Should I Go Home? — Ami Loper

I’m one of those people who desire peace. I steer away from political and controversial discussions, except with a select few who are closest to me. I always try to see both sides of an argument and to find common ground where it exists.

But there is one thing that I desire even more than I desire peace: Truth.

And when truth is maligned, twisted, perverted, I find my desire for peace taking a backseat and my desire to not see lies propagated and people oppressed comes to the fore.

Over the last several days, I have gone back and forth with myself. Should I just stay on the sidelines or enter the fray, should I stay silent, or try to shed light where light is wanting? Do I have something valuable to add to the verbose dialogue?

Let me say first that I expect you to study out the Scriptures on your own. I will offer you what my extensive study over decades has shown, but I have no desire to persuade someone to violate their conscience. However, I do desire that believers do their own due diligence to find the truth, God’s truth, in this matter.

Next, let me say that I am repulsed by the spirit of pride that would rail against anyone who is trying to follow God wholeheartedly, no matter how in error they may be. I will not enter into that kind of disrespect or finger-pointing and I hope that others do not find this an occasion for anger, but for learning.

Finally, I will say that I have spent most of my life wrestling over this issue. I heard the call of God for my life at the age of five. I spent very many years being told that it wasn’t for me because of my gender. I spent many years believing that and feeling purposeless and unwanted. I laid it all back in God’s lap and told Him that if being His meant submitting to unfair treatment, prejudice and a life hidden away and voiceless, I would gladly take up that cross as millions of nameless and faceless women had done before me.

But God would not let me go quietly to my corner. He would not let me just go home.

He pursued me relentlessly. He juxtaposed the desire to spread the Gospel against the words others blasted me with until I had to get honest answers.

As an avid truth-lover, I could not be satisfied with answers that were anecdotal, or that dismissed Scripture or said Paul was just a male chauvinist. I needed to find absolute truth no matter where it led me.

What I found is rather amazing and I would love to share it with you. For the “troublesome” passages of Scripture (of which there are only two), I have outlined what is actually being said in the Greek and why it was being said. I also share several passages of Scripture that really shed light on God’s heart when you dig into the original language. I also found why church history tilted so strongly in this repressive direction.

I am not saying that I know all. I still dig in and find new things all the time. But isn’t that what the Christian walk is about: staying teachable and continually allowing the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to show us where we are in error, to allow the character of God revealed in the entirety of Scripture to reveal and remove our human biases?

Please click here to get the full study – to learn, to encourage others and to stand on the truth of God’s Word.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 

For more on being “Wave Walkers,” click HERE!