In this article, Massimo Lorenzini attempts to lay out a biblical
theology of leadership that follows the major plotlines of the Bible: Creation,
Fall, Redemption, and New Creation. Lorenzini argues that God shares the
responsibility of ruling over creation with humanity and has delegated
authority and leadership to males, who are also given the authority to lead women.
As a team of divine image-bearers, Adam and Eve were to participate in two
things: dominion and multiplication. They were to multiply and reign over the
earth on God’s behalf. However, the Fall disrupted this cozy relationship and
now women have pain in childbirth (tainting “multiplication”) and men struggle
at work (tainting “dominion”). Redemption was accomplished through Jesus, who
restored the image of God in humanity, thereby allowing them to fulfill their original
mission through evangelism and procreation. This work will continue in the New Creation,
minus the sex and procreation.
While I appreciate this attempt to develop a biblical theology of leadership,
Lorenzini fails to grasp the subtleties of the Genesis narrative that question patriarchal
attitudes, which in turn questions a male-only leadership model in the church. For
example, Lorenzini mentions that Adam “naming” the animals demonstrates his authority
over them, just as Adam “naming” Eve demonstrates his authority over her. Curiously,
however, this “naming” does not happen until after sin has entered the world. In
spite of this, I do agree with Lorenzini that the most important leaders in the
Bible had three things in common: faith, obedience, and calling. We should pray
for the same!
Mine
ReplyDeleteI think that after I have spent a significant amount of time analyzing this issue separate from this article it has become harder and harder to differentiate where I started in my position concerning the debate and where I ended up. It is like staring a picture so long that you forget your initial reaction to it and you have so many people weighing in that it becomes hard to know if you are seeing clearly or merely replicating other’s thoughts. That being said, I think that trying to create a whole approach to leadership from Biblical texts on your own can be a daunting task. While I appreciate the simplicity of the discussion about women I found the different reasons for Man’s authority a little weak. I agree with you that there is more going on in the Genesis text.
ReplyDeleteThe main thrust of the article is leadership however and being reminded of the earliest directives of God has helped to refocus my thoughts on leadership. We can get really crazy with our theories and different applications but it simply comes down to this: Multiplication through child bearing and evangelism. Can’t get more basic than Tell people about Christ and make babies.