WOMEN AT PC3 BE ADVISED
A Review of the Book: "The Shack" and It's Implications for Port City Community Church
If anyone is interested in an easy read book about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I highly recommend the book, The Shack, a novel by Wm. Paul Young. The contemporary Christian recording artist, Michael W. Smith says of this book, "The Shack" will leave you craving for the presence of God." I echo those sentiments as I find my mind frequently returning to the lessons learned about life, loving and respect for our human counterparts. Lessons to be learned about our relationship with God and each other abound. To the serious Bible pupil, it is obvious that Mr. Young did his homework for this book and is a student of God's Word. Interestingly, his insights mirror my contentions in the research I conducted in response to learning of Port City Community Church's fundamental Southern Baptist roots as they regard women. Notably, that women are prohibited from leading Starting Point or Step-2 groups if men are in attendance, because women cannot teach men; that men are intended to be "the authority" in the marital relationship (and presumably this would apply to unmarried couples); that Mike Ashcraft's "inner circle" consists only of men; and that Mike believes the "two things that get pastors in trouble are money and WOMEN" – of these he states, "I take significant precautions in both." [Wilmington Magazine, March/April 2009]. Perhaps that explains quite well, his overall opinion about women and why he surrounds himself with men.
The Shack addresses some of Mike's apparent Biblical misinterpretations regarding the "roles" of men and women in the marital/other relationship, in the church and in society at large. In conversational style, Jesus points out that, "Submission is not about authority and it is not about obedience; it is all about relationships of love and respect." He continues, "We want male and female to be counterparts, face-to-face equals, each unique and different, distinctive in gender but complementary, and each empowered uniquely by [the Holy Spirit], from whom all true power and authority originate." When the central human character in the book questions Jesus about the human creation of hierarchy, Jesus replies, "Once you have a hierarchy [man ruling over woman] you need rules to protect and administer it, and then you need law and enforcement of the rules, and you end up with some kind of chain of command or a system or order that destroys relationships rather than promotes it…and you end up missing the wonder of relationship that we intended for you." Of authority, Jesus laments that it is merely the excuse the strong ones (men) use to make the others (women) conform to what they want.
Jesus was an egalitarian (believed in the basic equality of men and women) in His treatment of women, and the pastor of PC3 should take heed of this fact. There is no such thing as "separate but equal" – that is a true oxymoron. The Bible is a testament to the fact that Jesus never felt He needed to be precautionary in His relationships with women. He bashed the social and religious barriers of His day, holding up women as equal to men in all respects. Contrary to this posture towards women, the Qu'ran of the Islamic faith declares that, "men are a degree higher" than women. The prophet of this religion, Muhammad is reported to have said, "If I were to order anyone to prostrate himself before another, I would order a woman to prostrate herself before her husband." While this extreme is not the usual outcome of the kind of hierarchy Mike proposes, too many times in our country domestic violence is borne of the fundamental beliefs that men are the authority and that women are to submit to them. Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. [Blaise Pascal]
I continue, albeit unsuccessfully, to challenge Mike to entertain alternative interpretations of the Scriptures he uses to subjugate women. But as Marilynne Robinson in her book, The Death of Adam so succinctly states on this accord, "We routinely disqualify testimony that would plead for extenuation. That is, we are so persuaded of the rightness of our judgment as to invalidate evidence that does not confirm us in it. Nothing that deserves to be called truth could ever be arrived at by such means." For the sake of Port City Community Church, endeavor to continually seek THE TRUTH using all available resources. This is all I ask of Mike and I wish it for all congregants of PC3.
More later-
