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John Gayle's avatar

Ross, thanks so much for this piece! I think we may have talked a bit about it at SH at some point so it sounded familiar and is acting as a reminder for me to pray for trustworthiness and to live as a man who's yea means yes and no means no; to become a man trustworthy in thought word and deed.

I know this topic isn't completely related, but I wonder what this verse means in terms of leadership in church roles. I recently listened to a podcast about it and I still don't know what I think... Obviously another hot topic, one I understand not wanting to write about but......

My real question would remain this: Could we extend this transition from our human nature to a perfected nature (trustworthy-trusting for women (((generally))) and the reverse for men (((generally))) ) to the field of the church to say that we as a church aught to trust men as Pastors/Priests? (does that make sense?) Or is this verse much more centered around a marriage between two people and not so much to be thought about outside of that?

Sorry this was messy, but it's a legit question. The dude in the podcast I was listening to was using this verse to say that women should not be allowed to be pastors and I was just a little confused...

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Kyle Morrow's avatar

This hits differently when you frame it through the lens of responsibility and sacrifice rather than authority. Here's what I mean:

Picture an abandoned house at night. You and someone you love are standing at the threshold. Those creaky floorboards aren't going to test themselves. The dark corners need checking. Someone has to go first.

When you say "I'll go first, just hold onto me," that's not about being in charge. It's about being willing to take the risk before asking anyone else to. It's about checking for danger, testing the steps, making sure the path is secure. That's what Christ did for the church - He didn't just give orders from a safe distance. He went first, all the way to the cross.

And here's the thing: I'm intentionally not interpreting what this means for women, because that's not my lane to drive in. I don't have their processing capability, their lived experience, their perspective on Scripture. Maybe part of being trustworthy is knowing when to be quiet and listen.

When Paul talks about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church, he spends more time talking about sacrifice than authority. "Gave himself up for her" - that's the standard. Not "made all the decisions" or "stayed in charge," but "gave himself up."

As a guy, I've learned to refrain from telling women how to interpret their role in Scripture and more time wrestling with the profound weight of mine. After all, Jesus didn't just point the way to salvation - He became the way. He went first. He took the hits. He made the path safe.

That's what love looks like. That's what trustworthiness means. Not "I'm in charge," but "I'll go first into the dark, and I'll make sure it's safe before I ever ask you to follow."

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