The Greatest Threat of Our Day

(Image courtesy of istockphoto.com.)

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control (1 Timothy 2:8-15).

The Nicene Creed, written in 325 A.D., was one of the first creeds written and formally accepted by all orthodox Christians. The document itself, however, arose out of necessity. The heresies of the day blasphemed the Son of God by declaring that he was a created being; that his divinity was separate from his humanity; that he could not be fully God and fully man. However, the Nicene Creed was written and accepted to make it clear that Christ was fully God and fully man, “begotten not made, true God of true God… born of the virgin Mary.” For the early church, one of the greatest threats to the purity of the gospel was the false teaching regarding Christ’s deity and humanity.

If that was their greatest threat, what is ours?

Today, one of the greatest threats to the purity of the gospel is a heresy (false teaching) called egalitarianism.

Egalitarianism is a word that means “social equality.” To the post-modern reader who has been conditioned to accept social equality as a good thing, this doesn’t seem very threatening. To the contrary, social equality is a heresy that threatens the general public and the church – and has been making in-roads in both realms for decades.

Men in female clothes, female clergy, hiring quotas, women in combat, illegal aliens given the rights of citizens, the idea than anyone can be anything, and general disrespect for and disobedience of authority are all effects of the egalitarian culture of our day. At its core, egalitarianism seeks to undermine the very order of God’s created world.

Social equality, in its most literal form, means “equality in society.” Society is simply a group of people, so the idea of egalitarianism is rooted in a sameness that God never created. The idea that all people have the same potential for greatness – whether it is in academics, politics, economics, or even spiritual gifts – is a lie. Jesus taught that each person is gifted in different ways and to varying degrees (Matthew 25:14-30). The truth is that there are some who are destined to be elite and better at things than other people. There are social class distinctions, and that’s okay. The problem isn’t that we have elites; the problem is when we have bad elites ruling our society. We should want better elites.

Additionally, the idea that all people from every place are interchangeable (i.e., “mass migration”) breaks down the natural and God-ordained distinction between cultures and puts people in identity crises. God himself set for each person their dwelling place and time in history (Acts 17:26); furthermore, God acknowledges various people groups in his heaven that are still distinct, albeit unified (Revelation 7:9). Multiculturalism is egalitarian at its core, but it is not biblically justified.

Moreover, the idea that females can perform the duties of a male (and vice versa) challenges the Lord of both sexes. It was God, after all, who created man and woman as distinct and with varied roles in society (Genesis 1:27). Equality does not exist between the two (1 Timothy 2:8-15). To say there is no distinction between the two is to deny the fundamental reality that males and females have been ordained by God for varied roles and functions.

In short, egalitarianism threatens to undo humanity at its core, and is, therefore, the battleground for our day and age.

Like during the days of the Protestant Reformation, the church (i.e., pastors and teachers) must rediscover what it means to be human. A “melting pot” world is actually the complete opposite of the world God made. The world God created possesses purpose, beauty, and diversity. It is interesting that for all the social left’s push for diversity, they seem unable to grasp the reality that diversity includes respecting the unique identities of all cultures (not only the minority) and the clear distinctions between male and female. Furthermore, multiculturalists scream diversity and demand inclusion (sameness) for all; at the same time, they are destroying the identity of everyone who practices a culture different from black or brown people. Where is the toleration in that?

What does this mean for the church?

Specifically, egalitarianism has created a lukewarm church. A melting pot of humans that are hyper-focused on not offending anyone by their giftedness or uniqueness, but instead believe that they are inherently the same, is an ineffective and untruthful church. As a matter of fact, distinctiveness and varied gifts in the church are precisely what makes the church work the way God intended (1 Corinthians 12). It is in social inequality that God is most glorified; that is, it is by living according to our unique callings that Christ is honored and glorified (Ephesians 4:11-16).

Furthermore, the church is damaged when the gentler sex subverts male headship and biblical patriarchy to promote their autonomy. There’s a lot packed into that sentence. The gentler sex is the female (see I Peter 3:7). She has been given the uncanny gift to make things beautiful, to nurture babies, to be softer and gentler than her male counterpart. Egalitarian culture takes these female qualities, however, and places them on men; after all, if men and women are the same, why can’t men be more like women? And since identity has been so demoralized into the melting pot of society, the women can take on the more aggressive, protector, leadership roles that God gave to men – because, after all, we are all the same.

The problem is that we are not inherently the same. “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” Patriarchal rule is not a far right-wing idea; it is God’s idea. Patriarchy means “father rule,” and from the beginning God made Adam to rule over Eve, to lead the family, his tribe, and rule (have dominion) over the world. This was Adam’s task and responsibility.

Where, then, does Eve fit in?

Eve (or “woman”) was created by God to help Adam in his God-given task of ruling the world. She was his companion and was to be at his side serving him. When a woman, desiring to rule over her husband and take his responsibility from him, seeks her own autonomy (independence) apart from the man, then she fails to fulfill her role and problems occur. Likewise, if the man becomes a sluggard and gives up his task to rule the world, then troubles also occur.

In the same way, deconstructing the boundaries between children and parents is also destructive to the church and society at large. An egalitarian worldview demands this, though. The command is not for “parents to obey their children,” but for “children to obey their parents” (Ephesians 6:1-3). To circumvent God’s created order is to no longer live flourishing lives because it is contrary to the way God intended.

The gospel of Jesus Christ actually cares about us as humans. Christ did not come to save us for eternity only, but to redeem us that we might live for him and bless the world now as long as we’re here (see 2 Peter 3:11). Therefore, it is crucial that we stay in our lanes, using our gifts and God-ordained positions in life to glorify him with the talents we’ve been given. We are not, after all, to covet what we don’t have. Instead, we are to use what we do possess – our God-ordained sex, our talents and gifts, even our time period and country where we live – to the glory of Christ. This is the opposite of egalitarianism.