Two Tricky Questions

Glenn's message "Women In The Program of God" and Jac's blog post "A Bitter Pill To Swallow" have had much positive feedback. I agree with them and with the AGC (the group of churches of which LIFE Church is a part) that God's design as shown in His Word is for men to lead in the home and to be the elders in the church. However, knowing that not all Christians believe this, how do we as LIFE Church relate to churches who believe something differently than we do?, and how do we as individuals relate to our own church when we have differences in belief?

Let's start by looking at Scripture. Ephesians 4:3 says, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (see also Colossians 3:12-15 and John 13:34-35). We learn from God's Word that we can do this by:
i) Supporting and following church leadership (Heb 13:17), and
ii) Supporting and serving each other (Eph 5:21; 1 Pet 4:8).

Applying these things to the two questions raised, where other churches disagree in an area that is not *explicitly clear in God's Word I would still choose to respect and partner with those churches as God leads and directs.
*(i.e. though God's Word does teach about women's roles in the home and church it does not literally say "Women must not be overseers" therefore it is possible that some people may come to a different conclusion than we do).

Meanwhile, within our own church, we may have a different opinion than our elders and church membership, but in order to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit, it is important for us to support and follow our leaders and support and serve each other. This is true for all of us. For example, if I was the only elder to disagree on something that was not explicitly clear in God's Word I would submit to the rest of the elder team's decision. Similarly, someone in our church who doesn't think it's a problem for women to be elders can still choose to support and follow the elders and the rest of the church and therefore accept the church constitution as the way our church will do things.

The truth is our knowledge is imperfect until we get to heaven (1 Cor 12:12 - "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known)." Because of this, we will have differences in understanding here on earth.

Don't get me wrong - I believe God's Word, though not explicit, when taken as a whole does clearly teach that elders should be men, however, I can also see how other Christians have come to a different understanding. I would love to see us all agree on this issue but also recognize the limitations of our earthly knowledge. Therefore, until our imperfect knowledge is made perfect I believe we need to pursue the most excellent way of loving each other (1 Cor 13) and making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Eph 4:3) as we strive to follow God's Word as best we can.

For His great glory!
Joel