Slippery Slopes: A discerning look at Jen Wilkin, part 1

By Elizabeth Prata

Discernment is a moving target. It’s never settled. Different teachers and pastors move behind different biblical boundaries, they change. Just because someone used to be good doesn’t mean we never take another look as time goes by.

For example, Jen Wilkin used to be solid. Now she’s not.

Recently a video clip surfaced of author, Bible teacher, and Executive Director of The Village Institute, Jen Wilkin. Wilkin is considered solid. Her 2014 freshman book, Women of the Word is used widely. She is a vocal proponent of complementarianism, the biblical concept of the living out the different but complementary roles God has set for women and men. She is a staff member and a congregant at one of the campuses of Matt Chandler’s Village Church. Mrs Wilkin is also a sought-after speaker at national conferences and podcasts.

However, in this clip of which I’ll speak, Wilkin was educating a gathering of male pastors and church planters on the topic of “Women in Church Planting: Understanding women as central to the mission.” Teaching a male audience violates 1 Timothy 2:12. Further, as part of her lesson, she eisegeted a woman’s menstrual period. She said that women “understand the Gospel” differently because of it, and intimated that because women ‘are wrapped in female flesh’ we have special insight into Jesus because of this fleshly parable of the monthly “shedding of blood for the renewal of life”. Transcript and video clip will be in part 2. Thus, her gender politics were evident, another shock. What is going on? That is what this and the next essay is about.

Eisegesis is when you apply a topic, thought, or narrative INTO the text and shape your talk according to your presupposed concepts, manipulating the Bible to fit it. The proper way to handle God’s word is to exegete it, or draw out of the text (ex-) its intended meaning.

Needless to say, the earthquake the video caused was thunderous. Social media was abuzz, stunned at what had previously been seen as a solid teacher speaking of such things casually, unbiblically, eisegetically, and to a room full of men, no less.

Is it time to look into the teachings of Mrs Jen Wilkin? It seems so. Subsequently I was asked to look into her biblical positions and her activities, in a discernment review.

Jen Wilkin: Pros

As for Jen Wilkin, I admire her emphasis that we should teach through books of the Bible, not relying on canned curricula. I also admire her desire to bring to women a cohesive understanding of the Bible and its overarching message. Mrs Wilkin proclaims a strong complementarian stance. She is passionate about women receiving a proper theological education. There is no doubt that Mrs Wilkin is intelligent and well spoken.

We should compare what people say with what they do. Talking is easy. Does the person follow through with a lifestyle that demonstrates her proclaimed stances? For example, many complementarian women say they “don’t want to be pastors,” including Mrs Wilkin. This is good, it’s not biblical for women to lead a church. But they stop short of true complementarian doctrine when they go on to teaching men anyway. 1 Timothy 2:12 says “I do not allow a woman to teach or assume authority over a man, she is to be quiet.” (NIV). Teaching men or a co-ed audience in church or at conferences violates this verse.

In the next part I will examine the now-infamous menstruation clip. In part 3 I will look at Jen Wilkin’s recent activities to see whether they line up with her proclaimed complementarian stance. I’ll also look at Jen’s continual insistence that adding women to the teaching staff “is not a slippery slope”. (Hint: It is).

In a follow up to these three parts of my discernment review, I discovered her lessons on “Redefining the Story of Rahab.” Ladies, any time you see someone, man or women, redefining anything from orthodoxy, be wary. Her Rahab lesson includes promotion of situational ethics but it gives me a chance to write about proper treatment of handling material. I’ll write that follow up soon.