Cheryl

Donna,
You said:
“Cheryl, I’ll see you on the Bayly blog. Until then, I wish you all the best as you seek to understand these issues better.”

Actually I don’t plan to go on the Bayly blog much if ever. There are other complementarian blogs which are much healthier and where the men and women are not as closed-minded to respectful dialog regarding secondary-level beliefs that do not mesh with their own. If I were to stay interacting within the communities that keep a hedge around these “secondary” issues by their strong-arm control and harsh treatment of their sisters in Christ, I might find myself taking on a sarcastic attitude too and I cannot afford to do that.

Jesus found himself face to face with unbending pharisees who tried to push him into their mold. Jesus characterized them in very unflattering terms because they were stiff-necked and they were not willing to have their motives and their ways examined by his light nor were they willing to repent of their ungodly attitudes and ways. But if you look carefully at how Jesus lived his life, he did not make a habit to be around the Pharisees nor did he ever run after them. He did not run from them but he did not keep company with them either. He dealt with them when they came in his pathway, but other than that he pretty much ignored them as he went to the common folk. Jesus is my example. When there is an issue that I have been asked to deal with by the precious people in the community that comes to this blog, I will deal with those like the Bayly brothers head one, but I do not readily seek them out nor do I want their attitude to affect mine in any way. I will just go about doing the work that God has called me to. While I will interact with complementarians from time to time as I pay attention to issues and comments that others raise, I will purposely seek for those who are respectful and Christ-like. These are the ones who are likely to be touched by the abilities that God has given me. The others will not change nor will they listen. Their pride precludes them from considering that I am a member of the body of Christ that they need. Every member of the body is needed and when the members are rejected we can start to understand that perhaps the one doing the rejecting is not even in the body at all. That is not my judgment to make. One thing I do know – if I want to follow the “Way of the Master” I must go to the ones who will listen and consider. The ones who are deaf and blind to the light of God’s word spoken through a woman are not my concern. God will deal with them in his own way.