Why I Favor Women in Ministry
Ken Schenck
1.
I favor the possibility of women in
all positions of ministry because it represents the glorious fulfillment of the
gospel.
Galatians 3:27-28 say, “As
many who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is
neither slave nor free; there is not ‘male and female.’ For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Often when weighing Scripture with Scripture, we must decide
what the general principle is and what might be the exception to the rule. In this case, clearly “In Christ there is not
‘male and female’” is the general principle to which any other verses would be
exceptions.
For example, we would not say, “A woman is not to teach or
have authority over a man, BUT in Christ there is no ‘male and female.’” The one relates to earthly administration,
the other to heavenly, spiritual
identity. Clearly the heavenly and
spiritual have decisive precedence over the earthly and temporary. “You are all
sons of God” (Gal. 3:26). Any earthly
subordination or earthly distinction in role would be exactly that: earthly and
temporary. We have no reason to believe
that in heaven such differentiations will exist in role or authority.
Not “Male and Female”
Galatians 3:28 says, “In Christ there is not ‘male and
female.’” Paul’s wording here alludes to
Genesis 1:27 where God creates humans “male and female.” After Paul has used “neither-nor” several
times, he interestingly switches his grammar: “neither Jew nor Greek… neither slave nor
free”—then “not ‘male and
female.’” Paul was not using awkward
grammar. He made this switch to allude
intentionally to Genesis 1:27 where God created humans “male and female.”
Therefore, in Christ there is not “male and female.” The distinction, made at creation, is undone
in Christ. Indeed, in heaven any
subordination of husband and wife will not exist because in heaven they neither
marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels (e.g. Mark 12:25-26).
Moving Closer to Heaven on Earth
For purposes of comparison, we might note that the books of
the New Testament assume that Christians can have slaves. There were individuals in the first century
who did not practice slavery on principle (see Philo on the Essenes,
Every Good Person is Free 79), but
the New Testament books do not argue this point. They never argue for the abolition of
slavery. Even in Philemon, Paul does not
explicitly tell this slave owner to set his slave free. Indeed, Colossians—a letter often thought to
have accompanied Philemon—reinforces traditional slave-master roles (Col.
3:22-4:1).
Nevertheless, I would argue that the world moved closer to
heaven when slavery was abolished.
Similarly, the world moves closer to heaven when we enact as much as
possible the equality of men and women on a spiritual plane. Some might argue that the female body has
implications for the roles of women on the earthly plane—this remains to be
seen. But the glorious proclamation of
the Christian gospel is that both male and female enter equally into Christ,
both have equal access to God through Christ, and in heaven there will be no
subordination of one to the other. Male
spirit and female spirit are equal in Christ, and there can be no hierarchy
between them.
Regardless of what you think on the question of husbands and
wives, the heavenly trajectory in relation to the female spirit seems
clear. How could we argue that in Christ
a woman has any less access to heaven or the Spirit than a man? And if a woman has equal access to the
Spirit, how could we argue that she has any less of God’s word to convey than a
man? Some may argue for an earthly
hierarchy, but how could anyone possibly deny that “not male and female” is a
fundamental spiritual truth?
Females Who Prophesied in the New Testament
Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 predicted that Christian daughters
would prophesy. These verses are
undeniable affirmations that God uses women to convey spiritual truths to the
earth. It thus reinforces our claim that
women have access to the Spirit in Christ just as men do. We cannot use our interpretations of other Scriptures
to negate this clear implication of Acts.
Indeed, in Acts 21:9 we learn that the 4 virgin daughters of
Philip the evangelist prophesied. 1 Corinthians
11:5 refers to married women prophesying
as well. We know they are married
because their lack of covering dishonors their head—which 11:3 defines as their
husbands. For this reason we cannot
claim that only single women can preach.
Similarly, there is nothing in these contexts that indicates
these women only prophesied to women.
Indeed, the 1 Corinthians 11 passage implies the contrary. Since the spirits of women and men are undifferentiated
“in Christ,” we would be surprised if such a distinction were made in the first
place. Christ has conquered the
limitations of the earth and the sin of Eve!
