The topic of women, their value and their roles has never been more furiously debated. In the media the message is clear, too many women have been wounded at the hands of men. The time has come for women to be seen and treated as equals.
Sadly, within the church we haven’t always demonstrated the better story we have regarding men and women. The recent scandals in Evangelicalism have only served to highlight the ways women have been abused, mistreated, belittled, and ignored. A failure to recognise and deal with our blind spots regarding how we value and treat women has led to women feeling hurt, excluded, and not heard.
With each subsequent scandal there has been temptation to move away from traditional conservative evangelical teaching on men and women. The reasoning goes that women have been badly treated because the teaching we hold to about men and women is flawed. Change this teaching and women will be better treated. However, sadly, the scandals we have seen recently are not restricted to complementarian circles. Throwing out complementarian teaching will not bring the resolution for women that we are seeking.
