I am going to work somewhat backwards on the comments.

60 gengwall,

I don’t think Kim or anyone else is saying that women or men have gender specific attributes in the areas of emotions, intellect, or feelings. That is, if you mean by “attributes” that either men or women are universally more or less emotional, intellectual, or feeling than the opposite sex. But we do, in general, process and react to stimuli and information in different ways, and it has everything to do with very gender specific biology (mainly hormones and brain structure).

This was well said. I do not think that anywhere here is saying that women have more feelings than men do (although men have been forced in some cultures to repress their feelings), nor that men are more intellectual than women, etc. Our differences have nothing to do with our spiritual worth except that women are needed. If women were the exact same as men, then men could say that women are not needed. The fact is that women are women and their value as women is great needed to bring balance. It matters not whether the woman is the “standard” or an exceptionally unique creation of God that is unlike most other women. She is still needed because she brings a different way of living out her gifts that men need.

It seems to me that some think that if some women have characteristics and gifts that are more common to men than to women, then for some reason they do not have as much worth in the fellowship of believers. Dare I say that perhaps they have even more worth? Perhaps we can see these women as vitally necessary to help us understand each other. This is not said to put down any ordinary woman (is there such a thing as “ordinary”?). But I think that often those who do not fit in a set mold can feel left out and unappreciated and undervalued. I do not want to do that. I want to celebrate the worth of those who are jewels who stand out amongst the crowd.

While the complementarians may reject those who do not fit their traditional comp role model, I do not think that we should go totally the opposite direction and deny any differences between men and women in the natural. The bottom line is that women are different than men and that difference is so needed and so complementary that trying to do “church” by using the gifts of men only is contrary to God’s will. God wants diversity. He made more than one color. He made more than one gender. He wants us to learn from each other and grow through the nurturing and sacrificial use of all of our gifts.