I know this may seem a boring topic but I had to do this research project for one of my class and wanted to share it with you. So enjoy it :)
The women's role in the church
Jews at the time of Jesus had a low view of women. In fact women were not given opportunity to learn, there was no law that said they could’t go to the synagogue but in a way they were not welcomed. John MacArthur says in one of his books : “most Rabbis refused to greet women in public and believed that teaching them was a waste of time.”(God’s High Calling For Women, pg. 24)
In the greek society, respectable women had a very confined life, they could never get out alone, could never participate to any public assembly, often she wouldn’t even appear at meals.
During the years the situation of women didn’t change much in fact even a century or more ago women where not allowed to vote and they couldn’t get an education. God’s view of womanhood and manhood has been distorted because of sin, and men often abuse their leadership role and women often try to rebel against their own God-given role. The feminist movement achieved great changes in our society, but has also brought much confusion regarding the woman’s role, not only in the world but also within the church. Since the birth of the feminist movement many things have changed and some are good, but most are very questionable, because of it though we face debate after debate regarding the role of a woman within the church.
Role within the family
- Helpmate
Genesis 2:18 “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
In this passage we see that God decides to make a helper for Adam. Was this a mistake? Was the word helper wrong here? No, it wasn’t, God knew what He wanted to do and made it in a way that we would know it clearly.
“God created the woman to be a helper for the man. It is no mistake that God made Adam alone and incomplete. God made Adam incomplete because he intended to create a completer.” - (Leadership for women in the church, pg. 27)
Even if the helper role is often seen as a sad role compared to the man’s role, we can be encouraged by the fact that the Bible talks about God being a helper in the following verses: Ex. 18:4; Ps. 33:20; Ps. 70:5. If The Bible can talk about God as being a helper, without making Him look like a fool or belittling Him to taking away from His being God, then we should not shy away from it either. We need to be happy knowing that our helper role is not to diminish who we are. God made Adam and Eve perfectly but with different roles.
In essence we see that while man was put in charge of the garden and of the family a woman was created to help her husband. One would say that the husband role was to be a leader and the wife was to be a helper. Even just looking at it from a natural prospective we can see that men and women are wired differently, man are usually prone towards physical work, providing for the family, while women are more creative, caring, looking for details, they give comfort, lovingly protect, there are exceptions but the overall rule shows us the differences between men and women.
- Life-giver
Genesis 1:28 “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.”
Genesis 3:20 “Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.”
Eve’s role was to be a mother. God created man and woman in the same image of God but with different roles. Even from a physical prospective they were different. Eve was made to bear children and to be a life-giver while Adam was there to care for the needs of his family. Even if her name changed after the fall, she was still made with female organs able to procreate while man was not. She was made more sensible and careful to the needs of others while man was made with muscles and with an attitude towards physical labor. John Chrysostom explains it this way, “If they (husband and wife) perform their proper duties, everything around them acquires firmness and stability.” Susan Hunt says, “When woman join together to perform their proper duties as corporate helpers and life-givers in the family of God, they contribute to the firmness and stability of the Church.” Understanding and accepting our role as helper, will be a blessing in our marriage and also within the church, and will help us live in that harmony that God had prepared for us.
A verse that is often used to demonstrate the equality among sexes is found in Galatians 3:28. It reads, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This verse does talk about being equal but doesn’t refers to our roles instead it refers to our position in Christ. In Him in fact we are all equal, we all get saved in the same way and God doesn’t make any difference in the way he grants salvation.
- Dependent or subordinate
Ephesians 5:22-24 “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.”
We see a clear lesson regarding roles within the family, the husband is the head, the leader while the wife has a subordinate role. So within the family a woman’s role is to be a helper to her husband, to submit to his leadership and show respect. This is important because it has an impact in what a woman can do within the church.
John Piper says:
“In the home when a husband leads like Christ and a wife responds like the bride of Christ, there is a harmony and mutuality that is more beautiful and more satisfying than any pattern of marriage created by man. Biblical headship for the husband is the divine calling to take primary responsibility for Christlike, servant-leadership, protection and provision in the home. Biblical submission for the wife is the divine calling to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts. (Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, pg. 52)”
Role within the church
- Spiritual gifts
The Bible teaches us that we all have spiritual gifts and that we need to use them within the church context, the gifts are given for the common good not for personal satisfaction but for each other’s blessing and growth, (Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4:10-11).
