Beth Moore & an Overcomer's Memoir

 We buy lots of books, some of them of them brand-spanking new, and others pre-loved, often from Tamworth Bookshop, a true gem. As I write I also have a stack of library books which I've picked up because of positive reviews as well as those "never in a million years" titles which I can return without spending a Bluenose dime. 

One of the latter is Beth Moore's memoir, All My Knotted-Up Life. Moore has been around seemingly forever as a superstar in evangelical women's circles. Her books have been wildly popular and at the height of her popularity she could fill stadiums with audiences of 10,000, mostly women. 

Beth would tell you that all this happened by the grace of God and the love of Jesus after an early life which involved terrible sexual abuse and teen years that teetered on the edge. Her message of finding a way forward through that grace and love resonated with a lot of people, and that's a gift.

So, what was the "never in a million years" resistance? I have been aware of Moore through the years and figured that she was a leading light in the tribe of the big-haired women of a Southern Baptist persuasion. Actually she was, unapologetically. This is a culture all of its own. A member of one of my congregations who isn't afraid of being expressive in worship and praise decided to attend one of these huge women's conferences, in Texas no less. She headed off with an open mind and came back figuring she'd been on another planet, not just another country.

I heard Beth Moore in an interview about her memoir on CBC radio and I realized that I had been wrong about her, perhaps based on her Barbie-esque appearance and my abhorrence of the misogynistic, patriarchal  "whited sepulchre" theology of the Southern Baptist hierarchy. 

I was also aware by the time of the interview that she hadn't just fallen from Southern Baptist grace, she had been spat out by the denomination she'd loved. Her sin? She had criticized Donald Trump after his October 2016 conversation with an Access Hollywood host came to light. You remember the one where he talked about nonchalantly sexually assaulting women as the host chuckled in the background. 

Moore was entirely correct in her assessment as a Christian of Trump yet almost immediately she was vilified by supposed Christians who had upheld a stifling purity culture for decades.In my view it was always about male control rather than purity. Lots of male Southern Baptist leaders mocked her, speaking engagements were cancelled, women --women!--discarded her books or sent them back. Suddenly her staff were fielding non-stop, abusive, shouting phonecalls.

In her assessment of what happened she came to the realization that through the years she had been ready to accept the iffy theology of male headship but as she grew in her own theological understanding that it was a biblical house of cards. For a long time certain male leaders had treated her with a thinly veiled, "just joking" contempt, even when they were introducing her to crowds there to hear and see her. 

Eventually Beth decided to leave the Southern Baptist Convention and eventually, thanks to her husband, found her way to a relatively small Episcopalian congregation where they have been accepted and loved and included. 

I have to say that Beth Moore is a strong story-teller in an easy-going but insightful style. The way she recounts the terror of first attending a liturgical church and the dawning of a new beginning in her life is just plain moving. I realize that part of my under-estimation of her came from that Jesus Barbie look, but she had a depth and intelligence reminiscent of Dolly Parton, another blonde who is smart, generous and funny -- yes, Moore is also funny.

Come to think of it, Barbie is having her day as a unexpected feminist icon thanks to the film which is the first directed by a woman to reach a billion dollars in box office and has done so after only a couple of weeks in release. I hope that the Southern Baptist misogynists are choking on that one. 

A quick note: we have Southern Baptist family members who are loving, caring people, although we just avoid religion and politics when we spend time together. 

As a "going to hell in a handbasket" liberal Christian I offer a heartfelt "god bless" to Beth Moore. For being an "overcomer", and for her honesty and courage as a follower of Christ.