The Palin Predicament

In USA Today earlier this week David Gushee penned an Op/Ed piece entitled The Palin Predicament that raised some interesting questions for Evangelical Christians regarding the role of women in church leadership positions. For conservative Christin men who believe that "God intends for women to be subservient to men", yet who are supporting Sarah Palin’s candidacy, the article is especially thought-provoking.

Gushee, himself an evangelical Christian who is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University in Atlanta, makes a valid point:

"It is an uncomfortable fact that many of the theologically conservative Christians who have endorsed Palin's nomination would not be willing to endorse her or any other woman for service as pastor of their church...actually, at the local church level many congregations would not consider it appropriate for her to stand behind a pulpit and preach a sermon, or teach from the Bible, or lead a praise chorus, or offer a prayer, unless her audience consisted entirely of women or children."

One blogger responded to the article by paraphrasing JFK (a catholic) and Mitt Romney (a mormon), "Family leadership is over family things, religious leadership is over religious things, and civil leadership is over civil things." Another commentator pointed out Deborah in the Old Testament, one of Israels Judges who was the nation's leader and military commander, to show that there is no biblical contradiction with a woman such as Palin serving as Vice-President or President. Good points!

Gushee asks those evangelicals who support a Palin candidacy to think about the implications of that support when he posed these challenging questions:

• Is it now your view that God can call a woman to serve as president of the United States? Are you prepared to renounce publicly any further claim that God's plan is for men rather than women to exercise leadership in society, the workplace and public life? Do you acknowledge having become full-fledged egalitarians in this sphere at least?

• Would Palin be acceptable as vice president because she would still be under the ultimate authority of McCain as president, like the structure of authority that occurs in some of your churches? Have you fully come to grips with the fact that if after his election McCain were to die, Palin would be in authority over every male in the USA as president?

• If you agree that God can call a woman to serve as president, does this have any implications for your views on women's leadership in church life? Would you be willing to vote for a qualified woman to serve as pastor of your church? If not, why not?

• Do you believe that Palin is under the authority of her husband as head of the family? If so, would this authority spill over into her role as vice president?

• Do you believe that women carry primary responsibility for the care of children in the home? If so, does this affect your support for Palin? If not, are you willing to change your position and instead argue for flexibility in the distribution of child care responsibilities according to the needs of the family?

Provocative! Challenging questions, indeed...and worth answering honesly and thoughtfully. I agree with Gushee's final assessment: "The groundbreaking nomination of Palin offers conservative Christians significant opportunities to rethink a theology on the role of women that often restricts them from the full exercise of their gifts. This is an unexpected gift from presidential candidate John McCain to evangelical Christianity."

"Would you still love me if you knew the 'real' me?"

I was so good at pretending
like an actor on a stage
but in the end nobody knew me
only the roles that I portrayed
and I would rather have you hate me
knowing who I really am
than to try and make you love me
being something that I can’t”

(from “God Knows I Tried” by Ray Boltz).

"Would you still love me if you knew the 'real' me?" It's a universal question. And because of fear many never verbalize it. And because of fear many never have the courage to be authentic and let the chips fall where they may. No doubt, with recent news of a popular Christian singer 'coming out' about his sexuality, there will be many former fans lining up to condemn him..

But I like the way he put it: "I really had no master plan here. I’ve just been trying to go with the idea that you can either live your life out of love or out of fear."

Being honest with ourselves and honest with God (who already knows anyway) is crucial. Choosing not to live out of fear is freeing. I hear Ray's story repeated quite frequently, often by church leaders... or their children:

“I’d denied it ever since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, ‘I’m still gay. I know I am.’ And I just got to the place where I couldn’t take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, ‘Just end this.’”

When I read the story I felt sad. Not sad about the truth, but sad that Ray had lived in fear and captivity for so long. What kind of reaction will he get from the adoring crowds who applauded, bought his CDs and sang his songs in their worship services? That remains to be seen, but I have a pretty good guess, and it's not pretty.

