Editor’s note: The following is written by a PCA pastor’s wife, who
is herself a seminary graduate. In the interests of focusing on issues and not
personalities, the writer shall remain anonymous.
§
As a woman in the PCA, I am concerned about what I witnessed at
the PCA’s General Assembly last week, not just because I strongly disagree with
some of the overtures that were passed, but because of the presence of a
cultural morality guiding the arguments and votes of commissioners.
We live in an age of moral evolution. Gone are the days of a
powerful state church dictating the action of a king with the threat of
excommunication or withdrawal of funds. In this new age, characterized by a generally valuable
separation of church and state, the weight of moral responsibility has fallen
into the hands of our lawmakers and politicians and, for the most part, whoever
makes the loudest noise and garners the largest following.
Faced with moral ambiguity, our nation, among so many others,
has turned to a morality of the majority. (I’m pulling this straight from
Francis Schaeffer) Whichever law, movement, or organization can get the will of
at least 51% of the population shapes the morality of the day. Morality evolves
as the bloggers and Facebook posters make their views heard.
This moral evolution reflects a sort of humanism that ever seeks
out the next “problem” to root out or allows the next minority to hurl itself
into the face of the public. Americans see this evolution as bringing progress.
Change is good. Seek what is next. Yes we can. Americans worship anything
perceived as progress.
It is not so with God, however. Christian morality is based in
God’s word, which endures forever. God’s word is unmovable because God is
immutable and unchangeable. The nature of His Word reflects who He is and as
followers of Christ, we ought to feel a rub between the moral evolution of our
culture and the changeless of our faith.
When I showed up to GA last week, I expected to, in the best
possible way, run into a bunch of sticks-in-the-mud. I expected to feel like I
had traveled to a new land where everyone and everything would feel a bit alien
from the bombardment of American culture I experience every time I log onto
Facebook. I expected to feel at home in the midst of men and women who are just
a bit “other” than the world.
My experience could not have been more different. Instead, all I
could see and hear as I bumped into yellow-lanyard-wearing, hipster, bearded
PCA men in the conference center and crowding the restaurants surrounding it
was this cultural morality. This glorification of progress through change
littered their conversations as well as their arguments on the floor. My jaw
fell to the floor when I overheard one commissioner comment to another, “These
other denominations have done it; isn’t it time we caught up?” Isn’t it time we
caught up?!? Does not the Scripture make it clear to us that when other
churches are changing with the times, we ought to hold strong? Should we not
see these shifts and hold tighter to our doctrine? Are not these changes a red
flag? Have we learned nothing from church history?
When it comes to the issue of
women in the church, my earlier questions still remain. Given that we have no
new revelation from God and there has been no breakthrough theological paper on
the issue, why is this coming up at GA? My answer: because of American cultural
morality. Moral progress in the United State right now is currently focused
upon equality and I believe our commissioners, for the most part, fell prey to
this cultural pressure.
As an American citizen, I want women to have all the same rights
as a man from suffrage to pay rate to holding political office. As a Christian,
I believe that men and women are equally sinners, equally saved, and equally
valued as the creation of God Almighty.
In another sense, however, I am not equal to men. In God’s
kingdom, there are certain responsibilities given to my husband not given to
me. There is authority given to my husband not given to me. I like it that way.
God did not make men and women
the exact same; it is not that they are identical except that one group is a
little prettier than the other. God made man and woman with unique roles such
that, together, they bring Him glory. I enjoy being a woman according to the
example outlined in Scripture, in part, just so that I can see my husband being
a man as defined by Scripture. I am fulfilled as a woman with my beautiful
submissive, nurturing role that provides opportunities to bring out the
leadership role of my husband. I do not want to change this to either lose my
own role, which I love, or to deprive him of his, which I love to see him do to
God’s glory.
Nevertheless, my culture tells me otherwise. It tells me I ought
to grasp for rights that will make me indistinguishable from men. But I like
being a woman and I want to stay that way.
I am grateful to have attended General Assembly this year. It made
me thankful for my role as a woman in the church. I got to participate in the
worship services, sit in during the proceedings, attend conferences for men and
women alike, and support my husband as a commissioner. I had the chance to sit
amongst pastors, listening to them work through the issues while questioning
and being questioned by them on various topics. I had a role at General
Assembly and I did not even have a title. This week, as I return to my home
church, I return to my various roles: women’s ministries, greeting,
hospitality, music, and mercy ministries. I have plenty of roles and I do not
need to be ordained or certified to do them. I have value in the church
superficially because my husband, the elders, and the congregation respect me
for how I am serving them, but ultimately because I am serving my Lord and Savior.
There is nothing terribly wrong with setting up a study committee
on the roles of women. It is never a bad idea to dive into Scripture, study an
issue at length, and faithfully check ourselves against God’s word. The problem is the reason why it was
brought up.
Why do we need to consider the history of ordination? Why do we need
to reassess women on the diaconate? Why does a letter need to be written to
churches to help them promote women in the church? Since we have no new
revelation from God on these issues and the overture is not in response to a
sin or failing the PCA is specifically aware of, the only answer can be that
this is a culturally pressured decision. That is dangerous. It is dangerous
because this desire for moral evolution will cloud the interpretation of
Scripture such that, regardless of the truth, evidence will be found for the
ordination of women. The wording of the AC’s recommendation clearly suggests
that there will be a search for women’s roles in Scripture; it is as if the
study committee has been commissioned to just look harder for evidence that has
heretofore never been found. This is a biased study that will get the results
it wants.
Even more, however, it is dangerous because the decision is not
being made as a result of a direct attack upon Christian values (such as gay
marriage), but, rather, a cultural encouragement to just “catch up” with the
times. If we are willing to reconsider our theology regarding women now, what
will we be willing to reconsider in 5 years?
As a Christian woman, I do not want to catch up. I want to watch the
world change like the stormy seas while I hold fast to my anchor, my God, my
Reformed theology. I do not want to budge; I do not want the study committee to
think about budging. And I want my commissioners who vote and make decisions
for me at GA to not consider budging either.