What does the bible say about women in leadership?
There’s a lot of (strong) disagreement about the role of women in church leadership. Even our own denomination recently changed is policies around female pastors. What are we to make of all this?
Transcript
SERIES INTRO
Have you ever been chastised for asking questions about God and faith? Maybe in Sunday school or by a parent of youth leader.
Well, around here, we believe that God is big enough for your questions. So, we encourage you to ask them. Why? Because your questions matter. Your questions refine your faith. And your questions open you up to greater biblical understanding.
That’s why we have this new series. You submitted questions and voted on them. And now, I’m going to preach on the top 5 questions. They are, in order:
How should a Christian view LGBTQ issues?
Can you believe in Christianity and Shamanism?
How do you handle Christian family with different values than yours?
What does the bible say about women in leadership?
What's up with Jesus and his liberal talking points?
The preaching schedule is in your bulletin. So, don’t miss your top question.
OVERVIEW
Today, we’re answering the question, “What does the Bible say about women in leadership?”
And here’s how I’ll do it:
I’ll summarize the two major camps.
Tell you what the Alliance believes and where RiverLife lands.
Explain some recent changes in the Alliance.
Propose what I believe is a better way to think about this issue.
TWO MAJOR CAMPS
There are two major camps on this topic: complementarians and egalitarians.
Complementarians believe that men and women are created equal in worth but have distinct and complementary roles in the home and the church. They tend to focus on male headship and female submission.
Egalitarians, in contrast, believe in the full equality of men and women in both roles and functions in the home, church, and society. They tend to focus more on gender equality.
So, let’s talk about these two camps.
Here are some of the bible verses that complementarians cite.
In Genesis 2, Adam was created first, illustrating a fundamental priority. Eve was created from Adam and described as his “helper.”
Ephesians 5:22-23, that you heard earlier, says this:
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
This is also echoed in 1 Corinthians 11.
1 Timothy 2:11-12 says,
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
Complementarians tend to advocate for a literal, “clear and plain” reading of Scripture, where we look for the most straightforward answer to a text.
Egalitarians, on the other hand, lean toward a more historical, cultural reading of Scripture, where some of Paul’s statements don’t actually mean what we, as 21st century readers, think they do.
They will cite passages like Matthew 20, that you heard earlier, that denounces hierarchical power and leadership and instead advocated for servanthood.
Or Galatians 3 that teaches a familial equality in Christ for all believers.
26 In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the two camps, there are a few of things you need to know:
Christianity is 2,000 years old.
These terms are only 50 years old. They were both popularized in the ‘80s.
The complementarian view that is so dominant in most of the churches you grew up in is less than 500 years old. It was birthed out of the Protestant Reformation.
So, any person who argues that their view is “the way the Church has always been” is simply wrong. And any person who argues that “the Bible clearly says…” is also wrong. Because if the Bible really was clear about this, we wouldn’t be debating this for 2,000 years.
WHAT THE ALLIANCE & RIVERLIFE BELIEVE
So, where does the Alliance stand in this debate? And what about RiverLife?
Let’s start with the larger Alliance family. Here’s a very good description from Vice President Terry Smith in an interview with Christianity today.
“The Alliance has never been neatly categorized as “complementarian” or “egalitarian.” Mostly, the churches have been led by men, but there are also many prominent women in the denomination’s history, including missionaries, evangelists, church planters, and solo pastors. They are seen as ‘humble servants of God who were doing what God called them to do.’”
In the Alliance, there is only one bylaw related to gender in ministry—that Scripture defines elders as male, and therefore the lead pastor, who is also the head elder, must be male.
But, within that, Alliance churches range from strict or moderate complementarians to broadly egalitarian. It’s one of things I appreciate about the Alliance—there is a lot of theological room at our table.
What about RiverLife? I describe us as functionally egalitarian, but within the Alliance guidelines of the male eldership. Here you will find women preaching, praying, and leading spiritual exercises. Women prophesy and cast out demons. Women serve on our new board, they lead ministries, and they teach from the pulpit.
We believe that man and women are equally called and gifted for ministry.
We believe that Genesis 1 & 2 show that both men and women, without distinction, were charged with responsibility over all of God’s creation (Gen 1:26, 28). And it was sin and the Fall that introduced male authority and hierarchy.
We believe that Jesus, in his teachings and actions, consistently affirmed the value and worth of women, in stark contrast to the prevailing view of the time that women were subordinate and inferior to men.
We believe that Acts shows that the Holy Spirit came in power on men and women, resulting in both genders ministering inside and outside the church.
And we believe that Paul, rather than reinforcing societal gender roles, practiced and preached against them, when his letters are understood within their cultural context.
Lastly, one more hot take from me. And this one might ruffle some feathers. I believe that complementarianism is patriarchy. It might be Christian patriarchy, but it’s still patriarchy. Four reasons why:
It troubles me how much complementarianism looks like the world’s treatment of women.
In practice, I’ve rarely seen women in complementarian churches or marriages feel “equal in worth and dignity.”
Complementarianism is the majority view in only a few places around the world. It seems to be a uniquely white, evangelical obsession.
