Cheryl Schatz

Interesting that my spam word today is “grace”.

About Mike…he can’t admit anything because in the position that he is in with his church, he could not remain a pastor and be an egalitarian. So learning things outside the boundaries of what he has accepted as truth could become a very serious issue.

I think this is why he is considering not continuing with our debate. The next part of the debate would give me the last word and that wouldn’t be comfortable when he hasn’t managed to get his point across yet. It just gives me more opportunity to show that his view is not the “clear” view that he thought it was.

But we should remember to think about what it would be like to be in Mike’s shoes. Changing his view would cost him many things including a job, possibly his friends, his standing in his denomination and with CBMW (they featured him as a writer on their blog). On top of that there is his ego and a feeling of shame for believing something that didn’t stand up to scrutiny.

I also believe that the truth is a good enough reason to change no matter what the consequences, but I have a deep compassion for those whose lives would be turned upside down by changing their view.

So how can we pray for Mike and for others in his shoes? We can pray that the seed that has been planted will go deep within his heart. We can pray that Mike will not have peace when he remembers all the things that he was unable to answer. We can also pray that God will reveal to Mike how His Word is fulfilled in the freedom of God’s women “sons”. Lastly we can pray for courage for Mike to accept truth as God opens his heart regarding what he has heard. Many will close their hearts to the truth about women because they have comfort in their position and persecution awaiting outside their safety zone. Let’s pray that Mike will be one of the ones who values truth much more than comfort.

If Mike does come back for the next round, let’s surround him with prayer. God can do what seems impossible to us.