Men and Women in Ministry
Christianity raised the status of women in society. This idea is derived from the first chapter of the Bible, which tells us that men and women are both created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Paul the Apostle applies this notion of equality in the Galatians 3:28, stating that all Christians, regardless of race or gender, stand on equal footing in Christ (Gal 3:28). Yet men and women are created to fulfill different, or complementary, roles in ministry. One of the most common—and important—questions today is, What can women do in church ministry? Alongside this question it is crucial to ask, What ministries are best fulfilled by men and women respectively?
Women were prominent in the ministry of Jesus and in the New Testament church. It was Mary who first saw the risen Christ and testified about it (this in a society that did not even allow women to testify in court). Phillip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9). Phoebe, who brought the book of Romans to Rome, was a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea (Romans 16:1). Women prayed and prophesied in church (Acts 2:17; 1 Corinthians 11:5). Euodia and Syntyche contended at Paul’s side for the sake of the gospel. They were so prominent in the Philippian church that Paul directly addressed their problems in Philippians 4:2-3. Priscilla and Aquila, the husband and wife team whom Paul calls fellow workers in Christ, helped a fellow leader, Apollos, understand the gospel more accurately (Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3-4). In the last chapter of Romans several women are greeted and commended by Paul for their ministry (Romans 16:6,12,13,15). Finally, 1 Corinthians 14:26 Paul speaks of the church coming together and each one contributing to the worship service.
The Pattern of Male Eldership
While women were central to church ministry in the New Testament, the biblical pattern of male eldership is vital to understanding the complementary roles men and women play in ministry. The qualifications for elders, listed in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, are directed to men. Jesus gathered 12 men around him to be his apostles. Paul raised up men to lead the churches of the New Testament (1 Timothy 3ff; 2 Timothy 2:2). There is no evidence in the New Testament of women holding the position of pastor or elder.
Women can, however, be leaders and teachers in other capacities in the church, from teaching children to teaching adults in certain contexts. It seems perfectly acceptable for women to be children’s church directors or teachers, women’s ministry directors or teachers, committee leaders, youth leaders, teachers in adult classes and Bible studies, etc. It also seems that women can be deacons in the church (cf. Romans 16:2; Philippians 4:3, where women are servants of the church and the gospel). At the same time it is important to ask which leadership and teaching roles are best filled by men. For the sake of our churches and our young men who are growing up in them, it is important for men to step up and be leaders in their families and in church.
Paul says that women should quietly receive instruction, and not teach or have authority over men (1 Timothy 2:11-12). Further, Paul says that women are to remain silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak in church (1 Corinthians 14:34-35). This passage must be correlated with 1 Corinthians 11:5 where Paul gives instruction for women prophesying in church (see below).
Two Views of Men and Women in Ministry
As far as women’s roles in the body of Christ are concerned, there are two main views: egalitarian and complementarian. The egalitarian view holds that men and women can do all the same ministries and hold all the same offices in the church. The complementarian view holds that, while there is much overlap in ministry options for both sexes, there are some unique roles for men and women.
Egalitarians hold that women may be pastors and preachers, that men and women are called to submit equally to each other, even husbands and wives, and that therefore there is no limitation on their ministry roles. Complementarians hold that women are not to be pastors, that wives are called to submit to the sacrificial leadership of their husbands, and that the senior leadership positions are reserved for men only. Below is an overview of some of the most pertinent Bible passages on these issues.
Galatians 3:28 All Are Equal in Christ
The key Bible passage for the egalitarian view is Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, ther is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Egalitarians conclude from this text that since men and women are equal in Christ, there is no longer a basis for any distinctions between men and women.
