Two signs

 The Christian Church in the USA has been rocked in the last few weeks by two events that I have been trying to understand.  And God has given me a word for each.  The first was by far the one I struggled with the most.  This past week, the Southern Baptist Convention removed Saddleback Church (founded by 'Purpose Driven Life' guy Rick Warren) from their roster over their ordination of women as pastors.  This has been coming for a while- it started just before Warren himself retired  in June of 2021 and continued through the ministry of his hand-picked successor, Andy Wood.

As I prayed for guidance, God gave me a key- but I had to work through where to put it.  He told me, "Think of Deborah." We'll come back to that.  But first, I had to identify the problems.  First off, I had to ask: is the SBC rule a good thing or a bad thing. Second, I had to ask: did Saddleback act in a way that deserved expulsion.  And third, what exactly did Paul mean when he started the controversy with this verse:

1Ti 2:12  I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

And really, I had to do it in that order to make it make sense.  First then, the rule.  The SBC had let (according to some sources) let Saddleback play fast and loose with some lesser rules- a) because they were open to SOME interpretation; and b) because Saddleback is a leviathan of a church, second biggest in the SBC, I believe.  But the flaunting of this rule was a step too far.  In the end, they can justify the rule, to an extent, and Saddleback didn't want to play by the rules.  Thus, whether the rule is a hill to die on or not, the SBC did right by the rules Saddleback absolutely disregarded.

Which brings us to a second point.  When Warren announced the ordinations, he did it unilaterally.  You heard nothing about him going to the SBC to discuss it; you heard nothing about him explaining his conviction it was the right thing.  Curiously, I went on the Saddleback site and found no evidence that they even HAD female pastors.  I went there because I wanted to see how they used these ladies.  My church has female pastors in charge of various ministries, BUT not in any of the overall leadership positions.  It took me outside sources to figure out that some of these women indeed took the pulpit- including both Warren's and Woods's wives.  BUT, apparently, not in a leadership position, because deacons and elders were all male, according to the website.

So, did they break Paul's stricture- and does MY church? I have to apply the Kalko Rule- look at the surrounding verses for context.  And there is a LOT of context here.  For one thing, Paul is instructing Timothy how to run a church.  What consists of teaching, or exerting authority?  Paul himself lauded women teaching in the very next letter to Timothy...

2Ti 1:5  I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

As well as the fact he had no problem in Priscilla's taking the lead in instructing Apollos...

Act 18:24  Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.
Act 18:25  He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
Act 18:26  He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 

Next, look at the phrasing in the original verse- "I do not permit".  While this doesn't mean he wasn't speaking in the Spirit, is it forbidding Timothy to do so, or just suggesting why he might not want to?

Here's where the story of Deborah comes in.  She was a prophetess- she spoke God's word to the people.  She judged Israel- which meant she had SOME authority, despite the fact she was under the authority of a husband herself (and wouldn't that have been an interesting family dynamic?).  But I think why God drew me here was in the calling of Barak...

Jdg 4:6  She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, "Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, 'Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.
Jdg 4:7  And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand'?"
Jdg 4:8  Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go."
Jdg 4:9  And she said, "I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

God did NOT give Deborah command of the army- He had her call Barak to the command.  And when he demurred unless she came, it didn't change God's plan one bit.  The army was still routed, Sisera still died for his blasphemy- BUT Barak dishonored himself.  Applying this, I think God meant for a church to be like the one I am in- where women can give a word, can order some things- but overall command must be by men.  Does this condemn the SBC?  Not necessarily. Does it condemn Saddleback? Maybe.  I told Laurie, "I think God sometimes makes things ambiguous so that we'll search Scripture for the exceptions."  I'll let you judge.  But, I will add one thing: the people who condemned Saddleback made a point of condemning other women who have spoken from the pulpit, including Ann Graham-Lotz.  If you have ever listened to her, her messages do nothing but ooze love for Jesus.  How can that be wrong?

So too on the second thing I referenced- the revival at Asbury College.  As I've tried to learn about it, I've heard blessings on it and condemnations of it.  Those condemnations are drawn from some dubious questions:  Was this a scheduled event, not spontaneous as claimed? What about the clearly false teachers that have shown up? And my main question, a question I put on a friend's FB post as late as yesterday- where is the fruit? On the other side, I have heard from the heads of Bott Radio about the conversions, the preaching of the Gospel, and the glowing reports from a missionary friend I trust with my life.  Knowing I was starting to debate this, too, God sent me another word: "Think of David."

2Sa 6:14  And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.
2Sa 6:15  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
2Sa 6:16  As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.
2Sa 6:17  And they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

2Sa 6:20  And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"
2Sa 6:21  And David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD--and I will make merry before the LORD.
2Sa 6:22  I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor." 

Having been a member of an SBC church, I can tell you they'd poo-poo the dancing too, for the same reason Michal did.  But the lesson here is, DON'T judge how God will move in one person different from another. DON'T question where the fruit is- remember what Jesus said...

Joh 3:7  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
Joh 3:8  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

And as for the false teachers, I can offer this bit of wisdom from myself and Misty- you can't run in freedom through the tall grass, without having to pick off some ticks afterwards.