by Kelly Pelton (written 02 Oct 2021)

This is what divides us, men and women,
Jews and Gentiles, one race and another,
those in power and those not, rich and poor:
our comparisons which tend to smother

compassion and treasuring each person.
Better-than/worse-than thinking is a wall,
a hostile barrier that limits love
between all people we deem "great" and "small."

Performance-driven competition reigns;
Christ had to abolish the law, one way
we measure ourselves against another.
"I'm better than you," I cannot now say,

for the law is worthless regarding worth;
it cannot convey inestimable
value, only that we all fall so short
of Perfect, we think we're detestable.
 
But God has made the two one by taking 
all punishment for evil on the cross,
proving us Loved, breaking down resistance
to loving other people. What a loss

to again pick up our measuring sticks,
our comparisons, our pressure-driven
one-upmanship, when "loved," not "better than,"
is our true reality, God-given.

by Kelly Pelton (written 25 Sept 2021)

Your constant kindness these last fifty years
makes you my oldest friend, good-natured one.
I have a tender heart toward you and tears
as your health dips down like the setting sun.

Your issues with women affected me,
your daughter, striving to discern what's real;
your faithful presence overwhelmingly 
outweighed the discouragement that I feel,

for you invested your whole self in us,
two girls of a patriarchal church man.
Your pride in me enables me to fuss
at ungodly church practices, to fan

the flames of awareness among God's own.
I thank God that you're my brother in Christ
whose watching over me in fact has sown
the seeds of worth and value that no heist

or persecution can remove. This gift
of your prioritizing us has meant
more than you know, giving courage to sift
and discard even what you think God sent,

as in men in charge of women. I mean
no disrespect in rejecting gender
hierarchy, but it's now time to wean
off worldly power structures that hinder

equal input from Spirit-led Christians,
gifts expressed for the whole congregation
to be edified, ties to our missions
assigned by God, kind cooperation.

Your hobby was your daughters, no other
competing claims on your time, nothing more
important than Tracy, me, and Mother;
your ministry was family, for sure.

You'd been hurt by female domination
and insensitivity, but never
did you want to harm; your indignation
flared at some, but your girls, hardly ever.

This complicated father-daughter bond
seems simpler to me as I get older.
I realize how you've strengthened me; I'm fond
of you, Dad, whose love has made me bolder.

Never had you been punitive or torn
me down or withheld love the way some do;
never did you pressure me. Your time-worn
face lights up each day when I visit you.

You, who've excelled in "the greatest of these,"
whom I've enjoyed, respected, and adored
from the time you would bounce me on your knees,
let me watch over you now, love outpoured

as I treasure these later years with you,
your playful humor still undiminished,
our loyalty to each other a clue
of what comes after, once this time is finished.

by Kelly Pelton (written 28 Aug 2021)

When you indulge in internet ridicule
of your sisters who pastor, lead, and teach,
savoring the satirical barbs, bad
fruit whose evil root extends past the reach

of ordinary measures to unearth,
you join the religious elite leaders
who persecute not only their sisters
but Jesus Himself, whose cuts are bleeders

from lashings both verbal and in writing
by hoarders of power who subjugate
half their membership, harming the weak based
on the unalterable gender trait.

"Why are you persecuting Me," He asks,
His body in shreds of flesh, skin screaming
in pain from scorn, derision, and shaming
by those whose ambition has them dreaming

of an expanding "ministry" empire,
worldly in its worship of manly strength;
their slanderous charge that women are more
easily deceived is a whip-like length

of cat o' nine tails on the Savior's back,
excoriating with punitive talk
the women who serve Him in ministry.
The Lord's institutional church should balk

at such poor treatment of Christ's family.
We know you by your fruit, murderous Saul,
your contempt that springs from misogyny,
your ridicule of the weak and the small.