The sad thing is that many who will be 'throwing stones' and removing his songs from their praise band's playlist have their own secrets, their own dual lives. Too many of us live in the same fear and with disparity between our private and public lives. We worship every week, lives veiled in secret bondage while singing songs of freedom.

Spiritual freedom begins with honesty. One reason church attendance has dropped off in recent decades in America is for this very reason. People are tired of the hypocrisy; tired of faking it (or being told to fake it). Those with the courage to live honestly are tired of being judged by people who aren't.

I am blessed to have a small group of friends with whom I can 'lay my cards on the table' and still be accepted and loved. We honestly share our failures and weaknesses, our struggles and fears. We encourage each other to face our giants and live authentically.

I think that's part of what makes for heaven on earth; no skeletons in the closet. Not that there are no skeletons, just that they're not kept secret, therefore the fear of them being revealed holds no power over our daily lives. That is freedom. And in that freedom is peace and joy.

I pray for Ray, that as he lives authentically he will know that freedom, joy and peace. And I pray for all the other 'rays' out there, some of whom will be his harshest critics, who don't yet have the courage to live honestly, and who, as a result, are still locked in their own prisons. I pray they will truly hear the invitation of Jesus and find freedom...and rest.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
(Isaiah 61:1-2; repeated by Jesus in Luke 4)

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
(Matthew 11:28-29)

August 8: God's Gumbo

My kitchen is smelling good right now! We just finished cooking up two big Dutch ovens full of gumbo! Now for those of you unfamiliar with gumbo, it is a southern Louisiana type of stew that starts off with a dark brown roux and is full of good things like bell peppers, onions, garlic, stewed tomatoes and okra; at least a pound each of chicken, smoked sausage and shrimp; seasoned with cayenne red pepper, black pepper, Worcestershire Sauce—served over rice…Ah-yeeee! (That’s Cajun for yee-ha!)

Man, it’s good stuff! All these wonderful ingredients bring out the flavor in each other. I’ve been perfecting the recipe, “tweaking” it here and there, for over 20 years. My Mom is flying in tomorrow and we are getting ready for her. She is in for a treat! For those of us who like to spice it up we’ll have plenty of Tabasco Sauce on hand. So as I’m standing here stirring the pot and thinking about how good God is (thank you, Lord, for gumbo!), I can’t help thinking about how He’s cooking up His own brand of gumbo...

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us…in love… to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…” (Ephesians 1:3-5).

God is putting together this Family of Faith, and though we’re all different, we’re in the same pot together, bringing out the best in each other. Allow me to paraphrase a portion of Scripture…

"The gumbo (Church) is one dish, though it is made up of many wonderful ingredients, and though all its ingredients are many, they form one mouth-watering dish! So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one pot--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the dish is not made up of one ingredient but of many; if the onion should say, "Because I am not a shrimp, I do not belong to the gumbo,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the gumbo. And if the pepper should say, "Because I am not sausage, I do not belong to the gumbo," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the gumbo. If the whole gumbo were a tomato, where would the seasoning be? If the whole gumbo were chicken, where would the Worcestershire Sauce be? But in fact God has selected all the ingredients in His gumbo (Church), every one of them, just as it pleased Him.

If we were all the same ingredient, where would the flavorful gumbo be? As it is, there are many ingredients, but one succulent dish! Now you are the gumbo (Church) of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-20, 27)

If you find my paraphrase irreverent or sacrilegious, please forgive me; I got up early and I'm sleep deprived. But the truth is we’re not intended to do this spiritual journey—this walk of faith—flying solo, but in a community of believers. Do you have a group of believers (church) with whom you share the journey? Every Christ-follower needs a faith-family (church) for encouragement, accountability and companionship. If you’re not in the pot, maybe it’s time to add your own distinctive flavor to God’s gumbo and see how satisfying a life lived in spiritual community can be.

~ Father, thank you for adopting me into your family of faith. Thank you for those You have given me to share this journey. Help us to stay in the pot and bring out the best in each other. Amen.