God Isn't Into Equality

Joel 2:28-29  "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit."

One of the major buzz words of the present age that we live in is the word "gender equality" and the proponents of this movement tell us that their aim is equal pay for women who do the same work as men. I support this. However I must confess that I have always wondered why the proponents are always looking for the next Carly Fiorina (and now Marissa Meyer) the equality never extends to supporting women who want to be the best carpenter, plumber, electrician or truck driver. Just saying.

The book of Joel gives us an indication of the plans God had for mankind in these last days. He promised that he was going to pour out his spirit upon all flesh and "your sons and daughters" would prophesy". God promised us his spirit so that we would all prophecy. Now if you're looking for someone who believes in equality then God is your man. However I don't think equality was God's main purpose. I believe his motivation was the knowledge that in order for him to fulfil his plans in these last days, he needed both men and women. So when it came to his purpose with regard to ministry, he made men and women equal. Therefore the equality is derived from the purpose intended. I therefore do not believe God has given us his spirit so that we can be less than he meant for us to be. It would be a waste of the power of the spirit.

I have been immensely blessed by the ministry of women like Joyce Meyer, Michelle Hammond and every woman I have been blessed to listen to or read their book including my pastor's wife. I'm sure that I would have loved listening to Katherine Kuhlman or Aimee Semple McPherson if I had lived in their times. I believe women were meant to minister and not just be adjuncts to the men. But I also believe in spiritual authority and respecting authority. While I believe women should be able to preach (I refuse to use to use the word "right"), I believe there should be respect for authority where they do not yet do so. 

I have somewhat followed the arguments for and against the ordination of women in both the Anglican and Catholic Churches. It's interesting to note that those against the ordination of women are mostly men who are in positions of authority. However what has been most disturbing to me are the comments of those in support of the ordination of women. The Church is not a business or a corporation and it does not run on the same principles as the world. Jesus said that we are in this world but not of this world. The main reason given by those arguing for the ordination is that of "equality". I have never once heard the argument that women too should minister because they also have God's spirit. In the end, it always sounds like they want the "right" to minister simply out of good old fashioned ambition. What the Apostle Paul calls the pride of life. I have also been appalled by the way they denigrate the leadership of their churches even as they try to get people in the world to put pressure on so that they can have their way. Romans 14 tells us that if we desire to do or be anything in God's kingdom it should solely be out of love. Love for God and for his people. Not out of love for ourselves. 

I am disturbed at all the the things we want to label as a right. Working with God is not a right but a privilege. It's not not something to be fought for or to vilify others over. I believe it something to be sought for with prayer and discussion. Ministry is about serving other people and not about satisfying a desire for position. If we have a dream of serving God in ministry, how can we as Christians justify the murder of people we claim to want to serve with our words and actions? What would we have gained? What would we minister? What would we minister? God is not as concerned with what we achieve as to how we achieve it. God is mostly concerned with our character, not our results and that is something we should always have at the back of our minds.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

   

The Myth of Equality (And The Tyranny of Progress)

The mantra on everyone's lips nowadays is that of equality. In everything there must be equality. Even where it is clear that equality has nothing to do with it, equality is used as a yardstick. The crazy notion of equality has also crept into the church. Last year, the Anglican Church in England held it's General Synod and voted against the ordination of women bishops. Comments that I read before and after the vote baffled me. In the end I had to come to the conclusion that the Anglican Church is seen as something of a club both by the media and even its members. I asked myself, whatever happened to having a calling? What happened to being led by God through the Holy Spirit? I am extremely baffled by the people who think that any change in culture automatically equals to some sort of progress.

Equality is a myth and when you chase a myth you end up creating confusion. What people should be looking at is what is just and fair. However in a world where everyone has the wrong idea of what should be and equality is the new fad, trouble is inevitable. I love sport, especially tennis. Thanks to people like Serena Williams and the world media, all the major tennis organisations now give equal prize money. The myth is that the men and the women do the same work. I disagree. If I were to randomly pick a hundred men and women, and ask them which match-up they would prefer to watch, a Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal contest or a Serena Williams/Caroline Wozniacki contest, I'm sure over 90 per cent of the people would want to watch the Federer/Nadal contest. The only people who might want to watch the female match-up would be Americans because of some strange sense of patriotism. That tells me that they are not equal. Especially when the men play five sets and the women three.

If you really want to push the idea of equality, you would find out that the women would be the losers. If all the tennis grand slams deecided that the women should also play five sets, or the army decided that women had to do the same number of push ups and run the same number of miles as the men, the women would find it extremely hard to cope. We only push for "equality" when it suits us. We all heard about how Navy SEAL Team 6 found Osama Bin Laden and assassinated him. How many women were part of the team?

The world has been gripped by the equality fever but the Church must stand firm. We are followers of Christ and we must not be ashamed to admit that we play by a different set of rules. It may offend people, even some who say they are Christians, but Christians but Christianity is not about equality. I have looked through my Bible and the God I love and who loves me is not a God of equality. He is a God of justice. Justice is different from equality. Equality is about what you want. Justice is about what you deserve. And not just because of you or what you've done. God's justice is based on who he is and his love for us.