Archive for the ‘Gender’ Category

!C//SEX Gender Week Wrap Up

By Dan King

I’d first like to start with an apology. My mission trip to Haiti impaired my ability to keep up with certain aspects of this project more that I anticipated.

Nonetheless, there were some incredible posts that came in!

This week was GENDER WEEK, the third of the six-week series of discussions on various sex-related topics.

As you look through each of the posts in this series, I hope that you see a bit of a trend emerging. At first glance it would seem that the posts are overly skewed towards the discussion of female gender roles and issues. However, I definitely learned a great deal about what it means to be a man… and yes, even (umm.. especially) while reading the posts about women.

Here’s a quick recap of the posts that we saw come in this week:

  • On Being a Woman
    Suzie Lind kicks us off a little early by asking her readers, “What do you think it means to be a woman?”
  • Oh, Eve
    Suzie Lind continues her discussion with a focus on women walking in redemption rather than walking in the fall.
  • women Asian American Christian ministry leaders
    DJ Chuang discuses the impact that women (particularly Asian American women) have in the church today. While this post wasn’t tagged as being a part of this project, it is very relevant to the discussion.
  • Men become better men in the company of Good Men
    Dan Rodriguez briefly discuses details of his workshop for #ICSEX in Las Vegas! It sounds like it’ll be a very interesting discussion!
  • Fearfully & Wonderfully Made
    Suzie Lind continues her series by talking about how God used women throughout the Bible as instruments of redemption.
  • Raising Women
    Sarah Markley talks about being a woman who is raising girls. She struggles with the question about how to teach them something that she’s still learning herself.
  • Mad Men
    Suzie Lind shared this link to a post by a co-worker that seemed relevant to our #ICSEX Gender Week discussion. While this is not officially tagged as being a part of this blogging series, it provides an interesting perspective on gender roles in ministry.
  • #ICSEX – What is a Man?
    Seiji Yamashita discusses his personal struggles in doing what society would say it takes to become a man, and in the processes begins to answer the questions about what it really means to be one.
  • a hermeneutic on gender and ministry [#ICSEX]
    Dan King (me) looks to exegetical study of the scripture to help us understand controversial issues like, ‘women don’t talk in church’.
  • Gender Preference, Exclusion, or Oppression?
    Charles Lee (our fearless @theideacamp leader) talks about being intentional about diversity, especially as it relates to including women in our work/ministry.

Let’s keep this conversation going… Which of these posts impacted you the most? Why? What other perspectives on gender do you think are important to share/consider?

Coming up next: Orientation – Week beginning Sunday, August 22nd
Same-sex attraction is likely one of the most controversial issues that the church deals with today. Is it okay to be gay/lesbian and be a Christian? More importantly how should the church respond to people who live with same-sex attraction? This discussion will focus on reconciliation… with the Word AND with people. This is a good opportunity to build a bridge to those who have been alienated by the church for a very long time. If you’re interested in participating in this conversation, then let us know in the comments or contact @bibledude on Twitter.

Are you enjoying this conversation? Then consider coming to !C//SEX Las Vegas on 9.27.10. Register now!

Originally posted at bibledude.net.

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Gender Perception, Exclusion or Oppression?

By Charles Lee

Oppression is commonly defined as the cruel or unjust exercise of authority or power. Oppression occurs when those in authority “press down” their power on those who lack it; thus limiting their opportunities, growth, and ability to live out their human potential.

When you consider the injustices of the world, you will see that most of them are the result of oppressors using their power (or perceived power) to take advantage of the weak. One of the common truths about oppression found around the world is that women are often the victim. In the context of oppression, power wins. Therefore, more often than not, those who may be physically weaker will lose out. Whether it’s human trafficking, domestic violence, or even subtle forms of discrimination in some corporations, women will often find themselves on the wrong side of the fence.

Unfortunately, oppression against women, especially the kind that hides behind cultural perceptions, presuppositions, and theological paradigms, can often feel justified. The sad truth is that these kinds of justifications often lead to the crushing of dreams and passions of too many women.

As a leader, I’m often challenged to think about what role or level of influence women play in the work that I do. As a minority, I’m innately mindful of making sure that diverse voices, especially ethnically, are represented at the table. My presupposition going into any project or event is that we need all kind of voices/views to move forward in producing quality and meaningful work.

Nevertheless, until 7 years ago, I didn’t make a conscious choice to seek out female voices. I didn’t intentionally exclude anyone (including women), but neither did I go out of my way to try to find new voices to add to the mix. From hindsight, it was my loss and the loss of everyone I worked with. I sometimes justified not having a presence of women in the name of everything from integrity (i.e., creating a healthy boundary for my personal life) to natural network (i.e., I was closer to more men than women in friendship.) to culture & theology (i.e., I was taught by some that men alone were “called” to lead at higher levels. Lame, I know.).

