Why Do I Favor Women in Ministry

Women in Ministry

Why Do I Favor Women in Ministry?

I favor the possibility of women in all positions of ministry

1. Because it represents the glorious fulfillment of the gospel—it’s a little taste of heaven.

If we have to pick between verses like Gal. 3:28 and others when deciding what the general principle is and what might be the exception, clearly “In Christ there is not ‘male and female’” is the general principle to which any other verses would be exceptions.

For example, we would not say: “A woman is not to teach or have authority over a man, BUT in Christ there is no male and female.” The one relates to earthly administration, the other to heavenly, spiritual identity. Clearly the heavenly and spiritual have decisive precedence over the earthly and temporary. “In Christ you are all sons of God” (Gal. 3:26). Any earthly subordination or earthly distinction in role would be exactly that—earthly and temporary. We have no reason to believe that in heaven such differentiations will exist in role or authority.

Galatians 3:28 says, “In Christ there is not ‘male and female.’” Paul’s wording here alludes to Genesis 1:27 where God created us “male and female.” After he has used “neither-nor” several times—“neither Jew nor Greek; neither slave nor free”—he switches when he comes to the male-female distinction. In Christ there is not “male and female.” He makes the change in order to allude to Gen. 1:27.

Therefore, in Christ there is not “male and female.” The distinction, made at creation, is undone in Christ. Indeed, in heaven the subordination of husband and wife will not exist because in heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels (e.g. Mark 12:25-26).

For the purposes of comparison, we might note that the books of the New Testament teach with the assumption that the institution of slavery is legitimate. While there were individuals in the first century who did not practice slavery on principle (see Philo on the Essenes, “Every Good Person is Free”), the NT never argues for the abolition of slavery. Even in Philemon, Paul never tells this slave owner to set his slave free, and the accompanying letter of Colossians reinforces the traditional slave-master roles (Col. 3:22-4:1).

Nevertheless, I would argue that the world moved closer to heaven when slavery was abolished. Similarly, the world moves closer to heaven when we enact as much as possible the equality of men and women on a spiritual plane. You might argue that the female body has implications for their possible roles—1 Peter might imply this idea when it refers to the feminine “vessel” as weaker (1 Pet. 3:7). But the Christian gospel has no room for anyone who would subordinate the female spirit to the male spirit.

Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 predicted that Christian daughters would prophesy. Indeed, we see the 7 virgin daughters of Philip the evangelist prophesying in Acts 21:9. 1 Cor. 11:5 refers to married women prophesying as well. We know they are married because their lack of covering dishonors their head—which 11:3 defines as their husbands.

There is nothing in these contexts that indicates that these women only prophesied to women. Indeed, since the spirits of women and men are undifferentiated “in Christ,” we would be surprised if such a distinction were made. Christ has conquered the limitations of the earth and the sin of Eve! Any lingering traces of the limitations of earth will fully disappear in the kingdom of God.

I favor the possibility of women in all positions of ministry

2. Because the Biblical arguments against it don’t hold up against close scrutiny.

· We should probably distinguish husband/wife issues from the issue of women in ministry. You can fully believe that a wife is not to teach or have authority over her husband and that the husband is the head of the wife without negating the possibility of women ministering to men in general.

Both 1 Cor. 14:34-35 and 1 Tim. 2:11-15 use the word gyne (“woman,” “wife”) in the presence of aner (“husband). In such contexts the word usually refers to wives in relation to husbands rather than women in relation to men in general.

The 1 Corinthian 14 passage is difficult to understand in the first place because 1 Corinthians 11 has already implied that women did prophecy in Corinthian worship (i.e. 11:5). The very dynamics of 1 Corinthians 11 are created largely because of a situation in which a man’s wife is doing something prominent in the presence of other men. In that light 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 cannot be an absolute statement—otherwise Paul would contradict himself.

Regardless of what you think on the husband/wife issue, we do see women in the NT ministering to men. Priscilla helps instruct Apollos in Acts 18:26—and she is mentioned first before her husband in this instance! Phoebe is a “deacon” of the church at Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1). This is the same exact word (it is not deaconess—it is the masculine form of the word) used in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8 for church leaders. The church meets in the homes of women like Lydia. The Junias of Romans 16:7 may even be an apostle.

· I personally don’t even think God wants us to insist that the husband always be the head of the wife, although the issue of women in ministry doesn’t stand or fall on this debate.

Unlike today, there was nothing distinctly Christian in Paul’s day in saying that a husband was the head of the wife. Aristotle says the same things: “The head of the household rules over both wife and children, and rules over both as free members of the household… His rule over his wife is like that of a statesman over fellow citizens… The male is naturally fitter to command than the female, except where there is a departure from nature” (Politics, 1.1259a-b).

In other words, Paul is talking like any old non-Christian when he speaks of male headship. These comments sound distinctly Christian in our world, but they were not distinctly Christian in Paul’s day. In other words, it is when Paul moves toward the equality of the sexes in Christ that he is being uniquely Christian. Galatians 3:28 is uniquely Christian. 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 is more uniquely Christian. Here is the spiritual trajectory in contrast to the earthly.

