It's Time

I am writing this blog from a lovely retreat centre in Alexandria, Minnesota. The “Lake Geneva Retreat and Conference Centre is situated on the banks of Lake Geneva. From where I am sitting I can see the lake, surrounded by trees. It is very peaceful and quiet here. The accommodations are excellent and the food is pretty good too. Solid, comfortable, basic. Like the good people of Minnesota.

I’m here because my church is the “host” church of the fall “Classis” meeting and so I, along with two other people of our worship team have been given the opportunity to lead the pastors and delegates in worship. We’re finished now and this afternoon, the people here will be taking care of church business.

We are part of Classis Lake Superior-the only international Classis of the Christian Reformed Church. That’s something isn’t it? We can meet together and find many things that we can agree on. We don’t talk politics as I’m sure there might be some very differing views but as far as most of the business goes, we are usually able to come to some kind of consensus.

But I’m really having a problem today. You see, our Classis is one of the few in our denomination that has not yet agreed to allow woman elders to represent their churches. So at this meeting, there are about 60 men and 3 or 4 women, including me. For so many years, while I have felt that this was wrong, I was able to work within the rules and remain positive that this will change some day. They will see the light, won’t they? And while I believe that it is just a matter of time, I’m getting mighty impatient. It was about 10 years ago that I was at my last Classis meeting when I was part of the “Vision Implementation Team.” There were about 5 of us who spent hours talking about our vision, mission and values. And there were many positive changes that came out of that.

But today, it hit me again. My local church is a community where men and women are invited and encouraged to participate fully in the life of our body. But we are part of a very conservative Classis where there are many churches that will not allow women to hold any position of leadership unless it’s with the children. What’s with that anyway? Do they have different standards for adults than they do for children? Are women “good enough” to teach children but not adults? Many of these churches support female missionaries who preach and hold leadership positions in third world countries. Why is it okay there but not in North America?

If the church, which is the body of Christ, is to reflect the image of God to the world, this Classis is missing half of that image. By keeping the women out, they are not reflecting the true nature of Christ. Undoubtedly, there are many good, sincere, godly men in this Classis but they cannot reflect God’s female side. And women are for the most part invited to join the meetings but when an “in-camera” session is held, the women have to leave. What is this? Why do we put up with this?

After our early morning worship time, I went back to my room for a little nap and I daydreamed about something I’d like to do. When the women are asked to leave while the men discuss issues that we should not be privy to, I will refuse to leave. I will stand up and announce that I will not be treated second class in this place and they would have to drag me out. That’s what I daydreamed about. I don’t think I have the courage to do it though. Not today. But maybe next time.

There are people who are here today at this meeting who feel the same way I do but this issue has been so divisive that they hesitate to bring a motion to the Classis to change the church order unless they can be pretty sure that people will be receptive to it. I know that our own local church, Good News Fellowship, is talking about being the catalyst for bringing about the change but we have to be sure we have the energy and willingness to follow through.

I think it’s time. There are women who have left this denomination and some of the churches because they feel they have been treated as second class citizens. There was an excellent speaker here yesterday who spoke about leadership. He talked about Wayne Gretsky who, when asked how he learned to play hockey so well replied that most players move to where the puck is. He tries to move to where the puck is going. We were encouraged as church leaders, to see where society is going so that we will be there to support, encourage, and share the love of Jesus. The church has always been behind societal trends and it’s inability to allow women to be fully involved is absolutely contrary to what society looks like. Where else will you have a meeting where women are not represented?

There are some verses in the bible that seem to state pretty clearly that only men can be leaders in the church. My argument to that is we need to read the bible in the context in which it was written. We need to keep in mind the culture of the time when the bible was written. I would also argue that God created man and woman, in his image. We both bear the likeness of God and so we both have the responsibility to reflect God to the rest of the world. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul reminds us that in God, we are neither male nor female, slave nor free-all are equal in the eyes of God.

It’s time to move forward. It’s time that the catholic (universal) church, began to truly reflect God’s image-kind, loving, generous, patient, honest, just, and forgiving to a world that craves these attributes. It’s time for those of us who are Christians to be willing to stand up for what is right and just, even if it means that there may be disunity and schism. Jesus himself was not afraid of controversy and he stood up for the rights of the many people in his day that did not have the means to fight. People like women, children, the ill and vulnerable members of society.

One day, I hope that the church will recognize just how wrong it has been in this area. For true healing to take place, I believe that the leaders of the church must acknowledge that they wrongly interpreted scriptures and that they are sorry for how it negatively impacted society and the church. What a powerful message that would send! And who knows, maybe it’ll start a revival. Those people who find the church redundant will see that the message it brings truly is current, exciting and life-giving. They will see that the church is a place where they can grapple with the tough questions about God and spirituality and that all voices will be heard-young, old, rich, poor, male and female.

God help us.