Clarification #1: I’m definitely not saying that we all need to meet a certain quota of minority and gender. I think each project and/or event is unique. I want the best people working possible. I don’t want to see reverse discrimination in hopes of leveling the playing field. I’m just asking whether or not we go out of our way to include voices out of the normal circle.

Clarification #2: I’m not saying that women, especially in our culture, have no power. In fact, many do have power and exercise it well. My point is that there are still sectors of our culture where we unnecessarily exclude women to the detriment of humanity.

Take a moment to consider your company, organization, church or even the conferences you participate in. Do the contributing voices include women? If so, to what level is their contribution? Leading? Supportive?

When it comes to gender issues, I often ask myself some of the following questions:

  • Do I know the leading female voices in my areas of passion? Do I ever buy their books?
  • What subtle things about gender am I communicating in the way that projects are developed or events are programmed?
  • Do I communicate to women that they are not welcomed in my work?
  • Am I expecting female leaders to act, dress, and look like male leaders?
  • Who is helping me to form my thoughts about female leaders?

These are some of my initial thoughts on this topic…more to come.

I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic. Also, please let us know if you know of groups that model gender integration well.

Charles Lee

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A Hermeneutic on Gender and Ministry

By Dan King

Few things bother me as much as misinterpreted and misapplied scripture. And (I believe) one of the worst examples of this is around the issue of women’s role in ministry in the church.

There are many that disagree with women being active in ministry, and others that would go so far as to say that they should be silent participants in church. Not only do I feel that this is based on a misinterpretation of the intent of the Scriptures, but it also creates a situation that forces society to question the validity and relevance of the Word in our world today.

First let’s look at the passages used to support this idea:

The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

– 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.

– 1 Timothy 2:11-12

Seems pretty clear, right? I mean, Paul doesn’t even stutter when he lays outs this direction.

But responsible Bible interpretation isn’t as easy as just looking at these passages at face value and saying that God is trying to tell us that women should never talk in church. After all, when Paul wrote this he was writing specifically to a first century audience dealing with very specific first century issues.

This means that there are cultural and sociological differences that we need to consider for us to fully understand what’s happening here. We must also take these passages in their literary context by understanding how they fit into the entire writings to which they belong. So here are a couple of questions that we need to consider before we can apply these ideas to the church today.

Who is Paul writing to and about?

The simple answer is that he’s giving instruction to a first century church and church leader. Because these passages are about women, we should understand what first century women were like. More often than not, women in the first century would have been very uneducated. They may be very skilled in the ways of keeping the home and raising the children, but most would not have been very educated at all, but especially in the Scriptures. Many may not even know how to read, but due to the lack of availability of literature they probably wouldn’t have needed to read in the first place.

Therefore, it would have been very common for women to have questions when listening to a great intellectual like Paul. It would have been the modern equivalent of a fifth-grader trying to listen to an Albert Einstein lecture. So they would have had questions about what Paul was teaching… LOTS of questions. And who would they turn to? The passage in 1 Corinthians answers that one pretty clearly.

Why would Paul be addressing this issue?

Considering that these curious women would’ve had lots of questions, and would’ve been asking things like, “Hey honey, what does he mean by we are ‘saved by grace’?” The women’s inability to understand complex intellectual and religious concepts would’ve created quite a disturbing chatter for someone who was trying to teach (probably in pretty tight quarters). These uneducated women were interfering with Paul’s teaching! I can imagine Paul thinking, “How rude! I wish these women would just be quite for a minute! They can ask their husbands what I meant later!” Oh… he did say that…

So what’s Paul’s intent?

Especially considering the surrounding text for the passage in 1 Corinthians, I believe that Paul is trying to talk about respecting the service than he is trying to prove male dominance in the church. Even the passage in 1 Timothy can be interpreted as being more about order, structure, and respect, than it is about keeping women quiet.

How does this translate for today?

Well, first of all, women are much more educated today than they were back then. And this level of knowledge/wisdom means that chattering, confused women are not interrupting the church services today like they would have back then. And if we look closely at Paul’s intent and the state of the church today, then Paul’s word might actually apply to many men as well.

And with other writings (like the Book of Acts) clearly pointing out that women often had a prominent role in ministry, it makes it hard for me to believe that Paul (and God) intended for women in today’s church to remain silent and miss out opportunities to minister to others.

What factors do you consider?

What else do you consider when interpreting passages like these? How do you reconcile these passages with others that clearly show women as active parts of ministry? What role do you feel women play (or don’t play) in church today? Why?

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