Mutuality | Blog + Magazine | Spring 2012
The print + digital magazine of CBE International
Mutuality offers articles from diverse writers who share egalitarian theology and explore its intersection with everyday life.
Blog + Magazine ArticlesThe opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members.
Spring 2012
Volume: 19 | Number: 1
The Christian Patriarchy Movement
This issue of Mutuality addresses both the bad fruit of patriarchy and the good fruit of freedom, grace, and peace that results from women and men equally living out their call to serve and influence the world.
Contents
I am convinced that the church is not, and should not be, ruled by males. It belongs to Christ. And under Christ’s rule, the first are last and the last are first. Under Christ’s rule, all men and women are intended to experience freedom, grace, and peace.
There is no love in patriarchy. There is no respect. There is only perpetual immaturity, dependency, and frustration for the man who is subjected to the most sophisticated manipulation as his wife gives over control and authority to him.
It can be disorienting to grow up with such strong messages about men, women, and “biblical” roles. At times it feels like an inescapable pressure. Because very little is overt, the pressure feels phantom.
Jesus welcomed women to his ministry and treated women as capable disciples who had important observations to make and valuable ways to contribute to the advancement of his kingdom both inside the home and out.
In recognizing spiritual abuse, we must first allow ourselves to question the situations in which we find ourselves, as well as what we have been taught by leaders in the church.
A social radical, Jesus ate with outcasts (tax collectors, prostitutes), spoke directly to the disabled and healed them, welcomed children, and included both women and men among his closest followers.
From its incorporation, CBE has endeavored to understand why so many Christian women have encountered abuse, and how the church might respond.
It's ironic that even the Driscolls have learned through experience that the more egalitarian they are, the better their relationship. But, like many Christian writers on marriage, they haven't yet taken the step of fully embracing what Scripture, prayer, and experience confirm as true.
McKnight's passion for this subject may surprise some readers, but he perceives this silencing of women as a deep injustice which has been perpetuated up to the present time.
