How do you even begin to get that Jesus is saying to reinterpret or dismiss scripture with this passage? That’s borderline heresy, there, friend.

To quote the theologian Miguel De La Torre, “If verses in the Bible advocate the subjugation of one person to another and hence prevent life from being lived abundantly by a segment of the population, then those verses are anti-gospel and must be reinterpreted in light of the fullest revelation of God found in Christ.”

I find the bible wonderfully diverse. Eat meat, don’t eat meat, teach these things, don’t offend, which is it Paul?

What I see is that the different variables with various situations and people’s hearts. These things change with different people, situations, and even the same place and people but with time. We are not led by knowledge (knowledge puffs up, but love builds up) but by the Holy Spirit who sees all the variables and knows what is called for in a certain place with the people. The Holy Spirit will look to move in the love of God found in Jesus-our only sure foundation. Sometimes it may mean to keep our mouths shut and / or abandon our personal liberties for the sake of others, while we can still practice healthy ones in our personal lives apart from what the Lord is looking to do.

Anyway, what I see with this male / female issue in the Light of Jesus as I see it is that as we are in the Lord, that dividing wall is torn down. Neither male / female, Jew / Gentile, etc. Although for the sake of unity and peace in Christ, I feel there is a structure that has been put in place by God. If there is disunity within the marriage, then the male is considered the head of the household and the wife should be submissive in that sense (and not talking of abuses that take place as we know that view has been abused). See this with honoring our parents too. As we do this we allow the Lord to work in the situation to rectify it. And we don’t build on the structure, we build on the foundation built on Jesus.

So if you don’t like the structure, stay single. Hee, hee. Either way you will run across it in coming in contact with the corporate body of Christ, in our employment, etc, so no avoiding it.

You can see this too in the corporate body of Christ where some may no longer share the vision of their pastors and such. It may be that the Lord is moving us on. It may also be that they are in error yet we are all learning and growing. Isee a pastor (whether in the four walls or out of it) is entrusted to sheperd the sheep entrusted to Him (though not blocking or overshadowing the Light of Jesus from them personally). Oh yes, some our more out for themselves but there are many that at heart are well intended and God does see the heart and honor it. We can pray for them and even speak to them personally about our grievances.

It also helps to understand the role of the offices given to the body for the equipping of the saints so that we come into the full stature of Christ and are no longer tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes around. Also, to help equip them to do the work of service, not to Lord it over them.

Got into it but deleted as made this post even longer. Overall though this is what I see regarding structure within the body of Christ. It is established until we come to the full stature of Christ and put childish things behind us for the more essentials of the fruits of the Spirit, the greatest of these being God’s love, Also, for equipping the body for service.

I will say that I think alot of damage comes from taking portions and making a doctrine to be followed out of it. You covered that well in this article.

I will also say that a few years back I had a prophetic dream about my personal life. It started with this older guy which I think may have represented wisdom, telling me about all these demons, lots of demons as he put it. I’m not one to concentrate on them over what I may see as more essential at the time as I feel they are the manifestation of a larger problem, although I don’t look to ignore what the Lord is trying to show me either. Anyway, the older guy then wanted to have bible study (think it was him that suggested it but may have been me). The dream continued from there and I have seen the revelance and truth in that dream. I won’t get all into it but I always wondered at my response to him telling me about lots of demons. I said, “I thought so.” It was like I had seen that and suspected as much and he was confirming what I felt I saw. Although at the time and sometime afterward that kinda puzzled me, I realize now that I have suspected such and was picking it up some, yet now feel I see it more clearly.

And this is where I feel I see it now, in taking portions and making a doctrine out of it to follow. I see it so often. Isn’t this what the enemy does. You can see it in the bible too.

Long post, I know. I’m trying. I’m trying! Thought it was useful info but feel free to let me know if it was too much or too meaty. I don’t believe meat is to be tossed around lightly so you gotta let me know.

Thanks, great stuff.
Love in Him,
Joanne

On another note, I understand misogyny is a strong word but I think it appropriately captures the historical injustices that in one way or another are embodied in the category of “traditionalists” that you mentioned. I agree that in many cases this understanding of women has more to do with upbringing than a consciously informed process of understanding. However, I’m not sure this excuses or lessens the offense. Like when my great uncle calls an African American a n—-r; this may be a product of his upbringing but isn’t it still racist (among other things)?

Finally, it seems with the myriad of views voiced we would be remiss to not acknowledge that in many ways “social location” in large part informs Biblical interpretation. This is not to say there are no absolutes in scripture, but it does prevent us from Pollyannaishly believing that our upbringing, our culture, and our gender are not significant factors in understanding our faith.