Hi First name / friend,

 

As founder of Every Woman a Theologian, I have been repeatedly asked for my opinion on the SBC’s decision regarding women in ministry. If you are not a member of the Southern Baptist Convention or unacquainted with the decision, you can read more about it here. I did not grow up in the SBC (I grew up Pentecostal) but attended an SBC university and was a member of an SBC church for several years during that time. 

 

My time in the SBC was mostly positive. I was baptized there (a re-baptism later in life) and had an incredible Bible study leader, Grace, who truly discipled the women in her sphere. I was in my early twenties, cutting my teeth on real study of Scripture with Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer (before Beth left the SBC). Josh and I attended this church for several years, eventually ending our membership and transferring to a Calvary Chapel.

 

I still loosely follow what’s happening in the SBC. My feed is full of opinions on both sides of the spectrum: some applauding the decision to prevent women from preaching to the congregation, others gnashing their teeth in reels, tweets, and Substack articles. I have thoughts (I always do), but rather than join the firestorm in the heat of it, I like to ponder for a few weeks, discuss with my real-life friends, and decide if I truly have anything to contribute to the conversation; here I am. 

At the beginning of his scathing letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul says: “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). Paul’s desire for the church at Corinth was unity, not division. The irony of the “Truth and Unity Amendment” is that first, female pastors are already disallowed in the SBC (“same judgment” has been accomplished) and second, this new declaration has led to confusion and division, not unity. While we should never unify with people who are teaching heretical doctrine, women preaching is not a heretical doctrine. 

 

Heresy is departure from orthodoxy, “sound doctrine.” I like G.K. Chesterton’s definition of orthodoxy as “the creeds, and the historic conduct of those who held such a creed.” The Christian creeds sum up the fundamental truths of our faith in short, succinct statements. Beyond these we have the Ten Commandments, rearticulated by Jesus and in early church documents like the Didache, outlining basic Christian holiness for all areas of life. Together, the theological truths of the creeds and our submission to a creedal way of life (sanctification from sin) lead to orthodoxy and orthopraxy: right doctrine and right living. Heresy is the denial or consistent doubt of settled, established truths of the Christian faith. Some call these “first-order doctrines”; Chesterton said “the creeds . . . and conduct.”  Father Michael Cooper said this about Chesterton’s view of orthodoxy and heresy:

“Chesterton, writing in 1908 insisted that Orthodoxy is a flesh and blood reality, not just an intellectual system. In terms of the believer, orthodoxy happens in the fullness of God’s truth, the person of Jesus Christ becomes integrated with the believer’s life. Without this fusion of right belief and right living in and with the living Christ, orthodoxy can become a joyless catalogue of dogmas, always searching for heresies in our midst.”

In other words even Chesterton, author of Orthodoxy, didn’t think orthodoxy alone was enough. Our love for truth should be eternally married to the Spirit. Without the Spirit, without intimacy with God, our doctrine becomes a paranoid hunt for “heresies in our midst.” The more heresies we find, the less we recognize the real ones. We need the Spirit to lead our application and discernment of the Word of God because He is the One who inspired it, and He never contradicts Himself. 

 

It is interesting, then, that it was the Spirit who inspired men and women to preach the gospel to an assembled group at Pentecost. Is there room in our orthodoxy for that?

 

**Note: It can be argued that Pentecost did not occur in a synagogue or a church; it was evangelistic preaching. This is a valid objection. But we can’t escape that women were praying and prophesying in the early church on a regular basis. They were doing it enough that Paul gave explicit instructions in 1 Corinthians for the practice of these gifts—not long after his greeting in 1 Corinthians 1. Their ministry doesn’t stop there: The apostle Philip had four daughters who prophesied, prophecy being the articulation of God’s truths to God’s people. The prophetic gift of women is a theme running from Old to New Testament, and it would be a slam dunk of an argument for women ministering alongside men—except for a little something I call “the cessationist loophole.” Because cessationists (the majority of the SBC) consider prophecy obsolete, it is no longer a valid gift of the Spirit for the church. And if this is so, the primary gift of women in Scripture ended with the close of the New Testament canon. Any scriptural “proofs” for female teaching and preaching are irrelevant for the modern [American] church, according to the cessationist point of view.

 

Dr. Mohler himself, in a quote I’ve shared many times, stated that liberalism and fundamentalism are two ends of a spectrum:

“The error of theological liberalism is evident in a basic disrespect for biblical authority and the church’s treasury of truth. The mark of true liberalism is the refusal to admit that first-order theological issues even exist. Progressive Christianity treats first-order doctrines as if they were merely third-order in importance, and doctrinal ambiguity as the inevitable result.”

You might be thinking, that sounds like Al! But wait, there’s more:

“Fundamentalism, on the other hand, tends toward the opposite error. The misjudgment of the true fundamentalist is the belief that all disagreements concern first-order doctrines. Thus, third-order issues are raised to a first-order importance, and Christians are wrongly and harmfully divided.” 

