Mark Dever reflects upon why so many evangelicals believe the debate over gender issues to be so important. He writes:
Dear reader, you may not agree with me on this. And I don’t desire to be right in my fears. But it seems to me and others (many who are younger than myself) that this issue of egalitarianism and complementarianism is increasingly acting as the watershed distinguishing those who will accomodate Scripture to culture, and those who will attempt to shape culture by Scripture. You may disagree, but this is our honest concern before God. It is no lack of charity, nor honesty. It is no desire for power or tradition for tradition’s sake. It is our sober conclusion from observing the last 50 years (source).
I am in agreement with Dever on this, and it is precisely why I make such a fuss about it myself. I really do believe that the greatest threat to the authority of scripture today is not coming mainly from those arguing about the nature of scripture but from those who adopt an interpretive approach that domesticates the Bible’s message at precisely those points at which it should be confronting us and the culture.
This is, by the way, the same reason that I blog so much on the emerging church.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
