Women Ministers In The Church (Part two)

[Reg]

angel885,

Here is part two...

Women Ministers In The Church (Part two)

Even after considering the historical context of Paul's instruction to the Church, is a woman today justified in seeing the apostle Paul genuinely believing that women were not meant by God to take part in certain public worship activities? I would like for that woman to consider the following.

The apostles in Jerusalem, when confronted with a totally new situation in The Church: gentiles being converted and brought into The Church by God, studied the scripture concerning this. They considered what the Holy Spirit was doing. And they concluded among other things (Acts 15:20) the newly converted
gentiles were to "abstain from things polluted by "idols". This was easy in the Jewish community at Jerusalem. But Paul, when in the real world where he was an active missionary for the gentiles, saw that this was not an easy thing for his new converts. In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul addresses this issue and comes to a quite different conclusion than the apostles in Jerusalem did.

I want to suggest that the apostle Paul did see how plainly wrong his Jewish community was in restricting women from learning the Holy Scriptures. But that he did still believe that the traditions were partially correct in restricting women from leadership roles in worship, due to being affected by the deep social beliefs and practices of his time.


Does Scripture Restrict Today's Women From Teaching And Leadership?

Many Bible students would emphatically say that God commands The Church in scripture not to allow women to preach or take leadership positions. Most will back up their views with the following:

1) It is a direct command in inspired Holy Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:12-15 as well as 1 Corinthians 14:34. 2) In 1 Timothy 2 The Holy Spirit through Paul quotes the Holy Scripture in Genesis, indicating that his charge was pre-ordained by God and not based on current social practice. That women are declared by scripture to be more prone to deception than men, and therefore should not be given leadership roles in the Church and 3) In 1 Timothy 3 and other scriptures, qualifications for leadership are restricted to men.

First, for those who would consider all New Testament Scripture as immutable commands for Christians of all ages, I would like to encourage them to prayerfully study through the whole New Testament. Are we to heed Christ's commands to the pharisees to the letter? Are Christians to eat meat that has been offered to an idol and then sent to the market place or not? The key question is whether God gave us the New Testament Scripture so we would have a catalog of "do's and don't's and how to's, or did He give it to us to learn how to prayerfully make decisions as we are confronted with new circumstances? Is Church Leadership to "do as Paul says" or follow his godly example? It is for sure much easier to do as told than to prayerfully follow an example.

Second, Paul quotes Old Testament Scripture when writing Timothy about how he wants the church administered. Does this indicate that The Holy Spirit was interpreting the events in Genesis to dictate the role of women in The Church? I would encourage the Bible student to make a comprehensive study of the writings of Paul and see that it is his practice to back up personal decisions concerning the church with Old Testament Scripture. I would ask you, after you have done so, if you agree with me that it is Paul's example that is important here. That he always seemed to meditate on Scripture in order to find God's opinions about given situations. As he did in 1 Corinthians 9:9, do we look to Scripture to find how God might think about something or to find physical commands?

Another thought concerning Paul's mention of Eve having been deceived. Has the history of the Church as well as most cults proved men as immune from deception? When leadership in God's Kingdom and the Church is concerned, is not the leadership of the Holy Spirit more of an issue than the physical person? Would Paul, looking back into history and seeing today's experiences of great leadership by talented women still say "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence"? Or would he agree with God as during the period of the Judges in making the women Deborah a judge over men (Judges 4) ?

And can the conservative Christian pick and choose which parts of Paul's directions we are to follow today? Maybe we are just to keep part of his directions but disregard the rest?

Third, are most churches who restrict women from leadership roles due to instruction in 1 Timothy 3, as diligent in restricting unmarried men from such roles? Do these scriptures give God's Church today commands for administration or examples in Godly decision making while they administer? Does God mean for us to pay attention to the physical gender noted in Scripture or the spiritual character noted? Does "husband of one wife" indicate restricting divorcees or polygamists, or is it addressing a character trait?

Honoring the Work of The Holy Spirit

I have personally had the experience of working with an ordained woman minister. I have witnessed and experienced what I firmly believe is the power of God's Holy Spirit at work in her ministry. And as the early apostles looked upon the first gentiles, filled with the Holy Spirit with wonder, and could not deny what they saw, I have looked upon the ministry of this woman and cannot deny the work of The Holy Spirit I see.

And I have had to revisit my beliefs concerning this issue as we have done above. I praise God that He indeed does not differentiate between jew or gentile, male or female. But that He is very patient with our prejudices and our lack of understanding. And that God's work is done, not by the might or power of the physical agent, but by His Holy Spirit.

Harold Sawyer is a lay-member of the World Wide Church of God. This paper does not necessarily reflect current teachings of the World Wide Church of God. The thoughts herein reflect Harold's exploration of His faith in God and The Holy Scriptures.