I generally don't
follow John Piper at all since I pointed out his problematic
teachings concerning women, but I respond to requests that people
make of me to address certain aspect of their teachings from time to
time. Having gleaned a great deal from those critics
of The New Calvinism, I believe that I've learned why I have not
found his style and material all that compelling, even apart from his
teachings on gender. Most of what he says sounds so esoteric to me,
and considering that I'm concrete and pragmatic for the most part, I
assumed that we just had major stylistic differences that didn't
match to my own style of learning and communication. It appears that
the reasons for the disconnect prove
to be ideological/theological and relate to fundamental differences between
our beliefs about what
exactly takes place when a person puts their faith in Christ and
the manner in which the resultant transformation and perseverance in
the faith progresses.
But here's a bit
of levity.
I've been contacted by quite a few people concerning
Piper's
recent claim that “God gave
Christianity a masculine feel.”
Had I not received so many emails from so many people pertaining to
this latest bizarre quote, I would not have known anything about it.
Several people have written fine critiques concerning the matter
including Cheryl
Schatz and Rachel
Held Evans, and I will refer you to them to glean more about the
discussion and responses to Piper's latest.
I've debated
whether it is appropriate to note my own response initial response to
this statement as well as my husband's because it is a bit silly,
even though it represents such a weighty matter concerning how
complementarians scapegoat women and the troubling consequences that
follow from the belief system. I make note of it here with the
blessing of many trusted friends and with my husband's permission.
When I first read
the single sound-byte, I could not help but react to the strange
nature of the way the statement was parsed. I said, “I'm sorry,
but this has all the makings for several really bad jokes and sounds
like one without even adding much to it.”
After some initial
laughter, even more ensued after my husband made this very silly
statement himself. I wish I had him on film, capturing his near
incredulous response, complete with his sense of exasperation and
what was sounded like an honest expression of serious concern. It was not only
humorous, but I felt like it hallmarked the ridiculous depravity of
the extraordinary overfocus on gender which often achieves
something quite the opposite of complementarianism's formally
stated and desired intent. My husband offered this very honest
reaction which bordered on humor and disgust.
“Maybe God did give Christianity a masculine feel. I don't really want to hear their worthless arguments about how they can justify the statement. I just want to make sure that I don't give Piper or any of the rest of them any opportunity to give me a masculine feel.”
I believe that
these men have placed so much focus on their fears that they often
resemble that which they detest and fear the most. In the process of
scrambling to defend their positions concerning their man-made
doctrine, I believe that they've lost all perspective about what
they're actually communicating and how it comes across to reasonable
people. It's really quite sad, but I appreciate this opportunity to laugh as opposed to weeping.
.