· We certainly would not want to make 1 Tim 2:12-15 the key verses in our theology of women. These verses must be considered somewhat extreme, since if we take them as absolute statements, they would imply that Christ’s death did not atone for all sins.

A literal translation of the Greek of 2:14-15 reads, “The woman/wife, being deceived, has come to be in transgression. But she will be saved through childbearing, if they remain in faith and love and holiness with self-control.” Do we really want to argue that women today are still “in transgression” because of the sin of Eve, a state of transgression from which childbearing “saves” them?

1 Timothy is making a point to the Ephesians here, but it cannot negate the fact that Christ atoned for all transgressions, including the sin of Eve. To say otherwise is nothing short of blasphemy! This is scarcely a verse on which to base our theology. It likely reflects the issue of false teaching with which the Pastorals are so strongly concerned (cf. 2 Tim. 3:6). The statement of 1 Tim 2 is heretical if we take it absolutely.

Nor can we make much of the order of creation: “Adam first, then Eve” (1 Tim. 2:13). We’ve already mentioned that Gal. 3:28 negates the differentiation between male and female on the spiritual plane. The birth order of Adam and Eve relates to the earthly and physical—clearly a less significant element in the equation.

Nor are all wives/women more gullible than all husbands/men (1 Tim. 2:14)—such a claim would simply be false. If we don’t view 1 Tim 2:12-15 in the light of specific problems at Ephesus, it leads to tremendous theological problems and indeed falsehoods—not preferable destinations by any means.

I favor the possibility of women in all positions of ministry

3. Because many women have felt and continue to feel called to ministry.

· Many of these have the gifts and graces to go along with such calls. Given that women prophesied and ministered in the New Testament church, by what authority could any Christian validly oppose these women who feel called—simply because they are women? Do we really want to oppose the Holy Spirit? Quench not the Spirit!

Now I believe that many of those who oppose women in ministry do so sincerely and because they think such a position is God’s will. But Paul also talks about individuals who have a zeal for God without knowledge (Rom. 10:2). Paul’s Jewish opponents had good biblical bases for opposing his message too—probably better OT proof texts than Paul had in fact. After all, things like circumcision and purity rules were clearly taught in the OT. Paul’s opponents were more “literal” and “fundamental” in their use of Scripture than he was.

But Paul was not a man of the letter. He was a man of the spirit. Paul said that his “letteral” opponents took pride in flesh rather than spirit (Gal. 6:13). The same is true of those who oppose women in ministry—this is earthly, fleshly thinking. They are focusing on the physical “vessel” of the woman rather than her fully redeemed spirit. The gospel boldly proclaims that women “in Christ” are spiritually no different from men. Those who preclude women from equal spiritual ministry are thus thinking with their flesh, not the Spirit.

I favor the possibility of women in all positions of ministry

4. Because it makes sense, while to oppose women in ministry as a matter of principle doesn’t make sense.

· Whether we men like it or not, women are just as smart as we are (often they’re smarter). Women mature more quickly than men as a rule. Women tend to be more loving than men (and thus more Christian in their behavior, since love is the fulfillment of the law). The men of Paul’s day more often than not would not have accepted these claims, but no one today can seriously dispute these things unless they avoid a lot of women.

If a woman has gifts of leadership, gifts of speaking, and spiritual insight, there is no logical reason why we shouldn’t actively seek for her to be leader and authority over men who are less gifted, less insightful, and who have less spiritual discernment. This is just good sense, bottom line. To place a less competent male over a more spiritual and gifted female—simply because of the presence of a physical organ not particularly known for thinking or spirituality—well, it’s pretty hard to make any sense of it.

We can rationalize our opposition, but it’s just bad thinking. Surely God does not promote bad thinking. Sometimes God stoops to our weakness, like when He allowed divorce in the OT (Deut. 24:1; Matt. 19:8), but ultimately He works His people toward the ideal. This is the age of the ideal!

Jesus and Paul regularly teach us not to put God in a box with our interpretations of the rules. The New Testament authors consistently interpreted the OT spiritually more than literally. So if a woman senses God’s call, if a community of believers sees the evidence of that call, if the woman demonstrates leadership ability, why would we oppose this woman ministering? It would make no sense to oppose her.

No rational argument can be made against the possibility of women in ministry other than the fact that people often don’t accept a woman minister. So what, we push the lowest common denominator because of the shortsightedness, ignorance, or even sinfulness of our people? Does God want us to accommodate ignorance in the church? When God is pushing us toward heaven, do we just acquiesce to earthly, fleshly thinking? God forbid!

If some men feel intimidated by a woman God has called, we need to help them work through it, not reinforce their insecurity. If a woman feels like her comfort zone is called into question by another woman taking leadership, we need to help her grow, not support her weakness. Obviously everything must be done in love, and God even accommodated the weakness of the early Christians on these issues from time to time. In the times of this ignorance God winked at these things, but now calls us to repent of our earthly mindedness and move further in the fulfillment of the gospel.

I favor the possibility of women in all positions of ministry

5. Because we don’t want to be guilty of submitting to the “weak and poor elements of the world” (Gal. 4:3, 9), forming a theology on the basis of the limitations of the human and earthly. God is a God of the possibilities of heaven. He breaks the molds of this world and moves us toward the next.