March 17, 2005
It Ain’t the Oscars, but…
Each year there are award shows galore as Hollywood and the like pat themselves on the back for being entertaining or ground breaking or whatever else they treasure. This is what we see on TV and in the media, but each year churches across the country choose leaders for their congregation as well.
These are the people that are part of President Bush’s “Armies of Compassion”. They guide, lead and shepherd their congregations in, hopefully, godly directions. As members of society and sphere of genuine positive influence, these people dig deeper into the lives of their brothers and sisters in Christ than anyone in Hollywood could. Not only do they have the opportunity to influence their congregations, but also the community around them. It ain’t the Oscars, but it is even more important.
I have been asked to serve on the Nominating Committee at my church, which means I will have a say in who our church raises up to guide, lead and shepherd our congregation. As with everything in my spiritual life, I labor over these decisions because I take them very seriously. There is nothing more foundational to who I am, than my walk with Christ.
The two areas of greatest concern for me in this process are understanding Freemasonry and the role of Women in ministry. My concern comes from wanting to have leaders in our church who’s foundation is in Christ and not an ancient fraternity and whether or not it is biblical to have women in these particular positions of leadership. This last point should not be confused with women not being involved in church leadership at all, as they do play a vital role in the body of believers. But should they hold out these particular offices; Elder, Deacon and Trustee?
So here is my elaborate way of bookmarking two books that I would like to read to help me further understand these issues:
 Who's Afraid of Freemasons?Alexander Piatigorsky In the eighteenth century, Freemasonry was seen to be a force of
enlightenment, yet it has come to be regarded as a sinister influence in
public life. This definitive study reveals more about Masonry and the way
it functions than any other work. Alexander Piatigorsky considers the
institution from the points of view of both Masons and their critics. In
the first section, he gives an outline of Masonic history, from the
foundation of the Grand Lodge in London's Covent Garden in 1717, through
the extraordinary role of Masonry in Enlightenment Europe and the American
Revolution, to the present day. In the second part, he describes
Freemasonry's rituals and symbolism, within which all Masonic religious
ideas find their place. It is here that Piatigorsky's wide knowledge of
the world's religions comes into its own. |
Wayne Grudem Egalitarians, or evangelical feminists, consider men's and women's roles in the home and church to be interchangeable. In this helpful book, Bible scholar Wayne Grudem considers over a hundred egalitarian arguments and finds them contrary to the Bible. According to Grudem, the Bible teaches that God values men and women equally. However, their roles in home and church are complementary to each other, not interchangeable. Arguing against both feminism on the left and male chauvinism on the right, his carefully researched handbook is a valuable resource defending the complementarian viewpoint. |
I'm very interested to hear more about your findings, especially about women in leadership. It's an upcoming topic in my series on my personal Ministry Philosophy, and I'm dreading writing it.
Posted by: mo at March 18, 2005 12:31 AMThis should be fun for you. It always seems that there is a little bit of controversy regarding women in leadership especially in the church. Wayne Grudem is great on this subject and I do recommend him. He has written extensively about this subject. I am very interested in your Free Massons as well. I have never even broached that topic and so I would be starting from square 1. Let me know how it goes.
Posted by: John at March 18, 2005 10:48 AMHey guys, I appreciate your encouragement here. I am curious about your thoughts on the women in ministry topic.
And do either of you already have the Grudem book?? My wife is starting to question my book budget...I may need to get a job that gives me a book allowance!
Posted by: Jeff Price at March 18, 2005 11:20 AMHey Jeff,
Its great having a book budget paid by the church :) I have read several of Grudem's books. One looks at practically men and women's role within the home and i have another book that is a series of papers called Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
My thoughts on women in leadership ~
I believe that women are equal in value and giftedness but we have different roles within the home and church. As i have read Scripture and read these books, my understand is that a womans gifts and abilities should be directed towards teaching and mentoring women and children and serving one another in the role of deaconess (as i understand the role of a deacon). The limit that I would put on it is that they should not have the role of elder or pastor especially when you understand the role of elder as being a shepherd / teacher at large.
Now how does that look practically and where are the lines ~ working on that still. :) But I think that the point that tends to be forgotten when discussing this with people hostile to this position is the equal in essence but different in roles. There is an underlining assumption that if a position is closed to a woman it means she is inferior in essence which is not true. Because I have not been gifted with the amazing abilities of a woman does not mean that i am inferior to a woman and vice versa. We have different roles.
That is a basic snapshot. I would have to smooth it out a little and make it more comprensive.