Priestesses in the Church, by C.S. Lewis

Yesterday afternoon, I had a follow-up appointment with a dentist in Greeley. At a minimum, he would be giving me a dental crown. However, he might also get into the procedure and find that he needed to perform a root canal. On the way home, I called my brother who was moving his earthly belongings from his old house to his new house, and he sounded out of breath and tired. Joking, we discussed trading places. He would go to my dentist appointment, and I would go do his moving for him. But of course it doesn't work that way, and that's the joke. Similarly, it is odd to me that we think men and women are interchangeable authority figures - in the home, in church, or in broader society. And it makes about as much sense to say that anyone at all will do, so long as they are willing. Yes, willingness is an important component. But even more important is calling and qualification, as well as necessity. And most important of all is God's design and purpose and command. Check out this article from 1948 by C.S. Lewis for more fine thoughts on these matters. But suffice to say for now that when we think we need to modernize the Scriptures to meet our ideals of equity and fairness, we are not just fostering strife between one another, between conservatives and liberals inside and outside the church. We are fostering strife between ourselves and the Most High God whose created order we are expressing deep and abiding discontent and dissatisfaction with.