We’ve had two Sundays when instead of the usual sermon, we had three short talks from church members. Both times multiple people asked afterward: ‘Why were all the speakers men?’
That question wouldn’t have been so front-of-mind twenty or even ten years ago. So what has brought us here? Has it been serious study of God’s word? Or are we blowing with the winds of culture?
Our culture’s not always wrong. But in this case, concerns about the roles of men and women in church are part of an identity revolution. The heart of this revolution is expressive individualism: ‘I am who I want to be’. Our society now considers it oppressive, even violent to question that idea.
But the Bible questions that idea. According to the Bible, our identities a matrix of factors including sex, race and vocation, although all of these are trumped by our identity in Christ (cf. Galatians 3.28).
When our identity is in Christ, ‘who we want to be’ and indeed ‘what we do’ become less important. We certainly don’t get our sense of worth from what we do or don’t do to serve Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 12).
After this groundwork, I’ll introduce (for anyone who needs the introduction) complementarianism. Complementarianism is a complex word for a simple idea: that God makes men and women equal as his image-bearers and equal in Christ, but gives us distinct responsibilities in family and church.
Well-meaning Christians can disagree about how to implement complementarianism (and still be friends) but here’s a guide that largely matches how I’ll try to implement it in a church I lead:
Complementarianism by Paul Grimmond 2022 – The Priscilla and Aquila Centre