Pernell is peeved

Pernell is peeved (he uses a different word), and that is okay:

I will post more about this soon in a more theologically reflective way, but for now I just want to say I am totally disappointed and angry. This is wrong. Period.

Pernell is writing about the Fellowship's decision to restrict the pastoral role to men. Some reflections: It wasn't just men who made this decision. Women spoke in favor of it too. While some of this is no doubt motivated by sexism, I want to emphasize that it is possible to believe that women shouldn't pastor due to theological reasons. I know this is difficult to accept for many. (I write as one who doesn't agree with this position or the decision of the Fellowship.) Decisions of one group affect the church at large. Read the comments and you understand that many who don't even know what the Fellowship is are moved by this decision. We are wrong when we think we are autonomous (a cherished Baptist notion). The Archbishop of Canterbury is right in what he says about autonomy:

The Windsor Report rightly warns us against an idea of

Comments

[Darryl]

Jacob: Yeah, I used to like that guy too. "My second conclusion is that we must take our cues from Scripture rather than our own minds or culture." I still believe that, by the way.

[Trish]

It's amazing how the winds of our culture blow in through the back door of the church, which for centuries has espoused qualified male only Elders/Pastors.

[Darryl]

Trish: Even the most conservative person only selectively applies Scriptural teaching on this issue. They either (a) have let cultural winds influence their practice or (b) have realized that some of the teaching is timeless, some isn't. If you are fully applying all the Scriptural teaching in this regard - and nobody I know is - then you can argue that everyone else is compromising. If you argue that we need to work through which teachings reveal timeless principles and which don't, then we both agree at least that not everything here is due to cultural compromise.

[Jacob]

So Darryl, do you think you would have switched your position on this issue if the culture around you hadn't moved to full egalitarianism? Sorry for the pointed question but it's important to self examine ourselves in this way sometimes. Jacob.

[Darryl]

Jacob: No need to apologize. That's an excellent question. The answer is, probably not. But that raises a question: do complementarians hold their view because culture has always been complementarian or patriarchal? It seems that Scripture is more progressive than culture ever has been. Unfortunately, we all see the Bible through the lens of culture; the cultures are different, but we all have that lens. That's what makes hermeneutics so challenging.