Are Egalitarians Gender Blind? (Kelly Edmiston)

By Kelly Edmiston

Are Egalitarians “Gender-Blind?”

In an article published on May 23, from The Gospel Coalition (TGC), Trevin Wax made some concerning statements regarding gender blindness, gender roles, and the potential implications for the Church. I pose these concerns as a woman, an egalitarian, a female leader, and a lead pastor who has been in the middle of these “women’s issues” conversations for two decades now.

Wax begins with an attack on “a significant segment of the left,” who in Wax’s estimation, stand “forcefully against the idea of ‘color blindness’ regarding race” but adopt ‘gender blindness’ regarding sex.” (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/world-cannot-gender-blind/)

In the article, Wax uses a constitutional vote that occurred in Ireland as a case study to make his point.  The Irish people voted against using the gender-neutral term “Care Giver” and opted instead to use the gendered term “Mom” within the constitution to “highlight the dignity of a woman’s life within the home’.”  If you want to read about the Irish Constitution, you can do that here: https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html#article41

Wax elevates the Irish as being an example of how to reject “gender blindness.” He does this while not so subtly pointing the finger at egalitarians while he promotes TGC’s long-held belief that patriarchy is a part of God’s created order:

While the church has, at times, exaggerated gender distinctions in a way that minimizes our equal worth as image-bearers of God, the culture right now diminishes our image-bearing identity by reframing “equality” as flattening distinctions between men and women, as if mothers and fathers, or men and women, are interchangeable in all aspects that really matter to society.

The first, and most troubling, concern I have is in Mr. Wax’s use of the pronoun “our” in the sentence above. What I want to know from Mr. Wax is, when have you had your image-bearing qualities diminished in any church? When has your equal worth to others been a question or debate or topic of a church split? In my 20 years in vocational ministry,  I have never seen a white male excluded from any role because of his maleness. What am I missing here?

This male-centric approach to the “separate but equal” theology that supports patriarchy is typical for those still hoping for a resurrection of the “trad wife. ”(I write more on the “trad wife” and how “new” she is here)

The second concern I have about this argument is Wax’s use of the term “gender-blindness.” Here is how the Cambridge Dictionary defines gender-blindness:

… not considering whether someone is male or female when making a decision, for example about who gets a job or acting part, or when providing a service.

Some definitions of gender blindness include “discrimination against,” based on gender, when making a decision. Some definitions include “make no distinction between genders.” To be sure, egalitarians do not believe that there are no “gender distinctions.” We simply believe that these distinctions should not be grounds for discrimination in the workplace, in the family, and most especially not in the Church. We believe that “God’s good design” involves the equality of all God’s children, equal in value and equal in role.

You are all God’s children through faith in Christ Jesus. All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Now if you belong to Christ, then indeed you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:26-28).

Those of us “far left” Christians whom Wax calls “gender blind” and who hold to this inclusive theology have learned that women who are gifted to preach, teach, lead, and cast vision, are not only invited to do so in God’s economy, but are expected to do so. As image-bearers, heirs of Christ, and those called according to the promise. We have been gifted to lead and this gifting will remain as a ‘fire in our bones’ until we (and all) are willing to cooperate with the Spirit’s work in and through us. We too have been given the Holy Spirit, as the believers were on the day of Pentecost, and that Spirit is still to this day “gender blind,” “color blind,” and “ethnicity blind.” On that day of Pentecost, the Spirit did not discriminate against men, women, young, old, Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans and Arabs and neither do we. (Acts 2:9-11) This Spirit is far less interested in what biology a person has and infinitely more interested in how a person uses that biology for the sake of the Kingdom of God. This Spirit is less concerned with a cultural construct such as a “stay-at-home mom” or a “stay-at-home dad” and more concerned with how a person is using whatever vocation they are in to glorify God. (Does Mr. Wax and the others exalting ‘Suzy Home Maker’ know that the stay-at-home parent phenomenon is only about 75 years old?)

The Holy Spirit prompts all people to consider, not how can we be “gender-blind” but instead to ask, How can each of us fully embody our unique expression of gender, ethnicity, race, background, and social status for the sake of the Kingdom of God?

If Wax accuses this “far left,” female pastor, egalitarian leader of being gender blind under this radically inclusive, Spirit-empowered definition, then sign me up.