Any lingering traces of the limitations of earth will fully disappear in
the
2.
I favor the possibility of women in
all positions of ministry because the Biblical arguments against it don’t hold
up against close scrutiny.
Husband-Wives or Man-Woman
We should probably distinguish husband/wife issues from the
issue of women in ministry in general.
You can fully believe that the husband is the head of the wife without
negating the possibility of women ministering to men in general. For this reason, the submission passages in
Ephesians, Colossians, and 1 Peter do not clearly address the issue of women in
ministry. They deal with earthly roles
within the family rather than the spiritual role of female ministry.
1 Corinthians 14:34-36
Similarly, 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 have a husband-wife
situation in view, which eliminates it from the debate as well. When the Greek word gyne (“woman,” “wife”) is used in
the presence of aner
(“husband), it usually refers to wives in relation to husbands rather than
women in relation to men in general. The
word “to submit” reinforces this impression (14:34).
The 1 Corinthians 14 passage is difficult to understand in the
first place because 1 Corinthians 11 has already implied that women did prophecy in Corinthian worship (cf.
11:5). The very dynamics of 1
Corinthians 11 are created largely because of a situation in which a man’s wife
is doing something prominent in the presence of other men. She needs to cover her head and be modest in
the presence of God, angels, and men who aren’t her husband.
In this light 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 cannot be an absolute
statement. Otherwise Paul would
contradict himself. He would assume that
women prophesy in worship only to forbid it later in the same letter! Thus we can’t use these verses to argue
against women in ministry.
Women Did Minister to Men!
Regardless of what you think on the husband/wife issue, we do see women in the NT ministering to
men. Priscilla helps instruct Apollos in Acts 18:26—and she is mentioned first before her husband in this
instance! Phoebe is a “deacon” of the
church at Cenchrea (
1 Timothy 2:12-15
Like 1 Corinthians 14, the comment in 1 Timothy
2:12 uses the word woman/wife (gyne) in the same
sentence as husband/male (aner): “I do not
allow a wife/woman to exert authority over a husband/man.” Since the arguments that follow relate to
Adam and Eve—a husband-wife pair, it is quite possible that these verses also
relate to the marriage relationship. If
so, they also would not apply to the issue of women in ministry. In this case we have run out of verses
against women taking such roles, and the objections are at an end.
Much ink has been spilt over the precise meaning of these
verses. Accordingly, it is easy to get
lost in the trees and miss the forest. In
the end, we certainly would not want to make 1 Timothy
2:12-15 the key verses in our theology of women. We believe that God inspired these verses to
meet the needs of the ancient Ephesians.
But if we were to take them as absolute statements, they would imply
that Christ’s death did not atone for all sins—in short, blasphemy.
A literal translation of the Greek of 2:14-15 reads, “The wife/woman,
being deceived, has come to be in transgression. But she
will be saved through childbearing, if they
remain in faith and love and holiness with self-control.” The mention of Eve’s transgression in
connection with childbearing alludes to Genesis 3:16. The punishment of Eve’s sin was increased
pain in the birth process, a pain that all women continue to experience.
What is difficult is that 1 Timothy uses a tense that
implies women are still in transgression as a result of the sin of Eve (the perfect
tense), a state from which childbearing frees them. Our faith in Christ cannot allow us to take
this comment at face value. Do we really
want to argue that women today are still “in transgression” because of the sin
of Eve, a state of transgression from which childbearing “saves” them?
1 Timothy is making a point to the Ephesians here, but it
cannot negate the fact that Christ atoned for all transgressions, including the sin of Eve. To say otherwise is nothing short of
blasphemy! This is scarcely a verse on
which to base our theology. This passage
likely reflects the issue of false teaching with which the Pastorals are so
strongly concerned (cf. 2 Tim. 3:6). The
statement of 1 Tim 2 here is heretical
if we take it absolutely. We get the
sneaking suspicion that these verses are so strong because some women at
Nor can we use the order of creation in 1
Timothy 2:13 as an absolute argument: “Adam was formed first, then Eve”
(1 Tim. 2:13). We’ve already seen that Galatians
3:28 ultimately undoes the differentiation between male and female made in
creation. The birth order of Adam and
Eve relates to the earthly and physical—clearly a less significant element in
the equation than our spiritual destiny in Christ.
