Discussion Questions

Finny described his wife reading 1 Corinthians 11 at the gym, weeping, and saying, “I’m not doing this,” even though “nearly all” the commentaries they read dismissed it as “just something for that culture”; what does that moment reveal about how God confronts us through Scripture, and how do you discern whether your discomfort is the Spirit’s conviction or simply fear of social consequences? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does that gym moment show about how God can challenge us through the Bible? How can you tell if your discomfort is the Holy Spirit convicting you or just fear of what people will think?

Finny defined “your heart of hearts” as “the part of yourself you can’t lie to”; when you think about practices like head covering that invite “shame” and “insults from friends [and] family,” what inner voices compete inside you (reputation, comfort, theological frameworks), and what would it look like to let the “heart of hearts” be re-trained by Scripture rather than protected by self-preservation? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When a practice might bring shame or insults, what voices inside you speak the loudest (reputation, comfort, your beliefs)? What would it look like to let Scripture reshape your deepest honesty instead of protecting yourself?

He insisted on reading with a “childlike attitude” that receives God’s Word “even when it doesn’t make sense,” illustrating it with his four-year-old believing toys would “explode”; where do you see yourself demanding “why” before obeying, and how might that requirement be a hidden way of treating God as if He must prove He is “reasonable” before He is trustworthy? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where do you refuse to obey God until you get a clear “why”? Could that be a way of saying God must make sense to you before you trust Him?

Finny compared political and sports tribalism—people becoming “utterly convinced because of what they want to believe to be true”—to how Christians can approach biblical texts; what are concrete signs that you are “making anything to be true” in your interpretation of gender, authority, and church practice, and how can a group actually guard against that self-deception? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What are some clear signs you’re twisting the Bible to fit what you already want on gender, authority, or church practices? What could your group do to help each other not fool yourselves?

In 1 Corinthians 11:2, Finny emphasized “traditions” (paradosis/“ordinance”) as apostolic commands that come from “outside” our reasoning, and he linked it to 2 Thessalonians 3:6 where Paul says to “withdraw” from brothers not walking according to the tradition; how does that level of seriousness challenge modern evangelical instincts that treat many New Testament practices as optional or symbolic, and what does it suggest about how early Christians thought obedience related to fellowship? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does Paul treating “traditions” as serious commands challenge the idea that many New Testament practices are optional? What does that say about how early Christians linked obedience with being in fellowship?

Finny’s list of “ordinances” that aren’t derivable by reason—foot washing, holy kiss, raising holy hands, anointing oil, head covering, Lord’s Supper, baptism—was meant to expose how “very, very, very few groups” practice them in aggregate; which of these practices do you instinctively minimize or explain away, and what might your selectivity reveal about what you believe God is like and what you believe the church is for? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Which practices on that list do you tend to downplay or explain away? What might that pick-and-choose habit show about what you think God is like and what church is supposed to be?

He argued that calling head covering “cultural” collapses because Paul says he “delivered” it, and because men covering their heads was actually the Greco-Roman and Jewish norm (Augustus as Pontifex Maximus, Marcus Aurelius, Exodus 28 turbans), while Paul commands men not to cover; how does this “countercultural” claim reshape the usual conversation about contextualization, and what would it mean for Christians today if faithfulness sometimes requires being visibly out of step with both secular culture and religious tradition? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If Paul’s commands were meant to be countercultural, how does that change the usual “it was just cultural” argument? What would it mean today if following Jesus sometimes makes us look out of step with both society and religious tradition?

Finny quoted Francis Schaeffer’s warning that feminism became an “accommodation” so severe that some leaders altered their view of biblical inerrancy, calling it a “Trojan horse”; where have you seen (in yourself, your church background, or your teachers) certain passages about men and women treated as the weak link that quietly determines whether the whole Bible is trusted, and what would repentance look like if that’s true? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where have you seen Bible passages about men and women treated like the “weak spot” that decides whether people trust the whole Bible? If that’s true in you or your church, what would repentance look like?

Finny highlighted Paul’s “headship order” (Christ–man–woman–God) and suggested Paul’s unusual sequence reminds us that having a head does not imply inferiority because “Christ Himself has a head”; how does the God/Christ analogy either heal or intensify your concerns about hierarchy, and what does it teach about God’s own nature—especially the possibility of authority that is truly “loving” and submission that is truly “glad”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does the example of Christ having a head affect your worries about hierarchy—does it help or make it worse? What does it teach about authority that is loving and submission that is willing?

He contrasted an ugly “master and slave” picture with “head and body,” then pressed the idea (with Elizabeth Elliot) that femininity at its core is “surrender,” “receives the given” like Mary, and refuses “the not given” like Eve; in practical terms, what might “receiving the given” look like in modern marriages, education, career decisions, and church life—and what reactions in you (anger, fear, relief, suspicion) expose where you’ve absorbed the world’s “power play” assumptions rather than Christ’s pattern of self-emptying? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What could “receiving the given” look like in marriage, school, career choices, and church life today? What feelings in you (anger, fear, relief, suspicion) might show you’re thinking in the world’s power games instead of Christ’s self-giving way?