I just wanted to make a little note here for anyone listening about new ideas. We’re surrounded by them. We’re inundated with new Kickstarter projects and inventions. Shark Tank is one of the most popular TV shows because it’s full of new, clever inventions and ideas.    Some of you know that I shared a sermon this past week at our church that ruffled some feathers. Intentionally so. I was looking at how we interpret Scripture, and some of the more damaging ways to interpret it, and some of the more life-giving ways I’ve found to interpret it.    In it, the topics of slavery, animal sacrifice, women in leadership and homosexuality came up. All things in the Bible. All things that have verses that people can cite at a moments notice. But largely all things we’ve recognized to be artifacts of a day and age gone by.    No one is missing animal sacrifices, including the Jews. No one is missing slavery, except for maybe the former slave traders. No one wants to bar women from leadership in the church, except for perhaps the old guard… Men that are terrified of new ideas.    What happens when a new discovery takes place? What happens when all of a sudden, we learn something NEW about something we’ve always known. Young husbands think they’re God’s gift to their wife in bed… Only to slowly find out over the course of first few years of marriage that they have no idea what they’re doing, and none of that is pleasurable.   New information leads to new breakthrough. This is how it should be. We don’t let our close-mindedness keep us in the stone-age, of course.    We’ve learned new information about tiny, invisible bacteria living on our hands and potentially making us gravely ill… So we learn to wash our hands. It’s how humanity survives, thrives and evolves with the changing times. It’s a GOOD thing. I think it’s how God wired us.   So when new scholarship in the mid 1990s unveiled a look in the first century women and the lives they were living, it gave us new information with which to understand our Bibles. 1 Timothy clearly says the forbid women to speak in church, to cover their heads, to dress modestly, etc.    Timothy’s Church in Ephesus First century, around the year 60AD, in the mega-city of Ephesus.  Lots happening.  Timothy in Ephesus, Paul having to address false doctrines.  “Stay there in Ephesus to correct the false teachings.”  Largest city in Asia Minor, housed the temple of Diana (aka Artemis), goddess of fertility.   Bigger than a football field, gilded in silver and gold. Acts 19 talks about the people chanting, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Massive impact, this cult had on the city. It was a women-run temple--no men ran anything.     Artimis as origin of all lfe, paul says no adam first then eve And Eve was deceived, so she wasn't divine like the cult said   The women taught the religion of Diana, and had ritualistic prostitution.  The men could pay to have sex with these priestesses, and it was believed to increase a man's virility.   In this specific time and place, Ephesianwomen were associated with false teaching (the cult) and prostitution( the temple).  Women ruled, women did this.  But the women could fall into this b/c they were souneducated about the things of God.   So putting women into leadership of the church wouldn't just have beenunwise, it'd have been detrimental.        A.The Rise of the “New Roman Woman.” If you go way back in history, men controlled everything.   All the property, and even if they married a wealthy woman who brought lots of property into the marriage, all of thatpropertybecame the husband's.  If they got divorced, she left with nothing. Also, it was assumed that men might havea mistress or two on the side,but wives were expected to be faithful and chaste.  That was the assumption.  Up to this point, Ancient history was male dominated, and extremely patriarchal.   In the 1st C BC tho, due to increased wealth flowing into Rome and political instability resulting from civil wards, the social environment began changing and women from elite families gained political influence. Limiting laws on women were relaxed. Many wars separated women from their soldiering husbands, fathers, and sons. Result was a more public presence of women—esp. the wealthy, within the social and political arenas.  Poets Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus and the lawyer Cicero all describe this woman: wealth, clout, disregard for traditional social customs. The poets all praised extramarital affairs. The men sought adventure not on the battlefield or in the senate, but in a personal tryst with married women.    But In 44BC, the Roman senate changed the law.   They said a woman could keep her own property when she got married.   If she got divorced, she could take out what she brought in.   It created a Women's Liberation movement.  For the first time, women weren't dependent on their husbands.  Some of these wealthy women said they don't just want financial freedom, they wantall of the same freedoms.  So these wealthy women started takingyoung loverson the side.  And couples began encouraging each other in thisopen marriage, swinging, lifestyles.     Plutarch : “She must accept her husband’s extramarital sexual activities with good grace and not let such behaviors push her toward divorce." “The husband may enjoy sex with others (except married women), but should avoid provoking his wife to jealousy."   Also, women began to reject the role of Mother, and so you seethe rise of abortions for the new roman woman.   They'd dress extravagantly.  Gold in their hair, pearls, gowns covered with jewels.   You could tell what a woman's attitude was towards marriage and abortion, just by looking at what she wore.  In the 1st Century: you were what you wore.     Finally, these new roman women weren't just known for the immodesty and immorality, but also known for their brash outspokenness.  Roman Historians tell us that these women would challenge philosophers in the Symposia, and some of them would stand up and shout down philosophers, even rushing the stage and taking over.   Any time a new idea makes us angry, we need to seriously evaluate our hearts. Why would a new idea make you angry?    It could confuse you, sure. That’s fine.  It could intrigue you. Great.  It could draw you in to investigate further and research and learn more from more resources… Or, it could just make you angry and resentful.    I’ve found that the women that had questions following my sermon have come forward with genuine intrigue and honest searching, and we’ve had kind, fruitful, unifying conversations. The men were slightly different. Slightly more… angry.   If new ideas make you angry, it says far more about YOUR insecurities than it does about the new idea.    If someone knocked on my door today and proposed that Elyse and I join their open marriage and we start living in polamory, I would be seriously surprised, I would be confused, but I wouldn’t be angry. I would only be angry if my marriage was already on the rocks and I was insecure that Elyse might actually leave me…    If you study the great spiritual teachers, both contemporary and historical, you’ll find a common thread between them of openness, inclusivism, and deep consideration of other spiritual paths… They honor one another. They aren’t afraid of one another. They sit on stage with each other and have panel discussions about things that matter, inter-faith dialogue, things that further the human understand and collective consciousness… Not words of division or fear.    If you’re a person that finds yourself on the front edge of anything… You’ll have new ideas. You’ll perhaps be the tip of the spear or the first person to share these new ideas. Maybe pitching the idea to your board of directors, or your boss, or someone you respect… And they might respond in a way that hurts you.    You can bet that someone approached the CEO of Blockbuster 10 years ago to talk about streaming services, and maybe he responded with anger. “THAT’S NOT WHAT WE DO! WE’RE A VIDEO RENTAL STORE!”    Maybe true of Toys-R-Us, or Sears, or any other company that handled new information poorly.    I guess it’s worth noting that nothing I shared in that sermon was new. Not even close. Some of these ideas come straight from Desert Fathers and Mothers in the first centuries. And I guess I should also say that none of the response has hurt me, personally. I’m recognizing how stuck some people are, and how afraid they are that adjusting a single string in the tapestry will cause the whole thing to unravel… Which I just cannot agree to believe. This is way too big and beautiful to ever be unraveled by a few new (or not so new) ideas.    Be encouraged, be empowered, and let’s keep moving humanity in the right direction.    I love you, make it a good day.