Female Pastorate - The Literal Approach

I have already laid out all of the traditional arguments yesterday as to why women may not hold the position of pastor or elder in the Church.  But, the arguments are a bit more in-depth than what a traditionalist is willing to go into supporting their arguments as to whether or not Paul is right or wrong, much less did Paul recognize female pastors?  By the way, Paul does mention females whom were believed to lead churches, but those references are ignored by the traditionalist and who they are is of no importance to this discussion ...

Viewpoint of Gifts
There is no assignment nor limits on usage of the Spiritual Gifts.  Male or female you each will be given gifts according to the will of the Holy Spirit.  How you use them is in part God's will and perhaps your own.  But, use it wrong and do not expect to have it for long!  It is the Holy Spirit's not yours!

Viewpoint of Ministry Opportunities
The word we use for Pastor from the Greek is the same as the one for Shepherd.  So, it is a Biblical concept.
From the Reformation Movement, the Pastor was one of the serving Elders, hence the requirements listed in yesterday's article for an Elders as logically being applied to the office of Pastor..

My Take On This

The traditional viewpoint is un-Godly and insulting to anyone willing to study their Bible or is female!
I am sorry but the Roman Catholics got it wrong 1700 years ago.

1 Corinthians 11:2 - 16
In this chapter, Paul discusses the concept of hair and head covering for women.
11:5-- “but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head--it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.”

First up, a woman prays...  We are dealing with corporate worship in the church here.  Not over breakfast, not at the grocery store, not behind the wheel of their car.  They are in church and for what ever reason have been asked to pray.
And she is expected by Paul to have a Head Covering.

When my oldest daughter was in 10th grade, she was asked to say a prayer during the Sunday when the youth of the church took over all duties of the church.  She asked what to do.  So, I told her: "Write down your prayer so you can read it and then have a scarf on your shoulders to pull up over your head before you pray."  Seemed easy enough.  And because I am a Hutterite, this was to be considered quite normal.  Because she had been exposed to Russian Orthodox, it again was quite normal to her, even though not done in our church.  You also have to understand that she had not been out of a Russian orphanage all that long was still growing a head of hair.

That simple act of covering her head, you would have thought she had pulled off her blouse and bared herself, the reaction was that violent and so immediate to her prayer!  And the elders decided to take me on, followed by the pastor and the head of the women's ministry.  And we each proved to our own satisfaction the other quite wrong.  (And I am still right ... :) )

I am sorry.  But if she was to lead prayer during the service - she had to cover her head or just be in rebellion to God.  (Don't yell at me yet, finish with this study first!)

Pretty simple really.

Still in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul mentions a woman prophesizing.
Prophesy has two definitions: to foretell and to forthtell.

Foretelling is what most people think of when the terms prophet or prophesy is brought up.  Revealing the future has a means to draw the audience to God.  Many will argue that this no longer exists and certainly the vast majority whom claim a gift of prophesy are full of themselves and not the Holy Spirit.  (And yes, I can say I know of one whom has been 100% in his prophesies.)

Forthtelling is explaining what it is that God has done.  Revealing His hands at work all around us.  This is the role of the Pastor in your church!

So a woman, could very well be Forthtelling in the church service!  But the traditionalist would not accept that she is fulfilling the role of Pastor!  And she is told to have a Head Covering, in order to honor man and her God.

But, wait a minute!  Paul just answered this whole battle right here - there are women pastors he recognizes!  And if they are of God, they will cover their heads.  Ah, but we have oh so much more to cover!

Pre-Christian Culture
Corinth had three temples to the goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love, employing some one thousand temple prostitutes. The city was renowned for these temple prostitutes, who served the wealthy merchants and the powerful officials living in or traveling in and out of the city.  It is thought that much of what Paul wrote concerning women in Corinth may well have been culturally relevant to Christian woman living in Corinth.

So, you are a Christian woman, you need to have long hair - the prostitutes were either bald or had very short hair.  Then cover your hair when praying or prophesying (per above) to further distance  yourself from the the prostitutes and their activities during their "services".

