This week we take a break from our Relationships in the Church series. At Faith Church this past week I gave a Q & A sermon. I asked the congregation for questions ahead of time, and then I attempted to bring biblical theology to bear on their questions.
What do you think about the role of women in ministry?
The debate about the role of women in ministry has come up numerous times on the blog when I’ve written about passages such as 1st Corinthians 11, Titus 1, and others. Because of that, I’m hoping my response below isn’t a surprise to long-time readers. In fact, some of what I write below is just a copy and paste from those other posts. I also include some new thoughts and resources.
There are two major perspectives on the role of women in ministry. The complementarian view and the egalitarian view.
Here’s a brief description of those two points of view:
Complementarianism – Women are to complement men. God ordained this. Both are equally loved in his eyes. In marriage and in the church, though, men are to lead. We might not understand why God would want one gender to complement another, but we can trust that God’s ways are best. This view stems from reading certain New Testament passages as universally binding. Thus, if this view is held, it should be held humbly and lovingly by the men and women who hold to it.
Egalitarianism – Men and women are equal in every way. God created both equally in his image, and he loves both equally. In heaven this expression will be the norm, and so now on earth we can and should work toward gender equality, in society, marriage and in the church. This view stems from seeing certain New Testament teachings as only pertaining to certain first-century churches. This view should also be held humbly and lovingly.
Many denominations are complementarian in the sense that they will only license and ordain men to pastoral ministry. Why? In 1st Corinthians 11, Paul writes in verse 3: “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.”
Even more clearly, in 1 Timothy 2:11-15, Paul writes, “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 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. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.”
Seems like an open and shut case. Except there’s numerous New Testament teaching from the other perspective. Jesus had numerous women disciples, including Mary and her sister Martha. When Martha scolded her sister Mary for not doing the women’s work, but instead sitting at Jesus’ feet to receive teaching, which was men’s work, Jesus stopped Martha and said, “Mary has chosen rightly.” In the Gospel accounts it is the women disciples who are there with Jesus at the cross, with one exception, John. All the other men ran away. It is the women who discover Jesus arisen, and it is the women who first proclaim the good news that “He’s alive.”
The Old Testament prophet Joel prophesied that when the Holy Spirit arrived, men and women would prophesy. The Holy Spirit arrived in Acts chapter 2, and Peter quoted that very passage from the prophet Joel, and Peter said that passage was fulfilled right before their eyes. Both men and women ministering. In Romans 16:3 Paul greets Priscilla, a woman whom he calls his co-worker. In Romans 16:7 he greets Junia, a woman who was in prison with Paul, who he says is outstanding among the apostles. I could list more.
So then, why did Paul tell the women to be quiet, submissive, such as in 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2? There is much scholarly debate about exactly what was going on in the Christian communities of Corinth and Ephesus (Timothy was in Ephesus). Women might have been taking their freedom in Christ too far. Women might have been influenced by pagan worship. It seems that Paul is suggesting that the churches in those towns pursue something that I call missional expediency. Missional expediency is the principle of submitting one’s freedoms to the mission of the Kingdom. What is best for the mission? Do that.
Paul uses the principle of missional expediency, for example, when he writes that the Christians should not be circumcised (see Galatians and Romans), but then he requires Timothy to be circumcised (see Acts 16:3). Is Paul a hypocrite, self-contradictory? No. He is using the principle of missional expediency. The mission of the Kingdom is the goal, and to preserve the mission, he does one thing in one cultural setting, and he does the opposite in another cultural setting. This is not inconsistent in Paul’s thinking because he is consistently applying the principle of missional expediency in both situations.
When applied to women in ministry, it seems Paul is saying that in Corinth and Ephesus, it was most missionally expedient for the women to abide by the patriarchal culture. Paul didn’t want the mission, the church to be compromised. So the women in those towns should practice a complementarian approach. Paul clearly does not use that approach in Rome or in the churches in Galatia. Furthermore, there are legitimate ways to interpret even the seemingly guaranteed complementarian passages as not so guaranteed. See, for example, the work of Nijay Gupta in his book Tell Her Story: How Women Led, Taught and Ministered in the Early Church.
Perhaps complementarians will not agree with Gupta’s interpretation. Granted. The principle of missional expediency remains. Notice also that when writing to the Christian community in Corinth, Paul embeds egalitarian teaching in his statements. He says in 1st Corinthians 11:11-12, “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.”
That’s egalitarian teaching right in the middle of complementarian teaching. Right in the center of the passage, verses 11-12, he clearly explains that men and women are equal in God’s eyes, which would have been a radical notion for the men of that culture. What is Paul doing? If I could summarize what Paul says about the role of women in the church it seems that he is teaching egalitarianism in complementarian clothing.
Once again, notice how Paul is using the principle of missional expediency. Though asking the women to maintain a complementarian approach to the role of women in ministry in their immediate cultural situation, Paul includes the deeper teaching of egalitarianism for the future! It is a move of genius that lays a foundation for a very different approach to the role of women in a future egalitarian society. In Galatians 3:26, he does the same when he says that in Christ there is neither male nor female, but all are one.
Imagine with me, therefore, a different culture, one that doesn’t have patriarchal approach, a culture where men and women are equal? Can you think of any cultures trying to be like that? Any cultures where men and women have equal access and opportunity?
I think I know a place like that. American Christians, we live in a culture like that. As do many other Christians around the world. I’m not saying that contemporary egalitarian cultures are perfectly egalitarian. I suspect that all cultures need to work on becoming more equal. But if he had lived and ministered in an egalitarian culture, I believe that Paul would have taught equality in gender roles in the church. Because we live in one of those cultures where men and women are equal, I believe it is most faithful have gender equality in the American church.
As a result, I believe we should be concerned about marginalizing women from full participation in mission while we live in a culture that is egalitarian. While I respect the complementarian position as having biblical grounding, I believe the complementarian position is counter-missional in an egalitarian culture. In other words, I believe the complementarian position is detrimental to the mission of the Kingdom in an egalitarian culture. We American Christians, as with any Christians who live in egalitarian cultures, should utilize the principle of missional expediency and promote egalitarianism in our churches. I believe egalitarianism not only has a strong biblical foundation, but is also missionally expedient in our culture. We should ordain and license women to pastoral ministry, to full access in our churches.
The debate about the role of women in ministry made a big splash in recent years in the Southern Baptist Church, when the SBC removed famous megachurch Saddleback from its membership after Saddleback hired a female pastor. Check out this interview with Saddleback pastor Rick Warren in which he explains how he changed from his long-held complementarian view to become egalitarian.
Engaging Scripture 