You're convinced the end justifies your means,
preserving your strong-ruling-weak worldview;
your crucifixion of these women shows
they walk in His footsteps as His choice few.

by Kelly Pelton (written 13 Aug 2021)

What's biblical is not always godly:
Ezra sending away foreign wives, kids,
King David practicing polygamy.
Be aware of the interpretive grids

that affirm all actions of the faithful,
some who slaughtered an entire people group.
Those who live by faith are the biblical
examples of evolving to recoup

that Garden of Eden lovely vision,
shedding ungodly religious action,
learning from Jesus our winsome mission,
not pursuing vengeful satisfaction.

The worldly practice of patriarchy
is ungodly, though found throughout God's book;
it dies a slow death with Christ on the tree
if only we take a close enough look

at Jesus lifting the marginalized,
turning man-made hierarchy on its head,
showing dependency, with weakness prized,
reconciling us, the reason He bled.

by Kelly Pelton (written 08 Aug 2021)

Self-doubt originates from the devil
who misled Eve to question what she knew:
"Should I go with my knowledge of the Lord
or put myself aside and trust in you?"

Self-doubt is the oldest sin on the earth
and hides within us long after the fall.
We trust sinful man instead of ourselves
on what God is like; sinful are we all,

but why should I go with you over me 
when we see God's character differently?
If I know God to be better, kinder,
let me not cave to you diffidently.

Our original sinner was deceived 
to betray what she knew for Satan's lie,
and each time we doubt what we know of God,
something inside of us surely will die.

Sisters, do not for a moment believe
what the subordinationists proclaim;
do not be tempted into self-doubting
or you'll be captive again to false shame.

Hold fast to your faith that God's impartial;
He's fair in ways we can all understand.
Don't let another's assertion tempt you
to doubt what you know; your life's in God's hand.

by Kelly Pelton (written 08 Aug 2021)

We vex over educated female athletes
who won't stand against unjust inclusion of men
in women's sports, men who think they're women and want
to compete and dominate again and again.

Why don't the ladies stand up for what's right and fair?
On paper, they have every advantage you'd need,
but do not underestimate mixed messages
they have grown up hearing, some that we should not heed:

The world says females are sex objects made to please
and should dress as though eye candy to be desired;
some churches say women are designed to follow
and God equips only men to lead, as they're wired.

And we wonder why all the opportunities
for academic and vocational success
fail to produce women who confidently lead,
who resist the old temptations to second-guess.

What is the remedy for female self-doubting?
The church can cease to propagate those carnal lies
and teach them not to question their own perceptions
but to trust that God is guiding them; she is wise

who relies on God but trusts herself above those
who pressure her to abandon her conviction.
Even self-doubt is the enemy of true faith,
crumbling courage in an act of soul constriction.

by Kelly Pelton (written 16 July 2021)

Unequal function equals inequality;
the roles in church are based not on ability
but rather on below-the-neck anatomy,
on XY over XX partiality.

Unequal restriction means inequality;
I only limit freedom of one beneath me.
Church prohibitions based on fear are tragically
preventing goodness's flow to God's assembly.

Equal is as equal does; no one can deny
the value of the honored roles which underlie
the edifying of God's people who ask why
the women are kept out of positions most high.

"It's God's idea," say those who like patriarchy
as though He's not for an equal community
where the Holy Spirit speaks through both you and me
to build up Christ's body as prejudice-free.

by Kelly Pelton (written 15 July 2021)

Unequal roles in home and church
are uncomfortable, they say,
but God wants men in charge; we must
adjust in order to obey.

Men don't always want to lead, nor
women always follow male rule.
God's ways are not our ways, and to
doubt His word is to be a fool.

Although it seems unfair to us,
His hierarchy is for our best.
Let's fit ourselves into this mold,
the stronger over all the rest.

With few exceptions, this is how
the world has always handled power:
men controlling, some coercing,
leading 'til that final hour

when kingdom comes with brilliant light
exposing petty power plays
and all those men must give account
for carnal and not holy ways.

They've made the church a worldly place,
misrepresented God to all
as though He's partial to the strong
instead of lifting up the small.

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.)