The issue of women in ministry has recently reared its head in several areas of my little world.- My alma mater, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently removed a professor (who was teaching Hebrew) because she was a woman.
- I’ve been privately considering the possibility of asking one of the ladies in my Sunday School class of young married couples to be a guest teacher for a few weeks.
- CBC had a woman speak in chapel the other day. She was a dynamic speaker. I noticed that she used very little Scripture during her time, however. She has a solid reputation as a woman of faith – an intelligent woman who knows the Word. I couldn’t help but wonder if she purposefully avoided using the Bible so that she wouldn’t appear to be “preaching” in chapel. And while I think they are in the minority, there were several folks around here (faculty and students like) that were uncomfortable with a women speaking in chapel.
- I’ve been following some discussions on other blogs that are dealing with various aspects of women in ministry. One well-known pastor (who has his own radio show) even seems to label “heretic” those who allow women in ministry positions. If you are interested, you can follow some of these discussions here, here, here, here, and here.
I’m not advocating anyone take a particular position. For the record, I hold a complementarian belief on gender roles, not an egalitarian one. (Click here for at least one summary of the issue.) But I hold this position tentatively and I have a whole set of unresolved questions in my mind.
I’ll be sharing some of those questions in another post. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s not use this as a place to argue our theology. Rather, I’m interested in the unresolved questions you have, your observations of how Christians should dialogue and even disagree at times, and your own struggles with this issue.
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4 comments:
Great post Aaron!
While many people reading my comments on the topic think I am pro-women teaching, the truth is, I think it is unclear. Which is why I cannot prohibit.
In these discussions I will usually take the womens side just because I like to point out that there are some questions the complementarians cant answer. Which is why I think they should not prohibit it.
Sorry-shouldnt have said the womens side. Womena re on both sides.
The egalitarian side.
I grew up in a Southern Baptist church. In my lifetime there have been 4 women that served as Deacons. Honestly, until only a few years ago, I didnt know some people considered this "bad." So many times these types of church issues distract us from the real issue, which I feel is leading people to Christ and nurturing our relationship with Jesus and with other Christians. The 4 women in my church who served as deacons were truly wonderful, Godly, women who served our Lord and our congregation wholeheartedly. It's hard for me to see anything "bad" about that.
Being a DTS grad with a degree in Women's ministry, I spent ALOT of time on this subject. One of the most challenging stories I heard was of classmate from one of the war torn countries of Africa where all the men had been murdered in the genecide. She stated that their church had a woman pastor because there were no men--only women and children. Should the gospel be held up b/c there is no man present? Another thing that made me stop and think was the fact that the spiritual gifts are not given acc. to gender...are we offering opportunities for everyone in the body to use their gifts?
Another thought is that we are very incorguent with how we apply I Timothy 2:11-12. Why is this only true with Bible teaching and not all teaching? A very logical guy friend once asked me "If women should not teach men, why do we allow them to teach children who cannot yet discern right or wrong, truth and lies?" I told him that is a great question. Or is it not about capability at all but respect?
And what of passages like 1 Cor. 11:3, "Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." It seems as if whatever we say of woman regarding headship must also be applied to Christ.
Just food for thought...But most importantly I am commited to the idea that we must not allow these and other issues destroy church unity--for then the enemy wins. WE all must strive to be as Jesus in Phil. 2:5-8. Even though He had equality He did not grasp at it but allowed Himself to be emptied and to become a servant, obedient for the glory of God. Now that is submission...
If this topic of women in ministry is of interest to you, I suggest you read Dr. Sarah Sumner's book "Men and Women in the Church." It challenged me in so many ways.
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