Over the last twenty years or so, there has been a significant rise in the number of women pastors in American churches. This shift has generated an enormous amount of controversy within some denominations, but open discussion of this issue seems to be an increasingly taboo subject. It seems there are increasing numbers of millennials and other progressive types new to church leadership who are fine with the idea of women leading their churches… Those who approve of women pastors rely on “gender equality” and “women’s rights” arguments. In addition, those who disagree are labeled as “racist, chauvinist, a legalist, or misogynist (women hater)” to support their positions.

Women bring many spiritual gifts to the church... hospitality, mercy, teaching, evangelism, and service. Women in the church are not restricted from public praying or prophesying (1 Corinthians 11:5). The Bible nowhere restricts women from proclaiming the gospel (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 3:15). This reflects the fact that men and women are different but remain equal and complementary to each other.

So, what’s the problem? Why not have women as pastors?

The answer, as always, is found in careful and accurate interpretation of scripture. When it comes to women pastors, there is one thing that stands out from everything else… God has assigned different roles to men and women in the church. With that understanding, there is no biblical case that can be made for women pastors. This is not my opinion… it is the pronouncement of scripture.

God has established a divine order of things when it comes to the role of women in the church. Anything else is allowing secular culture to shape their churches, instead of respecting and adhering to the biblical mandate that the church should shape the culture around them.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote this…

33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. 35 If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church. 36 Or was it from you that the word of God first went out? Or has it come to you only? 37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. 38 But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But all things must be done properly and in an orderly way. (1 Corinthians 14:33-40 NASB)

This passage offends a lot of people. The stumbling blocks to understanding this doctrinal position revolve around two terms… remain silent (not preach) and subjecting themselves (submission).

First, submission. To properly understand this, we must look at the original language (Greek) that Paul used to write his letters. His is not referring to women mindlessly submitting to men, (which has become a bone of contention in our culture as some men have been abusive in this regard). Scripture holds that women should subject themselves to God’s divine order of things which is to be “done properly and in an orderly way”. This is vitally important, as it reflects the character of God Himself. (Paul is referring to all times past, present, and future, not just to the cultural norms of his time.)

Women are to be submissive in the church, rather than seeking to lead. If we look to the Greek for the word submission, it deals with military orderliness in the ranks. It is not meant to be a degrading term, but one that serves to eliminate deadly battlefield confusion. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if soldiers were to attempt to usurp the role of commanders charged with leading them.

When one seeks to overthrow this necessity of orderliness, the results can be devastating. Several years ago, when I was an elder in my church, there was a woman (the wife of one of the other elders) who made it clear to the board that she felt far more qualified than the senior pastor to lead the church on Sunday morning. Grudgingly, we had erroneously allowed her to speak from the pulpit as part of a “team-teaching” arrangement on two consecutive Sundays to “see how it went”. What resulted was chaos and confusion in the church as she had a different “message” than the senior pastor. Worse yet, her church elder husband supported her in her insistence to become a lead pastor of the church.

In the end, we had to make a decision. The board asked her husband to resign his eldership and leave the church along with his wife in order to maintain God's order in our congregation. We made a mistake and the eventual outcome proved sad as others voluntarily left the church over it as well. Never again on my watch!

The other term is to “remain silent.” What Paul is referring to here is women preaching. Preaching is as much about exercising spiritual authority as pastorship. It is a responsibility given specifically to men to preach His word. Preaching involves addressing the entire congregation of men and women in a worship service and generally involves exhortation. Teaching normally involves disseminating facts to small groups in a smaller setting. (Biblically, women are encouraged to teach women and children.)

Nowhere in scripture does it promote the idea of a woman preaching men or interfering with a male pastor’s duty to correctly preach the word of God. Instead, God has intended that only men are to serve in positions of spiritual preaching authority in the church. It is simply the way God designed the church to function. This does not make women less intelligent or important by any means, rather, it means to be in agreement with God’s plan. Since God has chosen to give men the primary preaching authority in the church, women who preach to men represent open rebellion against God’s plan and intention for His church.

In 1 Timothy, Paul addresses exactly why women should not teach men or have authority over them. Because “Adam was created first, then Eve. Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived” (verses 13–14). God created Adam first and then created Eve to be a “helper” for Adam. The fact that Eve was deceived is also mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:14 as another reason for women not serving as pastors or having spiritual authority over men. Again, this is not my feeling or opinion… it is the command of scripture.

Finally, I want to address those special women mentioned throughout the Bible… Deborah, Phoebe, Priscilla, Lydia, and others. Despite their important contributions, none of them were recorded in scripture as pastoring or leading a church. That was never God’s plan for them!

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