Because the 9th Commandment is Actually in the Bible....

Lest I be accused of Biblicism, I will note it is also in reformed confessions of faith! Nonetheless, I am thankful to see a group of Orthodox Presbyterian Church officers taking a stand that ministers who engage in public debate have a duty to do so honestly and charitably. I wrote about this subject recently more broadly. Those who fail to disagree in that way are conducting themselves in a manner that violates their ordination vows.

For those who perhaps do not keep up with the debates of current American reformed and evangelical Christianity, this dust up involves a book recently published by Aimee Byrd, a member of an OPC church and until recently a participant in a podcast of some prominence in the reformed world. Her book addresses issues of discipleship of women in conservative and confessional churches. In so doing, it expresses disagreement with some aspects of what is known as complementarianism, which is a rather broad term related to the way women and men relate to one another. I say broad because complementarianism is claimed by a variety of people who find themselves occupying the area between egalitarianism on the left and patriarchy on the right. Ms. Byrd would not for herself use the term "complementarian," but she is accused of being a "thin complementarian" and she is criticized by those who dislike that she interacts, sometimes favorably, with egalitarians.

I will now remove myself from the weeds.

I have not read Ms. Byrd's book, so any knowledge I have is second hand. As such, it is not my place either to defend or disagree with it, at least not in any detail. My wife has read the book and, in fact, wrote 4,000(!) words of notes that provided a basis for discussion of the book among leaders of a FB group that she participates with. My wife found aspects of the book helpful and disagreed with others. She along with others engaged in debate that I would consider healthy.

That is a reminder that discussions on controversial subjects can be vigorous and ought to be healthy and charitable. What has been shocking has been the reaction of some ministers and officers of churches that have been dishonest, vicious, and sometimes misogynist. One might expect certain types of language from profane unbelievers, but not from officers of the church. Some of this has taken place in online groups deemed to be "private." I have wondered what it would be like to have to sit under the ministry of a pastor that conducts himself in this way when he erroneously supposes himself to be in secret.

I am not an officer of the OPC, so I cannot sign this letter, but I would urge those who are eligible to do so. Those who do so are not expressing wholesale agreement with Ms. Byrd's book, but they are opposing conduct by ministers that is not becoming of a follower of Christ. Does that even require a "courageous" stand? One would hope not. Nonetheless, it is perhaps of interest that some ministers have expressed outrage at Ms. Byrd's employment of "feminist imagery" in the form of yellow wallpaper on the book's cover. If one will forgive me, I am more concerned about ministers displaying a yellow streak. If you can't take a stand on this, what are you going to do in the face of real persecution?