Pioneers go into new territories with some wisdom, lots of preparation, and a great deal of faith to tread where no one from their tribe has ventured before. Splashes of appreciation come now and then, but in between, a pioneer pays a price that even they don't yet fully grasp as they do what many don't understand. Many people end up heaping criticism upon resistance, adding to it myths and lies and misconceptions and all sorts of levies out of their own fear.
In 2008, I spoke out against the abuses of the Patriarchy Movement within Evangelical Christian Homeschooling circles. I can't even count the evils that have been spoken of me falsely because of that. I did more quoting of others' teachings, but I connected too many dots too cogently, and the Southern Baptist Convention rolled on me, proving my thesis. I suppose that I should thank them. People still believe that I've said things I never uttered or believed, and those things that I did do in humility are long forgotten. When Doug Phillips and Bill Gothard tumbled down from their places of power, and when the Eternal Subordination of the Son Doctrine was refuted and largely abanadoned, no one sent me any apologies.
Though history vindicated me, many still considered me a vulgar person who committed vulgar acts against greater men whose name I'm not seen as fit to utter. Yeah, well. I didn't do it for the accolades. I did it because it was the right thing to do, and no one else wanted to do it. So many times, I've told my Creator, "Here I am. Send me." I lent my voice to those who had none and many others who didn't yet know that they needed one. As a friend of this blog once stated things, I gave others the language that they needed to describe what was happening to them. (And I knew it because someone gave it to me. I'm just doing my good 2nd Corinthians 1 duty to comfort others with the comfort that I received.)
In 2010, I joined with Shirley Taylor, Jocelyn Andersen, and Waneta Dawn to add my voice ot theirs to demand an apology from the zealots of the gender agenda. We were pioneers ahead of our time in that respect also. Not until the #MeToo Movement some eight years later would women feel the courage and liberty to do what we did that day. My husband always says that no good deed goes unpunished, but these momentarily difficulties are well worth the costs. I was born for many moments, but ten years ago today, I certainly stepped into exactly where I was supposed to be to do exactly what I was created to do. I don't always get things right, but on this day, I believe that I did.
I'm not holding my breath for any serious apologies, but I can stand and know that I stood in faith with confidence towards God to do my duty before God and man. I fulfilled both my duty and kept my soul pure before God by doing what my conscience demanded of me. We needed to speak the truth and lend our voices to those who had yet to find their own. I would not have it any other way. We look to God to work justice and bring liberty to His people with great anticipation as He brings those who love Him together in the knowledge of the truth.
If you missed all of this in days past, Shirley has written an excellent recap of the issues that led up to this demand for an apology. I've reproduced the bulk of the fifth installment here.
(Catch up on the full history HERE: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5, and watch the videos on either Vimeo or YouTube.)
At a time in our church history that the main focus should be on winning lost souls and spreading the gospel to a hurting world, we fear for the future because the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood has placed a greater priority on women’s submissive role rather than on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is with that thought in mind that we make these statements.
We are concerned that men are being taught that they are god-like in their relationship to women within the church and home. As the mothers, wives, and daughters of these men, it is our concern that this doctrine is setting them up for failure as Christian fathers, husbands and sons;
we are concerned about the sin that evangelical church leaders commit when they deny the love of Christ fully to women simply because they were born female;
we are concerned about the damage this causes to families when husbands and fathers are told that they have Headship over their wives and daughters;
we are concerned about wife abuse, girlfriend abuse, and abuse to female children that takes place in many homes where evangelical men are taught that they have earthly and spiritual authority over women;
we are concerned that the children who attend churches that subscribe to the principles of The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood will grow up not knowing the full redemptive power of the blood of Jesus for both men and women;
we are concerned for the mental and emotional development of girls and boys who attend churches that teach males have superiority over females;
we are concerned that men who are taught that they have Male Headship over a home and church do not feel that they are accountable for abusive attitudes and actions towards women;
we are concerned about the mistranslation of the scriptures by complementarian translation committees and by the false teachings propagated by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood;
we are concerned that pastors who teach and preach male domination/female subordination cannot relate in a loving, Christ-like manner to female members of their congregations because they have already judged them and found them lacking;
we are concerned that the issue of wifely submission, promoted so heavily by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, is more about power and control than about love or obeying the Word of God.
It is because of these concerns that:
We demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood acknowledge the harm that has been done to the church body by The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood, confess it as sin, and denounce it;
we demand that denominational leaders and all churches and seminaries which have adopted The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood do the same;
we demand a public apology from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood, and from all heads of seminaries and Bible colleges that have adopted The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood, for the inestimable damage this statement has done to all Christians whose lives have been influenced by it;
we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood begin to promote the Biblical design of functional equality for all Christians, both men and women;
we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood begin to speak out against pastors who continue to demean women and oppress Christians by the use of The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood;
we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood chastise pastors who claim that abuse of women is acceptable and justified because the wife is not submitting to the husband;
we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood make known to every boy and every girl who attend an evangelical church, that God is their head, and that authority over another human being can come only from God;
we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood teach men that they share equally in the burden of society’s ills, and that all that is wrong with society today cannot be blamed on women;
we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood do everything in their power to teach seminarians to show the love of Christ to both men and women;
we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood teach pastors to be loving towards those Christian men and women who disagree with The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood;
and, finally, for the sake of all Christians, men and women, we demand that the Council on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood, make a public apology for the misuse of Holy Scripture as it relates to women, and cease to publish or promote The Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood.
Shirley Taylor, bWe Baptist Women for Equality presented this document at the
Seneca Falls 2 Evangelical Women’s Rights Convention July 24, 2010 in Orlando, Florida.