Both complementarians and egalitarians agree that men and women are indeed equal in Christ. Women and men are equally God’s children, equally spiritual, have equal access to God, etc. However, Galatians 3:28 is making a statement about our status as people, not about our roles in ministry. It is certainly possible to be equal in Christ and yet for one person to submit to another. Indeed, this is the way the New Testament speaks of the authority structure of the church. Church members of are called to submit to the elders (1 Peter 5:1ff). This does not make them lesser Christians or humans. Likewise, a wife’s submission to her husband does not imply a lesser status before Christ or as humans. Nor does it hold true that women are not equal to men just because they are restricted from holding the office of elder or pastor.
Genesis 1-3 The Wife as Her Husband’s Helper
The egalitarian view holds that Eve was never to submit to Adam’s leadership before sin entered the world, that God added female submission as a consequence of their fall into sin.
First, Eve was created to be Adam’s “helper.” While there is some discussion as to what “helper” means in the original Hebrew and its implications for Adam and Eve’s relationship, the thrust of word and the context of Genesis 1-3 shows Adam as responsible to lead his wife. After Adam and Eve ate the fruit, God came looking for Adam, not Eve. He addressed Adam, not Eve. He asked Adam what he had done. He held Adam accountable and punished him for being a passive male and listening to his wife and eating the fruit. When Paul takes up the theme of the fall of man in Romans 5, he does not talk about Eve plunging the human race into sin, he talks about Adam’s sin (Romans 5; 1 Timothy 2:13).
Second, even if female submission to male leadership were a consequence of the fall, this structure is not rescinded anywhere in the Bible. Even in the New Testament husbands are called to lead, wives are called to submit (see discussion on Ephesians 5 below).
1 Corinthians 11:3-12 Male/Female Origins and Roles
This passage teaches: 1) that man does not originate from woman, but woman from man; 2) that man is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man; 3) that man was not created for woman’s sake, but woman for man’s sake; and 4) that the husband is the head of his wife. As Genesis teaches that woman was created to be man’s helper, Paul affirms the headship of man and how woman was made from man and for him, to be his complement. Then in v. 11 he safeguards it by noting that in the Lord men and women are not independent of each other—specifically protecting the woman, it seems, from a tyrannical husband. In other words, the reason why Paul has to remind us that the sexes are not independent and that all things come from God is that someone might overdraw the male leadership position.
Ephesians 5:22-23 Wives Submit to Husbands
(See also Colossians 3:18; 1 Timothy 5:14; Titus 2:4-5; 1 Peter 3:1-6)
Egalitarians argue that Ephesians 5:21 is the key to understanding submission in the church. In this verse the Apostle Paul tells everyone to submit to each other. Then what does Paul mean when he tells particular individuals to submit to other individuals without telling the other individuals to submit to the particular individuals? Specifically, what does he mean when he tells women to submit to their husbands in 5:22? Egalitarian’s respond that Paul is either highlighting the wife’s submission (with the understanding that the husbands must also submit) or that he is concerned about the cultural impact in Ephesus, that since the culture of Paul’s day required the wives to submit, conscientious Christian wives should observe the dictates of the culture they lived in. But our culture today does not require such submission.
RESPONSE:
1) Mutual Submission: When Paul says to submit to one another in Ephesians 5:21, it is a general statement of the order of things in the church, which he unpacks in the next several verses: wives submit to husbands, husbands love wives, children obey parents, fathers don’t provoke children, slaves obey masters, master do good to slaves. He is not teaching that husbands and wives submit equally to each other. In his instructions to the wives (vv. 22-23) Paul explicitly says that wives are to submit to their husbands as the church is to submit to Christ. In his instruction to the husbands he does not tell them to submit to their wives, but to love them as Christ loved the church. The analogy to the church and Christ is instructive: Christ sacrificially loved the church and lovingly leads it--but he never submits to it; the church, however, submits to Christ’s leadership as to a good and loving Lord.
2) First Century Roman/Jewish Culture: There is no mention of cultural concern in this passage. If Paul were concerned that the church not offend the culture in this area, we would expect him to make some mention of it, to justify female submission by the cultural standard. Instead, Paul ties wives’ submission to the analogy of the church’s submission to Christ, and thereby grounds it theologically, rather than culturally.
