The Missing Link: "Y" It Matters

One of the greatest missing ingredients in both families and churches is the "y"chromosome. It is undeniable that as a gender, men have a much poorer record of providing the stability in families and churches that is required. It is no surprise, therefore, that women are stepping into the roles that God clearly intended for men.

This can be evidence by the trend in ordinations to the ministry in the Church of England. On his blog, Dr. Al Mohler cites sources in the British media that show in 2006 more women than men were ordained to the ministry in the Anglican Church. The Sunday Telegraph of London reported this year that if the trend of ordaining more women continues, by 2025 the number of male and female ministers would be about equal. Now while this may seem irrelevant to us American evangelicals, the record of men in spiritual leadership is not much better. Consider the following by Dr. Mohler:

These are not unrelated developments, of course. The feminization of liberal Christianity grows more and more complete with every passing year. In the United States, the number of women enrolled in Master of Divinity programs now represents almost a third of total enrollment. Among mainline Protestants, the situation is much like that of the Church of England -- only more so. In many liberal seminaries, women students now vastly outnumber men.

The fact of the matter is this, in the absence of God-ordained male leadership the only means of survival for Christianity is through women or so the more liberal denominations claim. Now while I can appreciate the willingness of women to stand in the gap, the root of the problem is a deplorable lack of the y chromosome. Men, it's high time that we step up. If we fail to do so the children that these women leave behind in order to do our jobs will perpetuate this trend for generations.

A Much Needed Ecumenism

There have been few, if any, successful ecumenical movements in church history. The issue has always been either a strong ecumenism that has doctrinally weak churches or doctrinally strong churches that have a weak ecumenism. In either case the results fall far short of the ideal and nothing good happens. It would take a very rare set of circumstances and a special act on God's part for ecumenism to be desired and fruitful. I for one believe that those circumstances and God's action may be in the process of intersecting.

In the last few years, we have seen the enemies of the gospel rally and strike in unprecedented ways. Evangelical Christianity now finds itself right in the middle of two very formidable foes. On the one front is radical islam with its suicide missions, and koran quoting imams. On the other front, is secular naturalism and atheism spewing forth its evolutionary, politically correct, vitriol with its allies in Hollywood and the media. Satan has positioned his armies well and they are bent on wiping out any vestige of truth and righteousness. What is a believer to do?

Well there are some believers who, in the face of such opposition, have decided that there is strength in unity. They have decided to put aside any disagreement on non-essentials for the purpose of spreading the gospel. Before you begin to think this an effort to water-down truth for unity, think again. The group I am referring to call themselves Together For The Gospel and for once it looks like this might be ecumenism done right. How could you go wrong with men like Mark Dever, Dr. Al Mohler, C.J. Mahaney, and John Piper (just to name a few).

The men cooperating in this effort all come from doctrinally sound churches. They have a stated purpose that's more than just getting together for interfaith karaoke night. And they all hold to a solid, Biblical view of the simple message of the gospel. I am happy to see the success of their efforts and I think that more solid, evangelical churches should support it. I shudder to think how many people walk by and just have a laugh at us Christians who cant even work together to share the gospel because of non-essentials like modes of baptism or style of worship. Its high time for sound, evangelical churches to direct the fight at satan instead of each other.

Weekend Update: Christianity In The Cartoons

I ran across an article on the Lawrence Journal-World website entitled The Gospel According To The "Simpsons". The focus of the article was a book by the same title written by Jewish author, Mark Pinsky. In his book, Mr. Pinsky dissects the popular cartoon to see exactly what message is being delivered by its state of the art, computer animated, raucous characters. What Mr. Pinsky says might just surprise you.

I have in the past been very dismissive of the Simpsons for a number of different reasons not the least of which is its irreverence and innuendo. After reading this article and an excerpt from Mr. Pinsky's book, however, I am inclined to be a bit more observant. Don't get me wrong, I won't go out and buy the DVD box set, or have a Simpsons party for my students (heaven forbid!). What I will do is be more careful before I assist the enemies of the church by becoming a stereotype. If anything this article and Mr. Pinsky's book should serve as a means for understanding the people to which we are called to make disciples. And making disciples is something that even Ned Flanders knows is no easy task.