by Kelly Pelton (written 09 Feb 2021)

The young female psyche is harmed by your church doublespeak,
your gaslighting denial of gender partiality,
misrepresenting your unjust practices as the Lord's will
to girls who have no confidence to question authority.

You persuade them to distrust their moral intuition,
your hermeneutics grounded in Jewish, Greek, and Roman
patriarchy, unbeknownst to them, you religious elite;
you make them each feel cheated that they were born a woman.

You quote, "the heart is deceitful above all things" to dissuade
them from questioning your worldly gender hierarchy;
who's to say the female heart is any more deceitful 
than males bent on protecting their empire of patriarchy?

God's healing and freeing from such dishonest role playing
takes decades, enabling His daughters to see through the lies
and to call out the church on its worldly priorities;
control through deception and intimidation never flies

in a kingdom where no one is to scramble to be first,
where all are to use their gifts to edify all believers,
where Jesus reigns instead of fearful insecurity,
where we all are children, not competitive achievers.

by Kelly Pelton (written 02 Feb 2021 to expound on CULTURAL CONTEXT posted 01 Oct 2020)

An educated woman in Roman society 
was to be quiet, not daring to speak her opinions
in public and never with an air of authority
lest the lesser-educated men feel like her minions.

Juvenal's Sixth Satire scathingly attacks such females
who defy expectations of feminine modesty;
ladies were to nod in agreement with their husbands's tales
or, understanding his wit, smile appreciatively.

Livy, the Roman historian, castigated those
women speaking freely in public rather than at home,
echoing his ancestors, lamenting the many woes
of women not under the control of males, free to roam

the streets as were men: "they desire freedom... rather license
in all matters," he moaned, "And if they win in this matter,
what will they not attempt?" Hear the fear, the timeless suspense
from this civilization's misogynistic chatter.

"Could you not have asked your own husbands the same thing at home?"
Hear Livy's irritation at females talking to men
in the Forum about laws, liberated more in Rome
than elsewhere, resented as though they'd committed a sin.

Enter the apostle Paul spreading the news of Jesus:
All else can be sacrificed to teach the message of life;
let's not distract by breaking social norms in to pieces
but embrace temperance as desirable in a wife.

Above all, the gospel must advance; don't be repulsive
to the culture but model the best of their prized virtues
so as to win their trust as you display the attractive
traits they expect. For the sake of the gospel, don't refuse 

to subordinate your freedom in Christ to be winsome
representatives of His kingdom in this world of men.
The forfeiture of equal roles for a time, though irksome, 
was not meant to be a rule for all time, only for then

as the message took root and spread along the Roman roads
and finds us two thousand years later post-feminism,
gender equality a prized ideal, no "household codes"
but collaboration instead of antagonism.

Perhaps the church can show the world the purest version
of this ideal and stop preserving Roman social norms;
it can bestow equal roles without the competition,
the genders reconciled, demonstrating modesty in all forms.

(As The Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History by Jo-Ann Shelton, with thanks to Dr. Ken Cukrowski for this source and his tireless efforts toward gender equity in the church.)

by Kelly Pelton (written 02 Feb 2021)

Restricting the freedom of someone you call an equal
is treating her as unequal, claiming authority 
based on your biology, not your qualifications,
as you cling to Bible examples of patriarchy.

You may as well argue for biblical polygamy!
"Separate roles" is a euphemism for role restriction,
keeping your sisters out of the topmost church echelon,
saying that only males have God-given jurisdiction.

Will you stop gaslighting? Your so-called appreciation 
of gender differences is subtle manipulation, 
rewarding women who "know their place" in your church culture
with churchy-sounding validation and affirmation.

Equals get equal treatment (everybody knows this fact),
and when they don't, they're not, no matter what church people claim;
when sisters are regarded as equal to their brothers,
their freedoms and how they're treated are exactly the same.

Let's aim the light of God's truth on your subordination
of females, your partiality, your clever lying,
your scripture-distorting misrepresentation of God,
your actions that shout over the words we're no longer buying.

by Kelly Pelton (written 30 Jan 2021)

Restricting the freedom of women is theft
while distorting the Bible to justify
gender hierarchy in your disregard
for the humanity of those you nullify.

by Kelly Pelton (written 28 Jan 2021)

How mightily you protest the restriction of your freedom
in an age of uncertainty, of misinformation,
lamenting the unintended consequences of leaders
within our communities, counties, states, and our nation,

especially the most restrictive governors and mayors
who themselves are exempt from their stringent regulations
which limit their citizens's work, play, and worship options;
you decry the hypocrisy of their legal evasions.

I've endured a lifetime of church leader hypocrisy,
restricting women by the strictest interpretation,
holding themselves above the law or in the spirit of it
in a peculiar form of male gender veneration.

