LJWorld.com

davidsmom (Anonymous) says…

Our opinion doesn't matter because the denominations have set policies and those have to be followed, whether or not you agree with them.

micah6_8 (Anonymous) says…

Isn't it amazing?!? Two pastors give well-reasoned, responsible replies to an important question, and we get the above irresponsible, poorly thought-out, bitter comments in return that have little to do with the actual subject.

Have any of you who have written comments bothered to do research to find out actual percentages of clergy who engage in sexual or child abuse? Or do you just make an a$$ out of yourselves in asuming all clergy are abusers?

Have you same arm-chair, self-styled experts engaged in research to find out if female clergy are all perfect in their own behaviors?

I suspect the answer in both cases is no.

In fact, a good number of denominations require their clergy to undergo extensive background and psychological checks, as well as continuing checks and balances and continuing education to insure against such abusive behavior.

But the underlying issue seems to be less about the easily picked up on “stereo-typed” assumption that clergy are abusers, but rather the fear among many that to admit belief in God means that they must accept that there is a higher authority than themselves. Today's society seems to heavily permeated with individualistic self-centeredness, that so many people these days seem to have at least mentally elevated themselves to an unassailable godhood that exists indepentent and autonomously in their own little world that revolves around themselves. The thought that they as their own gods might be accountable to anyone or anything else seems abhorrent.

I believe God is real. And that God does have ultimate say in our lives. And rather than that being restrictive and objectonable, it is actually liberating and gives us a clue into how, with God, we can actually find genuine meaning in our lives, rather than pursuing shallow and meaningless self-centered lives.

yourworstnightmare (Anonymous) says…

Women have as much right to be ignorant and deluded as do men.

jonas (Anonymous) says…

micah6-8: Did some posts get disapparated ealier today? Because you look, right now, like you're yelling at no one.

jonas (Anonymous) says…

Ah yes, 5 missing posts at least. Was it Le? Just ignore him, he's our resident spoiled 6 year old, even if he is probably in his 20's or 30's.

Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (Anonymous) says…

If the posts are missing, then they're gone as posters altogether, otherwise, it would say that the post was taken down.

Perhaps the best point among these comments is that men can hardly complain about women in the pulpit when they have declined to fill them.

One of the main tasks of a pastor is to nourish the members of the congregation during times of trouble and heartache and certainly women are as capable of doing this, and perhaps more so, as men.

That said, the churches that appear to be thriving are those of a more fundamental bent and those are also the ones which decline to have women as pastors. Perhaps the congregations are voting with their feet on the issue.

1wetwilly (Anonymous) says…

The pastors at the Church Of The Transgendered offer a new reality for spiritual growth by providing simultaneous identification with and separation from gender bias.

bearded_gnome (Anonymous) says…

interesting bias reflected by the choice of commenters in the collumn chosen by ljworld. did not include one voice in favor of *what the Bible actually says*. the commenters substitute human wisdom for the plain teaching from Scripture.

God created the masculine and feminine genderxs. God chose to reveal himself as male in the old and new testament. and don't give me the argument about how the society was then, etc. if you think it was subject to social morres, then you imply that God is less powerful than Allen Press. God created and protected his word.

in the new testament, ephesians 5, it says that a wife should look to her husband in the way that the church looks to Jesus. 1 corinthians says wives should be taught at home by their husbands. 1 tim 3 says that the pastor of a church should be “the husband of one wife.” and, I'm forgetting where, paul says that he is opposed to a woman having scriptural authority over a man.

so, it is plain, if you wish to trust what the Bible actually says, this is clear. it doesn't mean that masculine is somehow more divine (more feminism creeping in, as above). that is because we know, paul says, men and women are equal before God, both equally in need of salvation.

***
andy, you are correct. unfortunately, many churches that even preach the entire Scripture, often fail to encourage women to be chaste modest and to find their service in God's word. looking to God's word as the startpoint. that is because the holy spirit will never cross the Bible. You are correct that we have a shortage of men. masculinity is under attack in our society, and many of the faithful churches I'm reffing here fail to encourage young men to separate themselves from the degrading elements of our modern society. and, fail to encourage them towards church leadership. it is harder today to be a pasteor than ever before in our country.

jonas (Anonymous) says…

“Then you imply that God is less powerful than Allen Press.”

Yep.

livingstone (Anonymous) says…

Does it matter? Well, it doesn't. Religion is driven by societal needs. If you refer to Genesis, the old interpretation was that “women are supposed to be the “servant” of men”. Then as society changes, “women are equal to men”, if you read deeper into the bible, quoting just one line or probably a chapter. Then, as society changes again in the future, you will read it in another way, and probably reinterpretation is needed.

The truth is: Everything changes, even the way we interpret the bible.

cool (Anonymous) says…

no of course gender should not matter.