Women in Ministry

“Whatever you believe about [women in ministry], remember that it is not just doctrine. It affects real people, two of whom are sitting in this room. It affects people who hear the whisper of God saying, ‘do this’ and ‘go there’.”

As I told my dad what my seminary professor said on the last day of our Romans class, I couldn’t finish without tears choking my throat.

“Wow, that really meant a lot to you,” he noted.

Yeah, it did. More than I realized. For those of you outside Christian circles, I should probably fill you in. There is a debate within the Christian church on the whole “women in ministry” issue. Some churches will not allow a woman to speak into a microphone (even to give announcements!), others will let a woman be their main pastor, and then the rest of churches fall between those two extremes.

This isn’t the time or place to give a full exegesis of Biblical passages concerned, but suffice it to say that there are some difficult-to-understand passages regarding women in the church. While my study on the issue has led me to believe that the Bible supports women in significant ministry roles in the church (see Romans 16), others have come to another conclusion.

At the end of the day though, I think this issue is bigger than differing opinions. I think it’s bigger than how we interpret 1 Timothy 2. The danger is the heart behind our stance. Personally, I’ve sat in churches that preached against women in ministry, and it wasn’t just the arguments that bothered me: it was how it made me feel. Dejected. Worthless. Undervalued. It made me feel like external restraints would be put on my service in God’s kingdom just because of my gender. Restraints that- in the secular world- would be labeled sexism.

Is the church really lagging behind the world in affirming the gifts and talents of women? This reality clashes against the picture of our Savior, our Jesus who was counter-cultural in confirming the value of women. I read about his life, and I see him choosing to minister to the Samaritan woman against every societal expectation (John 4). I see him identifying broken prostitutes and poor widows as examples of what it means to love and serve Him with all our hearts (Luke 7:36-50, Luke 21:1-4). I see him having women disciples that followed him everywhere, funded His ministry, sat at his feet, and were chosen as the first witnesses of the resurrection (Mark 15:40-41, Luke 8:1-3, Luke 10:39, Matthew 28:1-8).

So my dear brothers and sisters, here is my exhortation to you all. Let us never use God’s precious Word as a sword to cut others down. Let us catch His heart for people; let us see the immense worth and value He saw in people. Whatever our difference of opinion, let us still treat others as significant to the Kingdom of God. Because they are.

I’ll close with this: my professor once taught at a church and shared about Romans 16 and women in ministry. Afterwards, an elderly lady came up to him with tears in her eyes. “Thank you.” She said. “I’ve been leading the children’s choir here for 20 years, and no one has ever told me that what I am doing is a ministry.” Friends, it is not about church constitutions and guidelines. It’s about honoring one another as significant members of the body of Christ.