Men and Women in the Church is designed for the purpose of fostering conversation around the book of the same name by Sarah Sumner. Check this blog out regularly and you will see questions for you to ponder and comment upon, updates on the study, and overviews of the various discussions that are taking place in “real” life.
Some rules for discussion:
1. Be kind. You will not always agree with other comments or the main post. You may find that you disagree with most of the book. Disagreement is fine, even healthy. However, being unkind is not.
2. Be honest. If you don’t like what your reading please feel the freedom to honestly express that opinion. This requires that we be able to accept opinions of others that might make us uncomfortable. Ask honest questions and give honest opinions.
3. Render love. In my opinion, the most important thing that this book study will do for us is not give us an answer to the questions at hand. Yes, we want to learn and have our questions answered. But the process of learning together, growing together and loving one another through our differences is one more way to express God’s Kingdom among us and remain close to Jesus.
I have been reading this book with much interest. I am currently in the middle of Chapter 23. I also have read many of the posts on blogs of various folks participating in the discussion, but this is my first entry into the blogging world.
For me, I know I’ve been curious about this book as it relates to my own life and my own view of gender roles in the church. I also want to try to honor God in my marriage and I’m not ashamed to say that I’m often clueless on how to do that well.
As a church, I know we have an opportunity for a fresh start. Looking at this issue of men and women and leadership is important as we try to figure out our structure.
I know some have questioned why we as a small church would tackle such a potentially divisive topic. I applaud Paul for his leadership and vision to encourage us as a church to wrestle with this issue when the easier thing to do would be to leave it alone.
At the beginning of Chapter 23, Sumner says this: The more I pay attention, the more I become convinced that the current debate on men and women in the church effectively unearths people’s buried thoughts about their sexuality, their concept of marriage, their view of the authority of Scripture, their theology of God and their philosophy of natural order. That’s why this debate is so volatile and heated. It strikes at the core of people’s most sacred beliefs.
As I read that, I understand more of why we as a church engage in discussions like this. This book is more than a discussion about men and women’s roles in the church. It actually causes us (if we let it) to examine our own lives and broadens our perspective on who God is. It challenges our biases and perspectives in light of our current culture. This, I submit, is an integral part of the Christian life.