Women in Ministry

           The topic of the role of women in ministry, specifically pastoral jobs, is one of the most debated today that creates divides in Christianity. There are three primary views taken when it comes to this topic: conventionalists, dependents, and equivalents. 

           Conventionalists believe that women ought to be valued and loved just as men are. Women can and should play important roles in the church. Women can lead one another and teach one another. Yet women must also submit to their husbands that love them. God created men first and then created women from men. Women should not teach or have authority over men in the church. Women must dress modestly and submit as they would to God. Women are called to love God and serve him with all of who they are.

            Dependents also believe that women ought to be love and valued. Women are essential to the growth of the church. There are times when women are permitted to lead and have authority over men. Some dependents lean more toward conventional views while others lean more toward equivalent views. The common denominator that dependents own is that under the right circumstances, women can lead just as effectively and biblically as men.

            Equivalents believe that there is neither male nor female in Christ. Men and women are one together and ought to have authority as one. History and biblical evidence show that women can and have led effectively in the name of Jesus. God created both men and women in the image of God, therefore both have equal dominion over creation. Women should be encouraged to become pastors and missionaries, because that is what God has called humanity to do, not just men.

            Despite the vastly differing opinions when it comes to this issue, the church must not let such disagreements get in the way of the call of Christ. Paul addresses the issue of unity in the church far more than he discusses the role of women in ministry. If it was not a major concern for Paul, then why should it be today? Paul was concerned with the lost and the least of these. Paul wrote to almost all of the churches that he was related to about unity within the church. The church today is perhaps less unified than it has ever been. There are hundreds, even thousands of denominations in the United States alone. Christians let their views on topics such as homosexuality and women in the church distract them from what really matters, Christ’s redeeming death and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. While it is good and perhaps necessary to have differing opinions on this topic of the role of women in the church, we must not become so divided that we are hurting Christ’s cause. One thing is certain, that both men and women are made in the image of God and that they both are to play vital roles in the story that Christ has written for humanity.

Question Authority

What is your first reaction when you hear the word “obedience”? What about “authority”? Most likely your first thought went to some person who has had authority over you and you hate their guts and everything that they said, did, and stood for. While that may be harsh…maybe…we have all had to deal with that leader at some point in our lives. We have all had to submit to authorities that we can’t stand; yet we must obey them.

People of authority in church have wronged many of us. There are many leaders in our churches today who are not Godly figures of authority. There are many leaders who are not even real leaders by God’s standard. Maybe your pastor is one of them. Maybe your teacher or professors are one of them. Maybe you are one of them.

If the word “authority” ticked you off and made you immediately angry, then you have most likely let a worldly view of authority conquer your Godly view of authority. What we as a church have forgotten is that God and Scripture are our ultimate authority. They do not seek to bind us or limit us, but set us free. Jesus came to set us free, not hold us down. The problem with our postmodern society today is that we believe that authority can’t mesh with freedom. Instead of holding a traditional view of authority, we have given ourselves authority. We say, “Whatever we believe is right, whatever they believe is right.” We don’t want to listen to other people because we assume they are like us, self centered and corrupt.

Proper, truthful authority in the church is rare. So often, pastors become God’s replacement. People listen to the pastor and not God. They follow the pastor and not God. Pastors are intended to be God’s transparent voice, his vehicle, and his truth. Good pastors do not speak their own words, but God’s. Jesus demonstrated servant leadership. He told his disciples that whoever is last will be first. True authority comes from a dispossession of power, not a longing to possess it. True authority points away from itself and toward God. True authority does not require obedience to its own will, but to God’s. True authority claims no power, but disperses it. True authority has no desire for authority.

Obey those who have authority over you. Listen for the voice of God through those leaders. But…be discerning, be wise, and be a Godly follower. Listen to what you are being told and listen to see if it is the pastor’s voice or God’s. Look at your leaders. Do they claim authority and desire power? Or do they exhibit God’s authority and give power, rather than take it? True, Godly leaders are rare. Find them. 

Dear Sin, You Don't Own me

Listen to this song by Disciple and then continue reading. This song conveys powerful truth that we all need to hear.

Romans 6:6 says: “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” 

As Christians, our old selves have been crucified with Christ on the cross. Sin has been overcome and destroyed. And the best part of it…we are no longer slaves to sin. Sin no longer owns us. Pain, shame, hate, and anger have no control over us anymore. Though sin is not far and it is crouching at our door, we are no longer subject to its power. Having been crucified with Christ, we are no longer slaves to the former power that controlled us. Christ death has set us free to run straight into his arms. Laugh at sin and boldly proclaim that it does not own you anymore and that Jesus Christ is the ruler of your life. 

Face the Challenge

Something that we often forget as Christians is that God has empowered us to do great things. He has provided us with the only true source of power, himself. Throughout the story that the Bible tells, God uses weak, scared, trembling people to accomplish his will. He uses flimsy little people and molds them into warriors, leaders, and kings. Time and time again, God uses the underdog, the little guy, and the longshot to change history. Philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard said this:

There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.

This quote could not ring truer. The longshots that God chose to use always argued. Gideon argued that he was not cut out to lead and even tested God. Moses argued that he was not cut out for leading or public speaking. The list goes on and on. Now here is what we need to hear. God is calling us for something great. If you are a true believer, then God has a plan for your life. He has a plan to mold flimsy little underdog you into a leader and warrior for Christ. The problem is that we are scared to death. We are weak, trembling people that are afraid of what it might mean to be a warrior for Christ. We are afraid of how enormously much we are capable of doing and becoming with Jesus. And our fear holds us down, and keeps us chained to mediocrity.

Trust God and let your trust conquer your fear. If you are a believer, God has a plan to use you for greatness, but you have to say yes. You have to accept your role and let go of your fear. Give up your weak, trembling self and stop arguing with God. Trust in the Him and allow him to guide you. We are enormously capable of becoming great through Jesus Christ. God will use us to further his Kingdom beyond our wildest imagination if we are willing to let go of our fear and face the challenge. 

Lost in Faithlessness

Have you ever prayed that God would show you what you are supposed to do? Where to go to college? What to major in? Where to live when you graduate? What you’re supposed to be doing with your life? We are constantly asking God for directions to the places that we are supposed to go. What we seem to forget is that God is not a big fan of telling us exactly what we want to hear.

In Genesis 12, God commands Abram to leave his country and his home. To leave everything he knows to depart for a foreign land that he knows nothing about. God does not tell him why he must go, simply that he must. He does not even tell him where exactly his going. All God tells Abram is that he is to pack his things and move to a land he will show him. Without hesitation, Abram takes up everything he has and obeys God.

When we ask God for directions or what we are supposed to do, he most likely isn’t going give them to us like we want him to. It is a process. God did not tell Abram where he was going right away. He waited to see Abram’s faith and trust demonstrated in his willingness to depart toward the unknown. Sometimes God will tell us that we need to move, and then wait to see if we trust him faithfully before he tells us where. If you are seeking direction and have not been given any, perhaps you aren’t responding faithfully.

So very often, God tells exactly where we are supposed to go and we refuse to let ourselves see it because of this lack of faith. We don’t see what we don’t want to and we use excuses and lame reasoning to say, “Nah…God I think I want to do something else…” Stop listening to yourself and listen for the voice of God. When you hear it, act faithfully. Then, and only then will he give you directions.