THE EVE SYNDROME

By Tonia Tomlinson
Oh, how sad the state of the female has taken in this day and age. We have always been the bodies which filled the church on Sunday morning. The women have always outnumbered the men in most churches and continue to do so even in this day and age. And it is my opinion, (note I said “my” opinion) that this is the reason that the “Eve Syndrome” has come to exist. What is the “Eve Syndrome?” I will take time to explain further down. But first, take a look at some examples of what the Eve Syndrome looks like:

• I received a call from a friend last night who told me to turn to a TV show called “The Parkers” and take a look at what the storyline was about. I did and found that Yolanda Adams, a popular singer, was playing the role of a female pastor. I recently bought a CD with a collection of Ms. Adams’ older songs on it. Surprisingly, I found that most of the past songs, which she sang, were doctrinally correct. Then, I noticed that the newer songs had twisted scriptures and unbiblical references. Somewhere along the line, Ms. Adams has been following false, heretical teachings and has embodied these ideas in her music. Somewhere along the line, Ms. Adams got caught up in the Eve Syndrome. I pray that no new babe in Christ watched this heathen show and believed the heathen lie.

• This past Saturday, Tavist Smiley, a talk-show host, had a panel of very intellectual and highly recognized individuals discussing various topics. There was one lady who brought an idea that was completely unbiblical about how Sunday morning should run in the church. Tavist then asked the “female bishop” on the panel to respond to this lady’s remarks. This woman, not only did not respond to the issue at hand, but she began speaking to the lady in a normal tone, with normal speech, correcting the woman that she must not overlook the fact that there are now “Sister Pastors” in office THEN, she looked at the audience and immediately took on the very familiar persona of many of today’s false “Bishops” and her entire voice inflection changed. She oozed her words as she attempted to pronounce them with “well-defined” clarity and charm. She locked her gaze on the people as if to possess them with the creamy words flowing out of her mouth. And, guess what? If they had not been caught up, they would have realized that she was actually saying NOTHING! One of the men on panel was quick to shoot down her ridiculous response, which in turn broke the people out of their trance.

• My husband and a few brothers went to a program and asked a question of the “Bishop” who was presiding over it. He asked a biblical question and received no answer. What was the question? Since scripture does not affirm the ordination of females as pastors, why was this man doing so? No answer was given. Why? Because the order of the program was not followed. The order of the program was not followed???? The people made statements like “The devil is a liar!” and other common clichés that the church uses today towards the men as they left. These men were operating under the order of the Holy Spirit, not the program, nor the false pulpit squad. Even the scriptures used during the service were used out of context, i.e. Jeremiah 3:15 “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding." has absolutely nothing to do with a female pastor. And, as usual and expected, the Matthew 7 scripture was read and used out of context. Pretext, pretext, pretext.

Take out your Bibles and follow along. It is now time to look at the Word of God as He intended rather than the storybook that many see it as. The Bible is the Word of GOD. How does the Eve Syndrome work? Well, exactly the way it worked in the Garden. The Devil deceived her then, and he is deceiving women now. He said to Eve. (Genesis 3:4) "Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die." And she believed him. Then she took “her” belief and shared it with Adam and he, too, believed the lie. Forget what God had said. They believed the Liar of All Lies! Because it pleased their flesh! Is it any different today? Why does a man who has been given his charge follow a disobedient woman? And why would any senseless woman want to take over the man’s charge? God didn’t give permission then and He certainly hasn’t now for this act of blatant disregard to His Word. Most of your female pastors have husbands. So you would have me believe that God would bypass the man and give the calling to his wife? Come on, people!
The stage is being set for the Antichrist. The Word says it will be easy for him to establish his reign. (1 John 2:18-19) "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us."

It will not be difficult for him. Why would God do something “new” when we don’t obey what He has given us in the “old?” In that case, we need to simply throw our Bibles away because God doesn’t expect us to use it anymore. Because God so wants to please us, He has decided to disregard His previous Word (His Holy Scriptures) and try new tactics to get us. He really, really NEEDS us. Just writing this ridiculous crap makes me sick!
God’s Word (Matthew 7:13-14) tells me the two ways for man to go. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
As a matter of a fact, while folks are so busy quoting Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged." They really should read the chapter in its entirety. Those ladies who suffer from the Eve Syndrome would want to give special attention to verses 15-20 pertaining to false prophets. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

False prophets outnumbered true prophets in the Old Testament, as they do also today. Do the study. The true test of a prophet was CONFORMITY TO THE DOCTRINE OF SCRIPTURE. How do I know? God’s Word tells me so as found in 1 Corinthians 14:37 "If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord." And also read Deuteronomy 13:1-5."If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’which you have not known and let us serve them,’you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst."

God has given us plenty to do. It is not that we do not have the ability to teach His Word. He intended that we would. How else are we to teach other women and our children? What He has not given us is the authority. The chain of command was not set up by man. It was set up by God Himself. Who are we to think that we (women) have the power to usurp God’s authority? The occurrences that are taking place in Christianity today are horrible and shameful. God is the All Powerful. He is the Commander In Chief. He rules and reigns. He is holding all of His people accountable. Remember that. You are accountable to God for what you do. Also, keep in mind that God loves AND chastens (Hebrews 12:6) "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
We love to leave the latter part off in our ideology of God. We continually paint God as this warm, fuzzy, snuggly “thing.” That is definitely not the God of the Bible.

If you don’t want to follow the God of the Bible, please quit referring to the Holy Scriptures as your resource. If you refuse to acknowledge what God has said, please throw away the Good Book and use something else that better meets your needs. I close with the message found in Romans 2:17-24 where Paul is addressing the Jews. The same message can be applied today. What is the Eve Syndrome? If you still don’t know, perhaps you better check yourself and make sure that you haven’t been caught up.
Oh, and by the way, the judging that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged." pertains to those self-righteous people who hold themselves morally superior over another. It is for those who refuse to acknowledge that “there but for the grace of God go I.” Those who read it any other way are theologically blind. Jesus absolutely was not implying that we should never make judgments about anyone. But, in order to judge, we must exercise honest and theological discernment. Jesus even charges us to make proper judgments as found in John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Those who hold to absolute truth can rightfully make sound judgments and stand for the Word of God in the face of anything. Do the study. “You shall know them by their fruit” will completely make sense from this day forward. Scripture says that God will put to shame those who slander the ones who defend His Holy Word. Where is it? You’ve got your Bible open…look it up for yourself. Tonia is a regular contributor to this site. She is a married lady of Anselm and loves the Lord with her whole heart. Please continue to pray for Sister Tomlinson and her ministry of equipping ladies to do the work of Christian ministry.