The elephant in the room

We’ve all noticed when there seems to be an “elephant in the room.” No one dares to speak of a trouble spot that, if mentioned, would make everyone uncomfortable. Sometimes the elephant is a speaker’s blind spot. If it were brought into the conversation, however, things might be uncomfortable for a while, but actual, real progress might be made.

The question of retaining or lifting our Conference policy on restricting women from senior pastoral roles is once again before us as a community. We will be working through the issues in each province this year. My hope is that we will learn a lot about hermeneutics (thanks to the Herald for recent material on this). I also hope we will actually build our love and trust for one another in this process! Call me crazy, but I believe our Lord wants that (see John 17:20–23).

In advance of our debate, I want to point out some elephants. I believe there are at least four spheres of concern that will be operative in our deliberations. They may be missed, downplayed or subtly used to shore up positions.

1. Biblical. We don’t want to disobey the Scripture. But do the so-called restrictive texts cancel out texts that point towards releasing people to lead in ministry? And will we acknowledge weak points in our interpretations from either “side”?
2. Political. Will our discussion affect the way we relate to one another in the Conference? Will power plays happen to force issues one way or another? This has happened before, so there’s a fear factor – an offspring of the political elephant. A certain amount of politics is inevitable, but we shouldn’t make a political argument sound like a biblical/spiritual one.
3. Pragmatic. Some will say, “Enough debate. We have churches to plant and people to win to Christ. Let’s get men and women to start and lead churches and get the job done.” Others say, “If we free women to lead, will we open the door to ordaining homosexual clergy like other denominations?” I think this elephant is the least examined in our discussions.
4. Personal. People have feelings of disappointment and frustration. What does God say about that? How might He judge our Conference as a result? Do we pay enough attention to, and validate, the grief factor? Or do we downplay it as though it has no bearing at all in the discussion?

Does the pragmatic call to reach our world supercede political caveats? Do personal stories of hearing the call to lead but going to other denominations to follow that call cancel out the Bible? I certainly have an opinion, and so do you! What happens when we get together and argue our case? Will we name the elephants in the room?

I hope so, because it will make our study more fruitful. It will also be critical to building community through the debate.

David Wiebe is executive director of the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.