Wednesday, September 11, 2013
David Hayward talks about how a megachurch pastor views “women’s place.”
David Hayward, on his Naked Pastor blog on Patheos, once again uses one of his cartoon drawings to call attention to something that troubles him about certain misguided expressions of Christianity. This time he shows how some big-name, big-church pastors insist on very restrictive roles for women. According to such ministers, a woman should aspire to be a wife and mother under her husband’s headship as her major calling in life. Hayward describes a book on fatherhood written by one such pastor, Mark Driscoll, pastor of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. Hayward writes: “Often misogynistic ideologies are cloaked in confusing and subtle language. Not so with Driscoll. He is very clear. Men rule. Women submit. Children obey. Then he provides the verses supporting it. . . . It is so heavily male chauvinist that it sounded like another planet where women either do not exist or are effectively silenced like chattels.” The influence of Driscoll and similar pastors is widespread and their churches appear to be growing rapidly at the same time that many other churches are losing members. David Hayward has some suggestions for women in such churches who find it easier to simply keep silent about their oppression, thereby avoiding stirring things up and risking conflict by speaking out for change. Related: Here is a 2009 New York Times article about Mark Driscoll and his approach to preaching and pastoring.