Christian Culture
The Roman Catholic Church took the stance that Paul's instructions for women in Corinth were for all women everywhere, across all time.  This is based upon the concepts of:

• Verse 2 (παραδίδωμι, παραδόσις) indicates that Paul’s instruction is part of traditional doctrine that he was passing on to the Church.  But Paul here does not give any details of the instruction. That is picked up in the rest of the passage.
• Verses 3-9 base this instruction on a theological hierarchy and on creation.  God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of the man, the man is the head of the woman.  It is important to note that Paul is in no way arguing for the inferiority of the woman to the man, for he roots his convictions in the Godhead. Christ is only functionally subordinate to the Father.  The wife, then, is functionally subordinate to the husband, but in no way positionally inferior.
• Verse 10 bases the  woman’s symbol of subordination on a fine point concerning a witness to angels of man's authority or personal submission.
• Verses 13-15 roughly constitute an argument from nature.
• Verse 16 is an argument from the collective wisdom of the church universal, for Christians elsewhere have no other practice.

The point being - woman are to cover their heads in some manner.

Modern Culture

Today, however, the situation is quite different, at least in the West.  For a woman to wear a head covering would seem to be a distinctively humiliating experience.  Many women--even biblically submissive wives--resist the notion precisely because they feel awkward and self-conscious.  But the head covering in Paul’s day was intended only to display the woman’s subordination, not her humiliation.  Today, ironically, to require a head covering for women in the worship service would be tantamount to asking them to shave their heads!  The effect, therefore, would be just the opposite of what Paul intended.  Thus, in attempting to fulfill the spirit of the apostle’s instruction, not just his words, some suitable substitute symbol needs to be found.  And that answer lay within the realm of the culture to which you are member of.

So, as with most controversy within the Christian body of believers, we have the duty to study all issues, consider all things in prayer and then understand that we represent God - not ourselves or our desires - before all whom surround us.  With that comes the requirement:

"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise", Ephesians 5:15

“You became obedient from the heart to that pattern of teaching to which you were committed”, Romans 6:17

What is wisdom when considering the idea of women in the pastorate?

For some it is a resounding "NO" and God becomes limited in that church to the narrow viewpoint of subjugation of women.
For some it is a resounding "YES" and God is free to use whom He cares to in that church, assuming that those people for whatever positions they are being considered for, they are Biblically qualified for!

As for the entire issue of head coverings ...  We do not live in a culture where they are expected nor respected.  Personally because of my early Hutterite days, yes I think they are appropriate for females personally - whether your church practices this or not.  This something which is between you and God, if you are female.  If you are male - shut your mouth and let the women decide for themselves!  This is not a matter of "maturity" or "special revelation"!  It is their testimony of their faith in God, of their submission, not yours ...

Now is the Time

1 Timothy 4:1-5

Now is the time!
There is no better time for you to come to your peace with your maker!
Nor is there a better time for you, as a Christian, to be witnessing to those around you!

We live in an age and culture where "truth" has become relative - or people have been lead to think by those whom argue there are no absolutes.  Yet, a lie is still a lie, even when people desire to call it "truth"!

This is a serious problem for man has been led astray by the doctrines of demons, even those weak in the faith succumb to the fanciful lies of those listened to.  Lies, presented as "truth", or deeper "truth", or meant to have an impact upon those within a certain age group or cultural setting.  Tailor made death, to block the listener from actually finding release from what this culture teaches.

It always boils down to: "Whom do you say, Jesus, is?"  (as well as how much do you add to the Gospel?)

These false witnesses in our midst, as Paul calls them, Snakes, no longer have an active conscious - they are dead to their sin and no longer suffer any conviction for their deeds.  They sleep quite well facing their pending judgment.

The Christian message of LOVE has been mutilated by a culture to which innocence has been lost.  Instead of the freedom God gives us, man has created a step ladder of do's and don'ts, never intended by God.  Legalism, without compassion, judgement without trial nor defense, you will lose - you have already lost.  Wake up!

But, we can still reach the world, it is hard, you will be judged, you will be misunderstood, the worse will be thought of you, but it can be done:

• Deal with the sin in your life, give Satan as few of doors as possible to whack you from behind
• Show holiness in your life, not empty piety, the real thing - how you should be living your life
• Prayer is your telephone line to God, use it and use it frequently
• Pray for your leaders, religious and civil
• Pray for your friends and family
• Pray for special needs, not the never ending shopping list
• Pray to thank and praise God for whom He is
• Remove from your life those things which hamper your success as a Christian.

Use the gifts God has given you, we all have at least one when we are doing His will (reaching others), so be emboldened in reaching out to others.  And reaching out means more than just telling about the Gospel, it is being involved, being vulnerable, being a true servant of God (be His slave!).