Nor are all women
more gullible than all men—such a
claim would simply be false. Yet many
would use 1 Timothy 2:14 as if it were making such a
claim: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman—because she was deceived—has come
to be in transgression.” If we don’t
view 1 Tim 2:12-15 in the light of specific problems at
Does God Want Even More?
I personally don’t even think God wants us to insist that
the husband always be the head of the wife, although the issue of women in
ministry doesn’t stand or fall on this debate.
Unlike today, there was nothing distinctly Christian in
Paul’s day in saying that a husband was the head of the wife. Aristotle says the same things: “The head of
the household rules over both wife and children, and rules over both as free
members of the household… His rule over
his wife is like that of a statesman over fellow citizens… The male is naturally
fitter to command than the female, except where there is a departure from
nature” (Politics, 1.1259a-b).
In other words, Paul is talking like any non-Christian when
he speaks of male headship. These
comments sound distinctly Christian in our world, but they were not distinctly
Christian in Paul’s day. It is when Paul
moves toward the equality of the sexes in Christ that he is being uniquely
Christian. Galatians 3:28 is uniquely
Christian. 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 is distinctly
Christian. Here is the spiritual
trajectory in contrast to the earthly.
Let me return to the institution of slavery. The heavenly principle was “neither slave nor
free,” even though there were slaves and free.
Despite the heavenly trajectory, passages like Ephesians 6:5-9 and
Colossians 3:22-4:1 did not question the institution of slavery. They assumed it.
With regard to women, the heavenly principle is “not male
and female” even though there are male and female. Despite the heavenly trajectory, passages
like Ephesians 5:2-33 and Colossians 3:18-19 did not question the cultural
roles of their day regarding husband and wife.
They assumed them.
The early church, often persecuted, did not work toward
societal change. They were concerned to
get the gospel out and to survive persecution.
And God, ever so patient, met them at their needs. He inspired books like 1 Peter that
encouraged individuals like slaves who were unjustly treated and women whose
husbands were not believers.
But in the 1800’s we moved further on the heavenly
trajectory with regard to slavery. At
that time some did use the Bible in favor of slavery. But I’m proud that my own church roots are in
a group that saw where the Spirit was leading not only on the issue of slavery,
but also on what God was doing for women.
These were individuals who argued that women should be able to vote, and
they accepted the women God called to ministry.
Since World War II, the rise of secular feminism has caused
an overreaction in some against women in ministry—even in my own church. On the contrary, today is the day for society
in general to move further on the heavenly trajectory! Let’s not allow Satan to trick us into
opposing things God approves, just because our society has come to adopt some
of them too. Can’t God change more than
just the church? Can’t He change the
world too?
3.
I favor the possibility of women in
all positions of ministry because many women have felt and continue to feel
called to ministry.
Many of these have the gifts and graces to go along with
such calls. Given that women prophesied
and ministered in the New Testament church, by what authority could any Christian
validly oppose these women who feel called—simply because they are women? Do we really want to oppose the Holy
Spirit? Quench not the Spirit! Sure, some may be mistaken about their
call. But so are some men. The spiritual principle is to treat them both
the same, because spiritually there is no “male and female.”
Now I believe that many of those who oppose women in
ministry do so sincerely and because they think such a position is God’s
will. But Paul also talks about
individuals who have a zeal for God without knowledge (
But Paul was not a man of the letter. He was a man of the spirit. Paul said that his “letteral”
opponents took pride in flesh rather than spirit (Gal. 6:13). The same is true of those who oppose women in
ministry—this is earthly, fleshly thinking.
