Beth Moore
Disentangling from some underlying sexism
Our family was living in the United Arab Emirates when I first heard of Beth Moore, sometime around 2001. I served as youth pastor at the United Christian Church of Dubai and my wife, Beth, was invited to a women’s Bible study. She came home with the workbook for Beth Moore’s study, Jesus, the One and Only. Our international congregation had a number of families from the Southern U.S. working in the oil industry, so the choice for the study had a decidedly Southern Baptist flavor, but Moore’s compelling teaching and in-depth study materials crossed cultural boundaries.
Beth (my wife) often shared the materials and insights from that study and others through the years. As clips from Moore’s teaching ministry became more accessible on the internet, I was able to observe for myself her deep love for Scripture and her stellar capacity for biblical teaching. I was impressed by her ministry and its impact on my wife and other women, but I didn’t necessarily see it as being applicable to my life.
My journey out of complementarianism (a theological perspective that emphasizes male “headship” and restricts roles like pastor to men) took longer than I care to admit. But for now, it’s relevant because of the sad reality that for many years I saw Beth Moore’s scholarship and teaching ministry as primarily being only for women. I lament that.
Thankfully, God’s patient, prophetic, and persistent work in my life has disentangled me from that perspective, and Moore’s voice has been a key witness in that process. In 2016 she caught my attention when she spoke out against Donald Trump’s candidacy following the infamous Access Hollywood tapes in which he bragged about sexual assault.
The backlash against Beth Moore from much of the Evangelical community was swift. She would reflect on it eighteen months later in a powerful piece entitled, “A Letter to My Brothers.” The entire piece is well worth your time, but I want to highlight two paragraphs here:
“Then early October 2016 surfaced attitudes among some key Christian leaders that smacked of misogyny, objectification and astonishing disesteem of women and it spread like wildfire. It was just the beginning. I came face to face with one of the most demoralizing realizations of my adult life: Scripture was not the reason for the colossal disregard and disrespect of women among many of these men. It was only the excuse. Sin was the reason. Ungodliness.
“This is where I cry foul and not for my own sake. Most of my life is behind me. I do so for the sake of my gender, for the sake of our sisters in Christ and for the sake of other female leaders who will be faced with similar challenges. I do so for the sake of my brothers because Christlikeness is at stake and many of you are in positions to foster Christlikeness in your sons and in the men under your influence. The dignity with which Christ treated women in the Gospels is fiercely beautiful and it was not conditional upon their understanding their place.” (Beth Moore, May 2018)
Moore would continue to be marginalized and disenfranchised from her own denomination, not only for her prophetic voice regarding Trump’s character, but for her courage in calling for Evangelical repentance regarding racism and her continued advocacy for victims of church abuse.
In early 2023 she released a memoir, All My Knotted-Up Life. The book blends her characteristic humor and poignant reflection to look back over her life and ministry. She traces out the themes of messy history, trauma and resilience, enduring faith, and church culture. It is astonishingly honest and resists painting anyone as exclusively good or evil. For example, Moore describes her Nanny (maternal grandmother) with deep love, but honest abhorrence for the racist perspectives Nanny held. She describes her father’s abuse honestly, but reflects charitably on him as she describes his final moments and death.
(image from Amazon.com)
It’s interesting that Moore uses the metaphor of “knots” as she reflects on her life. That adds poignancy to her voice in my life as I disentangle a few knots of my own.
Moore’s candor and enduring faith cause me to be more aware of the resilient faith of women in my life. Her writing has convicted me of the sexist underpinnings of some of my theological perspectives. She has deepened my appreciation for the pastoral, prophetic gifts of women in the church and in society.
I long to have the humble, grace-filled, gritty faith and hope that has compelled Beth Moore and that reflects Christ so courageously. And I’m grateful for her witness as I do a little more disentangling in my pursuit of Christ.
Here are a couple of links to consider:
In response to Moore’s blog, “A Letter to My Brothers”, Dr. Thabiti Anyabwile wrote a powerful reply. You can find that here:
An Apology to Beth Moore and My Sisters
In my next post I’ll share a little bit about the prophetic witness of two students and the pastoral voice they introduced me to - Sarah Bessey.