The Church and My Unbiblical View of Women Part Two

There’s a scene in the first Incredibles movie where the superhero Incredibles family is all together at their son Dash’s track meet. They finally let their son with the superhuman turbo speed try out for sports. And they comically cheer their son on in the race but then don’t want him to run too fast even though he is capable of blowing away the competition (and simultaneously blow their cover), but they also don’t want him to get beat by everyone when he is clearly talented. So they start cheering for him to shoot for second. And he gets second place and the rest of the crowd in the bleachers stares at the incognito superhero family completely bewildered by why they would root their son on the way they did. Why on earth would you want your kid with God-given talent to hold back and not be all they were meant to be?



This scene is at the forefront of my mind as I endeavor into part two of this shallow dive into the topic of women in leadership in the church. Important that you take the time to read part one before jumping into this section, but in part two, I want to get into a few of the “Yeah, buts” that I have had personally and that others who wrestle honestly or who have grown up surrounded by the Complementarian (men and women are equal but have different roles that complement each other based on their gender ) paradigms and structures of church have had.

It seems like the church has often played the role of the Incredibles family, cheering on the women of the church, but then asking them to restrain or scale back or make sure they don’t overstep or speak from the stage or lead too much or have too much influence. We are cheering for them to run the race well, but not too well. We say they are equal but the role they play is different. It just so happens that role is often voiceless, powerless and behind-the-scenes.

“Just shoot for second.”

So it would do us well to hang out here and consider how we got to this place that can be bewildering for people both inside and outside of the church.

Remember, I have strong conviction that we are living in more of a Post-Pentecost world than a Post-Fall world. So everything is about moving back to the MUTUALITY and ONENESS of Eden rather than the fractured world of HIERARCHY and OTHERNESS that the Fall is obsessed about. This is a question all Christians must answer and be accountable to in their theology. For far too many for far too long, we have let Fall and Sin be our primary paradigm rather than Redemption and Restoration.

So here’s a few of the “yeah buts”. It should be noted that I am not an expert or a biblical scholar. I am just a pastor trying to lead others to follow Jesus faithfully.

1. “Yeah, but Jesus chose 12 disciples. All males. They become the 12 apostles. Males are meant to lead. “

Sure, the work of Jesus calling 12 people to himself is a big deal. That they are all men is worth considering. But why do we stop there? We emphasize gender as if that is the primary thing in common for these 12. What about the fact that they are all Jewish? Or the fact that they are all uneducated men? (according to Acts) Apprentices in trades because they did not make the cut to be selected for rabbinical training? It is faulty logic to build a case for who to choose as leaders and pick gender but not ‘Jewishness’ or ‘uneducated’. Secondly, women are consistently mentioned as traveling with Jesus and the disciples. They are part of the entourage, present for teachings, miracles, and as previously mentioned they are funding the ministry of Jesus. You cannot say that women were not leading the way in the Jesus movement.

2. “Yeah, but look at church denominations. Most churches that are growing do so because of male leadership.”
Are we sure about this? A study done by Gordon Conwell found that of the largest denominations in the United States, 18 of those denominations were categorized as Complementarian (meaning there was a strong stance against women being ordained and holding leadership roles over men) and 27 Denominations who were Egalitarian (meaning that women are ordained and have leadership over men.) Yet even with the fact that more of the largest church groups in the country are “for” empowering women in all facets of leadership based upon their Spiritual gifting rather than their anatomy, it is a complicated world for women to pursue ordination right now. They are most often the minority in the classroom. They most often have male professors. They most often have textbooks written by men. And they frequently enter into denominations where men still hold positions of power and authority in the hierarchy of church structure.

3. “Yeah, but what about that Bible verse? If you let women preach or pastor or elder, aren’t you failing to take God’s Word seriously?”
This is the one argument that kept me in the complementarian camp the longest. A high view of Scripture is of central importance to me, my life and my ministry. To compromise that or to enter into the world of slippery slopes was something I did not want to do.

So let’s take a second to look at the passages in question sometimes known as “the silencing passages” because of their emphasis on the quiet submission of women in the public life of the church.

1 Corinthians 14:33-35
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.  If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

The question we have to ask here is “Does Paul, the writer of this letter in the Scriptures mean that all women for all time in all churches should not be allowed to speak in church?” The answer is three chapters earlier in 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul gives specific instructions for how a woman should speak when they pray and prophesy in the church.

Pretty straightforward here. Either Paul is remarkably inconsistent with his gospel message from one chapter to the next or he is getting at something specific in this passage. Best guess at face value there are women in the Corinthian Church who are interrupting the service asking questions and inquiring about what was going on. Paul says, ask those questions on your own and don’t disrupt a worship gathering.

