Responding To Your Feedback: Part 3

Every so often I receive comments on my blog posts and emails from readers who want to share their input on what I have written. Although many are supportive and friendly, plenty of others are critical, mean-spirited, inaccurate, or some combination of those attributes. On occasion, I do not respond to emails or approve comments because I don’t see how the exchange could be edifying. All that said, I would like to acknowledge some of these comments and emails when it seems appropriate. “Responding to your feedback” posts will be written directly to the author, but I will keep the individual anonymous by assigning him/her a nickname.

The Comment For Today

Today’s comment is from someone who took issue with my post entitled, “Beth Moore Walked Away, Now Say Goodbye.” I originally wrote the Beth Moore blog post in March of 2021 when Moore loudly left the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

The author of today’s comment speaks my love language…sarcasm. So, it was fun for me to read and imagine a superior tone of voice escaping the vocal black hole carved out in an outraged woman’s face. There is so much to be thankful for today.

I will be referring to our author as “Debbie Democrat.”

*I am presenting the comment with no editing.*

“Thank God for Beth Moore’s willingness to challenge the dyed in the wool, taken to the bank, long held assumption that there is only one way to interpret women’s role in church teaching. All other theological viewpoints get time in the evangelical church, but to question the viewpoint of complementarism vs egalitarianism will get you labeled as a heretic, a false teacher. I won’t begin to touch the grace and love (ouch) towards the LGTBQ community and how that and certain viewpoints towards Donald Trump, aka, one-time evangelical Messiah, has cost her a place in the evangelical community. Thank God Jesus hasn’t required a whole list of speaking points on certain issues and your political party as a requirement for salvation. I think I’ll join Beth Moore in a quiet exit from a radicalized, political, arrogant evangelical church to a community where instead the cross of Christ is put in the center of our lives.”

Responding To Your Feedback

Dear Debbie Democrat,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Beth Moore and the Evangelical Church. I appreciate your passion and even your snarky tone. I can identify with both of those things.

In my response, I plan to address your major arguments but allow me to first apologize and clarify a little. First, the blog post you commented on was written very early in my blog’s existence. I could have gone into more details and had more depth in my content. I fear that has left the post in question unclear, perhaps. If that relates to your experience, then I am quite sorry.

Second, I would like to clarify that I am not an Evangelical or Southern Baptist. With all my cards on the table, let me make my Christian identity clear. I was a Southern Baptist for a few years but always had reservations about it because of Lifeway, the politicalization of the SBC, the worldliness I saw accepted in many SBC churches, and the elevation of false teachers such as Beth Moore.

I am an Independent Baptist and yoke to no denomination or religious governing body. I’m a Bible believer. Full stop.

With all that said, let’s jump into your arguments.

Responding To Your Feedback: Point 1

“Thank God for Beth Moore’s willingness to challenge the dyed in the wool, taken to the bank, long held assumption that there is only one way to interpret women’s role in church teaching.”

A lot of Christians, many of whom would call themselves Progressive Christians, teach that the Bible is wildly open to interpretation. I admit, in some areas this is undoubtedly true. For instance, any study through the Book of Revelation will provide endless debate over any number of eschatological topics. Not everything in Revelation is clear-cut. Multiple interpretations, so long as they do not contradict the whole of Scripture, can be acceptable.

The same cannot be said concerning women and their role in the Church. Women like Beth Allison Barr and Sheila Gregoire will try to convince you that women can and should be pastors. They’ll take portions of Scripture and interpret it with an egalitarian lens and ignore a plain reading the Word.

A common example is from Jesus’ resurrection. As we all know, women discovered the empty tomb. What an important moment for any believer, and I concede that God ordaining women, a culturally lower-class of people, to find the tomb validates the belief Christians have that all people are equal at the cross.

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” (emphasis mine)

Acts 10:34-35

Ladies, Take It Away…From Scripture

This is the part of the story that goes off the rails a little when egalitarians describe it. Mary Magdalene went to the disciples and told them what had happened. Y’all, she is just reporting the news, OK? Egalitarians, however, say she was preaching the gospel and use this moment in history as evidence that women can be pastors. It’s quite a leap. In fact, that leap will take you right out of the Bible and into the land of imagination.

