Biblical Chads

Not all “muscular Christians” are muscular.  Some are just Biblical Chads…buff in their theology, exercising strong principles, working out their doctrine with actions, and full of the Accountability, Authority, and Action that form the 3 sides of the Prism of Manhood.

This brings me to the third of three societal events in this Prism of Manhood series that have been happening simultaneously and have been working through their courses and consequences regarding manhood in America.  Since I first began this short series, Muslim “lifestyle evangelists” Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have now been released from house arrest pending their trials.  The Sound of Freedom is smashing all kinds of records and is being viewed by more people than just those on one side of the political aisle.  Tim Ballard is reportedly considering another installment even as mixed reports say he is stepping away from Operation Rescue so their work can be unhindered by celebrity.

The third societal event was the vote by the Southern Baptist Convention to limit the terminology and work of pastors to men.  Churches have left, been expelled, and are under investigation including Saddleback Church with megachurch pastor Rick Warren.  I have not previously sent you anywhere to read or learn about it for the simple reason that almost every blog, article, or exposé has been so steeped in traditional battle lines of egalitarian (men and women full equals and partners) vs. complementarian (men in authority, women’s equality/partnership is reflected through submission to authority–first to God, then to the Church).  I hate the division.  To me, that’s just political.

But the truth is, there’s a profoundly insidious blurring of issues of women in ministry and the path of many mainline denominations in their adoption of LGBTQ-friendly interpretations of doctrine. Almost every photo of expelled Fern Creek Baptist Church pastor Linda Barnes Popham shows her with a rainbow stole which communicates without words. Is something more at play than meets the eye for the Biblical Chad?

I like Biblical Chads. 
There’s nothing so powerful as strong godly women
partnering with strong godly men in leadership
to advance the Gospel. 

But the full glory of that is lost when people bicker over “authority” as if it’s nothing more significant than power.  As if what they want is all the Authority without any of the Accountability or Action.

I’m going to get personal.  One time, I was given the privilege by the man who was our senior pastor of organizing and scheduling a 7-part mid-week special series for Lent.  Believing that I am a woman in submission to authority but given the privilege of serving (and leading in a sense), I offered every speaking/teaching opportunity up to a qualified man in that church.  It was like pulling teeth to get anyone to do it.  They loved to claim the Authority, tell me I didn’t have it, but then they didn’t use what they claimed as their ownership to further the Church.  Action and Accountability were missing.  I finally found 7 men of the Word to step forward after significant pleading, highlighting my self-limited biblical inability to substitute myself for men’s lack of action.  But the ordeal sucked the joy out of what could have been better–and more God-honoring– for partnering together.

Questions for further thought:

Who-if any-among the men listed was a Biblical Chad?

What does it say about men who love the Authority but don’t use it for Action and Accountability?

Might I have felt justified in just doing it myself…like Deborah dealing with the cowardice, unbelief, and failure of Barak? 

“Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: “Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.”‘ 

Barak said to her, ‘If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.’

‘Certainly I will go with you,’ said Deborah. ‘But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. So ‘Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.” (Judges 4:4-9)

How do you think I felt as a woman qualified by education, most importantly knowing I have been called by God to lead, teach, preach, and encourage men and women alike…as man after man refused to do what they believe only men are qualified to do?

Is how I felt reason enough for me to refuse to offer it first to men, after devotedly praying, weeping, and pleading for any reasonably qualified biological male to help me?  Was I justified in saying, “I’ll do it myself since you won’t do it”? How did my persistence in the Word honor God and fulfill the instruction to Timothy, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16)

Can a woman be a Biblical Chad?

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The “Prism of Manhood” series includes:

http://seminarygal.com/a-prism-of-manhood/
http://seminarygal.com/andrew-tate-dangerous-masquerade/
http://seminarygal.com/andrew-tate-positive-instruction-silent-conquest/
http://seminarygal.com/tim-ballard-sound-of-freedom/
http://seminarygal.com/misguided-manhood-and-the-church/
http://seminarygal.com/reviving-muscular-christianity/