By Lana West
Joe Harvey and Lana West adapted these articles from presentations they made to a doctor of ministry class at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian Seminary.  Be sure to read Joe Harvey”s article.
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One of the ever-swirling controversies debated in evangelical circles is centered on the role of women in ministry. Can women serve on the worship team, but not lead the prayer time? Can women pray, but not at the Lord”s table? Can they teach children, but not adult men? Who is the church, and are roles different depending on where it is gathered?
Does God”s Word require the exclusion of women from certain areas of service, or is our interpretation of Scripture preventing vast numbers of women from using their training and giftedness to the full potential to which God has called them? Perhaps the more crucial issue is whether or not all of us””male and female, paid staff and nonpaid leaders””are fulfilling our calling in a spirit of mutual servanthood and submission to Christ, our ultimate authority.
Much of the controversy hinges on two of Paul”s passages, 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11, 12. Are these passages cultural? Are they written to a specific people in a specific situation and do not apply in the same way to us today (much like foot-washing and praying with hands lifted or heads covered)? Or are they normative commands for all people of all times?
While certainly culturally based passages still have a message of principal for us, perhaps as we have strived to remain true to the Scriptures, we have been involved in pharisaical “gnat straining” as we have defined who the church is, when and where it meets, and when teaching occurs. Valid biblical interpretation requires us to examine these passages within the context of God”s Word in its entirety. It is imperative when interpreting Scripture to view it through a cultural lens””theirs and ours””to see beyond the words and into the meaning of the message.
Creation Design
Such an approach takes us all the way back to creation where the triune God created man (“˜adam in Hebrew), male and female, in “his image” and they represented the trinity in a state of unity, fellowship, equality, and interdependence. They were given joint dominion over creation and the creatures and jointly they received God”s blessing and mandate to replenish the earth. Genesis 2 gives us a more detailed account. Because Adam had no human person-to-person relationships, God made a “helper (ezer) suitable for him.” She was literally “one corresponding to him.”
Much has been made about woman being man”s helper. However, ezer, found 21 times in the Old Testament, is used to designate Yahweh nine of those times and never implies a hierarchical relationship. Woman was a suitable “helper” in that she provided companionship, helped subdue the rest of creation, and was a partner in reproduction so that both could realize their full humanity.
Adam (ish), discerning her character and recognizing that only she could be called by a related term, named her woman (isha). Her naming was not an act of authority by Adam but of discernment, much like the other times in the Old Testament when people or places were named to capture a distinctive quality or memorialize an event.
But then came the fall when both the oneness with God and the unity with one another were destroyed and in their place is blaming, disharmony, and fractured relationships. It started with the woman seeking equality with God. When God calls them, he addresses Adam first because it was to Adam that he gave the prohibition.
Some see the curse, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16), as descriptive of what would happen rather than prescriptive. Either way, this hierarchical relationship is a perversion of what God intended in his perfect creation, and man and woman were banished from the garden.
Old Testament Illustrations
Scanning through the Old Testament we find numerous examples of women in leadership roles. Miriam was a prophetess. Deborah was a judge and military leader. Huldah was a prophetess whom Josiah consulted regarding the books of Law. The “wise woman of Tekoa” influenced David by parable much like Nathan the prophet. Joab negotiated with the “wise woman of Abel” for her town in warfare. Women were involved in building and furnishing the tabernacle and standing watch at its entrance. They brought offerings and performed rituals and vows.
The Ministry of Jesus
In the New Testament Jesus gave no explicit teaching regarding the role of women, but he treated each woman with respect. Contrary to other rabbis, he welcomed women among his disciples and freely taught and ministered to them, including them in theological discussions and using illustrations of women in his teachings. He received support from them and considered Mary and Martha of Bethany and Mary Magdalene among his close friends.
Women were at the cross, witnessed his burial, were the first to see the resurrected Lord, and received the first command to proclaim the gospel message””indicating that in God”s new economy, men and women are credible witnesses and capable messengers. Women were probably among those receiving the Great Commission, assuming this is the gathering of more than five hundred referenced in 1 Corinthians 15:6.
Some assert that since Jesus did not call a woman to be among the twelve apostles that he did not intend for women to have leadership roles. Others contend the selection of the twelve is eschatological. Jesus chose twelve free Jewish males to represent the twelve patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. The choice of the twelve indicated the importance of the new covenant being founded on the old. Gentiles and slaves were not among the select twelve, but there is no expectation that they could not serve in church leadership.
Early Church Examples
Women also served in important capacities in the early church. They were gathered with the disciples in the upper room after Christ”s crucifixion, were present on the Day of Pentecost, and received the Holy Spirit”s power to carry out the commission giving them the same foundational qualifications for ministry. They participated together in prayer gatherings, were added to the believers, and were also persecuted.
