What Would You Have Done?

[Richard OFfill]

There was recently an Ordination/Commissioning service at a large gathering in Melbourne, Australia. Elder Wilson the president of the General Conference was there. He was asked to do the prayer.

Spectrum reports on what happened at : http://spectrummagazine.org/blog/2011/12/06/woman-pastor-set-aside-australia

Please read what happened and I would appreciate your comments. An old hunter would say that it was a 'trap'. How do you see it?

[Raven]

It does appear to have been a set up.  I think he did the best he could under the circumstances.  I posted a comment over on Spectrum, using a pseudonym, of course  (can't have them tracking me down). 

[Larry Lyons]

It appears to me that it was a trap. Was the platform so crowded that she couldn't have politely moved away? Ted Wilson handled it well under the circumstances. 

[newbie]

a very awkward situation 

[Carl]

If Wilson is on the side of truth, he must stand his ground even though the 99% start throwing rocks. And let those who are scheming such things search their own hearts with repentance in mind.

[Larry Lyons]

If Wilson is on the side of truth, he must stand his ground even though the 99% start throwing rocks. And let those who are scheming such things search their own hearts with repentance in mind.

Carl, I think God put the right man at the right time in as GC President. Those who would move the church in un-biblical directions are becoming more open about who they are and where they stand. Wilson obviously has a lot of opposition. He needs our prayers.

[Adriftfeline HSDA]

One the one hand, I agree with President Wilson's stand; that he must be as polite as possible, given the situation, without seeming to condone the practice of women's ordination.  On the other hand, if I were in his position, I would have kindly sought her out afterwards to explain my take on the situation and assure her nothing was intentionally done to hurt or to condemn her personally.  This would have been a kind gesture and who knows, he may have  already done that. 

Now, one little detail in the article did catch my eye.  The author seems to set the stage in creating unnecessary sympathy for the lady candidate by giving a lot of history about her background.  The trials and hardships she endured for the Lord makes the reader feel as though she's perfectly justified to receive ordination as a woman; and that to deny her such a deserved honor would be heartless.  Isn't it interesting how those who take a stand for truth can be demonized even amongst their own professed believers?  I find this type of 're-framing' in the Progressive Adventist movement far more often than among conservative circles.

[Raven]

I've noticed that among "progressives" the concept of love and acceptance is emphasized a lot, and it's often in connection with criticism leveled at those who are opposed to women's ordination or homosexuality, to name two of the more prominent issues.  The implication is that if we don't approve of these things we are not Christlike.  My response to that is to point out that they would likely have been among the first to condemn Jesus for His intolerance towards the vendors selling their wares in the temple court.  They would also probably not appreciated Moses' "lack of self control" when he "overreacted" to the incident of the golden calf.  The people were just getting their "felt needs" met. 

[V. Hahn]

How right you are! Amen!

[Larry Lyons]

Clearly there was more than meets the eye on this occasion. I believe somebody deliberately engineered this awkward situation. I am impressed by the way Elder Wilson handled things. I am an African living in the UK and the leadership here has successfully managed to convince the majority that people who are opposed to women ordination are Africans who are holding on to their cultural practices of oppressing women. What I find most annoying with this insinuation is that it is based on the notion that Africans cannot have a theological position that is scriptural - they are only influenced by their culture! How patronising!
By the way there are many Godly women out there who are working for the Lord. One does NOT need to be a pastor or elder to work for the Lord. In fact, there are many MEN who have never been ordained as elders or pastors (I am one of them) but yet still continue to work for the Lord.
As Carl put it, the truth doesn't need the majority on its side in order to remain true - the Truth IS the majority. "And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." (2nd Kings 6:17). Read 'Ted Wilson' for 'Elisha' here.

Bhekimpilo, it is interesting that women's ordination supporters use the argument to accuse Africans of being culturally biased. In fact, in their attempt to biblically justify women's ordination, it is necessary for them to use the historical/critical, or as it is sometimes called, the "higher critical" method of Bible interpretation. That method is inconsistent with the "historical/grammatical" method accepted by the Seventh-day Adventist church and by the Protestant Reformers.  The historical/critical method is a pick and choose method in which the Bible student can decide what parts of the Bible may be applicable to us and which parts are "culturally biased" and can be ignored or rejected.They often claim that Paul was culturally biased towards women and his statements that reserve positions of spiritual leadership for men and not women do not apply today.

The truth is unpopular in this age of political correctness.