How God Equips His Church Through the Ministry of Women

Written by David W. Hegg | Senior Pastor

The place women play in the life of the church has been both a divisive issue and an opportunity for church leadership in the West for the past several decades. Coming as it did on the heels of the secular feminist movement, the issue of a woman’s role in the church morphed from a question to be answered biblically into a polarizing position meant to distinguish one theological party from another. As the battle raged between the egalitarian and complementarian positions, each side became more and more radical and, in the process, somehow the biblical middle ground was forfeited.

Here at Grace Baptist Church our only infallible authority is God’s Word, the Bible. Consequently, we believe there are complementary roles assigned to both men and women based on God’s created order. This means, for example, that men are given leadership in the family and the church, even as this leadership is meant to be expressed in humility, love, and sacrificial service.

But what about the role of women in the church? This paper presents an answer by presenting what the Bible calls and allows women to do as new creatures in Christ. Scripture is clear that each Christ-follower is a justified, sanctified, and gifted member of the Body of Christ whose privilege it is to help equip the church to the glory of God. This includes both men and women.

Given that the Scripture is clear as to the roles assigned to men and, therefore, not assigned to women, it is extremely important that the church not neglect all the areas of ministry that are not prohibited to them.

Paul, in 1 Timothy 2:11-14, states the basic paradigm for the ministry of teaching in the church:

He gives two commands, and two corresponding reasons. The command in verse 11, that a woman is to learn, is followed by the command that a woman is not to teach or hold a position of authority over a man (verse 12). Paul goes on to give his theological reasons.

The chiastic structure of these 4 verses (illustrated by the “X”) must be recognized if Paul’s true meaning is to be understood. The reason for the first command – “woman, let her learn!” – is given in verse 14. Women are to be taught because Eve, being improperly taught, was easily deceived and led into sin.

“The fact that Eve was deceived simply argues for women being instructed in the truth.”

It should be noted that some wrongly assert that verse 14 is the reason women are prohibited from teaching. It goes like this “women are naturally more naïve and susceptible to being deceived.” But this argument is both prejudicial and fallacious, especially when Paul adds that Adam was not deceived. This means he knew better and intentionally disobeyed. Those who miss the chiasm, and assert the prohibition is based on some intrinsic deficiency in women apparently believe that Adam, who intentionally and knowingly rebelled, is in a better position to represent God in leadership. This great misunderstanding of Paul’s meaning is, sadly, widespread.

Fortunately, Paul didn’t argue that the prohibition here was grounded on some deficiency in women. The fact that Eve was deceived simply argues for women being instructed in the truth. And, we shouldn’t miss the fact that it would have been Adam’s job to instruct his wife on the rules of the garden. Apparently, he was lacking in this obligation, but the church is commanded not to make the same mistake. It is essential that all believers, both men and women, are taught to know and live out the Word of God.

With the command of verse 11 being grounded on the reason in verse 14, we can now see that the command in verse 12 is grounded on the reason given in verse 13. Simply put, it is the order of creation that is to be lived out in the leadership given to men.

Adam was first created, and then Eve. This set the paradigm for creation. We can also say that this alignment is validated in the fact that God determined to identify himself as Father, and sent his Son and not his Daughter.

What does this mean? Simply this. Had God revealed himself as Mother, and sent the Daughter of God, the positions of male and female in terms of leadership would be reversed. But, given the Father/Son paradigm, the church is commanded to continue the optic of male leadership as a reflection of God’s self-revelation to his creation.

“The dignity and usefulness of godly women has great historical precedent.”

But what does this do for other areas where women can equip the church? For one, we know that women are encouraged to teach other women (Titus 2:3,4) and can also team with their husbands in bringing truth to others (Acts 18:24-26). They are also included in Paul’s admonitions to those who pray and prophesy (1 Corinthians 11:5: to prophesy here means to “proclaim the truth”, and the “head covering” was the means whereby a wife displayed the fact that she was married, under the “covering” of her husband). The opportunities for women to bring the Word of God to bear on the lives of others are, of course, to be found within the prohibitions and allowances of Scripture, as evidenced by the aforementioned text in 1 Timothy 2.

The dignity and usefulness of godly women has great historical precedent. It is no accident that God worked miraculously through a number of women in the Old Testament. What did Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Hannah have in common? The same thing we find in the New Testament is in Elizabeth and Mary. All were the vessels through which God brought about miraculous conceptions and births. And it is not to be missed that each of the children born to these women were used mightily to further God’s will on earth.

Today, some church leaders have pressed the prohibitions on women too far. For example, some take Paul’s command for women to “keep silent in the church” (1 Corinthians 14:33) as prohibiting women from reading Scripture aloud during the preaching services, sharing a testimony, or introducing a song for the congregation to sing. But the immediate context in 1 Corinthians 14 deals with the pattern in the Corinthian church where some men would preach and then be critiqued by other men. It was this public critiquing of a preacher that was prohibited for women. Again, this prohibition has everything to do with the optic of females exercising spiritual authority over men. It is not due to some systemic inferiority or weakness in female Christ-followers, as demonstrated in Paul’s instructions to women in 1 Corinthians 11:5.

What we also know is that the gifts God the Spirit gives to each member of the Body of Christ are never said to be gender specific. When Paul and Peter discuss the various gifts (see: Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Peter 4), none of the gifts – even teaching – is said to be exclusively given to men or women. The gifts of the Spirit are sovereignly distributed to believers for the building up of the church.

Scripture is clear. Each Christ-follower is indwelt by the Spirit, gifted by that Spirit to function within and serve the Body, and called to do so to the glory of God. At Grace Baptist Church we believe this means both men and women play an important and vital part in equipping the church, maintaining the unity of the church, and pursuing the mission of Christ through the church to the world around us. Therefore, we endeavor to facilitate the ministry of women in all the places and ways the Scripture both commands and allows.

We accept it as a great opportunity to “stir up one another” – both men and women – “to love and good works” as we steward the gifts sovereignly granted to us all in Christ.