“The world is on fire and the firemen are arguing about what tool to use.”
It has been an eventful week in light of comments made by John MacArthur about Beth Moore, telling her to “Go home” (see link below for a YouTube video of the MacArthur’s comment and a screenshot of Moore’s response via Twitter). I’ve watched as prominent leaders in the Church come to Moore’s defense; I’ve been encouraged by the leaders of my own faith tradition, Foursquare, reaffirm women in ministry and in leadership. As I was reading through some comments made on an Instagram video post by Lisa Bevere on October 23, 2019, the quote above caught my eye. “The world is on fire and the firemen are arguing about what tool to use,” stated a sister in Christ.
Sisters Divided
I am often disappointed but rarely shocked when I hear my brothers in Christ discuss God’s supposed ministry limitations for me based on my gender. In my corner of the world, I’ve listened to arguments against women in ministry from colleagues, classmates, and even family members. It can be painful when it comes from people I love but not surprising. Even though I know intellectually that I have some sisters who agree with these arguments, their agreement always amazes me. In my mind, I understand these precious sisters believe their stance is biblical. In my heart, I grieve for such unnecessary and unbiblical self-restriction.
As I first began to dream about Women Disciples in March 2019, I thought of these sisters. Part of the purpose of Women Disciples is to encourage all women to take movement steps in their faith in whatever capacity God is calling them to. Another purpose is to highlight Women Disciples both in the Bible and church history, so we might have a better understanding of our faith heritage and discover role models to emulate. The above quote reminds me there is much work to do in both of these purposes.
The Missing Conversation
As I was contemplating MacArthur’s comments, I also realized the Church was missing a crucial element in the conversation. Towards the end of the video posted below, MacArthur criticizes the South Baptist Convention’s resolution that the next committee for a Bible translation should include a woman, an African American, and a Latino. “How about someone who knows Greek and Hebrew?” he sneered as though knowing Greek and Hebrew and being a woman, African American, or Latino are mutually exclusive. This reveals yet another sin in the church—racism. MacArthur’s question demeans women, African Americans, and Latinos because it suggests they could not possibly know Greek or Hebrew. Perhaps in MacArthur’s circles, he has not had an opportunity to meet scholars from such diverse backgrounds; as a student at Fuller Theological Seminary, I have. I would encourage MacArthur to enroll in an Old Testament course taught by Dr. Kyong-Jin Lee. She not only knows Hebrew but also teaches in three languages: English, Spanish, and Korean. Dr. Lee is a powerful teacher and preacher, and experiencing her class is eye-opening.
From its infancy, the Church was multicultural. As the Christian faith spread from the Middle East to Africa and Europe, people from diverse backgrounds were moved by the Truth and became followers of Jesus. This new movement faced its own struggles with culture and ethnicity, which led Paul to write these words: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). We must remember our spiritual inheritance. Ensuring a Bible translation committee better reflects the people of the church and the Kingdom of God is one step we can take.
Fire
The world is on fire…and a firefighter told another firefighter to go home because of her gender. Considering there are more women in the church than men, MacArthur’s words dismiss over half of the firefighters on the team. This same firefighter’s words also diminished the contributions and the leadership of our brothers and sisters of color. Because we may be uncomfortable with the topics, the temptation is to be quiet, cover our eyes and ears, claim the priority of unity; if we fall for this temptation, our silence is our agreement to unbiblical and harmful statements. If we fall for this temptation, we settle for a unity at the expense of women and people of color. This is why we cannot, we must not, stay silent.
Movement Step: Study the Bible systematically to see the various roles women played in the Bible and pray for God to show you insight. Look up women such as Eve, Sarah, Miriam, Shiphrah, Puah, Deborah, Jael, Huldah, Mary (mother of Jesus), Mary and Martha, Woman at the Well, Junia, Phoebe, Priscilla, and others. Then pick up a Christian nonfiction book or a commentary that is written by someone outside your culture or ethnicity. We all have blind spots when it comes to understanding and applying Scripture. Expanding our current “great cloud of witnesses” to include people from diverse backgrounds will help rectify that.
Stephanie Crisostomo
I certainly think his comments were dismissive and rude towards Beth Moore. When listening to this and the part about the translations, I took his comment as meaning that it’s most important to have people on the committee that know Greek/Hebrew rather than make sure to we have different cultures. I didn’t feel like he was implying that they were mutually exclusive and that the thought of women/other ethnicities knowing Greek/Hebrew was an absurd thought. This is how I understood what he said in that instance. Just a different take. 🙂
Jenn Smith Chen
Hi Steph! Thanks for your comments! I realized in wanting to keep my post as brief as possible (it was still longer than usual), I failed to mention a few key facts. I am so sorry that I led anyone to believe Bible translation committee requirements were changing. For anyone to be a part of a Bible translation committee, they must be experts in Hebrew, Greek, and/or Aramaic (portions of the Old Testament are written in Aramaic). SBC was not changing the requirements for being on a Bible translation committee. For example, I’ve taken 3 quarters of Greek, and I’m a woman, but I would not be invited to be on the committee because I am not qualified. It doesn’t matter that I’m a woman. The SBC resolution wasn’t about tokenism for tokenism sake. Bible translation committees already follow strict guidelines to include members from different denominations; including women and people of color is just one more step to ensure our Bible translation committees better reflect the Church in the US. MacArthur’s comments seem to imply that it would be difficult to find women, African Americans, or Latinos who would be qualified to translate the Bible, and this is simply not true.
In the last couple of years, the SBC has done a hard work by looking at their history of racism and sexism. A report by former and current professors came out about the history of racism in SBC’s seminary, Southern Seminary; founders of the seminary owned other human beings, and many professors supported segregation and Jim Crow laws. They released their findings publicly and without glossing over the facts. With #metoo and #churchtoo movements, SBC has also begun to grapple with the effects of sexism specifically within the realms of sexual abuse. I imagine their resolution came from their research and reflection. I applaud SBC’s efforts and hope they continue doing that good, painful work. As the largest Protestant denomination in the US, I hope also that they pave the way for other denominations to follow their example.
I completely agree with you that he was rude to Moore. The fact that MacArthur dismisses SBC efforts is heartbreaking, and I heard no love in his voice as he reduced his sister in Christ and her preaching to a TV salesperson with “hawking skills.” Even though he and I disagree on some things, I believe MacArthur can be better than this.
Connie Oates
These are truly sad days we are living in when we have neglected to study the Word of God as the Bereans did, instead we are trusting others to interpret it for us. The enemy of our souls is having a field day when he can get us to the place where we trust teachers/preachers and what they say and think or feel without checking/studying to see what the Word of God says. If what you feel, think or choose to believe can not be backed up with the Word of God the Bible, then what you feel, think or have chosen to believe a lie. Be a true Desciple of Christ be like the Bereans study the Word for yourself and you won’t be led astray.
Jenn Smith Chen
I absolutely agree! It’s so important to study God’s word. Many people don’t know where to start, but I think it’s the responsibility of the Church and Christian teachers and leaders to train people on how to read and study the Bible. Right now I am teaching a class called Intro to Bible Study at California Coast Bible College. I teach my students to check everything from worship songs to sermons to podcasts to blog posts to my lectures–everything–and see if Scripture supports it.