“Women have more to offer the church than mad decorating skills or craft nights. I look around: I see women who can offer strategic leadership, wisdom, counsel, and teaching.”
― Sarah Bessey, (egalitarian)
“What women rightly long for is spiritual and moral initiative from a man, not spiritual and moral domination.”[1] -John Piper (complementarian)
I mentioned last week that the Apostle Paul does promote strong male leadership and prohibit women from serving in positions of final ruling or teaching authority in a local church (1 Tim. 2:12-13). And we raised the key questions that complementarians and egalitarians wrestle with: is this a universal, trans-cultural imperative, and how rigidly should it be applied?
It has been noted that even “biblical inerrancy need not entail literalism and a failure to take seriously the various literary forms in which God’s word comes to us nor need it repudiate genuine human authorship in a Docetic fashion.”[3] Docetism was an early church heresy that denied the humanity of Christ. Not wishing to “repudiate genuine human authorship in docetic fashion,” in relation to Paul, means giving weight to Paul’s apostolic authority and yet acknowledging that he was a human—a rabbi, a single man who did not “burn,” and part of a particular culture.
Interestingly, Paul’s view of sex in 1 Cor. 7:1-9 as more duty than pleasure does not reflect a reading of the whole counsel of God on sex in marriage. It reflects more his own view as a single man with low sexual desire living in a turbulent culture. Again, the answer is not to dismiss Paul’s words here, but they do need to be balanced with other texts, especially Song of Solomon (cf. Mark 10:2-9 and Eph. 5:22-23). Yes, singleness has its advantages and is an honorable choice, but not everyone is equipped for this lifestyle. Further, sex in the context of marriage should not be viewed as a lesser choice associated with little self-control, but a beautiful gift and joy.
And this brings us back to the topic of women in ministry. In thinking about women in ordained office, it is important that, as with the pleasure associated with sex, we look at “the whole counsel of God.” Although many things could be referenced in this regard, I find the Deborah story (Judges 4) most helpful in giving pastoral guidance on the issue of woman elders and deacons today:
- It is not always morally wrong for a woman to have spiritual authority over men as Deborah was God’s choice.
- Deborah carried her position of spiritual authority in a way that sought to encourage stronger male leadership. Women in leadership should do the same today. Especially at a time in our culture when 24 million children are growing up in homes without their biological father present, there is a crying need for more involved, responsible, committed, and courageous men in our homes and churches.
- The Deborah story takes place at a morally bankrupt and weak time in Israel’s history. Women are prominent and the only heroines in this story in part because there was a deficit of male leadership.
As one who believes in and defends the concept of male headship, I have found the following statement by John Stott valuable:
“On the one hand, headship must be compatible with equality. For if ‘the head of the woman is man’ as the ‘head of Christ is God’, then the man and woman must be equal as the Father and Son are equal. On the other hand, headship implies some degree of leadership, which, however, is expressed not in terms of ‘authority’ [primarily or only, I would say] but ‘responsibility.’”[4]
Again, male headship is not primarily about authority but responsibility. Like Adam in the garden, men will be judged for their silence and churches will suffer if men are weak, passive, and happy to let women take their place in battle (Judges 4:8).
For reasons described here and above, I describe myself as a limited egalitarian that celebrates the beauty of men and women serving together in complementary ways. Specifically, I believe:
- Godly and gifted men and women should have full access to holy things, including leadership and teaching authority. How this plays out in a local congregation should be flexible and pastorally determined.
- Involved, responsible, and committed male leadership remains a biblical priority.[5] Yes, how this priority is reflected in various denominational structures will play out differently, but it should be reflected. This is why, for me, a female Pope would be problematic in a way that a group of men and women serving together as elders or deacons is not.
Finally, I think the whole complementarian/egalitarian debate is a secondary issue, a “non-essential” in my denomination, and something that we should have respectful dialogue about. An example of this kind of approach can be found here and below is a summary of this Irish pastor’s wise perspective:
“I’m not going to the stake over something godly people have disagreed about for centuries… There are a host of issues we think differently on. Sometimes those issues concern very important matters. I could, for example, choose to be very offended that Catholics and strict Brethren bar me from the sacrament, that Baptists bar me from membership, or that Charismatics don’t believe I have the fullness of the Spirit. It could be argued in all of those instances that the positions they take somehow diminish me or even call aspects of my relationship with God into question. But I choose not to be offended. Precisely because these are secondary issues and I understand that for me to say “I can’t believe anyone would think like that”, or to ask them to change their views, would be arrogant at best and totalitarian at worst… For either side in the complementarian debate to imply that this is a primary issue is surely coming dangerously close to adding to the gospel.”[6]
Whether more complementarian or egalitarian, do the quotes at the beginning of this post and the one we just closed with reflect how you carry your views?
[1] http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/21-awesome-christian-quotes-about-women/#ixzz4lrrGmMSV
[3] Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway) 2012, 72.
[4] John Stott, Authentic Christianity, ed. Timothy Dudley-Smith (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1995), 370-371.
[5] For Paul, this is rooted in the creational order (1 Cor. 11:7; 1 Tim. 2:13) and the concept of male headship (1 Cor. 11:3).
[6] https://citizenofnomeancity.wordpress.com/2016/08/02/cant-believe-you-think-that/