Pastoral Care / Going Deeper / Women's Roles in the Church
Women's
Roles in the Church
First,
let me state that women are not limited in ministry.
The
comments in I Timothy 2:12-14 should be taken with
a full understanding of men and women, a biblical
view. When properly understood these verses and many
other scriptures like this exalt women and give them
tremendous ministry in the body of Christ. Keep these
things in mind.
1 Timothy 2:12-14
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have
authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam
was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the
one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived
and became a sinner.
1)
The bible declares women, like men, are created
in God’s image. They are equal with men in
nature and humanity.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God he created him; male and female he
created them.
2)
Both women and men are equal in redemption. They
both are saved the same way.
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
3)
There are no sex symbols on the ministry “gifts”
list in scripture. It does not say “gift of
teaching – man, gift of helps – women”.
This is improper. Women have the same gifts in ministry
to the body as men do.
4)
Throughout the bible God gifted and blessed greatly
women in ministry. Like Miriam – the first
minister of music.
Exodus 15:20
Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister,
took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women
followed her, with tambourines and dancing.
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Deborah
Judges 4:4
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth,
was leading Israel at that time.
Huldah
the prophetess
2 Chronicles 34:22
Hilkiah and those the king had sent with him
went to speak to the prophetess Huldah, who was
the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah,
keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem,
in the Second District.
Anna
the prophetess
Luke 2:36
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter
of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very
old; she had lived with her husband seven years
after her marriage,
Priscilla
the bible teacher
Acts 18:26
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When
Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him
to their home and explained to him the way of God
more adequately.
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Phoebe
the Deaconess
Romans 16:1
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant
of the church in Cenchrea.
5)
Jesus had many women who assisted Him in ministry.
Luke 23:49
But all those who knew him, including the women
who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance,
watching these things.
John 11:1
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from
Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
This
is an incredible fact since the culture of that time
was Patriarchal and yet Jesus chose women for His
first two resurrection appearances.
Matthew 18:1-10
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and
asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven?" He called a little child and had
him stand among them. And he said: "I tell
you the truth, unless you change and become like
little children, you will never enter the kingdom
of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like
this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
"And whoever welcomes a little child like this
in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one
of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it
would be better for him to have a large millstone
hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths
of the sea. "Woe to the world because of the
things that cause people to sin! Such things must
come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut
it off and throw it away. It is better for you to
enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands
or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And
if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and
throw it away. It is better for you to enter life
with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown
into the fire of hell. "See that you do not
look down on one of these little ones. For I tell
you that their angels in heaven always see the face
of my Father in heaven.
John 20:10-18
Then the disciples went back to their homes,
but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept,
she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two
angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been,
one at the head and the other at the foot. They
asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?""They
have taken my Lord away," she said, "and
I don't know where they have put him." At this,
she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,
but she did not realize that it was Jesus. "Woman,"
he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you
are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener,
she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away,
tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned
toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!"
(which means Teacher). Jesus said, "Do not
hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the
Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them,
'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to
my God and your God.' " Mary Magdalene went
to the disciples with the news: "I have seen
the Lord!" And she told them that he had said
these things to her.
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Even
St. Peter didn’t make it until the third round.
1 Corinthians 15:5
…and that he appeared to Peter, and then
to the Twelve.
6)
Whatever Paul was saying by “Women be silent.”
He was not saying they should have no ministry in
the church. This is clear because in the same book
he instructed women on how to pray and prophesy
in the church, - in a decent and orderly way.
1 Corinthians 11:5
And every woman who prays or prophesies with
her head uncovered dishonors her head--it is just
as though her head were shaved.
There
were also times when men should be silent. Namely
when someone else was giving utterance from God.
1 Corinthians 14:28
If there is no interpreter, the speaker should
keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and
God.
7)
Paul used women to assist him in ministry. Phoebe
delivering the epistle of Romans.
Romans 16:1
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant
of the church in Cenchrea.
8)
These passages are in no way negating the ministry
of women but are limiting the authority of women.
Paul said women were not to have authority over
man. Of course men too were under authority and
needed to submit to the headship of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 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.
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Of
course the ultimate proof that Christ is always submissive
to God the Father. Both on earth and in heaven.
Philippians 2:5-8
Your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did
not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature
of a servant, being made in human likeness. And
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!
1 Corinthians 15:28
When he has done this, then the Son himself
will be made subject to him who put everything under
him, so that God may be all in all.
This
matter of male headship is not cultural. It is not
cultural, it is based on the very order of creation.
1 Corinthians 11:9
…neither was man created for woman, but
woman for man.
1 Timothy 2:13
For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
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So
Elders are to be men. This is the limitation, but
is in no way degrading. Men are to be elders. Women
are gifted to have children, something man cannot
do. Although sometimes I feel like my Elder meetings
are as painful as giving birth. Remember Eve was created
from man’s rib to be equal with him.
Genesis 2:19-25
Now the L ord God had formed out of the ground
all the beasts of the field and all the birds of
the air. He brought them to the man to see what
he would name them; and whatever the man called
each living creature, that was its name. So the
man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of
the air and all the beasts of the field. But for
Adam no suitable helper was found. So the L ord
God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and
while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's
ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the
L ord God made a woman from the rib he had taken
out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The
man said, "This is now bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man. "For this reason
a man will leave his father and mother and be united
to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The
man and his wife were both naked, and they felt
no shame.
Furthermore,
every man ever born was carried in the womb of his
mother and nurtured by her. God chose this same vessel
to appear in human form.
1 Corinthians 11:12
For as woman came from man, so also man is born
of woman. But everything comes from God.
John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the
One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth.
Women
are in charge of the most blessed role of motherhood.
There would be no church, no elders, no leadership,
without mothers. Remember God has made women “one
in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And
bestowed on them the gifts of the Spirit. (I Corinthians
12,14) and (Romans 12.)
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