Don’t worry, the T-shirt is in the hamper.Â
First off, my new favorite Japanese beer: Yebisu ＜ザ・ブラック＞. Or, in Latin transcript, “za burakku.”Â
Now for something more important.Â
I went to the Honda chapel church service today. Getting there from where I’m staying means about 100 minutes of reading time on the train. I finished John Stackhouse’s “Finally Feminist” and found that he spoke my language and could help me with my textual reservations regarding egalitarianism without simply dismissing or ignoring the text. For those completely lost, this concerns the tension between gender issues and the Bible. I prefer an egalitarian position (i.e. women and men have the same rights and status in church and family), perhaps not always out of unselfish motives, but hesitated to take it because I found no way to honestly bring that position and what I read in the Bible into congruence. Stackhouse does this without bending and stretching the text or taking exegetical liberties that would backfire later, as far as I can tell. In other words, today I could intellectually arrive at the point where I can endorse women in church leadership. The question is, what now?Â
Well, first, hooray for my pastor-in-training sister!Â
A lot of the missionaries that usually come to Honda were on furlough, but many Japanese friends were there. I was surprised that most of the children stayed in the service this time, which I didn’t remember from earlier services. They drew in a book and whispered together during the sermon, but I doubt that bothered anyone. During the songs they stood on their chairs to see the overhead projection, which certainly helped them sing better than a hymnal would have (although, to my relief, like me they struggled to read some of the kanji). I guess learning hymns by heart would be even better… One song the congregation apparently sang for the first time is one that we’ve sung before and that I always remember for its Swedish origin and thus the fun name of the tune, “Blott en dag.”Â
The sermon used the text from Matthew 1:1-16, the genealogy of Jesus. This must have been the first Bible passage in Japanese I pretty much completely understood. Of course, the Katakana names of the patriarchs elicited a smile from me, especially “Aburahamu,” which can be split into the Japanese words “abura” (oil) and “hamu” (ham). I learned a few Japanese words on the way, because I’d brought my electronic dictionary, and I think I caught the drift of the sermon, but otherwise I struggled.Â
For lunch, I joined the youth group. We went out and bought food from the grocery store and ate in the church, after which we sang some songs with a few short-term missionaries who had just arrived. For that reason, we sang mostly songs to which we had the lyrics in both languages. The young Americans were great sports despite their jetlag, and taught the Japanese crowd “round-the-world” ping-pong. We played a few rounds, and I even got into the finals once, but couldn’t grasp the principle of spinning around my axis between each hit – I have this compulsion to follow the ball I just hit with my eyes, so I’m left with no time to spin.Â
I started into a new book on the way home and ate at the “French” bakery for dinner. The dorm ladies take a break every Sunday. On the upside, I now have some bread for lunch tomorrow.Â
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Hooray for you most of all! What next? Walk alongside other sisters trying to exercise their gifts… I shall get myself a copy of the book. Thanks for the book review!
I love around the world ping-pong. Ah, that brings back memories.
Let me tell you about the experience of a friend of mine. You may or may not have heard of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) in the U. S., but take my word for it, they are very conservative. My friend and her husband were at the time in (and strongly committed to) a denomination that broke away from the Episcopal Church years ago, largely over the issue of women’s ordination. Because of associations she had with RTS, she got into a conversation on the subject one day with one of their most highly respected professors who feels strongly that the ordination of women is not at all unbiblical. He recommended some books on the subject which she and her husband proceeded to devour until they, too, were convinced.
Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to get those books (or even their names) myself (long story), but that an RTS professor believes that way is enough to make me believe they must be quite convincing.
Unfortunately, my own experience with female pastors/priests/seminary students has not been 100% positive, but theoretically I would be delighted for Biblical support of a more egalitarian position….
Has your experience with male pastors/priests/seminary students been 100% positive? I know mine hasn’t. Maybe part of the problem is that the (multiple) elders of the NT have been replaced by a (single) pastor. Well, I’m sure they had problems back then, too.
i have been guilty of taking a position – men and women are equal – and then using the version of interpretation from the bible/authors/prominent leaders to back it up. (i am aware that there are very persuasive views/writings that are opposed to mine as well as those that support my views.) and i’ve also been guilty of taking my experience – positive and negative ones – to ‘cement’ my views. at one stage i was quite combative and even dogmatic about it. but for now, i’m not interested in ‘winning’ the argument. i celebrate when a brother or sister comes to share my view without coercion and have the freedom (as we should do in Christ) to exercise our gifts as we respond to our calling or circumstances. whether we agree or disagree, we live by grace and i think it is more critical that we imitate Christ which often does not call for leadership (as is usually understood in the secular circles and unfortunately some Christian ones) but servanthood. Check out this book “Healing the Masculine Soul” by ____ Dalbey. (I forget his first name, maybe Richard). I don’t totally agree with his views but it made me realise that there are brothers out there who have been ‘limited’ and constrained by the argument/position that only men can lead in Churches. it is not only the sisters who have been constrained by a narrow interpretation…
This is what I get by being vague. You are certainly right that my experience with male pastors etc. had been far from 100% satisfactory. What I really meant was that my experience with the female version has been almost 100% unsatisfactory; it’s just that for the sake of one female priest whom I respect — even though she would never find her way here — I was vague.
What bothers me is that I’ve seen too many instances of “lowering the bar” for the sake of increasing the number of females in a particular institution, from churches to universities. I have it on the authority of some good friends in the mathematics world that even Harvard has dumbed down its curriculum to make it easier for female math grad students to get degrees. This behavior does no one any favors, least of all the women, and all but shouts the belief that women can’t really measure up. I believe we can, given the right opportunities, which of course should start from birth. You can’t undo years of disadvantage in a hurry, and lowing standards to try to speed up the process is a terrible idea.