1 Timothy 2:11ff Teaching and Having Authority Over Men
There are several egalitarian views on this passage:
1) It is difficult to discern what authentein (“have authority”) really means because it is not used elsewhere in the New Testament and is rare in classical Greek. It can mean “have authority,” “usurp authority,” “dominate,” “prevail upon,” “instigate harm,” etc.
2) Paul’s instructions were tailored to meet the needs of the Ephesian church. This passage, therefore, is not meant to be applied to every church in any circumstance throughout all time.
3) Since there was a lot of false teaching circulating in Ephesus, and women were being deceived (2 Timothy 3:6). There was a danger of these women teaching heresy, so that is why Paul forbids them from teaching or having authority. The universal principle we are to draw from this passage is not that women are to have a subordinate place in the spiritual order of things, but that one must not deceive or be deceived, but rather submit to instruction in the truth.
RESPONSE
1) For the sake of argument I will grant the broad semantic range of authentein and focus my comments elsewhere.
2) While there doubtless was false teaching in the Ephesian church, Paul does not mention it in this passage. When he prohibits women from teaching and leading men, he grounds it in the creation account in Genesis, he does not relate it to a particular problem at Ephesus.
3) If Paul is concerned that women who were being deceived by false teachers would start spreading false teachings to men, why does he not forbid women from teaching other women and children for the same reason? And since there were a lot more male false teachers, why not forbid men to teach?
1 Corinthians 14:34 Women Speaking in Church
In this text Paul says that women are to remain silent in church, that they are not permitted to speak. The difficulties in interpreting this passage are legion, whether one is a complementarian or an egalitarian. How does it fit with 1 Corinthians 11:5 where Paul speaks of women praying and prophesying, presumably in the church service?
There are several possible interpretations of this passage—none of which is very satisfying:
1) It is not inspired and therefore should not be in the Bible
2) It refers to a Cultural issue in Corinth
3) It was a Corinthian slogan that Paul merely quotes
4) Uneducated women were causing problems
5) Wives can’t judge husband’s prophecies
6) Women can’t judge prophecies
7) Women can’t speak in church at all
COMMENTS:
1) These verses appear in every single existent manuscript of 1 Corinthians, so there is little ground for doubting their authenticity.
2) If there was a cultural issue specific to Corinth, Paul does not make this clear. On the contrary, he adds that this prohibition on women speaking is to be followed “in all the churches of the saints (v. 33)
3) If Paul is quoting a Corinthian slogan, he does not make it very evident, nor does he rebut it. While it is thought by some that vv. 34-36 interrupt the flow of thought, they actually fit well with Paul’s discussion on order in the worship service.
4) If Paul were concerned about uneducated women causing problems, why doesn’t he forbid men from interrupting the message with irrelevant questions? Surely the women in the first century hadn’t cornered the market on ignorance. It seems degrading to women to imply that all men were better educated and more intelligent than all women.
5) This view, while not very satisfying, has some merit and it would fit better with 1 Corinthians 11:5. On the egalitarian view, there is an apparent contradiction: on the one hand they argue that cultural conditions in first century Roman society dictated that it was shameful for women to speak publicly or to speak to men who were not from their family. That is why Paul made such restrictions in passages like this one. On the other hand they argue that in fact women did play a significant role in the early church; that there were female prophets, teachers, church leaders, and even an apostle (Junia, mentioned in Romans 16:7)!
6) This view has some merit in that it fits with 1 Corinthians 11:5. Again, the prohibition seems more broad than just applying to judging prophecies.
7) This view takes the passage at face value, but is inconsistent with other teachings on women’s roles in the Bible, not the least of which is 1 Corinthians 11:5.
1 Timothy 3:1ff Women and Eldership
The egalitarian view on the requirements for elders is that it assumes, but does not demand, that elders be married men. But this is not quite correct. Paul does not assume that an elder will be a married man with children, he assumes that an elder will be a man, then he requires he be married to one woman.