Philosophy of Women in Leadership

© Copyright 2002 by Eddie Rasnake

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Women are important to the plan of God. This may seem like an unnecessary statement of the obvious, yet often this important message gets clouded by our culture. There are even those in the body of Christ that so promote an imbalanced view of submission, that they leave little room for women to do anything in the service of God except take care of the nursery. Yet God makes it clear that women are important to Him.

In Genesis 1:26-28, when the Trinity initiated the creation of mankind, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let THEM rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created THEM. And God blessed them; and God said to THEM, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” (emphasis mine). In the plan of God, it takes both male and female to reflect His image.

During the dismal period of the Judges, it was Deborah who God used in a mighty way to deliver His people (Judges 4 and 5) and who was called a prophetess (Judges 4:4). Huldah spoke, “Thus says the Lord,” just as the male prophets did (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22). It was Miriam, the sister of Moses, who ministered alongside him and was also called a prophetess (Exodus 15:20-21) as was the wife of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 8:3). Anna in the New Testament was called a prophetess (Luke 2:36). God used the woman Rahab to save the lives of the two spies Joshua sent into Canaan (Joshua 2). Young Esther was God’s chosen agent to save all the Jews from extermination (Esther 4:13-17). It was a woman who rescued the infant Joash from wicked queen Athaliah’s evil attempt to destroy all the descendents of David, the line from which the Messiah would come (2 Chronicles 22:10-12). In fact, as we read the genealogy of Jesus, we find four women mentioned there, contrary to the normal culture of mentioning only the male descendents (Matthew 1:2-16). God values and uses women, plain and simple.

When God became flesh and dwelt among us, He stepped forward as the great liberator of women. Jesus affirmed women in His public ministry. He reached out to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), and then used her to take the gospel to a whole village. He rescued the woman caught in adultery from unjust justice (John 8). He gave women a prominence in His life and ministry that the culture did not.

In the ministry of the apostle Paul, we see example after example of women stepping forward and being used by God. It was Eunice and Lois, probably converts of Paul’s at Lystra, who laid the spiritual foundation of one of his key disciples, Timothy (1 Timothy 1:5). It was Pricilla who along with her husband Aquilla labored alongside Paul in Corinth (Acts 18). This same couple (with the wife mentioned first suggesting a prominence to her labor) who came alongside Apollos and corrected some doctrinal mistakes (Acts 18:26).

What is the message from all of this? Women are important to God. If they weren’t He wouldn’t have made so many. In fact, often women are far more spiritually sensitive and responsive than men. It is time for the church to affirm their contributions to the cause of Christ. Whatever we conclude about the role of women in the church, we must affirm the Biblical message that they are of equal worth to God. Galatians 3:26-27 makes it clear that slaves and free men may hold different positions in society but they are of equal value in God’s sight. Likewise, male and female are “one in Christ Jesus.”

What is the place of Women in Leadership?

Whenever the subject is mentioned of the proper place of women in leadership and church life, invariably Paul’s words to Timothy come up. It is important before you look at exactly what Paul said, that we recognize the context of those words. Paul’s first letter to Timothy was written to help his disciple bring order to a church in disarray. In 1 Timothy 3:15 we read, “…I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God.” In this context of dialog about roles and conduct in the church, Paul mentions elders and deacons, and also says, “Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.” The key question is whether Paul is speaking of women in general, or of the wives of deacons. There are many reasons why each person believes what they believe. Look at the list below and place in order from 1-4 (1 being most significant) these different reasons for what you believe about women in leadership.

___ I think women are not given enough prominence in the church.
___ What I believe is based on the traditions of our church.
___ What I believe is based on what I have been taught by others.
___ What I believe is based on having thoroughly studied the relevant passages.

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