As a Christian growing up in Orange County in the 1970’s, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa was a big deal. My home church was a small Southern Baptist church in Buena Park, but Calvary Chapel was the place to be. Saturday nights were concert nights at Calvary Chapel, featuring free admission and appearances by Marantha Music’s (the non-profit record label Calvary Chapel launched in 1971) top recording artists. Each concert and church service included congregational singing (called “worship” by Calvary members) unlike any I had ever experienced. For thirty minutes or more, without interruption, a guitar-playing worship leader would sing song after song, all with moving melodies known to seemingly everyone in the room. (there were no hymnals or songbooks)
Sundays at Calvary were massive. Over 2000 people attended each service, packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the pews. Pastor Chuck Smith delivered the message each week in a suit and tie, in marked contrast to the casual attire of the parishioners. His sermons included stories from his life and occasional anecdotes, but he was never theatrical. His primary goal of accurately teaching the scriptures was never sacrificed on the altar of entertainment. His delivery was almost monotonal as he went through each passage of scripture verse by verse and word by word, reverently proclaiming exactly what the Bible said and what it meant.
Chuck’s impact on the American Christianity is impossible to overstate. The “non-denominational” church he launched from his living room has grown into a denomination that includes over 1800 churches across the globe. Every one of these Calvary Chapel’s is committed to teaching the bible as Chuck did, going through each book of the bible on a verse-by-verse basis. His legacy reaches beyond the denomination, as his commentaries on scripture continue to be read by Bible students today. (The Bible app I use the most, “Blue Letter Bible” includes Pastor Chuck’s commentaries on every passage.)
Chuck did not worry about what culture thought of his teaching. Accusations that the Bible as he taught it was misogynistic or bigoted fell on deaf ears then and would fall on deaf ears now. For Pastor Chuck, the Bible meant what it said, and offending secular culture was too be expected. This is particularly clear in his handling of an unpopular passage in 1 Timothy 2 in which Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy, who pastored the Chrisitan congregation in Ephesus-
12 I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man…” 1 Timothy 2:12
This verse is unpopular now, and it was unpopular when Chuck preached on it. Chuck believed the verse meant exactly what it said, that women cannot be pastors or preach in the Christian church. His opinions were influenced by intense study of the New Testament, including the original Greek and Hebrew texts, not the feelings or accusations of those who disagreed. He taught the passage in the same way as every other passage. He calmly proclaimed what the Bible said without apology.
How quickly things change.
On November 1, just a little over 13 years since Pastor Chuck died, his grandson Char Broderson, the current pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, announced from the pulpit that the church would be ordaining woman as pastors. In the sermon that day he spoke at length about his approach to Biblical interpretation and why he felt that the passage in 1 Tim 2 did not mean what his parishioners thought it meant. He did not speak the words, but his message was clear. In his view, his grandfather got it wrong.
Entire books have been written on the role of women in Christian ministry, and it is easy for anyone to find a lot of words written in support of their preferred position. For the few who want to read about the issue in greater depth, I have put a link to an excellent book on the subject at the end of this blog post. What I want to call attention to today are implications of a church changing its position on such a significant issue.
Lisa and I have attended many churches in our 44 years of marriage, and I have unintentionally found myself in the middle of this debate on multiple occasions. Church leaders following the path of Char Broderson have all seemed to be quoting from the same playbook. They proclaim the importance of unity, say the role of women in church is a non-essential doctrine, and acknowledge that many Bible-loving individuals disagree. They then announce a change in their church’s long-held position on the matter.
As with Char Broderson, none of them addressed the unspoken implication that their predecessors had erroneously interpreted and applied scripture. Neither did they address the question that must naturally follow- “What else did they get wrong?” or “What else will these men get wrong?”
Those who continue to hold to what they had previously been taught are left in an impossible situation. If they continue to attend, they will be repeatedly confronted with the expression of a belief they consider contrary to Scripture. Their respect for church leadership will inevitably decrease. Sunday School teachers like me will be asked to avoid 1 Timothy. Pastoral statements that “Good Christians can disagree,” will be proven false the minute one of these “Good Christians” expresses their disagreement.
In the case of the church where Lisa and I met, most of the “Good Christians” voted with their feet. A church that once numbered over 5000 has dwindled to a tenth of that attendance. What Char and others fail to understand is that their departure has very little to do with women in the pulpit. Deeply devoted Christians believe that God is eternal and unchanging, as is His Word, and they will not abide those who by their actions and words teach otherwise.
Bart
reference:
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism (Revised Edition)
by John Piper (Editor), Wayne Grudem (Editor), Ligon Duncan (Preface), Randy Stinson (Preface), Ray Ortlund