WOMEN IN MINISTRY: AN EGALITARIAN COMMUNITY

I believe that the early church community held a radical view of male and female equality. We can see through Jesus' ministry that he didn't make any distinction between anyone. Whether they were rich, poor, male, female, sick, healthy, Jew, Samaritan, or anything else, if they wanted to follow Jesus, he was all for it. The only condition was that they had to really want it. We can see this all through the gospels. Jesus didn't hold anything back for anyone based on social status or apperance. The only thing that Jesus looked for was the heart, and I believe that the early church held this view, too.

In Galatians 3 Paul writes:

[27] for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

In other words, the message of the gospel is all inclusive. If you want it, you can have it.

Then in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul writes:

[3] Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. [4] Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. [5] And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved. [6] If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. [7] A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. [8] For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; [9] neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. [10] For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. [11] In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. [12] For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.

On the surface it may seem to some that Paul is distinguishing between man and woman. But if you look deeper into the passage you notice that Paul is advocating for men and women to support one another, to follow God together. He says in verse 12 that everything comes from God. Male comes from female and female comes from male. In the kingdom of God, gender doesn't matter. Also notice in verse 5 that he recognizes that women pray and prophesy. For the early church the word prophesy basically means to speak the truth, to preach. Then in verse 10 he says that a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. So, we can see from this passage that Paul doesn't think that women in general ought to be silent and stay in the kitchen. Women and men have an equal role to play in the church.

I've only given 2 passages on gender equality, but there's plenty more. I think it's evident from the New Testament that the church was a community that viewed everyone equally. This begs the question for those who think that women shouldn't be in leadership...

If the church is a community of equals, then why are men more qualified to be leaders than women? Why can't a woman be a pastor?

I don't think there is an adequate answer. The only answer I've found is in 2 passages of scripture in the New Testament. And as I've mentioned in a previous post, those 2 passages are widely taken out of context. Next week I'll tackle the first of these passages - 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, and then I'll tackle 1 Timothy 2:9-15.

Stay tuned.