Cheryl Schatz

Hey Mark,
The fact is that comps don’t want to dialog with us not because we don’t “understand the teaching” but because we ask questions they can’t respond to. Many of us (if not the majority) used to be complementarians so we do understand the teaching and what was expected of us. Perhaps what you really mean is that we don’t understand the “heart” of men complementarians. If that is what you meant, then yes, no one can see another person’s heart. The motive is hidden from us but the fruit that we see can be tested and no matter how badly comps treat us we certainly should not say that we know exactly what each one does things. None of us certainly know your heart and you don’t know ours either. It is by the grace of God that we can love one another even while we are in the other “camp”. It is only because of Jesus that dwells in each of us.

Personally I try not to make general statements about the problems of men’s lust for power yet still I can’t get a comp to dialog with me either. So what’s the problem? I can’t help thinking that when we ask the hard questions that really do need answering, they aren’t comfortable in answering. Perhaps it is because it might mean that they would have to look rethink their own position to answer the questions. It is difficult for many to rethink their own position because people’s positions are often made with long held cherished beliefs and they are not up for discussion.

The fact is that this statement is absolutely true: “And men who lust for power and authority continue to dishonor women and deal treacherously with them.”

Now men who don’t lust for power or authority over women don’t even bat an eye lid because it doesn’t refer to them. It isn’t about all comps or all men. It is about those who lust for things that place them in a rulership position over others. Why would that statement be offensive? Perhaps there are other men here who could help me. You are men too. Did the above statement come across as attacking all men?

The other statement was about manipulating the Bible to keep power. Perhaps it is a statement of frustration because we have asked comps to please show us where Adam had authority over Eve since this is what they claim. None of them ever gives a Biblical answer but only gives statements that they do not back up with the Bible. Why is that? What would be the reason to claim that something is Biblical and then refuse to answer the question of where in the Genesis account it is shown?

So just for the record, I am going to stick my neck out and answer the suggestion that women here (and all evangelical egalitarians) think that all complementarians lust for power and manipulate and downgrade women. Not all comps are like that. Some are gentle respectful comps who have no desire to take rulership over anyone. They are comps only because their conscience compels them to believe that this is what the Bible says, but they do not personally practice shutting women up or stifling them or taking authority over them.

Yet for those who follow the complementarian way from their heart and they love what the doctrine tells them about men’s unique rights to have and use the gifts that God gives them, then women can be easily downgraded and the Bible can be used as a weapon against women to force women to be silent about their Biblical arguments and their Biblical questions about our equality.

I think this is because the complementarian way is not really complementarian. It is separation and division. Men are given the privilege of having and using every spiritual gift but women have the wall built in front of them. They are not allowed in most comp camps to teach men in a Bible study. They are also not allowed in most comp camps to use their gift of pastor and they must stifle the Holy Spirit within them to listen to the complementarian rules. This hurts women and divides the body against their gifts. It also hurts and grieves the Holy Spirit when His gifts are disregarded.

So for the comp men who come here, I think that it isn’t so much a dialog that we are looking for but for them to get real and deal with honest-hearted questions like the ones that we have asked from Genesis. When comps refuse to answer the questions the red flags go up in our minds. We wonder why they cannot or will not answer the questions?

Also this blog is about Christianity and equality as Christians not worldly feminism. I do not use the term feminism because it has too much baggage. If you look on the side bar, I have been willing to take on some of the errors of “feminism” when there has been arguments that go beyond what the Bible says. This blog is about Biblical truth and I am willing to speak out against error from either camp because I believe we all need truth. When we embrace truth we can be assured that we are on the right road.

So I am wondering if you are going to answer the questions that I have posed with my comments to your answers that I gave to you on the other post? If you are busy but intend to answer, just let me know. If you don’t want to answer my questions then it would be good to have a reason why the questions are not worthy of being answered. But please do not use anyones frustration with men who lust for power as a reason not to answer the questions. Just be graceful with your sisters in Christ who have been hurt by men who have treated them in an un-Christlike fashion.