1 Timothy 2:8-15
Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Couple things going on with this passage. First, ‘woman’ and ‘wife’ as well as ‘man’ and ‘husband’ can be used interchangeably in the Greek language this passage was originally written in. So translation might be a factor here. Are we talking about women as a rule of thumb or a wife stepping on a husband’s toes? Hard to say for sure. Either way the instruction is for women to be quiet…and Paul seems to point to a creation hierarchy…Adam first and Eve second…and don’t forget…Eve screwed all this up for humanity! (no wonder some women are frustrated with Paul!)

Second, if we are going to be serious about verse 11 as a hard and fast rule for all time, then we had better be equally as serious about verses 8-10 being hard and fast rules for all time as well. Men lifting hands when they pray…absence of anger and argument…women plain clothed and hair cuts at Great Clips. These things are very frequently not true in the very churches that make such a fuss about women knowing their role and shutting their mouth.

Third, Paul is writing to Timothy. Timothy is in Ephesus. Ephesus is where the main temple for the goddess Artemis is located. (Check out Acts 19:23-41). Many who became Christians in Ephesus would have previously been involved in worship at this temple. Goddess worship was facilitated in part by women who were priestesses and cult prostitutes who performed sexual acts as part of temple worship.

We cannot say for certain, but this seems likely to be why instruction would be made in Ephesus for women to scale it back a notch. If they were formerly accustomed to leading the worship and engaging in things sexually that were not part of the Christian ethos, then it would make sense for Paul to instruct women to be submissive learners rather than outspoken leaders in that context. You don’t see this instruction in a letter, say for instance, to the church in Philippi (which was founded and likely pastored/led by Lydia, the first Christian conversion on the European continent, who housed the church in her home, and was a very successful businesswoman…its all in Acts 16…read your Bible!)

1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9
Here we have what many have deemed as evidence against female eldership. Overseer or elder depending on our English translation, is always in the male form. He must be the husband of one wife, hospitable, not a drunk, not quarrelsome, not consumed with money…must be a bunch of other things…and he must make sure his children obey him.

So again, we have made anatomy of primary importance over and against the list of virtues. So we take literally the presence of a male pronoun but then we are liberal with the rest. It says husband of one wife. So can a single man be an elder? What about a widow? What about someone who has been divorced and remarried? Based on a literal biblical approach, all of these men should be excluded from eldership. What about the guy whose kids have walked away from the faith or who haven’t obeyed his parenting? Excluded.

If you obsess about literal interpretation of the Scriptures, you may just end up creating a church structure where Jesus and Paul would not be qualified as elders in your church!

The indictment I have personally received from a number of folks on this topic is that I am not being biblical.

But that is the irony of this whole journey: that in fact it has been guided, informed and transformed BY THE BIBLE! It wasn’t politics or feminism. It wasn’t the #metoo movement. Though lets be honest, all these things are prevalent because of a world clinging to hierarchy and otherness. My view of Scripture has only elevated as I have studied it!
———
So there you have it. These are the primary biblical texts that have been used to enforce hierarchy and otherness between men and women in the church for centuries.

If only the Bible would have been a little more radical for its day and actually highlighted some women who were key influencers in the Way of Jesus. That would really have sealed the deal for why a Post-Pentecostal Lens is the appropriate lens for the Jesus people to see the world.

Oh wait! Elizabeth, Mary, Anna, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Mary, Martha, Junia, Phoebe, Lydia, Euodia, Syntyche, Philip’s daughters, Priscilla, Nympha, Apphia, just to name a few, many who are named by Paul himself. 12 out of 30 names in Romans 16…names Paul emphasizes as worth a specific mention because of their role and leadership in ministry are women!

There is no male or female. There is no Gentile or Jew. There is no slave or free. There is no young or old. This is the message of Paul.

There is good news, freedom, sight and favor...available for all. This is the message of Jesus.

And if we are indeed a royal priesthood, a priesthood of all believers, all capable and called, grown and gifted by the Spirit who has fallen on us…if it is true that women are daughters and sisters and coheirs with Christ in this new family God has created, then it is time to let the tiger out of her cage, let her preach and prophesy and sing and teach. Let her lead and love as the Spirit enables. And by God, let us not merely get out of her way but let us follow and learn, let us empower and invest, let us run along side rather than sit in the stands. Let the kingdom come. Let the kingdom come. Let the church not stifle but strengthen the role of her people.

And together, let us curiously and beautifully shoot for second, following Christ where ever he leads his church to go.