A plain reading of the Bible will provide many examples of clearly defined elements of our faith and of God Himself. Not everything can be open to interpretation. Is how one gets saved open to multiple interpretations? Is the deity of Christ a debatable theory among born-again Christians? No! Neither is a woman’s role in the Church.

The various views on women in the Church contradict too much for all of them to be valid. I understand there is room for some variation between churches, but a woman who preaches at Sunday services is out of bounds. (Sorry, Beth Moore.) The Bible says so.

Scripture Says

“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” (emphasis mine)

1 Timothy 2:11-12

These verses can be applied in a few different ways, but they are clear on one thing. Women have no permission, biblically, to have spiritual authority over men.

Maybe you think that isn’t fair. We all know women who are outstanding speakers and teachers. Plenty of women know their Bibles just as well, if not better, than their husbands. Why can’t they take leadership over men? The next two verses explain.

“For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”

1 Timothy 2:13-14

We see modern-day examples of women being deceived and bringing it into the Church. Women are often the ones bringing in things like New Age teachings, feminism, pro-choice sentiments, the Enneagram, and support of the LGBTQ+ movement.

It may hurt your modern female sensibilities, but the Bible is clear. If you want to read more about this topic, Got Questions does a clear and concise job.

Responding To Your Feedback: Point 2

“All other theological viewpoints get time in the evangelical church, but to question the viewpoint of complementarism vs egalitarianism will get you labeled as a heretic, a false teacher.”

It is here that we have common ground, Debbie Democrat. I’m also bothered by what you’re saying but just not by the same part of the statement as you. You’re upset that egalitarianism is disregarded as heresy and its supporters being labeled false teachers. Well, I already went into why egalitarianism is a faulty reading of God’s Word in my previous point. So, I won’t repeat it. When something is in complete contradiction to the Bible, though, what do you expect people to say about the people teaching it? Just sayin’… Besides, this debate has received plenty of time in the Church. Let’s move on.

As for “all other theological viewpoints,” I agree they are given time on the floor for discussion. I’m thankful some things have been settled (i.e., egalitarianism vs. complementarianism) and left out of these obnoxious conversations. Evangelical churches are much to apt to hear out and consider any idea that crosses someone’s mind. So much has been settled by this point in Church history, making many theological viewpoints a non-issue.

Your point was probably that we should include more progressive thought into churches, but I’m going to take your argument and use it to point to the need for less openness. Churches don’t need to hear out the guy who thinks Jesus wasn’t really resurrected. Like, we already know He rose from the grave, and no Christian can think otherwise. So, why give that dude’s faulty ideas any time in church?

Responding To Your Feedback: Point 3

“I won’t begin to touch the grace and love (ouch) towards the LGTBQ community and how that and certain viewpoints towards Donald Trump, aka, one-time evangelical Messiah, has cost her a place in the evangelical community.”

What kind of grace and love do you expect to see given to the LGBTQ+ community? Should believers stand by and support them? Should we fly Pride flags in solidarity as allies? We shouldn’t. As Christians, we can’t.

People practicing an LGBTQ+ lifestyle are in unrepentant sin. Can Jesus Christ redeem them? Yes, and we should praise God for that. Before Christ, I was in such a bad way, and I know that if God can save me, He can save anyone. Therefore, to show true Christian love, we need to warn those in the LGBTQ+ community of the consequences of sin, and then we should give them the hope only found in Jesus.

Some Christians are not kind or willing to extend any grace to LGBTQ+ individuals. It’s not helpful or a demonstration of God’s love. I’d be a liar if I didn’t acknowledge many of us in the Church need to improve in this area.

All that said, everyone needs Jesus, and we can’t allow people to validate their sin by calling it an identity. We’re all sinners, but that’s not who we are when we are saved. Our identity changes from dead in our trespasses and sins to children of God. Real Christian love doesn’t encourage people to wallow in their sin.

