Where Mike Winger Went Wrong on Women, Part IV: A Word of Encouragement

Editor’s note: We encourage you to read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three of this series, and also to read Bartlett and Williams’ entire response for a full analysis. Bartlett and Williams have also introduced their main findings in a video interview with Michael Bird, which you are encouraged to like and share. 

We are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore, we believe that following Jesus involves living faithfully under the authority of God’s word. This requires not squeezing the Bible to make it fit pre-chosen philosophical or cultural beliefs but taking it seriously by reading it carefully, with willingness to learn, listen, and obey. 

That approach has made us into “mutualists.” We understand the Bible to teach: 

• the equality and complementarity of men and women, made in God’s image, 
• that husband and wife are equal partners in marriage, and 
• that God places no special restrictions on women’s ministry. 

Mike, on the other hand, strongly believes that the husband is the higher authority in marriage and that God prohibits women from fulfilling the leadership and teaching functions of church elders. He entered into the massive biblical, historical, theological, and scholarly debate about men and women, wanting to provide for his many followers a sure-footed guide to its complexities. Then he set out those beliefs in his video series, which contains some 43 hours of teaching.  

Mike rightly desires to “just follow Scripture where it leads.” But the heart of our message is simple: despite his sincerity and his good intentions, Mike has not read the Bible—or relevant history and commentary—with the requisite skill, accuracy, and thoroughness to treat this topic fairly. As a result, his teaching is unwittingly leading many people into error, with damaging consequences. We have documented all of this in detail in our articles. 

To those who have not studied all sides of the debate in depth, Mike’s teaching seems very persuasive; that is clear from the large numbers of enthusiastic comments which are posted under his videos on YouTube. Many listeners are pleased to accept what Mike says. They believe that he has thoroughly researched the topic. They naturally assume that he has accurately understood, presented, and assessed the arguments of those with whom he disagrees, especially because Mike believes that is what he has done. 

But—as his videos repeatedly reveal—Mike bit off more than he was able to chew.  

The problem is, to fully understand this knotty debate in order to become a public teacher of others, a certain level of research skill and background knowledge is needed. It is also critically important to read the text of the Bible accurately, with full attention to context. In addition, meaningful evaluation of the conflicting arguments requires an ability to think and reason in an open-minded and non-partisan way. 

Disappointingly, Mike’s excellent presentation skills are not matched by the other skills that he needs for producing reliable output on this complex topic. In reality, Mike’s content on this subject is one-sided and unreliable. Our concern is much more than a disagreement with his conclusions; our concern is that he has not mastered the debate and that he doesn’t realize this. In our responses to his videos, we have provided detailed demonstrations of this. We would like to emphasize that we are not criticizing Mike’s character or motives; our concern is the insufficient extent to which he is trained and equipped to do what he has tried to do in this series. 

A Word of Encouragement for Mike and Our Readers 

In his series, Mike states many times that he wanted to move to an egalitarian position. This is made all the more intriguing because, having served in complementarian settings, he has had limited opportunities to experience the freedom and delight of gifted women and men working together in leadership and learning from each other as sisters and brothers in Christ. 

Why did he want to become egalitarian? After all, Mike is not a man who believes in bending to secular culture. The strength of his genuine desire to become egalitarian, in a man in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells, suggests he senses in his heart that there may be something wrong with complementarianism—something that is out of tune with God’s heart.  

There is a difficulty here for Mike. He cannot demonstrate that even his own version of complementarianism is good for women. It is necessary to “trust” that Mike’s version of complementarianism is “a good thing” because it cannot be shown to be good, whether from Scripture or by empirical evidence. 

Mike believes that he did not become egalitarian because of what Scripture says, particularly because (as he sees it) egalitarian scholarship is very poor. But our perspective is very different. We freely admit that there are errors that can be found in egalitarian scholarship, just as there are errors that can be found in complementarian scholarship. We share Mike’s desire to follow Scripture where it leads, but we found that his videos on women in ministry are marred by some fundamental mistakes and misunderstandings, and he has not considered multiple weighty objections to the views that he puts forward—objections that remain unanswered. Despite inviting feedback from egalitarian scholars, which we provided, he has declined to engage with our critiques. It seems he is confident that he knows in advance, without fully reading and engaging with our responses, that he is certainly right and those who disagree with him are certainly wrong.  

Mike’s desire to move to an egalitarian position was a good desire, because that would be a move into line with biblical truth. However, the basic shortfalls in Mike’s training have prevented him from moving into the more biblical, egalitarian position. 

Mike did look over the work of some of the relevant scholars, but he didn’t read thoroughly or accurately or with comprehension. Mike did sometimes check their footnotes, but all too often he did not check them correctly; instead, he misread and misunderstood. Mike did look at the evidence—some of it—but his review was incomplete and sometimes shallow and uncomprehending. When Mike said he was shocked by what his research uncovered, the true causes of his shock were usually his own misunderstandings of what scholars had written and the inadequacies of his research. 

Because Mike has not learned how to think and reason in a non-partisan way, inevitably he remained with the position that he started from. 

If Mike had been aware of the shortcomings in his reading, research, and reasoning, he would have done something to address them. He would have taken steps to acquire more background knowledge and better research skills, to learn how to read accurately in context, and to learn how to think and reason in a non-partisan way. 

The good news is that Mike could still do this, if he chooses to. 

If Mike did address these shortcomings, he would find—as many others have done—that the Bible does not teach complementarianism and that God’s word to women is altogether more lovely than complementarianism’s sincere but misguided distortions. 

Like Mike, Terran was formed as a Christian in complementarian settings, and he became a pastor in such a setting. When people in his church questioned the church’s beliefs about women, Terran was commissioned to provide a better defense. For the first time in Terran’s life, he really engaged with both sides of the debate. Like others before him, he was surprised to discover that his complementarian position was not biblical. That was not Mike’s experience when he prepared his series on women in ministry, but there are reasons for that, which we have laid out in our articles. 

We want to encourage our readers. Know that the teaching of Scripture is not cramping but life-giving. Know that Jesus Christ, the Lord of love, pours out his Holy Spirit on men and women alike (Acts 1:14; 2:1–4, 14–18, 33) to equip them for Christlike living, Christlike service, and Christlike leadership. Tell your Christian brothers and sisters. Tell your friends and family. Consider sharing our articles with your pastors and teachers. 

To Jesus be glory.  

Related Resources

Popular Articles

From Complementarian to Egalitarian
The Unsuspecting Egalitarians: An Unintentional Journey Toward Egalitarianism
Four Attitudes of Jesus that Empower Women
If Complementarianism Isn’t Working for Some, It Isn’t Working for All
Becoming Egalitarian: Reconciling Experience with Scripture

Academic Articles/Book Reviews

Book Review: On Purpose: Understanding God’s Freedom for Women Through Scripture
The Nashville Statement: A Critical Review
Incarnation, Trinity, and the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood
From My Point of View: Men’s Psychological Barriers to Adopting an Egalitarian View
Book Review: A Biblical Case for Women Pastors, Elders, and Deacons

Audio/Visual Materials