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women
in leadership
I
cannot, and will not, attempt to answer every and all
questions pertaining to the relationship between men and
women - that would be impossible, and even if I did I
know my wife would disagree. My only desire at
this point is to answer the question that has been a
tension spot in the church for almost 2000 years,
regarding the accessibility of women in all levels of
leadership in the church. The question is: Are
women and men to have equal opportunity to serve as
leaders in a community of faith; including all strategic
and responsible roles, such as Overseers, Members of the
Ministry Council, and Pastoral Staff?
summary
of the position
It
must be stated at the very beginning, I am not being
motivated by culture (I pray), but I am being compelled
by the Word of God and hold all men and women equal in
God's eyes - I am not striving to be "pc;" I
am striving to be "sc" - (scripturally
correct). I believe God intended for all people to
exercise their God-given gifts and calling in ministry
and leadership without reference to race, economic
status, educational background, or gender.
"In
Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and
non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us
you are all equal. That is, we are all in common
relationship with Jesus Christ." (Paul,
a Disciple of Jesus in his letter to the Galatians,
chapter three - The Message, page 397)
two
rejections to start off: I reject the hierarchical
approach that would grant men unqualified rule over
their wives and would exclude women from governing or
preaching roles in a community of faith based only on
her gender. I also reject the feminist position
that would do away entirely with any gender distinctions
(other then anatomical differences) making men and women
interchangeably identical - that's just gross. I
hold to an extremely high view of Scripture as the
inspired and authoritative revelation of God. I
believe that this revelation is to be interpreted
holistically and thematically. However, I also
recognized the need to distinguish between inspiration
and interpretation.
Inspiration
denotes the
process of divine impulse and control by which God,
through the Holy Spirit, inspired the human writer to
record the revelations of divine truth canonized in the
Scripture as we know it today. Where
interpretation is the human activity of seeking to
understand this revealed truth in harmony with the
totality of Scripture as the Holy Spirit helps us along.
While
holding to a high view of the inspired and authoritative
revelation of God in Scripture, because of human error
followers of Christ must continually examine and
reexamine their beliefs and practice as they interpret
the Scripture under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. This is what I have tried to do as I have
prayed, studied and counseled with others in trying to
interpret the many text, which speak to this critical
and liberating issue.
I
acknowledge the great variation of interpretation of
difficult passages such as 1 Corinthians 11:2-16;
14:34-36 and 1 Timothy 2:9-15. After much prayer,
study and discussion with others, I have concluded with
humility and appreciation for alternate positions that
these passages, though not entirely clear, do not
exclude anyone from ministry or leadership because of
gender as a norm for all time, but were written to deal
with unique problems in specific community of faith at
that time. Therefore, I believe we, as a
community of faith, needs to hold that qualified women
and men are free to exercise their God-given spiritual
gifts and calling at all levels of ministry and
leadership.
With
all this in mind, I submit the following as our summary
of the Scriptural teachings which led me to this
position.
-
Both
men and women are called to develop their spiritual
gifts and use them as faithful managers of the grace
God has been freely given to them (1 Peter 4:10-11)
-
Both
men and women are divinely gifted and empowered by
God's authority to serve one another (Mark 15:40-41,
Luke 8:1-13, John 20:17-18, Acts 1:14; 8:5-6;
21:8-9, Romans 16:1-7, 12-15; Philippians 4:2-3.
Colossians 4:15)
-
In
the New Testament order of things, women and men
exercised the prophetic gifts, teachings,
leadership, and priestly functions (Acts 2:15-18;
18:26; 21:9, Romans 16:7, 1 Corinthians 11:5, 1
Peter 2:9-10; Revelations 1:4-6; 5:9-10)
-
The
three problematic text (mentioned above) must be
viewed in connection with the Scripture as a
whole. We believe the difficult text must be
seen in connection with all other Scripture dealing
with women and men in leadership.
in
conclusion
In
a world fractured by discrimination, prejudice and
segregation, I believe this will model the unity and
harmony that should be the center of a Community of
Faith. This will also dignify and elevate women
who, often in our culture, have been made to feel and be
inferior to men (by men). I believe that a
Community of Faith should be leading the way in
redeeming the Scriptural truth that all are equal in the
eyes of God.
"If
any kind of rule keeping had power to create life in us,
we would certainly have gotten it by this time"
(397)
Also
read 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 403, 405, 407 -
john
o'keefe
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