Now you know what it feels like to have your freedom stolen
by authorities who claim you're limited for your own good,
indifferent to your suffering that they have legislated
in a callous failure to recognize your full personhood.

by Kelly Pelton (written 26 Jan 2021)

If you give these sinful women a chance
to lead the church based on a cohesive 
reading of all of scripture, Spirit-led
in trusting God to be the adhesive

force that holds His sinful children tightly,
the body of Christ intact, though corrupt
male leaders have tried to lead us astray,
the women as leaders won't interrupt

the ebb and flow of truth and lies that's been
characteristic of church history.
God has kept His message of love alive
through sinners like us; it's a mystery

of all-surpassing power that redeems
and sanctifies women as well as men,
that calls us higher to healthy loving,
Jesus our Savior from all of our sin.

Sin and love are the great equalizers;
we love and serve in the Spirit's new way
or live as those under sin's penalty.
God calls us forward into His new day,

females sharing the joy of proclaiming.
If you stop keeping them under the curse
and allow them to lead alongside men,
they will be equally bad but not worse.

by Kelly Pelton (written 23 Jan 2021)

"They have greatly oppressed me from my youth,"
let women say. "They've greatly oppressed me
from my youth" before we knew it was wrong,
"but they've not gained the victory over me."

Sisters, rise above your scars and thank God
He's cutting you free from the wicked cords,
from self-doubt that binds you to your captors,
from cowing to the power-hungry hordes.

Praise God for healing; your scars testify
both to harm done in the name of the Lord
and to His meticulous work in you,
His care in helping your soul get restored.

God grants the victory that lets us stand
against oppression, though the cost be dear,
our inner freedom allowing courage
to not please those with what they want to hear.

The victory's complete when the hurt is gone
and we trust God first, then ourselves, not them;
we see through the lies we've been told from our youth
and we sing to God a victory hymn.

by Kelly Pelton (written 17 Jan 2021)

Sincere and moral people can be wrong,
can miss a step toward the Light that guides,
the Love that feels as vague and nebulous
as unseen kingdom power. Glory hides

in small and quiet acts of love, respect,
and sharing power in the things that count,
in valuing the contributions of 
the ones whose guidance comes from Christ the Fount.

May every blessing grace the men who stand
for sisterly inclusion in the ranks
of those who lead the church through muddled times;
it's on Christ's power each believer banks

and trusts His Spirit and His word to lead
His sheep. Our carnal means of controlling,
excluding out of fear, give way to trust
that God works well through women extolling

His love and goodness, hopeful healing plans
for humankind beyond performance-based
religion, making us receptive to
relationship, inviting us to taste

and see that God is good. Christians can miss
the essence of our faith: God pursuing,
persuading us through Jesus' sacrifice
that He'll stop at nothing in His wooing.

by Kelly Pelton (written 16 Jan 2021)

It's not enough for you that you are strong,
the weaker gender (women) not as tough,
our bodies pound for pound less vigorous
and vulnerable to harm and all things rough;

you have a need to dominate in ways
besides the physical. Subordinate
the ladies in the realm of leadership,
emotional and spiritual, too late

will you discover first means last one day.
Our God is not impressed with human will
nor fear that causes people to exclude
the weaker, caring not whose hearts they kill.

The Satan has contempt for weaker ones,
despising those who have not worldly power;
he hates their cries to God from neediness 
for help in every day and every hour.

But God is soft toward His needy kids;
He loves it when they live dependently.
The proud will humbly serve the humble on
the day that all God's glory we will see.

So why not practice sharing power now?
The best of us will value those that all
look past, will give them equal input in 
decisions of the church, tear down the wall

that separates the women from the men,
the rich from poor, the bright from dim. It's not
enough to say we value all; let's show
with actions to include all souls He's bought.

by Kelly Pelton (written 11 Jan 2021)

The church may not be meant for worldly power.
Prestige, respect bring out the worst in men
who use the news of Jesus in this hour
to build an empire; pride's a subtle sin

and greed is almost undetectable
unless you're on the outside looking in
at souls who find control delectable,
who shape church culture in their quest to win

the influence on people's hearts and minds.
What started as the Word made flesh back then
has turned into a battle for all kinds
of hierarchies that should have never been.

How might we live if "church"were not allowed,
the institution outlawed in our time?
We'd miss church culture, maybe cry out loud
but then we would remember the sublime

and noble truth that Jesus' kingdom grows
no matter how the world restricts His sons
and daughters. Holy God in heaven knows
that nothing thwarts His plan for His dear ones.

We'd live much simpler lives, engage the world
with winsome gospel speech; we'd gather small
to worship large and share our hope that's curled
around a Savior on a cross who died for all.