God’s Kingdom Women – Justice

Introduction

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:7-8)

But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice and wait for your God always. (Hosea 12:6)

The term justice is used hundreds of times in the Bible. It is very important to God. If we love God and our neighbor as Jesus asked us to, we will try to bring about justice whenever we can. Maybe God had to stress it hundreds of times because humans are not very good at it. In fact, we are better at hurting one another.

Injustice comes in many forms: domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, human trafficking, and female infanticide, including gender specific abortion. Three in ten women have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner.1 It may surprise some to find that statistics for physical abuse inside the church are the same as in the rest of society.2 Abuse may also be psychological, emotional or spiritual. Women may be denied opportunities to serve due to wrong-headed ideas about their fitness for kingdom work.

In Part 1 of this series on justice, we will recount a true story that illustrates physical abuse present in many churches that proceeds from an unbiblical view of gender relationships.

In Part 2 we will share some stories of women who encounter psychology or emotional abuse. The trauma of feeling belittled is just as real as the trauma from physical battering.

In Part 3 we will discuss the often-overlooked topic of spiritual abuse. A study concluded in Australia demonstrates that abuse in the church exceeds that of the general population when you add in spiritual abuse.

We are seeking to answer some serious biblical, historical, theological, philosophical, and ethical questions in this series. We have covered the first four:
1. If men are superior to women, then why doesn’t God say so in his word?
2. If men are in charge, then why have women gotten the blame historically?
3. If men desire to rule by privilege and domination, then why did Jesus become a servant?
4. If men are essentially equal to women, then why are women still forbidden to serve in leadership positions?
5. If men are effective leaders, then why is there still so much abuse in the church and the home?

Part 1 – Physical Abuse

Ruth’s Story

During his violent rages, Ruth’s husband would hurl biblical texts at her. His favorite verse was “Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). He shouted the words at her while hitting, punching, and slamming her against doors and furniture. She felt trapped and feared for her life. Her husband was the pastor of their church and she felt ashamed to let others know what was happening. She wore long- sleeved and high-necked blouses to church and when the cover-up was not enough, she had a ready list of plausible excuses to keep up the pretense of a happy marriage.3

Why does abuse still exist in the church?

God wants us to practice justice and we do this when we follow Jesus who showed us the way of servanthood. There should be no abuse in the church as we love and serve one another. (Ephesians 5:21) Most men are godly servants of Christ cherishing their wives and children; unfortunately, there exists the 25 – 33% who are abusive.

There are many reasons that sinful men feel compelled to rule over women even in unjust ways, but here are four of the most important. First, justification for the inferior treatment of women has been handed down to us by the church fathers; secondly, a faulty worldview of women in God’s kingdom leads to oppression, thirdly, there is a dearth of stories about women’s contributions to God’s kingdom, and fourthly, some churches are not taking the problem seriously enough.

This week we will focus on the first reason.

For centuries the church has taught that men must rule while women must obey. It is hard to break tradition even in the face of so much injustice. We need to get back to what the Bible says.

Here are some misogynist quotes from well-known church fathers that DO NOT REFLECT WHAT THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAYS! Note for example, that Augustine says that “she is not the image of God.”

ORIGEN – (Theologian and Greek Father, 2nd-3rd centuries) 

“Men should not sit and listen to a woman . . . even if she says admirable things, or even saintly things, that is of little consequence, since it came from the mouth of a woman.”
Fragments on 1 Corinthians

(What do we do with the words that women spoke in the Bible? What about Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) for example? Are those of “little consequence”?)

TERTULLIAN – (The Father of Latin Christianity, 155-245)

”And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve? The sentence of God on this sex of yours lives in this age: the guilt must of necessity live too. You are the devil’s gateway: you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree: you are the first deserter of the divine law: you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God’s image, man. On account of your desert—that is, death—even the Son of God had to die. And do you think about adorning yourself over and above your tunics of skins?”
De Cultu Feminarium (On the Apparel of Women)

(Paul says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man…” (Romans 5:12) Men as leaders – heads of the households – should take the blame.)

CHRYSOSTOM – Archbishop of Constantinople and Doctor of the Church, 4th century) 

“. . . the [female] sex is weak and fickle . . .”
Homily 9 on First Timothy (1 Timothy 2:11-12)

“God maintained the order of each sex by dividing the business of life into two parts, and assigned the more necessary and beneficial aspects to the man and the less important, inferior matter to the woman.”
The Kind of Women who ought to be taken as Wives 

(Bringing life into the world is inferior?)

AUGUSTINE – (Bishop of Hippo, Doctor of the Church and Latin Father, 354-430)

“. . . woman was given to man, woman who was of small intelligence and who perhaps still lives more in accordance with the promptings of the inferior flesh than by superior reason. Is this why the apostle Paul does not attribute the image of God to her?”
De Genesi ad literatum 11.42

(Paul said, “For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.” (I Corinthians 11:12) There is no suggestion of hierarchy here except for God Who gets to rule. Paul also said, “… nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28))

Augustine’s words have contributed to the prevalent idea that women are innately inferior creatures. If women do not have the image of God, then they are no better than animals.

JOHN CALVIN – (French theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformer, 1509-1564)

“On this account, all women are born that they may acknowledge themselves as inferior in consequence to the superiority of the male sex.”
Commentary on 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11)

(I thought women were born to serve God. Does God say anywhere in His Word that men are superior? Dear reader, if you can find that verse, I will send you a check for $100.)

JOHN KNOX – (Scottish clergyman and Protestant Reformer, 16th century)

“Nature I say, paints [women] further to be weak, frail, impatient, feeble and foolish: and experience has declared them to be inconstant, variable, cruel and lacking the spirit of counsel and regiment [or, leadership].”
The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women. 

(Hard to believe this guy lived during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Reformers did not live long enough to witness the great missionary movement which today is made up of 2/3 women. I hardly think they fit Knox’s profile. In our next post we will demonstrate more of women’s achievements in the kingdom of God.)

The Solution

Jesus was the ultimate model of practicing justice. He took on the role of a servant and tried to teach it to His disciples. We must do the same. No one gets to glorify themselves through their ministry – male or female- all must glorify God. This means that women, too will serve with compassion as they follow the Lord.

Both men and women should obey Christ – whatever it takes. This means both men and women empowered with a calling, prayer and the gifts of the Holy Spirit should be fulfilling the Great Commission. The goal is not just about us. The goal is the glory of God.

Sharing the Gospel with the lost and dying should not be about gender. It’s all about the Lord Jesus and His Gospel of the good news that men and women may be rescued out of the kingdom of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of light. My prayer is that many more men and women will serve Christ together in the church.

1 “The National Domestic Violence Hotline,” accessed January 25, 2018, http://www.thehotline.org/resources/statistics/.

2 Anne O. Weatherholt, Breaking the Silence: The Church Responds to Domestic Violence (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2008), 4–5, 17.

3 Ruth Tucker, Black and White Bible, Black and Blue Wife: My Story of Finding Hope After Domestic Abuse (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 14. I highly recommend this book.