Preach it Brother!

Scotty holds a special place in Josh and my heart, as he served as Josh’s witness to our marriage. (I may have *had* to title you “Best Man,” brother, but, no offence, I married the best man there.)

And I completely agree with him on Women’s Ordination .

A quote I find interesting, “So then why are all these women getting ordained? Why are all these sisters feeling called to be ruling elders? The answer is quite simple, because a lot of men are not taking their place in the House of God; especially in the American church. Heck a lot of men are not even taking their place in spiritual leadership (or leadership in general) in their own house. In the end the responsibility for spiritual matters is left up to the women; a lot of brothers out there (such as myself) did not get their spiritual teaching and guidance from their fathers, but their mamas and big mamas. Now I'm not saying that all women end up in the pastorate because all the men are sorry, but in most cases when they got there, there was no man standing up to begin with. Do I put down female pastors? Heck no, in fact I commend them and pray for them to be strengthened because they are not only taking up the men's role, but they are also taking up their own role and carrying all the weight of ministry.”

But some food for thought… and perhaps this is just me… fellow women, and I know a lot of you who married men who have either not converted to Christianity at the same time as you or are not the “leaders” you envisioned marrying, if you are at a church where the men are not leading, go elsewhere.

I am just saying this as one who was called “A strong female leader” in a mixed gender Bible Study, a role which I would no longer take, go elsewhere. When you have a “strong female leader,” and she is given the opportunity to relinquish her leadership to a man, she won’t. She will sit and criticize his “style” whether or not he is “strong enough” and a variety of other things, and she will cause disharmony. I was not happy to give up leadership. And after the dominant male leader in our mixed gender Bible Study left, the study went down hill under my leadership. Sure, I can say, “There were no competent male leaders,” but I could have also called it to an end. Its one thing I regret from high school. So much so, I eschewed “spiritual leadership” roles in college, and now, I will only “lead” Bible Studies that are all women.

And, again, I am saying this as a white Christian. There are substantial differences in current black culture and white culture that Scotty and I have talked about on occasion. But these days, it has to be rough being Scotty. I pray for him regularly that he may lead in the manner he was meant to lead. He's a super neat man. I still believe there is some truth to what I exhort women... no male leaders, leave.

But, Brother, you are right on! I hope the women learn from your leadership.