We live in a culture that is becoming increasingly antagonistic to our Biblical faith. The strong influences of our secular society is increasingly pushing the faith of God to the limits. To the relativist, the feminist and the secularist – the Biblical faith, with all of its commandments and prohibitions, is a threat to the new social liberties of this generation.
The growing, universal shift on the role of women in the church continues to spread as Gerhard Feige, a Roman Catholic Bishop in Germany, claims that female priests are coming to the Catholic Church. He believes that the church’s long-standing tradition of an all-male priesthood will not be able to stop the soon, coming changes. [1]
Bishop Feige’s words came during an interview just two weeks ago with NHA, a well-known German news agency. He defends the ordination of women into the Catholic priesthood by saying that “it is not convincing anymore to rigorously reject it (women’s ordination) and merely to argue with the help of tradition.” Bishop Feige did lament the fact that under the current circumstances women are not being ordained to the Catholic priesthood but he expressed that “it will come, however.” [1]
Bishop Feige’s conviction that women’s ordination is inevitable is a belief that is shared across many denominational lines. Many church leaders are looking to the growing trends in our world and are trying to see how the church of God can fit inside the current cultural context.
God’s faithful people throughout history have never attempted to adapt to the surrounding influences of their day, and we must not allow the prevailing culture to influence us. This does not mean that we retreat and go into hiding. As children of God, we have a duty to not only engage our culture but also to convert its people to Jesus Christ. The Holy Scriptures clearly forbid us from adopting the customs of this world:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18:1-5.
Is that not clear enough? In the time of Moses and all the way up until the days of Jesus women priestesses were very common in almost every pagan tradition. In Babylon, Egypt, Rome and in other ancient societies women priestesses were the standard. When Moses established Judaism and when Jesus established Christianity they both rejected the world’s standard and adopted an all-male priesthood. Why? Because God did not want them to follow the examples of the surrounding nations. [2] [3]
We too must be able to preserve both our faith and our high public witness in whatever culture we live in – just and Daniel did in Babylon and Mordecai did in Medo-Persia. We are strangers in this land and we must resist every attempt to mix our faith with the popular sentiments found in our pluralistic society. The pure faith of God’s people only becomes diluted whenever it is blended together with the latest fads and expressions found in our world.
Sources
[1] https://www.ltw.org/read/articles/2018/03/whats-the-problem-with-women-in-the-pulpit
[2]
http://adventmessenger.org/radical-feminism-is-making-inroads-into-the-seventh-day-adventist-church/
[3]
http://adventmessenger.org/the-north-american-divisions-plan-to-establish-an-order-of-priestesses/
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