This, by the way, is in no way a negative commentary on your pastor-to-be sister, whom I don’t know, but who probably shares the obvious intelligence of her brother.
I could see why people might want to lower the bar in order to have role models to aspire to, but I agree it’s not the right signal to send. However, in the case of female ordination, wouldn’t the lowered bar be pretty specific to certain denominations?
I wouldn’t have taken it as a negative commentary on her, and you’re right, she’s a very intelligent woman who on top of that has people skills and character traits her brother lacks that qualify her better for the job.
does equality between men and women mean that there are no gender differences? or are they just differences?
if there are gender differences, does it mean there can be no equality? where did the idea of equality although different/expressed differently originate?
if there are differences, whether because of nature, nurture or both, but only one yardstick or a set that favours a limited group, what is the value of yardsticks?
is it always “lowering the bar” when yardsticks are revised? how might balancing the ratio and encouraging plurality contribute to redefining/addressing standards that may have historical/class biases? or might revisions be a reaction to broader shifting realities like market forces?
if we take the context of the Church, should gender or gifting be used to define who may be ordained into leadership? are there giftings that are gender-specific? is spiritual leadership limited to those who are ordained or among laity only? what are the historical/social/class biases of ‘standards’ and leadership in the Church?
thankfully God is sovereign and my limitations/hang-ups do not prevent His will being done regardless if i’m conscious of it although i much prefer to be conscious of and aligned to it…
Too much to deal with and not enough time to do it right, but here are a few more thoughts.
I’m very much interested in the idea that part of the problem is so much focus on a single person as pastor and less on developing the gifts of the whole body.
It is definitely good to look at “gifting” when deciding who should do what. The female priest I respect a lot does very well in some areas, better than most male leaders I’ve known. But I generally dread her sermons. I had a male pastor who could preach inspiring, knowledgeable sermons, but his counselling and personal skills left very much to be desired. Perhaps we are expecting too much of the pastor/priest role. Some churches try to solve the problem by becoming very top-heavy in their paid leadership: one pastor for preaching, one for counselling, one for youth, etc. I’m sure that’s not the way to go — too much of the church’s money being spent internally — but don’t have a good alternative to offer.
I readily admit that strong, intellectual knowledge of the Bible, theology, church history, and other subjects taught in seminary is not the most important pastoral attribute, but do believe it is vitally important nonetheless, especially for those who are in authority. This is where I feel the bar has been lowered. I’m also fully aware that a little female influence could and should raise the bar for the men, particularly when it comes to compassion and understanding.
I’m very glad I majored in mathematics rather than humanities. There, a yardstick is a yardstick — or rather a meter stick is a meter stick. 🙂 One can either do good mathematics or not. It makes absolutely no sense to talk about “revising” a yardstick.
If you want to elevate different gifts, better to acknowledge that and create different positions accordingly. For example — to take it away from the hot-button male/female issue — universities serve their students very poorly by emphasizing publishable research over teaching ability when hiring, retaining, and rewarding faculty. But I don’t think the solution to the problem is to change the meaning of having a Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard. Let the universities hire some for their research abilities, and some for their teaching abilities, not putting the former in a position to confuse undergraduates, and not asking the latter to take valuable time from the work of teaching to publish mathematical papers. When you expect the same person, or the same kind of person, to do everything — whether in business, university, church, or even family — you won’t get the best results.
On another note, I’d never heard of Finally Feminist but had recently come across John Stackhouse’s blog in another context. I haven’t explored it yet, so I can’t say anything either good or bad, but you might like to investigate: http://stackblog.wordpress.com/.
can you tell i majored in humanities ; )
i’m new to the field of education but i can appreciate the issues you’ve raised. in Singapore, where i’m at, there seems to be an unspoken preference for the ‘all-rounder’. i personally prefer to operate where my strengths are but it is often regarded more positively if you try to build up areas where you’re weak at by being willing to take it up (you have appropriate ambitions to better yourself). mediocrity appears inevitable to me. very frustrating.
thanks for the recommended site. i shall check it out when i can.
What? This is surprising to me. In a world where I feel pressure to specialize, focus, and stop trying new things, I’m glad to hear some people appreciate the ‘all-rounder.’ Why don’t we let those who like to specialize do so, and those who wish to do a little of everything do so as well? It seems to me there’s a place for both. At least I hope so, but this is off the topic at hand.
Off topic? You’re concerned about off topic? We never get off topic on YOUR blog….. 😉 It seems that people who like to do a little of everything also like to talk about a little of everything. And even those of us who don’t do so much can grab a small part of a post and take it to parts unknown.
exactly: space for everyone to operate at their strengths. an all-rounder is also a strength ; )
Ok, I can’t even begin to address everything. It makes me grin to see that a fairly factual reporting of my fairly normal life in fairly Japanese Japan occasions a dozen comments and a whole discussion, and you’ve all helped push the number of comments over the number of entries. That makes it feel more like a real blog.
Dalbey: Gordon.
Yardsticks: I’m sure some yardsticks are cultural. Think of standardized testing, which is always also a reflection of the dominant culture. Some yardsticks ought perhaps even to be changed to reflect changing values (though I’m cautious about adapting yardsticks to every passing fad). We’d be in a mess if we still applied 19th-century yardsticks to voting eligibility, for instance. In other words, yardsticks should be shifted from excellence to excellence, not from excellence to mediocrity. However, I wonder if people ever discuss shifting yardsticks, or if it is simply a sequence of faits accomplis by people who have a vested interested in the direction of the shift.
All-rounder: I’m glad that’s also a strength, or I’d be one strength the poorer, as kuroodo-san knows from my incessant unanswerable questions…