Beyond the gender wars in the Church

Steve Holmes, British Baptist minister and lecturer at St. Andrews, has an excellent blog post, parsing the insufficient categories of “complementarian” and “egalitarian.” Not all egalitarianism is founded upon androgyny, and not all complementarianism is founded upon biblicism. His own position, I would describe as “complementarian egalitarianism” — recognizing the complementarity of the distinct genders as precisely a key benefit of mixed gender ministry. Moreover, there are other in-between positions, such as those making distinctions between teaching and authority, etc.

I’m not too optimistic that one of these in-between positions will actually triumph, not in my lifetime, but maybe they will serve to lessen the tension in the evangelical community at large.

Calvinism, changing the world

I have to say I was rather surprised to see this: Time magazine has named Calvinism as one of “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now.”

As far as the mainstream press goes, it does a pretty good job. It is very heartening, and strange, to see a movement generated by theology in the media. I’ve had my share of criticisms of aspects of this “new Calvinism,” but it comes as an internal critic who genuinely wants the best in Reformed theology to leaven the Church.

I especially like that the article mentions the influence of this Calvinism in contemporary worship. Time cites David Crowder. You could also add everyone else involved with Passion (Charlie Hall, Chris Tomlin, Steve Fee, etc.) which has been heavily influenced by John Piper and like-minded ministers. Most of these worship artists are not full-fledged Calvinists, but the influence is obvious and very welcome.

Why Soccer is Evil

This is one of the most entertaining things that I have read in a long time:

“How Soccer is Ruining America: A Jeremiad” by Stephen Webb, professor at Wabash.