Women: mission critical

I am so grateful for the guys who have contributed to The Black Swan Effect: A Response to Gender Hierarchy in the Church. The fact that they are willing to stand with us means that book won’t be perceived as written by militant feminists. It’s a prophetic statement of God’s desire for women and men to partner together for the sake of the Kingdom.

Here’s a quote from Dave Ferguson.

My feelings about the issue of women in leadership began to change when my oldest daughter, Amy, started looking for colleges. Like many 18-year-olds, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to declare as a major, but student ministry was toward the top of her list of interests. So with ministry as a strong consideration, we began looking for a Christian college that would be a good fit.

I had two criteria in mind as we began our search: first, I wanted her to find a school with a strong commitment to the authority of Scripture, and second, I wanted her to attend a school that would encourage her as a female leader to fulfill her God-given potential.

With each college visit, there was a growing realization that finding a school where my daughter could get  solid theological education along with positive encouragement to use all of her gifts was going to be very hard. That’s when it got personal and something began to change in me. The issue of women in leadership went form being something that was theologically right, but not mission critical, to both theolotgically correct and  critical for accomplishing the mission of Jesus!

It was like my eyes were opened–for the first time, I realized that 50 percent of the leaders God had gifted for this mission were not mobilized or utilized. I don’t know how I missed it before. It was like the church was trying to show off by doing everything with one hand tied behind her back! The more I thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. I began to look at the world through the eyes of my daughter (and other women) and saw very limited possibilities for her to use her gifts. It was suddenly personal and emotional.