women in the church

Women in the Church – Day 2

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He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:26 ESV

Entering (Tiptoeing or striding you decide!) into day two of this area, I confess that I may be inadequate to debate all the details of where women fit in with leadership in the church. What I can do is share both from my personal experience as well as from a biblical basis, as to why women need to be included in some leadership roles in God’s church. Yes, Paul does say that he wants women to be silent in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34), but I promise to address that on day three. Today let’s simply take a deep breath, step back and look at the New Testament church as a whole. What we will find is that there were definitely times when women are speaking and in today’s verse, Priscilla, together with her husband Aquila took aside Apollos. This man Apollos was one of the preeminent leaders of the Greek church and one whom the Apostle Paul considered an equal to himself and to Peter (see I Corinthians 3:5). Together this godly couple, pointed out some things that Apollos needed to learn and he willingly listened. Notice, the verse doesn’t say that Aquila took him aside, but that together as a team, they both explained the word of God to him. Their teaching was not just an interesting detail but something that was vital for Apollos to learn about the gospel, so that he could fulfill his own calling. Now if a woman could be included in teaching a great leader like Apollos, then surely women have a role to play today that we should not overlook.

Secondly, not only as in today’s verse, may women assist their husband in shepherding God’s flock, but they are also called to share their own special testimony of what God has brought them through. Let’s return to yesterday where we looked at the life of Corrie Ten Boom. Beginning in the 1950’s, she travelled all over the world speaking about God’s grace and forgiveness based on her life experience at the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany during World War Two. Corrie, not only wrote extensively, but had a film made of her time at the camp made called, “The Hiding Place.” Or what of the writing and speaking of Lisa Beamer, whose husband Todd died in the downing of flight 93 on 9/11? Should she have spoken at the Wheaton College chapel in 2021? In our own fourteen years of service on the staff of a Brazilian church, my wife and I were often blessed by the ministry of the pastor’s wife. She held the title of “Pastora”. When she spoke, it was almost always about developing an intimate relationship with God in prayer, which was something she had learned from the hours she spent on her knees interceding for others. So as I end today, my prayer is that these insights will do more than ruffle feathers or stimulate debate. I sincerely hope that they will all look more deeply into the wonderful complexity of the subject of women in leadership roles. If we are careful, prayerful and open to all the counsel of God’s word on the subject we just may open a door for more of what God has for all of us in His church today! Now, stay tuned for day three!

The Role of Women in the Church – Part 1

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Our brother Bruce at Reasoned Cases for Christ talked recently about ruffling feathers, and though I am not so accustomed to do, I felt it necessary to enter the fray concerning the role of women in the church. It has been widely reported this week about Saddleback Church being disfellowshipped from the Southern Baptist Convention. To read more click here for the story. Though we are not Southern Baptist, our denomination holds a similar view on women in the pulpit. But I have often felt that lost in the ruckus over credentialling women, is the bigger question of just how far we are to push the concept of women remaining silent in church.  (see 1 Corinthians 14:34) Just what exactly Paul meant, and how God wants us to apply his teaching today are two very valid questions. First let’s begin with some biblical examples, beginning with two of the most famous women in the New Testament: Mary and Martha.

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:39-42 NKJV

Interestingly, Luke does not tell us of anything that Peter, James or John had to say, only this brief conversation Jesus has with Martha. Notice that our Lord does not dismiss her by saying, “Be quiet and sit down woman.” Instead, Jesus treats her question seriously and addresses her with love and respect, even as he is correcting her attitude. If we follow on with the story of the lives of these women, we discover later that it is Martha who comes and addresses the Lord on the outskirts of Bethany after the death of her brother. There again, Jesus does not either command or expect her silence in His presence and his reply to her words, “I am the resurrection and the life” are ones that still comfort God’s people after two thousand years. In fact, even Paul, who is often cited in the defense of keeping women from speaking at all in the assembly appears to have sometimes relied on women in spreading the gospel.

And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow labourers, whose names are in the book of life. 
Philippians 4:3 KJV

I am not saying that there is no difference between men or women serving in the senior pastoral role. What I am suggesting is that even the most conservative of positions cannot really mean that women should never speak in church. Should Amy Carmichael have remained in Ireland rather than serving Christ on the mission field of India for 55 years and rescuing thousands of girls from temple prostitution? Are we to believe that Corey Ten Boom should have not traveled around the world speaking about the lessons she learned of forgiveness and grace in the German concentration camp? Does God mean that books by Elizabeth Elliott or Joni Eareckson Tada are meant to be read only by women? If we are honest, these kinds of questions ruffle our feathers, but ruffling can be good, if it opens our hearts to consider what God has for us today. Stay tuned for part two tomorrow as we take a deeper dive into the Bible and a few ideas on how that might be applied today!

The Loneliest Job In America: Being the Pastor’s Wife — The Light Breaks Through

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Pastor’s wives often have unrealistic expectations placed on them, leading to even more loneliness.

The Loneliest Job In America: Being the Pastor’s Wife — The Light Breaks Through

I stumbled across this post by Pastor Keith Haney by accident but as Gibbs tells us on NCIS “There’s no such thing as and accident!” My wife and I got a few real laughs reading it together because it is such a real struggle. It reminds me of an evening many years ago in the church we attended. The service was drawing to a close and the pastor gave an altar call but no one came. So he extended the call a second time saying, “I just feel someone really needs a touch from God tonight.” Then to everyone’s surprise the lone person who walked up to the altar was his wife. As the ladies gathered around to pray for her she suddenly collapsed and an ambulance was called. Panic set in as the emergency workers carted poor Brenda off to the hospital. Once there they hooked her up to an IV and did an intensive exam, only to discover that she had simply fainted from exhaustion! This is a true story and one that taught us all the value of our pastor’s wife. She had been running so hard to keep up with all of our expectations that she needed that altar call more than any of us. I am happy to report that she received much more support, understanding and admiration once she returned home. Please never take that sweet lady who God has called in your church to be the pastor’s wife!