Dr. Elizabeth "Betsy" Glanville, Director of Doctoral Studies,
Assistant Professor of Leadership, Fuller Theological Seminary, School of
Intercultural Studies, Pasadena, USA.
E-mail:
sis-docdir@dept.fuller.edu
Abstract
Breaking the Dividing Walls: A Theological Reflection
Globalization is becoming more and more a reality that cannot
be ignored by the church. Increasingly, we are being faced with differences in
cultures, race, ethnicity, gender roles, and life experiences that the church
has been able to ignore in the past. Also, the shift of the center of
Christianity is increasingly moving towards the Southern Hemisphere and away
from the traditional centers of Europe and North America which is introducing
multiple new perspectives. How are we, as a church, as followers of Jesus Christ,
going to deal with these differences? How can we value differences without
either placing them in a ranking order or trying to manipulate them to become
like something we recognize in our context?
Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20-26 is that his disciples would be one just like he
was one with the Father. Not only would they be one with one another and the
Godhead, but also with those who would follow and believe as a result of the
testimony of the disciples. This then raises questions about how we can
experience this kind of oneness without the obliteration of differences. If the
Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one, yet each maintains a definite
uniqueness, can we also understand and value our differences?
These are the questions I want to address in this paper beginning with the
perspective of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as he describes the breaking down
of the dividing walls between Jews and Gentiles. I am particularly interested in
the application of this passage to the understanding and valuing of differences
in our leaders, and more specifically, as it relates to gender differences and
women involved in the ministry of the church, both in positional leadership and
volunteer or lay leadership.