It was destined to be an extraordinary day at the temple. Peter had just healed an adult man who was crippled from the time he was a child. And now he and John were telling people about Jesus and his resurrection. The people assembled there were listening because of what they had seen.

Guards always get suspicious when a group of people are intently listening to one person speak, so they slipped closer to hear what was being said, and then reported back to their captain. As you can guess, the captain of the guards did not like what they were saying so he came over to have a little chat with them. They not only chatted, but the guard took them and put them in prison overnight.

“By what power are you doing these things?” they asked Peter and John the next day.

Peter looked them in the eye and said that it was by the power of Jesus Christ, whom they had killed, but who had been resurrected, and now they were able to do this good deed in his name (Acts 3, 4:1-18).

Uh oh.

If these unschooled and untrained men were able to do this, then what else could they do? After all, these men had been with Jesus.

So they talked, and they talked some more, and came up with the only thing they could think of: “in order that it may not be spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to any man in this name.”

Peter and John said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge.”

Like Peter and John, we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.

We are empowered by the same Source. Like Peter, we, too, have walked with Jesus. Peter and John could not quit telling about Jesus. They were told to stop, but they could not, because they were just getting started. We who believe in equality, cannot quit now as the battle is not yet won for women’s equality. We, too, have been with Jesus. Saved by the blood of the lamb and a witness to what he has done through his Word, and to how he has spoken to us.

Will you join me and speak up for equality for Christian women? We cannot stop speaking and telling others that Christian women can be elders, deacons, and pastors of churches, serving as God calls them. We are ready for the new song.

Women are told they are equal-but they have different functions. That theology is not found in the bible, but it determines the roles women are allowed in the church, and even extends inside their own homes. We know women have different functions, but whether or not they lift the toilet ring is not a spiritual function, and should not be the criteria for leadership roles.

The church, which should have been the first to recognize women’s equality, has proven to be the last holdout against women.

Women are beginning to question this theology. It is time we called pastors and seminary professors to account for their teaching. Christian women also need to account for neglecting their responsibility to themselves, and to their daughters, and to other women. Women need to get off their equal-buts and speak up and do something. Men need to take their place alongside women, not in front of women.

See Shirley Taylor in Baptizing Feminism Documentary Trailer.

Books by Shirley Taylor available in Print and Kindle on Amazon

The Biblical Marriage Myth: The Devil Comes Calling
The Power of a Book: The Street Evangelist
From Wife to Widow: What I know Now
Beyond the Grave: A Christian Dilemma
Raising the Hood: A Christian Look at Manhood and Womanhood
Women Equal – No Buts: Powered by the same Source
Dethroning Male Headship: 2nd Edition