So, as you go forth today: Pray, Praise, live your life for Him - if you can't, then change your life ... and clean up all of those spots ...

A fitting tune for this moment in my life:

Imperfection Before Man

So last time talked about the Church and the vacuous definition for exactly how to build it.  Well, that was because you are the Church, you are a part of the Church, you are the support for the Church, you are what is to hold the church up!  So, assuming you are a Christian, a real one, not the fake kind so prevalent these days all over the world ...

Using Timothy as our example, an imperfect person for the ministry in man's eyes, but perfect in God's.  1 Timothy 4:11-16

Forget your age, you can not be too old nor too young to be used by God - for anything He wants you to do!  My current pastor preached his first at age 13, conversely I have met many in their 90's still doing the same thing through the years.  So and age and positional requirements are of no meaning to God, you dedication to Him is however.

Something I learned very early in my Christian life, God grants authority, not man, not the church, not society, not culture.  So I have even found myself on the wrong side of everyone's opinion in doing as God asks!  God is to be the center and the source of our life.

Read your Bible!  Interestingly, we are told here to do this out loud and in public!  Why?  Probably because copies of Scripture were rare and by doing this out loud, other can listen and learn.  Also, Timothy was in a Gentile environment where the average man, much less the convert, did not grow up in Synagog and so would not know or understand was in those Scriptures!

You have gifts, given to you by the Holy Spirit, everybody has them - they vary person to person and from time to time.  Just because you are gifted in X today, you may not have it at a later date and now have Y instead!  The gifts are owned by the Holy Spirit, they are His, and He gets to give as He sees fit.  So get humble dudes!

These gifts are to be used by you to support the ministry of the Church and to reach the lost to bring them to salvation.  It is a witnessing tool, it is a ministry leadership tool, it is the power of the Church - when used correctly.  So do what you are called to do and use it!  And if you can't expect to lose what you do have!

You used to have a life, a life not focused on God, a life dedicated to your sin - even if you thought you were serving God.
Then you became a Christian, you are now supposed to be a follower of God.
How do you do that?  By constantly being on top of your sin life - in confession, in prayer, persist in your battle against the pull of your past, the world and Satan.
Realize that there is only one task for you, for the church corporate - witness to a world lost in sin - in your family, in your town, in your extended area, in your cultural group and rarely outside of this to the world at large.
Live the change in your life!  And realize that if you can not be effective where you are - guess where you are not going to be either ....  just sayin' ...

And the hard one, protect your witness.
Yes you may be called to a task with danger to your witness.  Your ability to thread that task will only be accomplished as long as you can do everything "right" and have strong backup.  I thought I had that, but what do you do when those whom are helping you give you really bad advice, you trusted their wisdom and then they turn that advice against you?  Yeah.  Happened to me, burned me, oh well, my hands and heart are still clean before God - but no one cares because gossip and lies are so much easier to believe than the truth.  So, what are you to do?  You can take the easy way out and not do anything the least bit controversial - or just know that you need to be better than me at picking your backup(s) and be prepared for disaster if Satan attacks.

Remember your entire life is one witnessing tool, someone(s) future state of salvation may depend upon your doing the unexceptable, in order to reach them for Jesus.

Your Greatness

Ever met someone whom you can just tell is going to make a mark on the world?  Or met someone whom told you they were going to?  Yeah, there are plenty alive today, in this narcissistic world, whom believe they are someone and are going to make their mark - or at least accumulate wealth enough to prove they are someone, or higher and higher degrees, or licenses, or certificates, or whatever to prove they are better than others, better than you .....   Yet, so very few ever are.  They want their acclaim, they want your worship, they want all that is not theirs in the first place.

If you want to be great ... then consider being like John, the Baptist.

John 3:22-28

End the jealousies in your life.
In verse 26, John had the chance to be jealous, Jesus, his cousin was honing in on his ministry!  John had been calling on the faithful to repent and await the coming Savior of their faith.  John understood that HUMILITY is the biblical antidote for jealousy.!

Take what God gives you as a gift.
John allows that should Jesus be doing as he is doing, then it is only because God has also gifted and called his cousin to the same ministry!  His vision was at seeing what God is accomplishing, not worrying about his paycheck.  God will reward him, if God desires.  God can also replace him, re-enforce him or even kill him.  He was willing to live his life at God's pleasure not his own.

