Sojourners has released a witty and sarcastic video entitled "7 Reasons Men Should Not Be Pastors." You should watch this one-minute collaboration of women giving their snarky comments before you read on: https://sojo.net/articles/watch-7-reasons-men-should-not-be-pastors As you can see, the total message of this particular video is “Support Women in the Church.” However, did you catch what was missing from the video? Scripture! But not just from the presentation, but also from the Pastors whom these women were mocking. Let me break it down for you like this. 1 Timothy 2:12, 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9 teaches clearly that the elders, pastors, overseers, bishops, or whatever each congregation may choose to call them, are to be male. In the formal gathering of a local assembly, regular biblical instruction, mentoring, spiritual oversight, shepherding, and the like, are to be accomplished by men. This does not mean that women do not have supporting roles to the Eldership or that women are incapable or forbidden to teach in the church at all. Although the previous sentence would need more clarification, and its practical application is often debated by even the most experienced men of God within complementarian and reformed circles, by and large, the most foundational agreement is that men are the leaders, pastors, and formal shepherds in the life of the local church. If Sojourners Magazine would depart from pragmatic and cultural paradigm shifts, and stick to the sufficiency of Scripture, such a video would not need to be published. Having said all that, there is something all too familiar about the mockery these women are scripted to say. Here are the 7 reasons listed out: 1. Men can be involved in the church, they just don't need to be ordained. The children's ministry is always in need of male leadership. 2. Some men are handsome. They could be too distracting for us on Sunday. 3. They're too emotional to be priests or pastors. Go to a March Madness game and tell me I'm wrong. 4. Male pastors who have children might be distracted by the responsibility of being a parent. 5. Jesus was betrayed by a man, how can men be trusted to lead? 6. About once a month, male pastors get really cranky. 7. Men are still vitally important to the life of the church, I mean, they could sweep the sidewalks, or repair the church roof. they could even lead the worship on Father's Day. And then the video ends with: "So yea, we hear stuff like this all the time." And sadly, I have to agree. I don't agree that it is "2016" therefore we must bow the knee to the ever changing god of cultural relativity. Nor do I agree that all these points provide sufficient conversation concerning the roles of women in the church. However, the totality of what is being said makes for a great point concerning preachers and their failure to uphold Sola Scripture and the sufficiency of Scripture. I have personally heard some of the moronic things that preachers/Christians say concerning women's role in the local church, and sadly, they are not too far off from this video. Points 1, 3, and 7 are some of the satirical remarks that remind me of the subpar attempts to justify their correct complementarian view in an unbiblcal way. To say that women don't "need" to be ordained rather than just stating Scripture forbids it, is an attempt to soften the blow, yet on the contrary, may harden the hearer. What does it mean to "not need"? How does necessity overthrow plain application from prescriptive principles? Furthermore, so what if women can be too emotional. I can be pretty emotional myself. Keeping emotions in check is just a basic discipline within Christendom. Not saying emotional stability is not important, but it's not only applicable to women. Lastly, I also agree that women are vitally important to the life of the church. But we should never offer alternatives as to how they can serve without first laying out from Scripture what God says where their roles are indeed vital! Pragmatism can go both ways. And I think we are not aware of it at times. Some can be pragmatic against those who disagree with the idea that women are not to be pastors or ordained ministers within the local church, and others can be equally as pragmatic, if not more so, against those who believe that women can and should be pastors. The only way to stop this pragmatic wheel from spinning is by affirming the sufficiency of Scripture, and lifting up God's word to a level of prescriptive preeminence. In other words, saying, "It may offend you, but that is what God's word teaches" is enough. So even though I may have brought to light some of the terrible reasons that some preachers have used to prohibit women from being ordained, this most certainly doesn't excuse the women in this video and Sojourners Magazine from their responsibility to obey what the Bible teaches and to preach what it says faithfully. Each local church may have to discuss nuances and varying practices as to how they will implement differing roles within the church (no matter what the gender), but hands down, the eldership are men. And unless with begin and end with Scripture, we will find ourselves in a pragmatic/relativistic nightmare. May the light of Scripture awake us from our slumber. - Until we go home George Alvarado
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