Schaeffer's Perspective on Criticism & Attacks

God willing, I will push and politick no more.... The mountains are too high, history is too long, and eternity is longer.  God is too great, man is too small, there are many of God's dear children, and all around there are men going to Hell.  And if one man and a small group of men do not approve of where I am and what I do, does it prove I've missed success?  No; only one thing will determine that—whether this day I'm where the Lord of lords and King of kings wants me to be.  To win as many as I can, to help strengthen the hands of those who fight unbelief in the historical setting in which they are placed, to know the reality of 'the Lord is my song,' and to be committed to the Holy Spirit—that is what I wish I could know to be the reality of each day as it closes."

 - Francis A. Schaeffer, Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian Life, ed. with intro. by Lane T. Dennis (Westchester, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1985), p. 39.

The Full Stature of Women as Servants of Christ in His Church - Part 6

THE
SPEAKING ROLE
OF WOMEN
IN THE
NEW TESTAMENT
CHURCHES - 1



We began this series with a hypothetical pastoral search committee considering applicants, all of whom turn out to be women. We can imagine that after hearing the evidence we've considered so far, someone would raise this objection:

"Why does Paul then instruct women to remain silent in 1 Corinthians 14:34-36 and 1 Timothy 2:11?"

There are a number of possibilities that would reasonably explain Paul's comments.

Could Prayer Unite Us?

Today I have been reading some prayers written by a theologian who has been the subject of many a controversy. As I've read these offerings of his heart to God, I have been moved by their spirit and their theological majesty.

I don't always agree with Karl Barth, though I recognize him as one of the greatest thinkers of all time. I also have great admiration and respect for some of those theologians who have questioned and differed with him. Sometimes I've agreed more with Barth's opponents than with Barth. Sometimes vice-versa. But what I have not always appreciated is the mean spirit I've witnessed in attacks on Barth by otherwise respectable scholars. And what really saddens me are those times when I too have allowed myself to become mean-spirited in similar theological debates with others.

Sometimes the tumult of words that both sides pour out are riddled with misunderstandings of each other's positions. Sometimes they are infected with sentiments on the brink of hatefulness. And it really is appalling, when you step back to look at it, to see what respectable leaders and we ourselves are capable of when it comes to spreading misunderstanding and ill will toward others.

And so I wonder, as I sit here reading and even praying these marvelous prayers by Barth: How might the church be different if her factions would simply pray more together? How differently would we feel about
 each other if we could hear each other's hearts being poured out passionately with love for our common Savior and Lord? How much more watchful would we be of each other's wellbeing, and for fairness toward each other, if we were sincerely praying for and with each other? If we could hear each other's most private conversations with God, the intimate lover of our souls?