Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 04:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: A Pastoral Strategy For Cultivating Complementarity In The Congregation
Author: Todd R. Chipman

Eikon 4.1 (Spring 2022) p. 94

A Pastoral Strategy For Cultivating Complementarity In The Congregation

Todd Chipman

Todd R. Chipman (Ph.D.) is the Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as Teaching Pastor at The Master’s Community Church (SBC).

A Pastoral Strategy For Cultivating Complementarity In The Congregation

I have recently completed my twenty-first year as the teaching pastor at the Master’s Community Church. As I look to the next twenty, I want to be more strategic about cultivating complementarity. I am concerned not just for the health of families in my church, though complementarity establishes a framework for that, nor am I concerned only with men and women living according to Scripture’s teaching on gender roles. I am concerned for the place of Scripture in the life of the local church. In 2008, Mark Dever observed that complementarity is a watershed doctrine by which one can see if an individual or organization accommodates Scripture to culture or culture to Scripture.1 Dever’s observation holds today, evidenced by evangelical feminists like Beth Allison Barr’s recent reluctance to publicly subscribe to the Chicago Statement on Inerrancy when given the opportunity.2

Eikon 4.1 (Spring 2022) p. 95

Since the founding of CBMW, evangelical feminism has not subsided,3 and gender confusion in society has exploded. As noted by Kevin DeYoung in Men and Women in the Church,4 today, as much as ever, those concerned for biblical complementarity need to lead with conviction and clarity. Here, I list six action steps pastors might take as they cultivate a culture of complementarity in the local church.

Stable Church Ministry And Complementarity

First, I call pastors to maintain their posts. In a culture of relational fluidity, the longterm pastorate provides depth to the relational roots necessary for a church to adopt and sustain complementarity despite the cultural pressure to compromise and go with the flow. An “I’m-Still-Here” mentality stabilizes a ministry in many ways — including how a congregation views gender roles and family. I recently visited with a pastor friend who has also been at his church for close to two decades. We walked down memory lane and shook our heads at how much Western culture has changed in such a short time (though, as Carl Trueman notes, the philosophical foundation was being poured already in the mid-eighteenth century).You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe