"Passive Complementarians"

[The following is excerpted from Wayne Grudem's Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism: Biblical Responses to the Key Questions, 298-300.]

As egalitarians attempt to gain influence in Christian organizations, they have two significant allies. The first is secular culture, which in its more prominent expressions is strongly opposed to the authority of the Word of God, strongly opposed to the idea that any positions in society should be restricted to men, strongly opposed to the family as God created it to function, and (in many quarters) strongly opposed to authority in general. I recognize that not all people in our secular culture hold these positions, but a very influential part of our culture does, especially in highly influential areas of the media, the entertainment industry, and secular universities.

The second ally of egalitarianism is a large group of Christian leaders who believe that the Bible teaches a complementarian position but who lack the courage to teach about it or take a stand in favor of it. They are silent, "passive complementarians" who, in the face of relentless egalitarian pressure to change their organizations, simply give in more and more to appease a viewpoint that they privately believe the Bible does not teach.

How different was the ministry of the apostle Paul! He did not lack courage to stand up for unpopular teachings of God's Word....If the apostle Paul were alive today, planting churches and overseeing leaders in those churches, would he counsel them to shrink back from speaking and teaching clearly about biblical roles for men and women? Would he counsel them to shrink back from giving a clear testimony of God's will concerning one of the most disputed and yet most urgent topics in our entire society? Would he tell pastors simply to be silent about this topic so that there could be "peace in our time" in our churches and so that the resolution of the controversy would be left for others at another time and another place?