In my student days, one of those books that made a difference -- if not the book that made the difference -- in how I think about gender in the Church was Stanley Grenz's Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry. He and Denise Kjesbo laid out the best argument for egalitarianism I've ever read.
Most folks make those arguments around the issue of justice (those are legitimate issues, don't get me wrong, but I don't think they're as strong as some of my progressive friends might think). Grenz made the argument around the issue of Jesus.
When you combine egalitarianism with Gary Thomas' notion of marriage as spiritual formation (Sacred Marriage), there's an interesting perspective about marriage that most folks -- even those within the Church -- don't appreciate.
Ponder this for a moment. What sort of marriage is best positioned to form us into the image of Jesus?
Jesus washes the disciples feet and says, "Do this". So if we take that as our spiritual aim, the telos of all our spiritual formation projects, which model of gender roles -- egalitarianism (the notion that men and women are equal) or patriarchalism (the notion that men are the heads of households and therefore of wives) -- gets us closer to the man on his knees washing feet?
If marriage is spiritual formation, which does a better job -- egalitarianism or patriarchalism -- in forming us into the image of Jesus?
Phrased negatively, which model of gender roles -- egalitarianism or patriarchalism -- creates the greatest temptations to pull us away from that man on his knees washing feet?
In my option, the answers are clear. If marriage is trying to form us into the image of Jesus, if marriage is spiritual formation (as I think Thomas so masterfully shows), gender roles will practice what Paul calls "mutual submission" (Ephesians 5.21).
Mutual submission is the model of marriage that forms you into the image Jesus, the one found in our midst as "the one who serves" (Luke 22.27).
Most folks make those arguments around the issue of justice (those are legitimate issues, don't get me wrong, but I don't think they're as strong as some of my progressive friends might think). Grenz made the argument around the issue of Jesus.
When you combine egalitarianism with Gary Thomas' notion of marriage as spiritual formation (Sacred Marriage), there's an interesting perspective about marriage that most folks -- even those within the Church -- don't appreciate.
Ponder this for a moment. What sort of marriage is best positioned to form us into the image of Jesus?
Jesus washes the disciples feet and says, "Do this". So if we take that as our spiritual aim, the telos of all our spiritual formation projects, which model of gender roles -- egalitarianism (the notion that men and women are equal) or patriarchalism (the notion that men are the heads of households and therefore of wives) -- gets us closer to the man on his knees washing feet?
If marriage is spiritual formation, which does a better job -- egalitarianism or patriarchalism -- in forming us into the image of Jesus?
Phrased negatively, which model of gender roles -- egalitarianism or patriarchalism -- creates the greatest temptations to pull us away from that man on his knees washing feet?
In my option, the answers are clear. If marriage is trying to form us into the image of Jesus, if marriage is spiritual formation (as I think Thomas so masterfully shows), gender roles will practice what Paul calls "mutual submission" (Ephesians 5.21).
Mutual submission is the model of marriage that forms you into the image Jesus, the one found in our midst as "the one who serves" (Luke 22.27).