Women and Ministry231
The following information comes with the hope that it will enable you to make good decisions in the "gray areas"of biblical interpretation, especially those pertaining to the ministry of women.
Preliminary Considerations
Ancient Israel, Assyria, and Babylonia were all patriarchal societies, and the basic kinship unit of each was the tribe or clan rather than the nuclear family. In Israel women enjoyed respect as individuals, and the Mosaic Law protected their personal rights. Inheritances passed through the males, but women could inherit if no male was present. Women participated in public and private worship. In patriarchal times the male family head led in family worship, and under the Mosaic Law only males of the tribe of Levi and the clan of Aaron served as priests. God excluded other males and all females from the priesthood. Women participated in social and business life with men, but their contracts were subject to the ratification of their husbands. Women served as prophetess and even queen with no condemnation for their roles, but examples of these cases are rare.
In Jesus' day Judaism viewed women as both subordinate and inferior. The religious leaders discouraged men from communicating with women because they thought they might lead men astray. They encouraged women to stay in their homes and to wear veils in public for the same reason. However within the home Jewish men often valued their wives and loved them tenderly. Commonly Jewish men believed that women could not and should not learn about religious matters. Women could attend public worship, but only the men conducted civil matters.
Within Greco-Roman first-century culture there was much diversity. Older Greeks viewed women as inferior and useful only for labor, pleasure, or childbearing. Among the wealthier Romans and Greeks women often received education, they could inherit, and they enjoyed social acceptability. Lower class Romans and Greeks did not educate their women and regarded them as more servile.
Jesus gave women a higher place than did His contemporary Jews. He did not choose women as His disciples or apostles, but, in contrast to the rabbis, He did permit them to accompany Him, minister to His needs, and learn from Him. He regarded women as needing His message as much as men. Moreover He did not deal with them in a condescending manner. His position on divorce granted women more protection than did the Mosaic Law (i.e., permanent marriage with few exceptions).
The apostles perpetuated Jesus' attitude toward women. The church incorporated women into the body of believers, considered them able to learn, and taught them the truths of the faith. They played a significant role in the church's expansion. They assisted the apostles as they had assisted the Lord. The early Christians held marriage in high esteem and considered it a permanent commitment. As was also true in Jesus' teaching, the apostles viewed celibacy as a valid, thought not a superior, calling. They saw headship in the church as existing to serve those under authority, not for the personal benefit of those in leadership.
The early church viewed the marriage relationship as a vehicle to reflect the relationship between God and the believer. The husband was to practice loving commitment to his wife for her welfare. The wife was to respond to her husband's leadership as the church does to Christ's. Together the husband and wife glorify God by demonstrating God's love and the proper human response.
The apostles taught that the headship of the man should be observable in the church as well as in the home. Since creation, men have been responsible for the spiritual welfare of God's people. In the church the elders have this responsibility. Men alone practiced activities that involved the exercise of elder authority. These included fostering the spiritual growth of the church, ensuring the faithful teaching of God's truth, and serving as Christ's undershepherds for the welfare of the flock. However women could act and serve in other areas. They carried out a wide-ranging ministry to the body of Christ. Evidently women served as deaconesses. Sexual differences were not a factor in ministry except when it came to the authoritative teaching and disciplinary power of the elder.
In Israel in both the patriarchal and Mosaic periods God appointed certain males to lead His people. That is, no females and not all males could serve as priests. Only some males functioned as priests. Therefore women as a sex were not genetically subordinate to men as a sex in the matter of religious authority. God selected only certain men to nurture and teach His people. The whole congregation received the service of certain persons, male and female, whom God had chosen to lead in meeting physical needs including prophetesses, queens, and deaconesses in the church. Nurture, teaching, and serving others were not ministries reserved exclusively to priests in the old economy and elders in the new. What is distinctive about those positions is their formal role and responsibility.
There were problems in the relationships of believers in the past just as there are in the present. In the Corinthian church, for example, some of the women wanted to reject any differences from the men. Men and women were jealous of their brothers and sisters, and carnality was common. They had incorrect perceptions of what was an important role in the body. Paul had to remind them that their purpose should be to build up one another.
Proper Procedure
In trying to determine what to do in specific situations involving women and ministry there are several factors that we must consider. We need to do so to make sure what we do is pleasing to God and right for others (i.e., Christian ethics). We must consider what God has revealed, His moral standards. We must also make sure we understand the situation encompassing the decision accurately, its context. Third, we must take care that we are doing the right thing for the right reasons, our motivation.
It is difficult to make decisions involving the will of God because our knowledge is imperfect and other people may not share our perceptions.
One of the problems of perceiving the situation properly involves the question of what "headship"entails. Good people disagree on this fundamental point. Consequently they have come up with diverse positions on the proper role relationships of men and women.
Headship is largely an issue of authority. Some have erred by equating authority with the right to command. This is a selfish view. Biblical headship always involves building up others. Furthermore authority always includes the element of delegation. A leader who refuses to delegate is not using his authority properly. In the family some men feel their authority is incomplete if they do not personally make all the decisions. This demonstrates a failure to understand the nature of headship. Headship should take into account the needs and abilities of those for whose sake those in authority make decisions. Headship also involves providing an example for those under one's authority.
Another problem of definition involves the meaning of teaching or exercising authority over a man. We have more precisely defined role relationships for headship in the church as compared to headship in the family. How much delegation of authority did God intend in the work of an elder? Obviously He intended some including teaching and church discipline. Where along the continuum of teaching, for example, does a woman fit in? The scriptural precepts are that women can teach (1 Cor. 14:26) but are not to exercise authority over a man (1 Tim. 2:11-12). What she can and cannot do within these parameters is the question. People differ because they understand Scripture differently, they see the significance of the issues involved differently, and they have different motives.
Principles for Making Decisions
One principle taught in Scripture is that in the marriage relationship the husband is to be the self-sacrificing head and the wife the submissive respondent.
Second, the pattern of representative male leadership for God's people in matters of teaching, ruling, and nurturing had been God's will from the creation of Adam and Eve throughout history.
Third, restrictions on the office of elder in the church do not apply to all other religious activities. Men and women serve on the same footing outside the office of elder.
Fourth, in both Israel and the church the appointive headship of certain men does not apply outside marriage and the church. There is no biblical restriction on the roles of the sexes in social and civic life.
Fifth, leaders must actively desire the welfare of those they lead.
In addition to these clear normative standards, the Bible also urges proper motivation: love for God and our neighbors.
Applying the Principles
At this point we must bring the actual situation into consideration to do the will of God. We must examine the biblical principles in the light of the realities of life. It is not that the situation determines our ethics. However the situations must affect the application of biblical principles as the surface of a putting green must affect how you stroke a golf ball.
The following guidelines are helpful in evaluating the context of any sort of action in a "gray area."
Concerning scriptural revelation, does the Bible expressly prohibit or permit the activity? Often we can answer the question at this level, but it is vital to proceed on.
Concerning the actual situation, does the activity effectively overthrow a biblical norm or motive but escape censure on a technicality of definition? Is the activity in keeping with the obvious purpose of Scripture, but prevented by a technicality of definition? The spirit must always receive preference over the letter.
Concerning how others will perceive the activity, is it likely to lead to misunderstanding or will others see it in such a way that it leads to confusion or becomes a stumbling-block? Can we explain it sufficiently so that it is not likely that others will misunderstand or stumble? Our actions must not only be right, but other normal people must also perceive them as proper.