1 Corinthians 12:7 “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
1 Peter 4:10-11 “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
For this reason since we all have been given spiritual gifts, we are able to serve within the church according to what is the gift given to us. However those gifts must be used within the authority of God given hierarchy.
Along this line of thought Piper writes: “For men and women who have a heart to minister-to save souls and heal broken lives and resist evil and meet needs-there are fields of opportunity that are simply endless. God intends for the entire church to be mobilized in ministry, male and female. Nobody is to be at home watching soaps and ballgames while the world burns (Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, pg. 53).”
Another key passage in Scripture that refers to what women can do within church is Titus 2:3-5. Paul writes: “Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”
As we mature as women in Christ we are called to disciple younger women, there are several things we can teach them in order to be reverent in the way they live.
First, to be reverent in the way we live means to live in a way that glorifies God, to have that approach to life where God is at the top of the list and everything else flows from our relationship with Him. Once we have learned that and started to apply it in our lives we can teach it to others.
Secondly, as a mature spiritual woman we can teach others how to face life in a sober way. This sober lifestyle is not just connected to wine but connected to others too. We can teach them not to talk bad about others and how to live a life doing good works and blessing others with them.
Thirdly, we can teach them to be self controlled. This aspect is extremely important in our Christian life. My eight year old knows the rules, so she knows what is good to do but often her sin nature prevails and she fails not doing what she ought to. We are the same way! We know what to do and we need to walk in that way and don’t let our sin nature win. We need to have self control being able to say yes to what is godly and no to what is not.
Fourthly, we need to teach them to be pure and have a pure conduct in a world corrupted by immorality.
Fifthly, a woman must be busy at home. As we have seen, our first priority is to be a helper to our husband because that is why we were created. We need to be their support in daily life, so even doing things like dinner, laundry, bringing him coffee and a piece of cake while he is studying or working are simple ways to help our husband facing the day with an advance. If we have kids we have a responsibility towards them so that our house is in order to welcome dad when he gets home from work. We need to embrace and live the concept of submission so that we can teach it to younger women. This is very important in a society where respect for man is gone and the equality of sexes makes you think that man has not a higher role over the woman. Once we have learned it ourselves we can teach it to others.
By living this way and teaching others through discipleship and counseling we make sure that the Word of God is honored and as believers we are bringing God glory.
So from this verse we clearly see that a woman can teach, counsel and disciple, in the areas related to women. This is a great ministry that can take place within the church. In fact, women usually open up only with other women and to have wise ladies able to teach and train others in the christian walk is one of the greatest blessings a church could have. And this passage also demonstrate how some of the spiritual gifts can be used within the practical context of relationship with other believers.
- 1 Timothy 2:11-15 “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
Finally we look at a passage that clearly states that women should not have any pastor or elder role within the church. The greek word that translated “authority” means judicial or governing authority, so in essence this passage is referring to the teaching and preaching of the word of God in an authoritative way. In this passage we see again the subordinate role that the woman has in relation to men. So as within the family, leadership is appointed to the husbands, leadership roles within the church are appointed to men. Can a woman teach? Yes, as we have seen from the passage of Titus there are various situation in which a woman can teach, disciple and counsel, but those are all concerning women or children. We can serve in any way possible as long as we keep a humble spirit and we submit to the order God has created for us.
Suggested books:
Duncan, J Ligon, and Susan Hunt. Women's Ministry in the Local Church. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2006.
Hunt, Susan, and Peggy G. Hutcheson. Leadership for Women in the Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Pub. House, 1991.
James, Sharon. God's Design for Women: Biblical Womanhood for Today. Darlington (England): Evangelical Press, 2002.
MacArthur, John. God's High Calling for Women. Chicago: Moody Publishers, ©2009.
Piper, John, and Wayne Grudem. Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism. S.l.: Crossway Books, 2012.
