Featured Call to Elect a Female SBC President Next Week

Guess to me it just sounds like something someone wants to talk about when coupled with "I remain true to my commitment to vote for Greear."

 

Couldn’t have said it better, so I wanted to share this comment:

Robert M Stivers, “Heavenly Father please destroy the SBC before it disgraces itself further and becomes a blight on the Body of Christ.”

SBC Says Women Not Barred From Presidency, Pastor Dwight McKissic Suggests Beth Moore

 

As for career women, I do believe it is allowed. It has to be given the bible. Deborah was a ruler and judge. Priscilla made tents. Phoebe was somehow a seemingly wealthy patron that acted as a messenger for Paul. The wife of noble character in Proverbs 31 ran an estate, labored to produce goods for money, on top of raising a brood of children. The Law is perfected under Jesus, not abolished, so women can be productive members of society, of course. To argue otherwise is to ignore vast parts of the bible.

That said, in the case of parachurch organizations, there is a problem here. They are the church. That is if you define the church as the bible does: the combined effort of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors, and more. It's not like you left the family of God when you crossed the street from a church to a Christian school. If the evangelist in new territory represents the church, then those who act as the Body of Christ to all people do as well. Where the Body is working together, there the church is.

Anyone who governs a ministry of any kind, is acting as a leader in the Family of God. So is anyone who publicly teaches an audience of Christians. While egregiously unpopular because of Modernity, it must be said that ministry leadership and public teaching of a simple assembly of Believers are roles reserved for men. Parachurch ministries often ignore this.

 

I personally cannot stand the gymnastics invented by so many when it comes to women in 1 Corinthians on both sides. Before I begin though, I must note that I did not reference a cloudy 1 Corinthians but a much more direct 2 Timothy. Prophecy is not public teaching, it is revealing the Words of God, not the woman or man. Also, the OT had women who could prophesy: Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah come to mind readily.

As for 1 Corinthians, I go for a straightforward approach given context and the Spirit and Paul's each and every word. The problem is I don't know if you wanted me to dissect the passage online. If you do, I would be glad to.

 

OK, at this point discussions usually go down hill. So let me step back and assess some basic points.

Let's synchronize our jargon.

1. Is a parachurch organization an organ doing service for the Kingdom?
2. What do you believe a parachurch organization is if it is not an organ of service for the Kingdom?
3. Are missionary and evangelistic organizations part of the church or are they parachurch?
4. Is a bake sale a ministry?

 

Also JonC, I think we have very different definitions for church.

When I say church, I mean "conglomeration of all believers on earth." It is the only RCC idiosyncrasy I kept from my high church days.

When I say congregation, I mean "the local church on a street"

Perhaps I do not have biblical jargon on these two definitions. It seems my idea of "church" would be "Kingdom," "Body of Christ," or "Family of God" in the bible. Whereas you have the proper definition for church biblicaly, which is my definition of "congregation."

OK, that said, I believe that the whole Body of Christ or Family of God is under the same rules as a church, even if we have no apostles in our day, forcing congregationalism.

 

Sorry, I didn't know the president and CEO lacks authority over the IMB.

Thinking about it, then. This boils down to whether a woman can be an informal ministry leader in any capacity whatsoever in the Kingdom. I will take some time to do some research before getting back to you. I think that is where we are left, I hope you agree. I must find relevant scriptures though.

 

Jon C, I think we approach the nature of biblical womanhood from two very different points of view. I have been meaning to start a bible and theological discussion on the BB concerning the nature of biblical womanhood for a while. I now realize it is high time I did so.

The following is my stance on a woman SBC Executive.

1.

Well right off the bat, the word "teach" in 1 Timothy 2:12 is for teaching or addressing a public assembly according to the Mounce Greek dictionary. Thus, a woman is only limited in addressing a group of mixed gender Christians, likely for the purposes of teaching the Word. Something discussed in the Baptist theology section about a month ago.

As Priscilla shows, women can still teach, but I must add we never find a woman in the NT who is a teacher and preacher of the Word to a congregation. I believe, along with others on this board, that this bars women from formal teaching positions in a church, including Sunday School Teacher. That is because Sunday School Teacher is a formal teaching event to a house church sized assembly.

Regardless of a position on Sunday School Teacher, this would mean a woman SBC executive would best forgo giving sermons in churches or at the Convention.

2.

The word "authority" is interpreted as "authority" or "domineer"

The denotation of 'domineer" is:
assert one's will over another in an arrogant way.

The denotation of "authority" is:
the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.

Of the two, since we are talking of the church, and Christ says not to domineer (in the Greek) as the Gentiles do in Matthew 20:25, then it reasons that the word "authority" is to be used.

Now, the power in a congregation to give orders, make decisions for others, and enforce obedience lies with elders in the NT. However, this would include Deacons in modern churches, as deacons rarely seem to be just servants in most churches. However, if deacons are a purely service based role in a church, then women could be deacons.

The problem I now run into is modern day "management" when I talk of a parachurch. In a church setting management is the sole purview of elders, but in a modern business model that is not the case as there is an extensive chain of command.

This is where disagreement will abound.

That said, I would skew conservative in this regard, and say that it is best if women in a Kingdom oriented organization to never hold a position of authority over men. A position where she makes decisions for men, gives orders to men, and enforce obedience among men.

Thus, I would not allow for an SBC woman executive. However, I admit that someone, who thinks women can be managers of men in parachurch organizations, will have no problem with a woman senior executive in a parachurch organization.

Regardless of your position on this last issue, given the prohibition on women elders in the SBC F&M2000, a woman president and CEO should forgo giving sermons to men. Since her teaching authority would be like an elder's.

 

Are there no black lesbians running?

 

McKissic should watch his language.

 

Would a lesbian trapped in a man's body count if they become Transgender?

 

and I just bet more mothers led their children to Christ than their dads.

 

The message being that we no longer regard the scriptures as being inspired and authoritative?

 

What does that have to do with anything?