by Kelly Pelton (written 27 Apr 2021)

Deep down, people care but lash out at their loved ones in fear.
Don't put up with unhealthy tactics; call them out, or leave,
refusing to take their punitive treatment, making clear
your boundaries that with your hand in the Lord's you both will weave.

Deep down, people love but withdraw affection silently,
penalizing you for not agreeing to their control.
Do not tolerate their pressuring or hostility;
your firm insistence now puts you in a parental role.

Love and care are present even in the churches who treat
women as subordinate, but don't allow this action
which violates biblical principles; turn up the heat
of healthy demand for fair treatment. You will gain traction

by perseverance in Spirit-led clarity and prayer.
Though the backlash may be substantial, keep God's love in mind
because love is the only reality; we all care,
though our demonstrations of love often lag far behind.

by Kelly Pelton (written 12 Apr 2021)

The objectification of women
underlies pornography addiction
and churches's female subordination;
this common root seems stranger than fiction,

fed by the soil of subtle mother-wounds,
strong with desire to regulate and use
that gender which hurt you. You're unaware
of the pain that drives you, that makes you choose

to keep your Christian sisters at arm's length
or to trust only the silent serving
seductresses on the internet who
never harm you; you're surely deserving

of power to never be hurt again,
of having the upper hand in your duel,
seeing us as slightly less than human,
dodging us uneasily as you rule.

Oh that God would till the soil with gentle
fingers, turning up memories tender,
shining light, blowing Holy Spirit wind,
healing suspicion of female gender.

Once you view yourself and us more clearly,
freed from false perceptions and conclusions,
you'll cease competing and subjugating;
you'll be healed, secure, free of delusions.


(With gratitude to Amy Orr-Ewing, whose 2017 Richard Johnson lecture, "Is Christianity Bad News for Women?" can be found from CPX on Vimeo.)

by Kelly Pelton (written 16 Mar 2021)

To reject your rejection of my kind
without rejecting you, though you deny
your sin against me, means that I unbind
you from your ongoing wrongdoing by

not holding it against you, not using
it to define you. It's still atrocious
what you're doing, your zealous abusing
from religious reasons, but ferocious

is God's love for you and me, removing
our sins from us as far as east from west.
By no means do I say He's approving 
of your treatment of me; He thinks the best

of us because He's justly judged our sins.
One day you'll know how much damage you've caused;
you'll feel the pain. Restoration begins
when by Jesus our earthly life is paused

and we understand how we hurt each one
of His children. I imagine this when
your mistreatment of me seems to have won;
I accept you now as you will be then.

by Kelly Pelton (written 15 Mar 2021)

Those who portray themselves as your intermediary,
who expect you to believe them about what God is like,
can keep you from finding out for yourself, especially
if they misrepresent His character; this is a strike

against you, but persevere in living your own story
with God and not someone else's. Resist delegating
the stewardship of your journey to other believers
who box you into a category, relegating

you to secondary roles; they can't control your inner
life with Christ, your soul's growth under His watchful caretaking.
If your journey with Him seems dry, you're failing to disclose
all that vexes, bothers, and disheartens in painstaking

detail for Him to sift, sort, and gently illuminate.
Bring up that topic which makes you squirm, that you'd rather die
than confess to another, so painful the memory,
and discover how He views it with His all-seeing eye.

Those who don't know for themselves how tenderly He handles 
our hearts's deepest hurts can only regulate external
facets of church structure while you dive into the goodness
of Him who heals and sets you free, bringing life eternal

to your past and present, transforming with all-surpassing
power your personality. You'll not rely on them 
to tell you what God is like; you'll live a rich existence
asking and seeking, knocking, receiving the best from Him.

by Kelly Pelton (written 16 Mar 2021)

The churches can say “get over it”
to your hurt feelings; ignore them.
Forge ahead, just you and Jesus;
bring every sad memory to Him.

All those times you’ve been overlooked,
invisible, or excluded
matter to Christ; He has the time,
and while on earth, He exuded

the healing concern that transforms
pain. He knows how your younger heart
bought in to the lies about you,
even if only a small part

of you ever doubted your worth
or thought you deserved punitive
treatment in a situation.
His power is transformative,

freeing you from second-guessing,
separating you from those who
fail to see your humanity,
who don’t recognize your value.

