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Freedom in God's Divine Order for Women
Some authors offer only two possible places for a woman in the church. These are “equal” to man (and therefore allowed to be in governmental authority in the church) or subjugated as an inferior to him. Subjugation is synonymous with enslavement. Both are inflammatory words, the kind of words used by many people when they want to stir up emotions for their point of view. They don’t leave room for a Godordained order in which two “equals” are in a relationship, with one in a place of headship and the other in a place of willing submission. Husbands are not superior to wives. Elders are not superior to other believers, whether men or women. God has an order for His church. Husbands and elders are not told to enslave women; they are told to lead them. Husbands are not told to make their wives submit; they are told to love them. Wives are specifically instructed by Scripture to be submissive in marriage. Likewise, in the church the people are instructed to submit to their leaders. The leaders are not told to see that the people submit to them. This is especially clear in Hebrews 13:17 for elders and Ephesians 5:22-25 for husbands, which not only address submission, but also accountability and heart attitudes:
Obey (NT:3982) those who rule over (or lead) you, and be submissive (NT:5226), for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her...
God has raised up very talented women in our day, many who speak His word with an anointing. No doubt there have been capable women over the centuries who could also do so, but often they were constrained by unbiblical restrictions on women. Some churches have forbidden women to even speak in meetings. Changes in our culture have released women to a great degree. At times this release has been wrongly influenced by the radical feminist movement. Has this release gone beyond God’s design? I believe it has in many churches. In an effort to correct the past wrongs involving subjugation, some churches have not only “freed” women from man’s order, but from God’s order as well. Those who stand on the historic interpretation of Scripture concerning women in leadership are considered repressive, archaic, or divisive in some circles. They are asked, “If they aren’t allowed in church government, how then can women minister?”
Many people still assume that there is no vehicle for women to exercise the indwelling Spirit’s ministry and power if they are not allowed to teach men or assume positions of governmental authority in the church. That is far from the truth in a properly functioning church, one that does not limit ministry to one man or to a select few. I believe churches were meant to have the gifts of the Spirit freely exercised under godly oversight in each church. In 1 Corinthians 14:2-33 Paul describes meetings where there is freedom for everyone to minister and function in the gifts of the Spirit. Most churches don’t allow this kind of liberty. Instead, a pastor or a group of men do most, if not all, the ministering. Some churches have increased involvement of the congregation with Psalter and Scripture readings by “lay” people, choir solos, ushering, assisting in communion, making of announcements, and “lay Sunday” preaching. But even these activities have been mostly choreographed by the pastor. In the denominational churches I attended, lay preaching was considered second class, even by the congregation. The pastor was the only one deemed spiritual enough to preach. There was a time when women were not allowed to take part in even such activity. They were limited to Sunday school teaching, nursery, committee activities, bake sales, roast beef dinners, and women’s meetings.
What 1 Corinthians 14 offers is a freedom for the Holy Spirit to bring out the gifts He has deposited in all His people, on His schedule and in His format. No longer do those who want the freedom to use their gifts freely and on a consistent basis have to go to seminary and become full time pastors to do so. Women who have chosen such accreditation have gone against 1 Timothy 2:10-13. No one should have to make this kind of choice. God wants freedom for all His people to use their gifts when His church meets, not just leaders.
Freedom to minister must have the anointing of God and must not just be an opportunity for the flesh. It requires a submissive heart willing to be corrected for errors or for going beyond one’s sphere. It also requires a leadership with a vision like that expressed by Dale Rumble:[14] “Those who have spiritual oversight for an assembly are not called to rule the saints, but to love, serve, and equip them for service, so that each member can attain the place and ministry to which he/she has been called in the body of Christ. Only in this way will there be sufficient ministry for the Church to mature and function as the Lord intends.”
It may often seem easier for leaders to “do it myself,” but I don’t believe that is God’s best plan. The control of one-man ministry together with the tendency for leaders to direct church meetings with a controlling hand has helped contribute to women having only two choices in most churches: to be stifled in their gifting or to act counter to Scripture and pursue a place in church government. A properly functioning leadership is to oversee, not control meetings. The leaders must understand that God has placed gifts and wisdom in all His people in the church, both men and women. Elders should encourage everyone to express all that God has given them. If they do not, the church can miss God, no matter how gifted the leaders may be.
In a 1 Corinthians 14 environment of a “New Testament” church, women have as much freedom as men to exercise all of their spiritual gifts as long as they don’t function in a manner expressing authority over men in the church. They can teach and pastor (Romans 15:14) freely within these two restrictions. They can also prophesy, evangelize, encourage, exhort, share revelations from God, applications of Scripture to their lives, and how God is working in their lives and families. In fact, they can do just about anything short of establishing doctrine or engaging in teaching that gives authoritative direction to the church. When women teach and pastor women and children, they are very much within their sphere of ministry.
But what if a woman believes that she has a lengthy message to bring to the whole church, not just to other women? How can she bring it without teaching men or being in the government of the church? For part of the answer to this question, let us look at the difference between teaching and preaching.
As we have seen, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:12 that he does not “permit a woman to teach (NT:1321) or to have authority (NT:831) over men.” I believe Paul connected the Greek words didasko (NT:1321) and authenteo (NT:831) to convey a limitation of a specific kind of teaching. With this understanding, I conclude that teaching in this verse specifically includes authoritative instruction, such as that involved in establishing doctrine or giving direction to the church. Instruction of this kind relates to the governmental authority (elders) in the church.
