When it comes to this issue of women pastors, the first group (majority) believes that although men and women are different physically, they are the same spiritually and ministry-wise. This belief system is called egalitarianism. Their argument is based on women such as Deborah, Hulda, the Samaritan woman and possibly the women who visited Jesus’s tomb on Resurrection Day. All these are proof that “women are not to be hindered in ministry but must be allowed to freely exercise their gifts as the Holy Spirit has given them.” Those verses that seem to suggest that it’s wrong for ladies to teach men are interpreted as either a mistake by the Apostle, they only address wives at home or they only apply to those ancient old-fashioned people who suppressed women's rights.
The other side of the argument (the minority of which I stand) believes that men and women have equal value before God, are equally redeemed, indwelt by the Holy Spirit and equally called to preach the Gospel, yet they have different roles, ministry-wise. This belief is called complementarianism (complement-ari-a-nism) because men and women are not interchangeable competitors but God made them to complement each other. It’s like two pieces that are shaped differently yet can be joined into one complete, perfect object. Complementarianism, therefore, agrees that women can share the Gospel, just as we see the woman at the well, but when it comes to the gathering of the saints (church context) it's only men that are called to leadership roles, most particularly Pastoring.
I believe there is enough evidence that since the dawn of Creation, God has always been using the masculine gender to lead in spiritual matters. I can mention the Old Testament example of the High Priests, who were all men. As for Deborah, she wasn’t a spiritual leader in the same fashion as the church Pastor, but was only a temporal political leader, who was also wise enough to call a man when it was time for war. The New Testament also testifies of the (men) Apostles of Jesus, including those seven men of good repute (not women) who were chosen to serve in the book of Acts (Act 6:3-6).
You see, all this has nothing to do with intelligence (women are actually more intelligent), it has nothing to do with culture (Scripture transcends all cultures), it has nothing to do with women rights movements/feminism (those are worldly ideas that must not be brought to the church) but it has everything to do with these two words, “order and authority.” Hence Paul the Apostle is not ashamed to write, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor” (1 Tim 2:11-14). I will also not waste my time by addressing those who dispute the writings of the Apostle Paul because such people – in their sad ignorance – are undermining the whole of Scripture because Paul was writing under the commission of the Lord Himself, just as Luke and Peter also endorsed him as a true writer of the inspired Scriptures.
The issue of male headship/woman submission is clearly modeled in 1 Corinthians 11:3, where it says, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God” You see that Christ, our example, though equal with God, chose to humble Himself under the Father. Well then, should it be so hard for us believers, especially women, to humble themselves under the leadership of men? All this is not about the right of power, as some think, but it’s about the burden of responsibility, which God has laid on men. Simple.
Gender roles at home
Again I say, complementarianism is not an enemy of women, but the very friend, because we believe it’s the man who is responsible for not only leading a woman spiritually but also in every other aspect of life through provision, protection and to love her to the point of giving his life for her, while she humbly submits under his caring hand. If anything, feminism has destroyed women by telling them that they don’t need men, but they must compete with and usurp them. This is the purest form of women abuse because it leaves them without anyone to care for, love and protection as the Lord has designed it. These women rights movements have also produced these weak men in our society that are not able to fight or stand for anything because they have been silenced into doormats by these satanic feminist groups.
How then shall women exercise their gifts?
The book of Titus acknowledges that there are women gifted to teach, however, that teaching gift must be fully exercised on other women and children, not men (Tit 2:3-4). We live in a world where motherhood is despised. Where women feel like it’s not enough to be a “home maker” as the Bible encourages (Tit 2:5). They imagine that a Christian lady who stays at home to care for kids and teach them the Bible is not serving Christ. In their mind, they need to be there on the public platform, wearing high heels and traveling to preach from church to church. That is part of the lies of this generation. The reality is that women can do a lot of ministry work if we are to consider the number of children and young women who need Bible teaching and discipleship. There are also other jobs in the church and even more Bible teaching platforms at schools, hospitals, prisons, on the street, and even on social media, but they do not want all that because it’s not as glamorous as the “big” role of being the church Pastor. If you want, I can recommend good examples of very gifted women that I also listen to, such as Martha Peace, Susan Heck and Nancy Guthrie…yet you will be amazed that these ladies do not believe God has called them to be Pastors regardless of their excellent Bible teaching skills. Instead, they believe in the correct biblical doctrine of male leadership.
What if there are no men who rise up?
This is the reason why Deborah rose up to lead the nation of Israel; there was no one manly enough to take that responsibility. It is the same with the church today; our churches have far more spiritually mature ladies than some of the men who would rather spend their days in taverns than in the house of God. And if these men could stop being cowards and rise to the responsibility that God has called them to, women would have no problem, instead, they would be relieved into glad submission. Because of this, it’s my opinion that it’s not wrong for a church to be led by a woman on a temporal basis, as long that church is still prayerfully looking for a man who is spiritually capable to eventually take over that role. I stand on that point.
It’s my strong belief that those ladies who boast, “God gave me this gift, I don’t care, I will preach and teach to men” are in serious error and disobedience because they not only undermine Scripture, but they put the whole integrity of the Church of Christ into question. I didn't have enough time to research this about Elizabeth Elliot (another brilliant woman of God), but she allegedly was addressing a group of men and she said, “I know the Bible in multiple languages, I have suffered for Christ more than all of you, and I have more pastoral gifts than you all in this room, but God has not called me to use those gifts through the role of a Pastor, because there is a difference between a gift and a role”. Gracias amigos.
Sinothi Ncube
Related Content...
Comments
Post a Comment