Women in Ministry

Since it is common knowledge that women make up more than one-half of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is important to understand their God-ordained role within the body. In most churches and ministries, women are viewed as valuable workers, as they often do the majority of the overall ministry.

Yet not all agree on women's roles. Women are often restricted from certain areas of ministry within the church that have to do with speaking and leadership. Some churches allow for female pastors; many do not. Some allow for women to teach while others do not. Some restrict women from speaking at all during church services.

Most of these disagreements hinge on various interpretations of Paul's words regarding women's roles found in 1 Cor. 14:34-35 and 1 Tim. 2:11-3:7. These scriptures will be the focus of our study, particularly at the end of this chapter.

From the Beginning

As we begin, let us consider what Scripture reveals about women from its very first pages. Women, just like men, are created in God's image:

And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27).

We know, of course, that God created Adam before He created Eve, and this is indeed a spiritually significant fact according to Paul (see 1 Tim. 2:3). We will later consider the significance of this order of creation as it is explained by Paul, but suffice it to say for now that it does not prove men's superiority over women, as we know that God created animals before human beings (see Gen. 1:24-28), and no one would argue that animals are superior to people.^[1]

The woman was created to be her husband's helper (see Gen. 2:18). This again does not prove her inferiority, but only reveals her role in marriage. The Holy Spirit is given as our helper, but He is certainly not inferior to us. Rather, the Holy Spirit is superior to us! And it could be well said that God's creation of the woman to be her husband's helper proves that men needed help! It was God who said that is wasn't good for the man to be alone (see Gen. 2:18). That truth has been proven countless times in history when men have been left without wives to help them.

Finally, we note from the very first pages of Genesis that the first woman was formed from the flesh of the first man. She was taken from him, pointing to the fact that he is missing something without her and that the two were originally one. Additionally, what God separated was intended by Him to become one again through sexual union, a means not only of procreation, but of expressing love and enjoying mutual pleasure upon which both are dependent upon the other.

Everything about these lessons from creation stands against the idea of one sex being superior to the other, or one having the right to dominate the other. And just because God has designed different roles for women in marriage or ministry has nothing to do with their equality with men in Christ, in whom 'there is neither male nor female" (Gal. 3:28).

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•     Women in Ministry
•     Women in Ministry in the Old Testament
•     A Female Judge Over Israel
•     A Third Prophetess
•     Women in Ministry in the New Testament
•     Women as Pastors?
•     Women as Apostles?
•     Women as Teachers?
•     When Jesus Commanded Women to Teach Men
•     The Problem Passages
•     Other Possibilities
•     The Other Problem Passage
•     The Church—A Model of the Family
•     In Conclusion