The Church
Are we all egalitarians now?

Last week I posed the question of whether one can be theologically conservative and support the ordination of women. Today, I want to explore whether those who oppose the ordination of women are still egalitarians. Christian Smith contends in his book Christian America that American evangelical men speak complimentarian rhetoric but life egalitarian lives. Sure, conservative, evangelical Christians proclaim a male headship but it is patriarchal headship mediated by popular culture. His thesis is akin to the title of W. Bradford Wilcox’s book Soft Patriarchs.

So, that battle is lost because of societal factors accepted by all churches. Women working outside the home because of the need of two incomes to be able to live, dual parenting responsibilities, concepts of mutual submission, home decisions made by consensus and/or negotiation, are all concepts of modern family life that are foreign to Biblical patriarchy. Sally Gallagher in her book Evangelical Identity and Gendered Family Life sets forth and excellent example of well meaning that shows the egalitarianism in the Christian family:

A 35 year old wife and mother discussing her husband going to a Promise Keepers event: I had Mike go this year. I kind of sent him…I said “I’m not sending you to get fixed in any area. I just want you to be encouraged because there are other Christian men out there of your age who want to be good dads and fathers.”
This highlights some of the contemporary problems: the wife “sending”; the wife knowing what is best for her husband; wanting her husband to be encouraged rather than taught; and her desire not for him to be a better Christian and leader but a better dad.

This scenario points up another problem. Men go to PK events rather than church. It has been said that PK is interested in making men more like women. If so, how can we expect male leadership from a Biblical perspective to emerge from a PK event. The church must train up men to male headship. Interestingly, Gallagher says the woman in her example never heard a sermon on Biblical headship in her church. This is another case of the church not doing what a church should do.

Ronald Regan used to talk about “trickle down” economics. What happened at the top ultimately benefited everyone. Egalitarianism seems to be moving up to the church from the family influenced by the culture. So, the objection to women’s ordination may only be the last gasp of Biblical complimentarianism since we are all really egalitarians now.

[For an excellent and thorough discussion of this issue, to which I am indebted for this post, see “After Patriarchy, What? Why Egalitarians are Winning the Evangelical Gender Debate”’ by Russell C. Moore, Dean, School of Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, accessible through Touchtone Magazine at their website http://merecomments.typepad.com ]