When you can understand that all you have is not given to you, to fulfill you, but are gifts from God, given to you for a purpose - His purpose.  Then:

It keeps you from becoming proud of yourself, because you realize that anything you are able to do, any good that comes from your effort, is really of God's doing and to His glory.

You are not threatened when someone else begins to receive recognition, even when it is of your own work!  God knows and will reward the both of you according to His will.

You can be at peace if God sees fit to remove those gifts or abilities.  Remember, all is His, not yours.

Deny any reports of your own greatness!
Many wondered at whom John really was.  Two men had never died: Enoch and Elijah.  Elijah was expected to precede the arrival of the Savior.  But, John denied he was Elijah.

However, John was willing to be the least, or the servant, of his younger cousin, Jesus.

Your greatness is only determined by how you serve Jesus...

So, where do you start?  By turning it all over to God.  Your emotions, your gifts, your talents, all that you possess, understand the concept of stewardship does not mean rewarding yourself.  Give your anger, frustrations, resentment and unforgiveness to God.

And then, be willing to be used by Him.

Normal, One Day?

Since last May, I have gone from no emotion ever, to God seeing fit to give me one - a miracle no one could ever have envisioned to have occurred.  It took me three weeks to master it and lock it up tight.  But, God can be very, very persistent - especially when there might have been a reason for it in the first place.

There were momentary escapes by said emotion until the end of December, when as misfortune would have it, God saw fit to block my ability to cage or ignore it any longer - I was going to have to learn to deal with it.  It was set free, only now there was a noted change - no longer raw, no longer overcoming, it had mellowed, matured, it was warm, and personally very frightening.

I find now that I am like a computer with twin operating systems.  One is the old me - inhuman in my detachment.  The other this mellow, feeling creature.  And I have the ability to over ride it, if need be.  To switch on, to switch off at will but never to abandon for long it seems .....

I sit at one month of pseudo-normalcy.  I can understand now where once Gaelic Girl was in her emotions, I never could have known, thirty-five years too late it seems.  It has shown me the real problem with my self-estranged sister in the Lord.  I never could have understood.  It took my Niece to help me to know, to understand and then see / understand / experience compassion.  A few extremely horrible days in there.  Emotion sucks.  Yet, were it not for it, I would never have learned that there was someone whom trusted me far more than I could know.  Emotion ..... a quandary.

And I wonder, will I one day be normal?  Is that blooming emotion going to one day fully control me?  Will I finally be human one day?  And to what purpose?  Will this be a blessing or a curse?  Am I going to end up a liberal?  Will it be something that is required for me to be able to do some task in the future?  How can having an emotion make whatever lay ahead easier?  I trust cold - calculating Kris, it is the emotional one I see as being less effective and far more dangerous to me personally.....

Lots of questions, no answers, maybe ten years from now in hindsight I will know the whys and wherefores of this.  But not today.

To my Niece and dear friend, thank you - for your patient willingness to help me see, to learn, to understand.  You are awesome.  You did not have to, but you chose to, very much I am blessed.

And this in the midst of continuing to see all eroded away from me.  In my mind's eye I see a Kris, left with nothing that anyone would call precious, my very name a curse to those whom once knew me, but even if alone - healed through a miracle, blessed by God and an unknown future calling me away to paint far away places and ..... ?

Random Discernments

I am so messed up mentally, i am questioning everything. Literally. Including my sanity at times. Did I miss something somewhere with daughter? Some clue that I could have caught and avoided this mess? Did I mishandle any part of the relationship? Questions, questions, questions.

So much of what I know about Yesfir was discerned, as it was revealed by God, not by any physical, mental or emotional clues. I do not make that claim in pride, if you have read my previous posting concerning this gift you understand that is almost too painful sometimes to experience.

And I questioned. Ok, God, think you have given me discernment - tell me about the people in my row - prove to me I am not going insane.....

I turned to the right, a man and two small boys. He had been in Hawaii, done too much drinking, got rolled, felt stupid - was not a Christian. He is divorced, she left him, his wife lives in Chicago while he and the boys in Ohio..... Fun so far, huh? Yeah, I could tell you lots more.

On my left, pleasant Japanese woman.No not a Christian ..... and yet, something intriguing. Something I have never encountered - a huge block of bitterness and anger, but not directed at anyone, it just seemed to define her. Maybe Kris is slipping? Why the mystery?