Grudem[15] highlights the relationship between teaching and authority in this way: “Teaching provided normative doctrinal and ethical guidance for the church. Those who publicly taught in churches spoke not with authority equal to Scripture itself but with authority that, in practical terms, provided the doctrinal and ethical summaries of Scriptural teachings and the practical applications of Scripture by which the church was directed. Scripture was the final authority, but teachers –more than prophets or evangelists or those with any other gift–were the ones who regularly had the responsibility to show how Scripture (the Church’s absolute authority) was to be interpreted and applied in each congregation. To teach in the church was to exercise at least de facto leadership and authority (and often a publicly recognized and acknowledged leadership and authority) that strongly influenced the doctrinal and ethical convictions of the Church.
“Whether many or most teachers were also elders, or whether all teachers were also elders, I am not now able to decide with any certainty. But it is clear that there is a very close connection between the role of elder and the role of teacher, a connection made appropriate by the leadership that teachers in fact exercise in the congregation.”
However, teaching is not the only kind of formal communication. The following verse addresses teaching, but also adds another form, preaching:
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching (NT:1321) and preaching (NT:2097) Jesus as the Christ.
Is there a difference between the two words and is the difference significant? Compare the definitions in Appendix I. The definition for euaggelizo (NT:2097) specifically relates to the gospel or good news and evangelism. Euaggelizo appears in 54 other New Testament verses. The verses below represent a sampling of the uses of both of these words:
And with many other exhortations he preached (NT:2097) to the people.
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach (NT:2097) the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives...”
So when they had testified and preached (NT:2980) the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem preaching (NT:2097) the gospel.
…the word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching (NT:2097) peace through Jesus Christ.
But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching (NT:2097) the Lord Jesus.
… because he preached (NT:2097) to them Jesus and the resurrection.
...God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory.
Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught (NT:1321) the people in the temple and preached (NT:2097) the gospel...
And they were astonished at His teaching (NT:1321), for He taught (NT:1321) them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach (NT:1321) you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
“…I have many people in this city.” And he continued there a year and six months, teaching (NT:1321) the word of God among them.
This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught (NT:1321) accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John.
Some of the differences between preaching and teaching can be seen in these verses. Preaching involves exhorting, testifying, and proclaiming not only the gospel of Jesus, but His resurrection and His glory! It seems to involve anything related to the “good news.” On the other hand, teaching expresses authority whether brought by the Lord, men, or directly by the Holy Spirit. Scripture limits women from teaching men in church, but it places no such limitation on women teaching other women or children. In fact it directs older women to teach younger women in Titus 2:3-4. The Bible also places no limitation on women (that it doesn’t place on men) regarding preaching, evangelizing, or exhorting nor does it limit where a women can preach.
Thomas Schreiner[16] addresses preaching clearly. “Women can proclaim the gospel to men in these cultures (speaking of foreign missions), for 1 Timothy 2:11-15 prohibits only authoritative teaching to a group of Christians within a church, not evangelism to those outside the church. Such proclamations of the gospel are not limited to men. She should clearly explain, however, (as many missionary women have done in history), that men should assume leadership roles in the governance and teaching ministry of the church as soon as it is established.”
At times there may be a fine line between teaching and preaching, but a submissive heart in a woman to the church leadership is an essential part of her preaching. Is she willing to be corrected if she goes beyond the realm of preaching in the eyes of the elders? This is the kind of heart God is looking for in everyone, including elders. The freedom for women to preach requires conscientious oversight of the elders as do all activities in the church. Elders must be willing to guide or correct anyone who goes beyond the intent of Scripture or the sphere of their call in God.
Some people conclude that whenever Paul speaks of a church in a home, that he is also identifying the head of the home as being the elder of that church. This is only an assumption and is unprovable. Some use Acts 12:12, where it says of Peter that “he went to the house of Mary,” to prove their point. They claim this must mean that Mary was an elder of the church in her home. However, all the passage says is that people were gathered at her house for prayer. It would be like someone today saying that a single mom must be an elder because people go to her house to pray. If the meeting is a “home church,” the leadership should be the same as that defined for a church that meets in a “church” building. Eldership is not defined for a specific kind of building.
In the book of Acts we find in Lydia the example of a Godworshiping woman who came to an understanding of her Messiah through Paul’s ministry. She may have been at the riverside for the purpose of prayer when she heard Paul and responded to his message about Jesus. She evidently had the precious gift of hospitality, because she opened her home to Paul. But was she the elder of a church in her home? Did she conduct regular meetings there? The Scripture doesn’t say. Some then ask, “Who did Paul encourage in her home when he left town if not those who were part of a church there?” Logically the group probably included her household who were baptized with her. Could there have been others? She might have invited some newly converted neighbors when Paul showed up. It is hard to conclude from the following passages about her that there were in fact any others, that she had a regular meeting in her home, or that she was in the government of the church as some say:
On the Sabbath day we went out of to the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us...So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.
(Acts 16:13-15, 40)
But what about the oversight of gatherings such as prayer meetings and Bible studies? Scripture does not specifically address the nature of the leadership for a meeting in a home that is not a “home church.” However, by examining the government of the church as it has been defined in the Bible, we can establish some guidelines. It can be inferred that any meeting in a home should be overseen by a person or persons who are under the oversight of the elders of a local church and are submitted to them (1 Timothy 3:1-7). The people who lead such meetings are not necessarily in the government of the church, but they should be accountable to the elders for the nature of the meetings, what occurs, and the people who attend. Being part of a meeting that is not properly overseen can be unfruitful and unwise, if not an opening for the deceiver.
As we have seen, women can have a great degree of freedom in God’s divine order in a church modeled according to the New Testament pattern discussed on pages 13-15. Let’s look now at the passages contested by egalitarians and examine how they justify departing from the historic Biblical positions regarding limitations on women in church leadership.
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