They are focusing on the earthly, physical “vessel” of the woman rather
than her fully redeemed spirit. The
gospel boldly proclaims that women “in Christ” are spiritually no different
from men. Those who preclude women from
equal spiritual ministry are thus thinking with their flesh, not the Spirit.
4.
I favor the possibility of women in
all positions of ministry because it makes sense, while to oppose women in
ministry as a matter of principle doesn’t make sense.
Whether we men like it or not, women are just as smart as we
are (often they’re smarter). Women
mature more quickly than men as a rule.
Women tend to be more loving than men (and thus more Christian in their
behavior, since love is the fulfillment of the law). The men of Paul’s day more often than not
would not have accepted these claims, but no one today can seriously dispute
them unless they avoid a lot of women.
If a woman has gifts of leadership, gifts of speaking, and
spiritual insight, there is no logical reason why we shouldn’t actively seek
for her to be leader and authority over men who are less gifted, less
insightful, and who have less spiritual discernment. This is just good sense, bottom line. To place a less competent male over a more
spiritual and gifted female—simply because of the presence of a physical organ
not particularly known for thinking or spirituality—well, it’s pretty hard to make
any sense of it.
We can rationalize our opposition, but it’s just bad
thinking. Does God promote bad thinking? Is it really God’s character to make up rules
just for their own sake, even though they don’t make any sense (cf. Mark
2:27)? Sometimes God stoops to our weakness,
like when He allowed divorce in the Old Testament (Deut. 24:1; Matt. 19:8), but
ultimately He works His people toward the ideal. This is the age of the ideal!
Jesus and Paul regularly teach us not to put God in a box
with our interpretations of the rules. The
New Testament authors consistently interpreted the Old Testament spiritually more
than literally. So if a woman senses
God’s call, if a community of believers sees the evidence of that call, if the
woman demonstrates leadership ability, why would we oppose this woman
ministering? It would make no sense to
oppose her.
No rational argument can be made against the possibility of women
in ministry other than the fact that people often don’t accept a woman
minister. So what, we push the lowest common
denominator because of the shortsightedness, ignorance, or even sinfulness of
our people? Does God want us to
accommodate ignorance in the church?
When God is pushing us toward heaven, do we acquiesce to earthly,
fleshly thinking? God forbid!
If some men feel intimidated by a woman God has called, we
need to help them work through it, not reinforce their insecurity. If a woman feels like her comfort zone is
called into question by another woman taking leadership, we need to help her
grow, not support her weakness.
Obviously everything must be done in love, and God even accommodated the
weakness of the early Christians on these issues from time to time. In the times of this ignorance God winked at
these things, but now calls us to end earthly mindedness and move further in
the fulfillment of the gospel.
5. I favor the possibility of women in all positions of ministry because we
don’t want to be guilty of submitting to the “weak and poor elements of the
world” (Gal. 4:3, 9).
It is instructive to look carefully at what Paul is saying
when he mentions the weak elements of the world in Galatians. He is referring to elements of the Old
Testament Scripture. In Galatians 4:10 he
refers to “days, months, seasons, and years,” just as in the rest of the letter
he refers to circumcision (e.g. Gal. 5:2).
Colossians uses this same phrase—“the elements of the world”—in
reference to the Jewish Sabbath (Col. 2:16) and probably the food laws of
Leviticus (Col. 2:16, 21).
The amazing thing is that all these things are required by
the Old Testament—the only Bible Paul had at this time. Despite the clear literal meaning of these texts, Paul knew that the Spirit was leading to something higher
and more heavenly. To continue to follow
the letter was to submit to the elemental spirits of the world.
The same applies to the issue of women in the church. If we oppose the possibility of women in
ministry, we are gravitating toward issues of earthly administration and the
physical body. We are basing our
theology on the limitations of the human and earthly. We are allowing ourselves to become enslaved
to the weak and “beggardly” elements of the world.
But we must set our eyes toward Jesus and toward
heaven. God is a God of the
possibilities of heaven, not of the limitations of earth. He breaks the molds of this world and moves
us toward the next. Therefore, let us
run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus—the author
and finisher of our faith!