The Trump Factor

Everyone needs to drop the Trump obsession. I’ll own up to my voting history. I voted for Trump the first time with my eyes closed and plugging my nose. It didn’t feel like I had a choice because he ran against someone even more vile than himself.  I voted for him a second time with no hesitation. In neither instance did I, or most anyone I know, hold Trump up as some savior.

I was astounded by the whole-hearted Trump acceptance in Evangelical leadership. Love him or hate him, Trump is no role model for Christians or otherwise. Nonetheless, Beth Moore’s Trump rejection did not get her booted from the SBC. Leaders already disliked her, so her Trump stance didn’t change anything.

Beth Moore left because she was dissatisfied with complementarianism. She is the picture of a woman who wants more than God has set out for her.  She thinks she knows better than Him.

Responding To Your Feedback: Point 4

“Thank God Jesus hasn’t required a whole list of speaking points on certain issues and your political party as a requirement for salvation.”

This is the part of your comment, Debbie Democrat, where I decided you had to be a Democrat. You sound like someone whose salvation has been up for debate because of your voting history. Thankfully, a “D” or “R” are not prerequisites to Heaven. In fact, I don’t really identify as either. Republicans are not all that different from Democrats. They’re only as conservative as they need to be to get a vote.

However, I would like to point out that your voting history does say something about your spiritual condition. Here’s what I mean. I have serious questions for Christians who voted for Hillary Clinton. How could a believer say “absolutely not” to a misogynist but “absolutely yes” to a woman who wants to actively seek out more access to murdering babies under the guise of “women’s healthcare.”

So, I ask you, Debbie Democrat, to consider why people who vote for conservatives are so offensive to you, and think about what kind of Christian aligns with a political party that builds a platform on child sacrifice.

Your salvation may not hinge on these things, but your sanctification and testimony are seriously in question when you rally around candidates who celebrate killing the most vulnerable among us and helping children transition into the opposite sex.

Responding To Your Feedback: Point 5

“I think I’ll join Beth Moore in a quiet exit from a radicalized, political, arrogant evangelical church to a community where instead the cross of Christ is put in the center of our lives.”

Beth Moore’s exit from the SBC was anything but “quiet.” Actually, since you sent this comment, Moore has released a memoir to, in part, gripe about the SBC. She also did plenty of interviews and wrote cryptic passive-aggressive tweets in reference to the perceived wrongs she endured. Besides, I think she’s doing just fine at her church that promotes women in leadership and an unrisen Christ (notice the crucifix on the pulpit).

All I can say in response to this comment is that it is not radical or arrogant to use reading comprehension skills when studying the Bible rather than viewing the Word through the lens of today’s norms and “morals.”

The political aspect of the Church is not something I’m highly in favor of, but can you not see the necessity of at least some political engagement when many of our representatives in the government would take away our rights in a moment if given the chance? Is it really so bad to defend our rights as long as we still have them?

Pat Your Head And Rub Your Belly

I’ll end on this, Debbie Democrat. I can’t speak for all Christians, but a lot of us can do more than one thing at a time. For example, I can speak up for homeschool rights in my state while keeping Christ as the center of my life. I say that as a woman who is intensely passionate about homeschooling. Please, don’t assume that because a Christian is political or stands on the clear, written Word of God that she has replaced Jesus as the core of her life. People are multi-faceted in the real world. We should encourage that.

Final Thought

Debbie Democrat, I want you to know that I don’t think you aren’t saved because you are an egalitarian. On the other hand, I think your anger-fueled defense of Beth Moore is telling. Is this really about Moore, or does this have more to do with your rejection of God’s design? He designed men and women with particular roles, and believers should rejoice in the beauty of it rather than leaving angry comments on someone’s blog because of it. I recommend more time in a Bible-preaching church and less books written by women who want to affirm who you are and neuter God until He resembles nothing more than a junior varsity cheerleader.

All right, ladies. Do you have anything to add or to say to Debbie Democrat? Comment below.

Image courtesy of Jon Tyson via Unsplash.