There was a debate this week at the church...

I don't mean that a bunch of us stood around the water cooler and argued about something...I mean an ACTUAL debate was staged between two distinguished church leaders about one of the most divisive topics in the Church: women as senior leaders in ministry. The topic was debated by Rich Nathan, the senior pastor of the Columbus Vineyard (and, from what I hear, a former lawyer) and Paul Bradford, the senior pastor of the Lakeshore Vineyard in Holland, Michigan. Mr. Nathan argued that the Bible does not expressly prohibit women from attaining senior leadership positions in ministry, and that verses frequently cited by those who argue otherwise (such as 1Tim 2:11-15 and 1Cor 11) are actually being misinterpreted and mistranslated and, when put in the proper context of their ancient authorship, leave plenty of room for women to take senior leadership positions in ministry. Mr. Bradford argued that these verses, in addition to the story of Creation as told in Genesis, very strongly prohibits women from taking senior leadership positions in ministry, and that women were created by God to serve inherently different, though no less valuable, difficult or important, functions than men. The debate ran for over an hour-and-a-half, and was only stopped by its moderator when time ran out.

The results of the debate are not what concern me. Frankly, even if these guys argued long into the night and finally landed on the one and only possible answer, and that answer was underscored by a thundering approval from the voice of God himself, almost all of those who believe women should not be senior leaders will continue to believe that, and those who think they should be senior leaders will continue to believe that. And besides, how much should two middle-aged white guys be allowed to decide about the career restrictions of the female 51% of the world's population?

What stuck with me was how the debate was conducted. These two men were long-time church leaders; people who have spent the last couple of decades expounding decisively and with an authoritative tone to thousands of people about the biggest, most intangible, most wholly unknowable subjects that humankind has wrestled with. They spend their weekdays writing down their opinions on the nature of God, the nature of Man, and the nature of the latter as he struggles and fails to know the former. To come to a regional conference populated by other church leaders, pastors, and other churchy folk and debate a topic so steeped in politics and emotion would have, I think, caused a tremendous defensive swell of pride in their chests (not the good kind of pride...the kind that makes you keep talking long after you needed to stop) and the rosy hue of Christian self-righteousness in their cheeks.

...But it didn't happen.

These two pastors were tough, aggressive, and at times emotional...but every step of the way each man was supported by his research, by his stunning command of the English language (and, in Mr. Bradford's case, the Greek language as well), and by a thorough knowledge of the Bible. Each man was respectful to his opponent, and each man conducted the discussion in what appeared to me to be a fair and healthy way. Despite the incredible dogmatic weight of the topic and the social pressure of being surrounded by a room full of 200+ men and women of the Church, each man argued in a way that would have made my college Debate Team coach proud. By the end of the debate, the tight crevice of my skeptic's pursed lips had worked its way into a cheek-to-cheek smile that persisted for the rest of the afternoon. It was one of the most enjoyable and even thrilling experiences that I've had here at the Vineyard.

...the loose connection of the faithful, the pastoral, the dogmatic, the intellectual and the commercial that comprise the Church has, in my opinion, produced many shallow, shoddy, tawdry and ill-conceived methods of communication to those outside of itself...it was incredibly refreshing and encouraging to see something so thoroughly well-done and honest that I would be proud to show it to any of my friends who do not believe what I do. I would love to have a similar debate staged in our weekend celebration venue...perhaps on the topic of homosexuality, or abortion rights, or even the divine inspiration / fallibility of the Christian Bible.

I would watch from the back, and I think I would enjoy it very much.

Peace,
Justin