You’ll take your own side against them,
rejecting their cold rejection,
embracing God’s great love for you,
leaving behind your dejection

because you’ll know you’re not less than
those who wanted you to believe 
their opinion of you matters;
His freedom from them you receive.

by Kelly Pelton (written 07 March 2021)

When Christians question a church interpretation
of scripture, thinking we've misunderstood for so long,
some accuse them of questioning what God has said
as did the serpent to Eve before all went wrong.

"Did God actually say," the serpent began
before misquoting the audible voice of God
to cast doubt on the great Creator's character
as he tempted the human being on Eden's sod.

The goal of Bible interpretation is to
represent God accurately, not proclaiming
a false meaning that makes us doubt His character
as anything but good and righteous; stop shaming

those souls whose consciences sharpened by the Spirit
are asking to re-evaluate the old thought
regarding a Bible passage to be certain
we are staying true to the principles God wrought

throughout the whole of scripture. Let us not misquote
our Lord in a careless interpretation of
His word. His voice through scripture speaks to us today
not audibly but as the Spirit leads in love

to teach us to correctly handle the Lord's word
in the light of God's righteous judgment, His wisdom,
mercy, understanding, impartiality;
let's not misrepresent the Lord or His kingdom.

by Kelly Pelton (written 25 Feb 2021)

The bathroom in the basement of Lipscomb University
was kindly designated for colored use, no more outdoor
makeshift outhouses at this college in Nashville, Tennessee
where bathrooms for blacks were moved inside (whites were on the main floor).

The Christians wanted to treat their black brothers and sisters well,
and the indoor bathroom was a step in the right direction;
they could not see how far short of perfect love's standard they fell
or they would have discarded such rules for full integration.

Similarly, the churches that now allow women to pray
or read scripture or give a testimony or be deacons
are bringing them into worship, an orchestrated role play
that's not exactly helping the church people be beacons

of truth and love in a healthier family dynamic.
It's progress, bringing us in from the outside to be under-
foot, participating from beneath you, the panoramic
scope of God's love obscured as His children are left to wonder

why the inequity in spiritual roles; biology
didn't limit New Testament believers as did the norms
of their time. Let's implement Spirit-led methodology,
embracing gender inclusivity so the church informs

the world of God's tender and loving impartiality,
the way He speaks through all of His children both female and male.
Let's not relegate any to the basement; we're family
whose function as equals will cause worldly standards to seem stale.

by Kelly Pelton (written 19 Feb 2021)

The terms "biblical man- and womanhood"
aren't found in any Bible verse; gender
expectations are man-made, burdening
our souls with pressure to conform. Tender

hearts weren't made to fit the stereotypes
but to express God's image more fully
by being fully human, becoming
the individuals God made us to be.

The women and men of God's sacred word
included prostitutes, warmongers, all
on a journey of faith, diversity
the rule and not the exception; let's fall

in line with their example. No cultural
sameness is mandated by the scriptures
for women or for men, no middle-class
standards, just an urge to all be pictures

of Jesus wherever we are serving.
Each woman and man must discern the way
to live from one's story as the Lord leads
and not from misguided rules of our day.

by Kelly Pelton (written 13 Feb 2021)

If it seems unfair, it probably is. 
If it sounds ungracious, it's likely so.
The separate water fountain for blacks
didn't sit right with some people, although

it was identical to the whites's one
and worked, so what was the problem with it?
All could have a drink; no one went without...
It's silly to throw such a hissy fit

unless accentuating differences
harms those who lack power in some regard
by excluding them from full acceptance,
relegating them to another yard

to play separately apart from you,
not being a part of you. "Together"
is separate's opposite, no man-made gap
or biology-determined tether

to limit fellowship or belonging
with the group that has more social influence;
it's unfair to separate based on an 
immutable trait. Feel God's abhorrence.

by Kelly Pelton (written 11 Feb 2021)

You meant well in your reaction to secular feminism,
protecting the sanctity of life, resisting domination,
but a fearful response to something bad can be worse or as bad;
your worldly solution of counter-domination is quite sad.
Instead, you could have learned from your enemies about your own part
in unjust societal practices and have a change of heart
and find a Spirit-led path of repentance and restoration,
of respect between the genders rather than subordination.