Rick Warren is the retired founding pastor of Saddleback Church, a Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) mega-church in California that has been the epitome of church growth and evangelicalism for 30 years. Warren is also an author, especially known for “The Purpose Driven Church” a massively popular book (and beyond) that has given a lot of guidance over the years in the area of church growth. I have watched him change, moving towards the middle on a number of issues, including the ordination of women, something that S. Baptists have been fighting against with great fervor since the conservative takeover 40 years ago. Yesterday, the SBC denied Warren’s plea to have Saddleback reinstated. The reason? He believes that women should be ordained to serve in associate pastor roles (God forbid they lead!); the SBC disagrees.
Another church, Fern Baptist Church of Louisville, KY, was expelled because they have been led by Rev. Linda Barnes Popham for 30 years and have refused to acquiesce to the SBC’s rules. Three other churches were also expelled. This is another example of the church choosing Doctrine over Love; Legalism of Jesus. The Bible is clear that women have always been in positions of leadership in government, in the military, and in religious institutions. Jesus surrounded Himself with women, and the disciples did everything in their power to subvert His authority after He left them in charge. This is what men do, isn’t it? Too often, we allow our fragile egos to get in the way of what is right, even if God has ordered it! Rev. Warren, when asked why it too him so long to ordain women, said, “I was sinning when I held women back.” Way to show us all how to grow up, Rick.
As long as we care more about doctrine, dogma, and tradition, we will never evolve towards the dream of being true in our practice of faith. We call ourselves “practicing” because we acknowledge our inadequacies and imperfections. Practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes better, and if we want to be more faithful, we have to keep practicing. Jesus gave us this standard to decide what rules matter and which ones don’t: if it doesn’t fall under the ideal of loving God, neighbor, and self, it isn’t necessary (that’s in Matthew 22 and Romans 13, if you are interested). We make rules to cover what Scripture doesn’t, and sometimes that is necessary because the issue matters. But if our rules don’t focus on “God is Love”, but rather restrict people’s freedom and happiness, then those rules are not of God. To deem women as inferior goes directly against God’s creation, and it goes directly against the way Jesus lived His life. It also robs us of the gifts, graces, and wisdom that women bring to all of us.
As long as the SBC defines half of the population as inferior to the other, they are subverting God’s desires and are not being the church. And that goes for any religious institution that would deny the value and sacred worth of women. Check your egos, boys; they need some manning up.
Prayer – Holy God, if we ever treat someone with disdain because they are different, move us to repentance and forgive us, we pray. Amen.
Today’s art is a catacomb painting of a woman as a Christian priest.