In the last 20 years, the Southern Baptism Convention, the largest Protestant denomination and strongest proponent of complementarianism, has had nearly 400 leaders convicted of sexual abuse against more than 700 victims. Like the Catholic Church, many of these reports were initially buried or denied. So, maybe they aren’t the best ones to listen to about gender roles.
Complementarianism, in practice, sure looks a whole lot like patriarchy.
RECENT CHANGES IN THE ALLIANCE
RiverLife is proudly and biblically egalitarian. That’s why we’re very excited about some recent changes in the Alliance. This summer, our denomination voted to allow women to be ordained with the title of “pastor.” Previously, women could go through the same study, testing, and interviews as men, but only receive the title of “consecrated worker.” I voted in favor of this, as did over 60% of the delegates.
That means that we could have a woman pastor here at RiverLife. And I look forward to that day. The title of Lead Pastor, my position, is still reserved for a man, as the head elder, but any other pastoral position is open to a woman. That means, that one day we might even have a woman pastor leading one of our campuses.
A BETTER WAY
Despite this, this is still have a raging fight between complementarians and egalitarians, in the Church and maybe even in your family. And there doesn’t seem to be any resolution on the horizon.
Truth is, I don’t like this argument. It can often get pretty nasty, prideful, and even misogynistic. That’s why I don’t debate anybody on it. Instead, I’ve come up with an alternative way to think about women in ministry.
Rather than endlessly argue what the Bible “really” says—because, let’s face it, if scholars way smarter than any of us can’t agree, maybe it’s not going to happen. Instead, I like to ask a different question.
Do women have spiritually significant roles in your church?
Why do I think that question is important? Because the Bible is full of spiritually significant women as leaders, not just wives, mothers, and Sunday school teachers.
In the Old Testament
Eve was given equal care and dominion over the earth with Adam. (Gen 1, 2)
Miriam, the sister of Moses, was a prophet during the exodus. (Exod. 15:20)
Deborah led the Israelite nation. She was a judge and a prophet. (Judges 4, 5)
Esther was a queen who saved the Jews from genocide. (Esther)
Huldah was a prophet whom King Josiah and High Priest Hilkiah consulted. Her prophcies helped bring about revival. (2 Kings 22, 23)
In the Gospels
Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening, a place explicitly reserved for men. (Luke 10:38-42)
The Samaritan women evangelized her whole town, not just the women and children. (John 4:4–42)
Seven women were listed among Jesus devoted followers, in a time when women were commanded to stay home and only learn from their husbands:
Jesus’ mother Mary
Mary Magdalene
The “other” Mary
Mary of Bethany
Joanna
Susanna
Salome
Some of those women were the ones to tell the 12 males disciples about the risen Jesus, in a time when women couldn’t even testify in court.
How about Paul—the guy who supposedly said that women should be silent in church?
He described many women around him as co-workers, apostles, ministers, fellow servants, fellow soldiers, and even fellow prisoners for the gospel. He ministered side-by-side with men and women.
In Romans 16 alone, he commends 10 women for their ministry and care.
Pheobe was a deacon who carried ones of his letters and read it aloud to her house church.
Pricilla, whose name is listed before her husaband’s, is Paul’s co-worker, a teacher (to a man, Apollos, Acts 18:26), and a church leader. (1 Cor. 16:19)
Mary is a hard worker for the gospel in Asia.
Junia was prominent among the apostles.
Tryphaena and Tryphosa were Paul’s fellow workers in the Lord
The beloved Persis worked hard for the Lord.
Also mentioned were Rufus’s mother, Julia, and Nereus’s sister.
In Romans 16, more women than men were commended and identified by their ministry.
But there’s more! In the church at Philippi…
Lydia was among the praying women who were Paul’s launch team to plant the church. (Acts 16:11–40)
Euodia & Syntyche were described as working “at Paul’s side.” (Phil. 4:2–3)
Do we really think that Paul doesn’t allow women to preach? Or that he believed that men had authority over women? Or that women should just stay home and raise children. It’s preposterous.
If that wasn’t enough, what about the hundreds, even thousands, of women in the early Church, the monastic period, and the Middle Ages who pastored, led, preached, and wrote.
Or the hundreds of woman recorded as pastors throughout Alliance history and the thousands who have been evangelists, deacons, and missionaries.
It’s easy to argue complementarian vs egalitarian. It’s a lot harder to argue the spiritually significant women all throughout the Bible and church history.
CLOSING
I’ll close with two encouragements:
First, to the women—You have an incredible legacy of women of faith leading in the Church. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Step into that legacy. Be bold. Be faithful. And my promise to you is that you will always have a place here at RiverLife to live out your calling and passion for God.
Second, to the men—Think of the women in your life—wives, mothers, sisters, daughters. Do you empower and enable them to have spiritually significant roles in the church, the family, and even your life? Or do you hold them back, directly or indirectly.
God calls us to an incredible mission here on earth—to bring the hope, healing, and growth of the gospel to people. And we need men and women, equally called and gifted, to accomplish that.
That’s what the Bible says about women in leadership.
