Priesthood and Men

In a previous post, Priestesses Revisited, I commented on the iconographic nature of priesthood. The male priest stands in for the Christ the High Priest/Bridegroom/Son of God. Maleness is prerequisite if our picture of ultimate reality is to be accurate. Further reflection on the Bible and the nature of men reveals that maleness involves narrative as well as image. Ephesians 5 is a starting point: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself….This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church (5:25-32 NKJ).This passage links the vocation of a husband with the priestly sacrifice of Christ. Christ presents the true image of the priest/husband/bridegroom, and marriage reenacts the narrative of redemption—hopefully. The other possible narratives flow in two opposite directions. On one extreme is the abusive husband who takes advantage of his wife for his own good. On the other extreme is the abdicating husband who checks out of his responsibilities and leaves his wife alone. In ordaining only male priests the church is insisting on the biblical narrative. Christ dying for his bride is the authentic pattern for every priest in relationship to his church and every husband in relationship to his wife. This is what a man/priest/husband/bridegroom is supposed to be and do. If we do not insist upon the biblical pattern, we get something undesirable in its place. We have gotten far too much of it. By nature men want to fight a battle. Heroically fighting against evil and for the woman is man’s true identity; the original sin was man’s first abdication. Historically in the church the spiritual life was articulated as a battle against the enemies of the soul—the world, the flesh and the devil. Saints were heroes of spiritual warfare. In recent times the battle motif has given way to softer themes. There is no battle to fight and no beauty to win. Consequently, men understand that they are not really needed in church—and they have fled the church as a result. They can be found fighting battles on the golf course, in the gym, at the sports bar and in various other challenging pursuits. The problem is this. When these lesser battles are not informed by a man’s participation in the larger cosmic battle, a man begins to fight for all the wrongs things. His fight becomes inconsequential, self-absorbed and tragic, not heroic.In spite of all the talk about the need for women’s equality in the church, the truth is that the church has been a very inhospitable place for men. Priestesses and the feminization of spirituality compound this problem. The church needs the men to imitate Christ by dying for the bride, and men need the church to insist that they fight the right battle. Neither the church nor the men will thrive apart from each other. Thus, the church must call men to the spiritual battle. It must tell them they are needed as priests and husbands in the image of Christ. It must challenge the men live to that standard; and it must not pretend that anyone else can take their place.