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Freedom in God's Divine Order for Women
Much has been written about a woman’s place of service in the church. Some authors distort the meaning of Scripture to relegate women to the place of second class citizenship. Others go to the opposite extreme and appear to reinterpret Scripture to teach that it is acceptable for women to function in the authoritative role of pastor. Most of what I have read on this subject appears to come from people with an agenda. They started their study with the end result already in mind. They had something they wanted to prove and so they worked very, very hard to prove it. It almost is as if they were involved in a game like chess.
Chess is a game of strategy. The aim of players on both sides of the board is to checkmate each other’s kings. The game isn’t won in one massive attack, but by many subtle and strategic moves. We will call the two players Up-with-women and Men-forever. Both are looking for the right strategy to gradually checkmate each other on church leadership issues. Up-with-women initiates the fight with a pawn named, “That verse only applies to the culture of the day.” Men-forever responds with a pawn called, “The Bible is the eternal word of God.” Then, Up-with-women advances a bishop named, “Much was written by Paul and he was a chauvinist,” only to be captured by Men-forever’s knight, “But it was God who chose Paul.” Next, Up-with-women ambushes with the rook, “Jezebel was a teacher in the Church of Thyatira.” Men-forever counters with the bishop, “But Jezebel was a false prophetess.” Back and forth the match rages while many watch and wonder, “Just what is the significance of this theological game?”
First of all, God’s order is not a game! It is serious business. In describing meetings of His saints, God wrote in His word, “Let everything be done decently and in order.” He also said to Moses concerning the construction of His Old Testament house, “According to all that I show you...just so you shall make it.” He required that the tabernacle be built exactly as He specified inside and out, and He defined the attire of the priests, all in extreme detail.
God has a reason for each passage in the Bible. No Scripture is to be treated in isolation. We must consider the Bible in its entirety (Psalm 119:160) to determine the full nature of His plan. God also has a reason for each aspect of His design in creation, His house, and the family. Compromises of His pattern to accommodate worldly concepts will be detrimental to the church and its ministries and the health of church families. This is certainly true concerning the subject of women’s ministries in the church.
Pawson[1] noted that we live in a pragmatic age. In commenting on women in leadership he had the following to say: “A pragmatic age is more concerned with whether it works than whether it is right. In Christian jargon the pragmatist asks, Is it blessed? That God has blessed women’s leadership cannot be denied; that this proves it is right may be debated. God does not wait till we are perfect before He blesses (who would be blessed if He did?); the gracious doctrine of justification by faith means that He accepts us as being just in His sight. Furthermore, God is above the rules He makes for us and is perfectly free to make exceptions for Himself, as long as they are consistent with Himself (miracles in nature are an example of His liberty). His blessing on Salvation Army women in no way implies His approval of a military structure or His indifference to the sacraments. His gracious activity needs the confirmation of Scripture before it can be taken as a sanction.” A woman’s place in church, “…is essentially a biblical issue, to be settled by scrupulous exegesis.”
Pawson[2] goes on to discuss two of the issues that we will consider in this book as we look at pertinent Scriptures. Concerning the first issue of women in the church he writes, “Was the Jewish understanding of ‘male and female’ as having social as well as sexual implications a matter of culture or creation, heredity or environment?
“Some believe it was relative. That is, their outlook was culturally conditioned in a world where patriarchy was the norm. In this case, we are not only free to ignore the social patterns of the Old Testament; it becomes imperative that we abolish them and liberate women into their full personhood. Sexual differences are purely physical and must not be allowed to influence any other aspect of life, either individual or corporate.
“Others (including myself) believe it was absolute. That is, there are real differences between men and women, both in their nature and in their relationships, which are rooted in the original creation and will be permanent features of a healthy society. Any attempt to obliterate these distinctions (even in the name of equality), whether through legal or social pressure, will in the long run damage our humanity, causing confusion (particularly crisis of identity) and frustration (as we try to be what God never intended us to be). A unisex society is contrary to divine creation, not just Hebrew tradition.”
The second issue is similar and relates to the translation of the Bible in its various versions. Were the translators affected by a “patriarchal” mind set and, because of this mind set, did they mistranslate critical words? Translation that agrees with the full counsel of God in His word and careful exegesis are important factors here.
Elisabeth Elliot in her foreword to Pawson’s book[3] questions whether exegesis alone will completely settle everything. She puts it this way: “He (Pawson) deals with all the ‘difficult’ texts. He tells us that his subject is not a clerical issue, nor is it hierarchical, situational, historical, or experimental; it is Biblical. With that I agree wholeheartedly, but whether it can be settled, as he says, only by ‘scrupulous exegesis’ I am not sure. I think it is even bigger, even deeper than that – a theological mystery representing Christ and the church, bigger than exegesis, deeper than our deepest understanding.”
Exegesis may have its limits, but is still the most important part of any analysis. My objective is to sort through the various arguments and present a clear picture of what Scripture has to say about the role of women in God’s house. My hope is that the Holy Spirit will give me insights into the heart of God to bring full meaning to exegesis. Even if it shows that Scripture limits governmental authority in the church to men, I believe it will demonstrate that women are no less gifted than men, that they are vitally important to the church, and have great Freedom in God’s Divine Order. They definitely are not second class citizens.
In this book I will use the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise stated. Appendix I presents the definitions of important Hebrew and Greek words referred to in the paper. Appendix II lists all Scripture references and where each is used.
First Edition dated November 16, 2001.
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