Tabitha functioned as a leader in relief work. Two men fetched Peter when she died, and she was resurrected to continue her valuable ministry.
Many women are listed as coworkers and esteemed by Paul. Romans 16 lists 27 people, 10 of whom are women who had significant ministries. Phoebe was a deaconess and the letter carrier. Junia was an apostle. Euodia and Syntyche were leaders of such stature in the Philippian church that their dispute threatened the church”s unity. The church met in Nympha”s house, and such patronage carried with it an authoritative role.
Priscilla and Aquila had important ministry roles, and listing her first suggested that she possessed dominant leadership and ministry skills. She was active in the instruction of Apollos who became a prominent leader in the church. Some discount her role of teaching in the church, indicating that it took place in their home””which is where the church met (1 Corinthians 16:19).
Paul referred to women as “laborers” and “fellow workers” and treated them with respect. In 1 Corinthians 16:16 he urges the church to “submit” to those who labor and serve in this work.
Paul”s Teaching
In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul indicates that women were regular participants in praying and prophesying. Prophesying was speech for the edification of the whole community. It is likely Paul is not trying to exclude other forms of ministry, but that these are representative of ministry in general.
Covering her head allowed a woman to participate in worship, and although she could not speak in the synagogue, now in Christ she has the freedom and authority to speak in worship. However, it was culturally offensive for her to adopt the male stance of speaking without her head covered. The intent here was not to place restrictions on women using their gifts in public worship, but to avoid violating cultural norms and bringing the gospel into ill repute.
In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul says that everyone has a participatory role. However, the participation must be orderly “as in all the churches of the saints” (v. 33). He does not want them to be mistaken for the disorderly, orgiastic cults of the day. As he is addressing orderly worship, he also addresses disorderly women. They may have been mimicking women in certain pagan cults or chattering and being distracting or blurting out questions that would have been unacceptable even in pagan worship. At any rate, they were embarrassing and being disrespectful to their husbands, and Paul”s response was for them to ask questions at home.
In Greco-Roman law, public practice of religion was closely supervised, and women”s conduct in public was to their husband”s honor or shame. He admonishes them to be submissive in attitude, worshiping in an orderly way and avoiding anything that would hinder the acceptance of the gospel.
In 1 Timothy, Paul addresses a number of problematic issues, many of them not normative in nature””i.e., whether all widows under 60 are idle busybodies (1 Timothy 5:9). In chapter 2 Paul considers the issue of women who have been influenced by false teachers and says he does not allow those women to teach. They need to learn with a quiet attitude and are not to usurp the place of leadership and authority of men in the congregation. He compares the deceiving of the uneducated Ephesian women to the deceiving of Eve. “Likewise” in 3:11 is used to introduce a second or third in a series, and Paul lists the attributes of female deacons (gune translated “women” rather than “wives” since there is no possessive pronoun) which are almost identical to the attributes for males.
The issue then becomes not one of gender, but of not usurping appropriately designated authority. All leaders are to be in respectful submission to one another under Christ, humbly fulfilling his or her responsibilities. Each of us chooses to place ourselves under the authority of others.
Fulfilling the Command of Jesus
A woman called to preach or teach needs the blessing of her husband and the elders. Even men in those positions face extreme difficulties when not supported by their wives. Persons who seek assistance from a female counselor or chaplain place themselves under her authority, as do students who attend a class at church or seminary taught by a woman. Those who read Christian literature authored by women, and even those who read the Bible in their own tongue translated by female linguists, are being taught by her.
If evangelical Christians are not willing to accept women in leadership roles, then they continue to limit the ministry opportunities for which women are being prepared in our Christian colleges and seminaries to fulfill Jesus” command to go, teach, baptize, and disciple the world.
FOR FURTHER STUDY
Lana West recommends the following five volumes, which she studied as background for writing this study.
–James R. Beck, ed., Two Views of Women in Ministry (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).
–Gilbert Bilezikian, Beyond Sex Roles: What the Bible Says About a Woman”s Place in Church and Family (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006).
–Stanley J. Grenz and Denise Muir Kjesbo, Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1995).
–Alvera Mickelsen, ed., Women, Authority & the Bible (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986),
–Ronald W. Pierce, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, and Gordon Fee, eds., Discovering Biblical Equality (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004).
Lana West is a therapist for Lincoln (Illinois) Pastoral Counseling Services. She plans to work with Pioneer Bible Translators doing training and missionary care after receiving her Doctor of Ministry degree in pastor care from Lincoln Christian Seminary.
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