Women's Role in the Church

As many of you know I have been spending some time examining the requirements for Elder, Deacon and Pastor. During this study I have been wrestling with the issue of women in the church. After much study and reading I believe that I have come to some conclusions on this issue especially with regards to what we read in 1 Timothy 3.

First, by no means do I believe my position to be the definitive one yet it is the one that seems the most plausible and likely to me. There have been many people much smarter and educated than I am who have come to a variety of conclusions and it would arrogant of me to think that I have somehow finally found the real answer. At the same time these are my convictions and conclusions and I must be willing to faithfully live them out while also living with a willingness to hear Scriptural arguments that differ from my understandings.

Second, I believe that for us to properly understand the role of women in the church we must first understand that there is a distinct difference between elders and deacons. They have separate roles and separate qualifications. Simply put elders have the duties that are "centered around teaching, directing and protecting the church from error." Whereas deacons have duties that are centered around caring for the physical needs of their church family. These two roles are equal in value and necessity but they are distinct in much the same way that husbands and wives have distinct roles yet both are equally valuable. This understanding helps us when we begin to look at church authority and women. In particular it opens the door for women to not be exercising authority over a man (some still see this as an issue, I however do not) yet still serve as a deacon.

Third, (based on the above definition of deacon) women can serve as deacons. In fact, I believe churches would do well to have a greater balance of women and men in their deacon councils. As church seek to meet the physical needs of people we would do well to have the input and perspective of women. Being generally wired differently than men it would only serve to reason that having a different view on the world would only enhance our ability to minister to people. I believe that we see a number of different women serving in this type of capacity in the Scriptures and we see it from the earliest stages of the church. In particular in the book of Romans we see names such as Priscilla, Phoebe, and Persis listed as workers for the Lord. I believe Paul would have seen these women as fulfilling the role of deacons whether they had the title or not is for the most part unknown.

Fourth, the issue of having authority over men found in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 has a number of different methods of interpretation. Most of these have substantial exegetical backing and therefore seem plausible. One of the most compelling is to view the passage in light of Paul's teaching of husbands and wives found in Colossians and Ephesians. This connection is at the very least implied by Paul's use of the relationship between Adam and Eve (verses 13-14) who were of course husband and wife. Using this logic it is possible to interpret this passage not as some sort of edict for all women but rather a furthering discourse on how wives and husbands should relate to one another in the context of church and worship. You may not agree with this conclusion but I think you can see how there are a variety of interpretations and therefore this is one of those passages which will continue to be a source of disagreement until the end of the age.

Fifth,at this point I do not believe women should be senior pastors and this based on the idea that I do not believe women are to be church elders and that the senior pastor should essentially be the lead elder. I could be wrong on this issue as it by far my least researched idea so stay tuned for further developments on this one. I have recently read a number of different articles that present some arguments for both sides of this debate.

Finally, I have a certain set of beliefs on these issues but these beliefs should not prohibit me from working with other born-again believers to further the Kingdom of God. I believe we are called to be unified in the Spirit which does not mean we all share the same beliefs (outside of some core beliefs such as there is only way to Heaven and that is through Christ) but it does mean that we should share in one purpose which is to proclaim the good news to every tribe tongue and nation.

In the end, do not take my word for it. Take some time and research these issues on your own and see what conclusions you come to.