Gender Roles and Tumbleweeds

Don’t know if you saw it the other day, but now the Washington Post is wondering about ol’ Tertullian.

Citing the recent, high-profile events involving Mark Driscoll and Mike Fariss, in tandem with an evangelical youth movement trending towards an egalitarian theological position alongside an increasing ideological polarity, the Post posits this notion:

“The heart of U.S. evangelicalism may be heading for a gender showdown.”

A showdown!

Now, if you ask me, a “showdown” seems a bit hyperbolic. What, are we going to draw Bibles in the street while tumbleweeds blow in off the plains?!?

But I get the idea. The writer is suggesting that two ideas are colliding, and, with it, the people that hold those ideas are in unprecedented tension. Or, if I may, I think the tension has been there all along; it’s the public aspect of the “showdown” that’s novel.

In the piece, the writer quotes Tim Fariss, the prominent leader of the national home-school movement, who recently publicly advocated for an egalitarian position. About Fariss, she writes:

“In sum, ‘patriarchy’ teaches that women in general should be subject to men in general. The Bible teaches no such thing,” he wrote.

In an interview Tuesday, Farris said dramatic social change has left more Americans pushing for explicit answers to the questions: How do I run my marriage? How do I raise my children so they turn out well? The more conservative part of evangelicalism has pushed to the right, he said.

“The patriarchal view has moved dramatically such that men in general should be dominant over women in general,” he said. “That’s neither Biblical nor wise. What the Bible says about general roles is more modest.”

I don’t know about you, but I say, “bring it on.” Let’s talk, or start talking.

Women are overdue for these conversations.
Men are overdue for these conversations.
Marriages are overdue for these conversations.
Our churches are overdue for these conversations.
The culture is overdue for these conversations.

In short, let’s talk. Let’s debate. Let’s seek the Lord.

And, together, let’s watch out for those tumbleweeds…