We know that Wilson, et al, hold democracy in disdain. We know that they consider government to be an occupying force set over them in judgment by a holy God. We’ve seen that they believe women’s proper sphere of activity and influence is in the home, in obedient submission to their patriarchal head. And we know they are determined postmillennialists who believe that Christ will return to Earth only after the Church transforms all social, ecclesiastical, political, judicial and financial institutions, bringing them under the dominion of Christ through the Christian, male, property-owning heads of households he apparently favors.
I’m sure Kirk women do vote in local and national elections, just as I’m sure that they’re counseled to vote in accord with their husbands. This seems to be a concession, though, and not one that is likely to survive Kirk eschatology. Those of us in Moscow know that the Logos school board is, by design, only comprised of men. We’re aware that Kirk congregational meetings are open only to heads of households; the only women allowed to attend are the very few single women with young children. Clearly, Kirk and CREC women have very little, if any, influence now in the administration of their churches, and, just as clearly, they’re denied the opportunity to change that.
But the scenario above, gleaned from Wilson’s and other’s writings, cannot help but result in the denial of the franchise — the right to vote — to women, a final nailing shut of the door of service and influence in their churches and homes. So is the Church so numb, so complacent, so ignorant, that it fails to grasp that the dominionist view of these Reconstructionists, the remaking of society in the image of Scriptural imperative as they view it, is one that denies women the right to vote?
Let’s put it another way. Thousands of people, men and women, across the country follow Wilson’s teachings. Do they understand that, had he lived in the late 19th- and early 20th-century, he would have opposed, based on the theology he currently holds, the right of women to vote? Does it bother anyone within the CREC or outside it that their eschatological vision of ultimate harmony, peace, prosperity, and faithfulness to the Gospel denies women any participation in the institutions brought under dominion by Christian men?
It seems unreal to me, in light of the radically transformative nature of the Christian Gospel, that I live among people who applaud that its ultimate expression on Earth would strip Galatians 3:28 of all meaning and power. And yet even more unreal is the utter lack of concern on the part of Moscow’s all-male evangelical pastors — or anyone else who has even the most elementary understanding of Christ’s work among us.
And so mine is a pretty lonely voice in this wilderness of theological madness. I believe with all my heart, though, that it’s an obedient one, and one that won’t be silenced. I would have been, like my great- great-grandmother, an evangelical abolitionist and preacher, joining the thousands of like-minded, Spirit-filled women and men who took the Bible seriously enough to preach it in the face of near-overwhelming evil. Those voices continue today. How very sad, though, that they are shut out from and mocked by men who love the Gospel enough to ignore those of its teachings that would knock them from their pulpits of privilege — and call it “obedient.”
You wrote: “the only women allowed to attend are the very few single women with young children. “
That takes the wind out of your argument right there.
And your lament that women are powerless because they cannot influence the administration of the institutions shows that your focus is on the wrong thing. Your eyes are on this sinful sod. They should be on Christ instead.
The women of the Kirk have Christ to turn to as their Defender and Comforter. A better Advocate we could not wish for.
Further both the man and the woman of a Christian household should focus entirely on doing His will. He alone has power. If a man is being disobedient, it is the duty of the wife to rebuke him. Husband and wife must pray together to discern their Lord’s will for them. And then send a representative to these councils to communicate that will. The Church is not a political institution. It must not be treated as one.
When a man and woman share a loving and Godly relationship they operate as one entity under our Lord. It is His will that is important – not that of the man nor that of the woman but that of Christ alone. Hence the voting etc are moot points. Irrelevant. We are not a democracy. The Body is a Monarchy. We serve the King of Kings.
It is right and proper that yours is a lonely voice. It would be better if you too stopped speaking these things. You who accuse others of not getting the Gospel should take the log out of your own eye. You are too focused on the privileges of their pulpits and not enough on the burdens that come with that care.
And you must take all these concerns to the Lord.
And you must definitely not take them to the feminist friends of yours.
Nor should you put them out in public like this. You know there are those who would love to slander the name of Christ any chance they get. Why feed these trolls?
You must make your peace with the people of Mr. Wilson’s church. You cannot carry on like this. Pray about it and do what He tells you to. In fact fast and pray. Behave like a daughter of the King purchased by His blood. Do not behave like a leftist heckler.
Comment by Ashwin — October 23, 2009 @ 9:13 pm