Farthest left, another Japanese woman. Another non-Christian and were it not for what God taught me through daughter, I never would have been able to understand the darkness, anger, bitterness and total horror laying just below the surface. I really wished there was something I could say, but I now, know better.

I was shaken. No Kris still has "it". I have not been mistaken, God is still at least talking with me.

It might anger me that the man and his wife broke up, but I sure have seen enough marriages die where the female just walks off these days. "I need romance/more coach purses/etc". But, it cheers me that he is caring for his boys. Boys need a father to become real men ..... a loving one that is. Now if only he would turn to God.

The farthest woman, what can one say? Certain damages are not recoverable from without an intense God effort. Be good to pray God does make that effort..... I have only ever been led to address this once with someone and that task is not completed yet and has been incredibly painful so far for all involved.

And the Japanese woman, so troubled, but why? I turned to physical observation - nothing unusual at all. What on earth could it be? It had my curiosity now. By the end of the flight I had figured it out, she had a handicap. Oh but let me tell you it was so well guarded and hidden, the average person would never have known unless you got into her life somehow. And that hatred and darkness? All directed towards herself because she is not "normal". I think it pleased her when I pulled my cane out of the overhead rack, I was not "normal" either.....

No, God still seems to be using and blessing me; and yet I am accursed by one whom should know - far better than anyone else ever has. And given what I have learned from daughter I can understand a little bit more of the puzzle of things God reveals; my daughter, the random Japanese woman on the plane, my American nephew's mother, the woman behind the Starbucks counter this morning, the girl in the hallway at the college. Broken beings, that never should have been broken. I can't actually "feel" anything for or about them. God told me how to "fix" daughter. I was specially selected, because I was broken, I had nothing to lose by saying "Okay, God one last assignment...". But, I can not reconcile what happened with daughter after she left. She was right, then she was wrong, and God is keeping me randomly blind. I feel so that she can make HER decisions - follow what she has seen and knows - or choose another way based on the fickleness of emotion.

And it does not take discernment to "know" that if God made an extraordinary effort to pull someone to Him, that there is a pressing reason. Yeah, but I wonder if you have figured it out yet? Not if your world view is still in place.....

Watching You

Friday I had a meeting with the pastor to review where Yesfir is, I am trying to do the right thing and if I can't use my pastor then why be at this church?!?!?.  In some regards it was very funny and in others a little frustrating. But, this is not about daughter for a change, it is about part of the conversation.

Now, as we talked he asked me about my emotional security in this relationship - his unstated concern - how close is Kris to going sideways?  In order to answer that question, I had to confide my little problem of being a "perfect" sociopath.  "Perfect" refers to the complete absence of what everyone else knows as emotion.  Sort of like being dead on the inside, at least compared to those I know whom are - very emotive in my life.  So, the pastor was a little taken back by this.  Lets face it, a functional sociopath is not exactly a common occurrence.  And so, just like the psychologist I had to be interviewed by back in December (you can find the story there), he wanted to know how it is that I can be functional.....

Yeah, something daughter tried to wrap herself around as well.  I can pretend very well, but you would have to know me to understand the mental ability it takes to do this!  How does someone with no emotion function?  Well, God gave me a double dose of Discernment very early on in my Christian walk.  Daughter thinks this has to do with the ability to protect myself - otherwise I would be perhaps not so functional!

So, pastor is thoughtful and comments at what can I know from Discernment?  So, I listed off some standard stuff that did not impress him, so I continued with: I can tell you what separates you from God....

He jumped a little and with quite a shocked looked at me and said, "Really?".  So I confirmed this and added that I only comment to a person on what I know if God leads me into the importance of commenting on this because He wants to reach out to them.  Yeah, through the years there have been more than a few surprised people!  It even led to a Rabbi coming to salvation - but first we had to battle through the Old Testament for three days and nights straight - before he could understand that he really had not gone crazy.....  Thank you Paul for the Hebrew perspective!

The pastor quietly turned away from me at the table and for the rest of lunch would not look me in the face. 

People tend to think of Discernment as some form of fortune-telling, or magic trick that some Christians can use to help direct the activities of other Christians.  Little thought is given to the concept that this gift is communication from the Holy Spirit, whom is watching you, and whom does tell those whom He will about you - when it fits His purpose.  So, should you meet me, know that secrets are sort of worthless around me.  And if you know someone close to you with Discernment, then know that may well be true for them as well, about you.....

Yeah, one of those reasons to live your entire life in transparent honesty and love with one another, as well as, yourself.