I loved this quote so much (both halves), I used it in podcasts, books, and articles. Now I find myself questioning how a person who knew these truths to be self-evident could become so un-self-aware.

 

 “There’s a great line that divides liberal and biblical evangelicalism, and you can see it on this very issue . . . ,” Dr. Mohler recently said. “The trajectory of liberal denominations is clear.” Mohler assumes that churches who ordain female ministers will inevitably slide into affirming LGBTQIA+ initiatives and other progressive agendas. But this is not always the case. Assemblies of God and other charismatic denominations (descended from Wesleyanism) have been platforming female pastors, preachers, teachers, and prophetesses for years while remaining mostly conservative on sexual ethics. These denominations consistently score politically conservative as well. While I don’t agree with everything in my Pentecostal upbringing (I’m no longer in a Pentecostal church), I find it surprising Dr. Mohler has looked only to examples on the left when we have over 120 years of evidence proving female church leadership and sexual orthodoxy can go hand-in-hand. 

Teaching Proverbs at my home church.

Where do we go from here? While I disagree with the SBC’s decision, how it was made and the language around it, ultimately I think the debate around women in ministry is meant to keep women from ministering. No, I don’t mean Dr. Al Mohler is keeping women from ministry. I mean that the entire debate—the vitriol, the accusations on both sides, and the fundamentalism of both complementarian and egalitarians—is keeping women from simply doing the work.

 

I have compassion for women in the SBC. They may be more confused than before about what they are permitted to do within the church (I certainly am). But I do not hate the SBC. I don’t wish to see it burned to the ground, as some of my colleagues do; I wish to see its leaders wake up to the fact that, rather than promoting “truth and unity,” they are feeding a progressive engine fueled by their fundamentalist fears. Sometimes your enemy is a mirror of your own face. And as long as your theology is primarily formed by what you’re against, that enemy must remain ever present; ever available as the opposite pole. 

 

I’m as tempted as anyone to live in a state of circular obsession over theological wrongs. But I also believe my theological “enemies” answer to the Lord. This frees me to be known more for what I am for than for what I’m against. I am for everyone hearing the name of Jesus. I am for people living victorious Christian lives. I am for women who know Scripture, disciple others well, and live on purpose for the Lord. This leads me into many churches, not all of which agree with me—or each other!—on women in ministry. It is not my job to punish complementarians by refusing to participate in their churches. It is not my job to debate egalitarians because I don’t affirm female eldership, even though I preach on Sundays at times. It is my job, my call, to articulate the gospel and the Christian life to anyone I can. I won’t be distracted from that mission, no matter how loud the debate.

 

Here’s the truth: A measly five percent of the work God has called me to do is done in a pulpit. Ninety-five percent is done across a table, holding a hand, discipling through conflict, teaching people how to study the Bible, teaching people how to teach others, hosting people in my home, and raising disciples of my own. I will not spend my life arguing about whether or not I can preach on a six-inch platform with a wooden box in front of me. Sometimes I can. Sometimes I can’t. But I can always preach the gospel to the world. I can always evangelize. I can always find ways to share the gospel without grasping for position and power. 

 

The SBC has the Truth and Unity Amendment.  And we—those of us ministering too visibly for the right and too submissively for the left—have truth and unity in Jesus Christ. 

 

In arguing about the work, be sure you haven’t ceased to actually do it. Keep going.

 

“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest”

– John 4:35 –

 

Amylu Chicken Basil Meatballs: My friend Heather picked these up at Costco for me. When I say I eat them for lunch every single day . . . I may also be saying I eat them in the afternoon and evening too. Maybe I eat them on a boat. Maybe I eat them with my goats! All that to say: They are delicious. Tonight they are featured alongside the Costco cooked beets (super good with arugula and goat cheese).

 

Alone Season 13: Josh and I have been watching this survival show for years, ever since Hunter Beless turned me onto it. A new season just launched and we’re deciding what we would do if we were hunting our own food in freezing temps rather than sipping tea under a comforter (as one does).

 

Estate Sales: ‘Tis the season. I went to one Sunday morning (I managed to jam it in before church) and found cotton and wool rugs, vintage aprons, old books, and a beautiful handmade doll for Vera. I also got Ivan a cap gun, harmonica, and handcuffs for his cowboy era. (I will probably live to regret these purchases, but right now he’s lounging around in a cowboy hat playing his version of “The Streets of Laredo,” and I love it.)

One of the questions I'm asked most often is, "Where should I start?" Whether you've just finished a study or you're ready to dig deeper into God's Word, I want to encourage you to choose a study that helps you read the Bible—not just read about the Bible. That's why we created our Verse-by-Verse Bible Studies.

 

Our Verse-by-Verse Bible Studies are designed to help you engage with Scripture for yourself. Each study prompts you to answer questions about the text and think critically on your own. You can move at your own pace, linger where you need to, and grow in confidence as you study God's Word.

November 6-7 in Traverse City, Michigan

FOR THE AWAKENING,