As a servant of God among the refugees from
the Middle East, I have been struggling how we can best present the
complementarian role of women at home and in the church.
Why? Because the dominant force of
evangelicalism in the current Farsi-speaking world is that of the egalitarianism-based
denominations and ministries. Though I do respect their sincere faith and their strong Bible-believing stance which is truly adorable, nonetheless, I have been sadden by the simple fact that most of the main Farsi Christian satellite TVs,
magazines are run by egalitarian denominations and the sermons of Joyce Meyer, a female preacher,
for example, are being broadcasted dubbed in Farsi. In fact, for many
Iranian/Afghan sisters, Joyce Meyer is their role model.
It seems to me that their attraction to the
egalitarian version of Christianity is partly due to their confused idea of the
meaning of "equality" in the Bible, plus their reactionary impulse
against their former oppressed religious circumstances, for which I have deep
compassion and sympathy.
Three different views
The Bible clearly teaches that in terms of
nature/essence (ουσία, φύση), men and women are completely equal. However, in terms of
function/order (τάξις), men and women are different. The egalitarians, on the other
hand, say that we are equal both in nature AND in function/order. Third, their former
religion in the Middle East, seems to say to them that men and women are
inherently unequal in nature and different in function/order. too. I can summarize these three views as follows;
(1) Their former religion's view:
Unequal in nature and different in
function/order
(2) Egalitarian view:
Equal in nature and equal in function/order
(3) Complementarian view (*the view to which the author of this blog adheres.)
Equal in nature and different in
function/order
So, we see in many ways, most of the Farsi-speaking
women had been oppressed by the system (1) for years. After conversion,
however, they are introduced into the egalitarian model of women at home and in
the church (system (2)). As a result, there have been tragic disunity, fighting, divorce among them and I have seen their tears over the years.
Thus, like western Christian feminist sisters, Farsi-speaking sisters also find it difficult to understand the difference between nature and function. When they hear that men and women are different in order/function, they rashly makes a conclusion saying that "well, so, it means that women are inferior to men in nature, too?" No, my dear sisters! It is not true at all.
Thus, like western Christian feminist sisters, Farsi-speaking sisters also find it difficult to understand the difference between nature and function. When they hear that men and women are different in order/function, they rashly makes a conclusion saying that "well, so, it means that women are inferior to men in nature, too?" No, my dear sisters! It is not true at all.
