Читать книгу Blessing the Curse? - Ksenija Magda - Страница 20

We have already discussed how hierarchies of power are a logical outcome of a world that is defined by the fall. Because we have turned away from God and sought to be like God in the godless realms we have created, our state is defined by loneliness, feelings of detachment and threat, along with an urge to amass more and climb higher than others. If there is only room at the top of the hierarchy for one leader (as secular motivational speakers often suggest), then all hierarchies are temporary structures, even though those at the top act as if they are permanent.

Hierarchies often appear useful to people, as they seem to bring peace when leaders take a break from battling for the top position. Because of this desire for ongoing order and peace, churches especially love hierarchies, forgetting that Jesus confronted hierarchical systems as ungodly (see Mark 10:34–43 “It should not be so among you”). The way of the kingdom is to serve others, even unto death. This concept of ministering to others rather than attempting to rule over them is modelled by Jesus and repeated often in the New Testament (e.g. Phil 2:5–11). Thus it could be described as the paradigmatic behavioural pattern for Christians.

Yet the service model of placing ourselves at the bottom of church structures was abandoned by the church very early on, probably already in the second century. Through the centuries, Christians have continued to abandon the Way as they have given into the ways of the world.^[14] Hierarchies became so holy that wars for primacy in church leadership did not stop even in view of the large-scale divide between East and West, a divide that still generates wars in my region.^[15] In some instances, the hierarchy of priests became the church, while the general Christian public – in particular schismatics – were not accepted as the church.^[16] In these traditions, the Christian public could be accepted into God’s kingdom if they adhered to all the proscriptions of the church, but even then, they had to count on purgatory at best. How did the Reformation movement, which was both countercultural and biblical, fail to rid itself of hierarchical power structures? Even worse, most right-wing evangelicals, who insist on a literal application of Scripture and would be anti-Catholic, insist on hierarchies and argue that the church cannot (and should not) live without them. From both the pulpits and pews, these Christians insist that hierarchies are God-ordained. In the beginning, Baptists (along with other minority groups) challenged hierarchies in their doctrines and adopted congregationalism.^[17] Yet I have lived as a Baptist my whole life, and I still hear this mantra about the divine ordination of hierarchies in Baptist congregations. Those of us who know our history resist hierarchies as a necessary structure for church leadership, and this continues to be a doctrinal beacon of light that helps me hold on to my heritage and hope for the best.

The argument generally goes like this: if God is a God of peace, then hierarchies must be God-ordained, because without hierarchies, there would be constant strife for positions. But it is the world that has convinced us of this shortcut thinking, for it is more likely that churches copy the hierarchical environments of the world because power feels good to humans. Patriarchal societies tend to create patriarchal church patterns that strictly adhere to hierarchical chains of authority.^[18] However, by blaming patriarchy, we may be barking up the wrong tree. The problem of hierarchies runs deeper than patriarchy, for matriarchy will not solve the problem any better, as we will see. Biblically, the problem of hierarchies is a problem of the heart. As Paul describes it, if Christians do not “live by the Spirit of God” and obtain their freedom, they will live “by the flesh” and be driven by the curse to scramble towards the god position in the hierarchical strata, a position of power that they will describe as God-ordained. The majority of Christians relegate their freedom in Christ to these hierarchical gods, believing that the hierarchy represents a God-ordained order. Thus without realizing it, Christians idolize these gods, thereby abandoning their faith, freedom, and responsibility.

Because of these strong hierarchical structures in the church, it is not surprising that women have no immediate access to leadership or ministry. For when we define leadership and ministry as those who have authority over others, all who help those at the top function as servants. Their role is to support the hierarchical gods and demiurges and help them maintain their positions of power. Later, we will turn to some crucial New Testament passages that reflect this dynamic.

First, I will take you on a tour of the world, revealing how Christian men rule over hierarchies of leadership and ministry with the help and support of women. My purpose is not to blame, but to recognize the intricate connections and chains of reactions and reciprocal counter-reactions that exist in male-dominated hierarchical systems. Nor am I writing to plead for women’s human rights or women’s authority and freedom, although I do believe that such advocacy is needed. Our voices must be raised against the ongoing suffering, injustice, and violence that women have experienced through hierarchical systems.

Rather, my main motivation is to show that hierarchies cannot be upheld in a world governed by God. In hierarchical systems, all people – not just women – are reduced to commodities to be sold and bought in order to benefit the system (though women, in particular, have been trained to offer themselves to these human gods). From the perspective of biblical theology, it is unthinkable for churches to adopt hierarchies and proclaim them as holy and God-ordained, since they oppose the very centre of Christ’s good news, which is to set the captives free (Luke 4:14–21). Rather than setting himself at the top of a hierarchical system, Christ gave up his position of authority and became a slave for this purpose.