 Kings 18, Hezekiah cleaned out the temple in Jerusalem, destroyed sacred pillars, and then it says something interesting. The people of Israel had been worshiping Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses held up in the desert. Numbers 21 tells this story of the Israelites grumbling. God had enough and sent the fiery snakes to deal with them. In so doing, He also provided the bronzed snake for Moses to use as a source of mercy and healing. 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. What God intended for good, man intended for evil.
However tradition isn’t always bad. Jeremiah references the Rechabites on account of their commitment to honor Jehonadab, son of Rechab, their ancestor. He commanded them not to drink wine or other strong drink, or to live in houses, or to sow seed, or to plant vineyards, and had enjoined them to dwell in tents all their days. They embodied a devotion to their ancestor that Jeremiah longed to see his people give YHWH and reflect in their treatment of one another. 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.”
This introduction aims to shape the direction of the examination of how gender roles are practiced within our Christ community. At the heart of comedy (and some tragedy) is miscommunication. In Fiddler of the Roof, Tevye and Lazar Wolf talk earnestly- about two different things, each assuming they are talking about the same thing. Unfortunately, disputes of such topics are rarely comedic, often tragic. Before we end up trillions of miles off course, let us clarify our base point. We are talking about how to read and apply inspired words from a first century Hebrew apostle of Christ to a first century Christ community living in territory governed by Roman authorities and facing threats to the simplicity of the Gospel (as Paul described it), yet providing wisdom for today. In order to stay on course, this will be the beacon for exploring gender roles within Christ communities with the ambition of reflecting the nature of the Gospel of Christ to our world.
