Intellectuelle

A couple months ago I wrote a post about men in pink, including an epicurean engineer, a famous trumpet player, and a cowboy.

Well, here's my very own man in pink:

Posted by Bonnie at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Stumble It!

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Galatians 5:1-18, NASB

Through a bit of serendipity, I found myself reading Galatians while considering issues of gender in both marriage and the church. Then my pastor preached from the epistle in a sermon titled, "Celebrate Freedom," tying in the freedom we celebrate on July 4th with the concept of spiritual freedom. Now, Internet Monk links to a post by Ray Ortlund on the Judaizers of Galatia, and I highly commend this post to you. It says what I've been thinking, only so very much better:

The tricky thing about our hearts is that they can turn even a good thing into an engine of oppression. It happens when our theological distinctives make us aloof from other Christians...The Judaizers in Galatia did not see their distinctive - the rite of circumcision - as problematic. They could claim biblical authority for it in Genesis 17 and the Abrahamic covenant. But their distinctive functioned as an addition to the all-sufficiency of Jesus himself... no matter how well argued our position is biblically, if it functions in our hearts as an addition to Jesus, it ends up as a form of legalistic divisiveness. [emphasis added]

Continue reading "Modern-day Judaizers"

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"I will tell you of my king and his greatness: My king never threatened me as yours does. Your new king has begun his reign with laws, rules, regulations, and fear. The clearest memory I have of my king when we lived in the caves, is that his was a life of submission. Yes, David showed me submission, not authority. He taught me not the quick cure of rules and laws, but of the art of patience. That is what changed my life. Legalism is nothing but a leader's way of avoiding suffering.

"Rules were invented by elders so they could get to bed early! Men who speak endlessly on authority only prove they have none. And kings who make speeches about submission only betray twin fears in their hearts: They are not certain they are really true leaders, sent of God. And they live in mortal fear of a rebellion.

"My king spoke not of submitting to him. He feared no rebellion... because he did not mind if he was dethroned!

"David taught me losing, not winning. Giving, not taking. He showed me the leader, not the follower is inconvenienced. David shielded us from suffering; he did not mete it out.

"He taught me that authority yields to rebellion, especially when that rebellion is nothing more dangerous than immaturity, or perhaps stupidity."

....one last salvo: "As far as David's having authority: Men who don't have it talk about it all the time. submit, submit! That's all you hear. David had authority, but I don't think that fact ever occurred to him. We were six hundred no-goods with a leader who cried a lot. that's all we were!"


These were the last words the young soldier heard from the old warrior. slipping back into the street, he wondered if he would ever again be happy serving under Rehoboam.

Here is a school marm question for you: Who else does the description of David sound like?

This is an excerpt from a small book called A Tale of three Kings: A Study in Brokenness' by Gene Edwards. I first read it many years ago when recovering from the woundedness that comes from domineering Christian leadership. Not all of it male in gender, but much of it. This book was written in response to the many damaged people "devastated by the authoritarian movement that had become so popular with many Christian groups." - the author's own words.

No, he wasn't speaking of today's complementarian traditionalists, but he might as well have... the teachings are the same. Today's form just isn't so zealous of living out their teachings. Although Edwards doesn't mention it by name, I remember the "Shepherding Movement". It left a sailors graveyard of shipwrecked Christians.

And it amazes me that no one draws the obvious parallels with much of the "complementarian" teaching and practice that we see coming forth from it. The egalitarians have their own shoals to watch out for in sailing rather close to secular feminism, but of the two... this is the more dangerous because it looks so seemingly "holy"... and righteous.... and religious.

Posted by Ilona at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Ilona Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) | Stumble It!

The relationship between authority and freedom, in the Kingdom of God, is symbiotic not oppositional. One of the directions I wanted to go in the gender issue debate was to point out that freedom is a primary goal in God's dealings with His human creation. Another primary goal is the restoration of right relationship between Himself and humanity. If we understand how important freedom is to God, and how freedom cannot exist without proper authority relationship.... we will be a long way further along the road to right understanding of the gospel, the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and our proper place in God's Plan. I believe.

Continue reading "Authority And Freedom"

Posted by Ilona at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Ilona Comments (12) | TrackBack (0) | Stumble It!

One of the first things apparent to me in the debate over a woman's place in the church has been the importance of settling the definition and theology of authority as revealed in the scriptures. Presently, I see it surfacing in the way that debate is shaping up in discussions such as the one at Denny Burk's blog. Briefly, my own findings in the debate are these:

* There needs to be a focus on the theology- not on opinions, culture, or the many rabbit trails involved in the debate
* Recognizing order and the function of hierarchy
* Understanding authority as defined and implemented by God in His Kingdom, as found in the person of Christ Jesus
* Realizing that both the egalitarians and the traditional hierarchialists have their points of truth and their errors: using the theology to parse these out
* Realizing, too, that there is a fundamental place for men's leadership... and women cannot edit that out in their appeal for right understanding of their own place in the church... which includes all of life for us as believers.

There are very long comment sections on Burk's blog, and the subject matter runs the gamut from speaking of gender roles to the threat of abuse, and assorted church issues which are gender related. One point that is getting lots of comment time is the idea of men having authority over women in