On Sunday, Sept. 29th, our study in Judges took us to the story of Deborah (and Barak) and Jael in Judges 4-5. The story of Deborah (and Jael) stands out because God uses women to bring victory to the Israelites. This is a surprising twist to the regular cycle of Judges. A woman judge who rules through prophetic application of God’s Word (not a male, military leader). A woman (under the guise of hospitality) who accomplishes God’s ultimate victory over the enemy in a brutal, surprising manner. It is clear that the author is making a point with these women. In quite stark contrast to the culture of the day, God values women and uses them for His purposes!
That turns our thoughts to the role of women in the church today. In the course of the sermon, we did not have the opportunity to discuss the particular application because it deserved much more time and attention than would be allowed in that forum. In today’s society, the norm is to push for no role distinction based on gender. (Further, many in society are pushing for the elimination of the gender binary and/or distinction altogether).
How does Scripture talk about these things? What is the role of women (especially in the church)? Following is an adaptation of an essay I wrote some years ago to answer that question. This is a sensitive and nuanced issue that can be incredibly personal. The best way to consume this information is with a study partner, and so I hope that this will spark conversations that will be helpful to CBC.
If you are reading this, I am grateful, and as a reward, I would like to offer you a cool sticker that depicts the story of Jael. Come and ask me! I have five stickers to give out!
What’s a Woman to Do (in the church)?
God’s Design for Gender
Considering gender roles demands that we return to God’s design. When God created men and women, He did so in His own image (Gen. 1:27). Much ink has been spilled on what scholars refer to as the imago dei. What exactly constitutes human beings’ distinctive and unique quality from all other creation? For our purposes, that is not the issue. The issue is God’s perfect creation and the equality of the image bearers. Creation as a whole was evaluated as good as was each of the individual elements God created. Human beings, though, are unique in their perfection. They are a representation of the One who defines perfection. Man and woman were created to bear the image of God. Joy Arundell explains why this is important for the issue at hand:
“Being equal as an image bearer is the foundation of the Christian’s war against the inequality of women; against discrimination toward women; and against the abuse of women—those things that are so prevalent in our culture and world-over. Women must be valued, not because of what they could accomplish—even those with disabilities are image bearers—nor because of how powerful they are—even the unborn are image bearers—but simply for being a human. God thinks so highly of those who bear His image: ‘You crowned [them] with glory and honour …’ and expects the same of us.”1
Throughout history, many societies and cultures have operated with a default posture of inequality between men and women. Men—because of their gender—have been given advantages in gaining power, privilege, and position. Women have been relegated to a second tier of importance and value. This way of thinking does not recognize the inherent equality and value given to both genders because their status as image of God.
As chapter one of Genesis gives way to chapter two, we see a closer angle view of the sixth day of creation. Where chapter one dedicates only a couple of sentences to day six of creation, in chapter two, day six is the focus of the entire chapter. In that moment, it becomes clear that God is creating a matched, complementary pair. He commands the man to name the animals, knowing that in examining creation, he will find no match for himself. Every other animal has male and female. Man has no counterpart. And so, for the first time in the creative week, things are amiss (Gen. 2:18a “It is not good that man should be alone.”). This, however, is a temporary situation, for the week is not complete. God causes the man to fall asleep and from his own flesh, he creates an equal counterpart, the woman (Gen. 2:18b “I will make a helper2 fit for him.”). The two are equal, and yet distinct.3
Gender Distinction and the Fall
Many evidences of gender distinction are circumstantial and could easily be (and have been) dismissed. Christian opponents will claim that one of two things is at play in the gender distinctions we find in the Bible. The first argument is that gender distinction is found as a result of the Fall in Genesis 3. The second is the related idea that sin affects human beings and creates the basis for gender distinction. Gender distinction, it is argued, is a human creation based out of a mind affected by sin. These opponents of the complementarian4 idea point to the effects of the curse (Genesis 3:16-19) and to Galatians 3:28, “there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”5 However, when Paul describes gender roles, he almost always uses the creation account as a basis for the application of gender distinctions (1 Cor. 11:2-12; 1 Tim. 2:12-14). Thus, it seems that any move to eliminate gender role distinction goes against God’s perfect creation design. What must be said, though, is that in their fallen condition, men take what is meant to be God’s beautiful and perfect design and distort it. Selfishness and pride cause men to subjugate women and deny their equality as image bearers.
Gender Distinction and the Church
God’s design in creation is not only perfect, but it also informs the gender roles in the institutions established by God. One of these institutions is the church. In the church, Paul again refers to creation’s design in establishing the roles that men and women fill. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul gives a specific set of instructions to men and women (specifically forbidding women the authoritative, systematic teaching of God’s Word to the congregation6) and then immediately links that instruction to creation’s design. In other passages (1 Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9), we see the codification for elder qualifications given. Those qualifications, while not specifically forbidding women, speak of the office with the assumption that it will be filled by men. For that reason, we as complementarians reserve the role of elder/pastor/overseer/bishop for men.
Some have dismissed Paul’s words, claiming he was a man influenced by his own culture, a culture in which a woman was a second-class citizen. Honest scholars, however, discover that Paul was quite progressive in the way that he spoke about women, their role, and their rights. In Scripture, we see many wonderful women foundational to the growth and health of the church. Others point to Paul’s inclusion and elevation of women as proof that he was speaking locally or regionally when he forbade women from the role of elder. Again, Paul’s appeal to creation mitigates that argument.7
As in the twenty-first century, the early church would not have been what it was without the leadership and contribution of women. Strong marriages and families are built on the partnership of a man and a woman. Too often, a belief in traditional gender roles has degenerated into a patriarchy that not only minimizes women’s importance, but also their worth, including unfortunately in the church. As those who hold to a biblical understanding of creation’s gender role distinction, we must ardently protect against abusive patriarchy and misogyny. These are too often the imbalance and sin of those who identify themselves as complementarian. Not only should those who are complementarian support, respect, and honor women in their God-ordained church involvement, but we must also look to highlight their contributions and look for ways to bring them to the forefront. At CBC, we will honor and employ gifted women in every aspect of the church with the exception of where Scripture reserves the role for men.
The desire for women’s equality expressed in the feminist movement is not inherently evil or wrong. Women and men are created in equality as we have examined above. However, history has demonstrated that in certain issues, the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other. In this forum, we cannot examine the sociological evolution and underpinnings of the feminist movement, except to say, inasmuch as it strives for equality, its aims are honorable. When the feminist movement goes beyond equality to the active vilification of men and their importance in society, it fails and undermines God’s design. In the church, it is especially important that we recognize and elevate the importance of equality and unity.
Conclusion
The church must strive to be a place where theology is eminently practical. We must not make decisions based on taste or preference and we must work hard to discourage people from doing the same. Ultimately, two questions emerge: 1) Can Scripture be trusted? And 2) Does a person accept Scripture’s authority? A believer must answer both questions in the affirmative. For churches that adhere to a historic orthodoxy and a literal interpretation of Scripture, these complicated issues begin to come into a clearer focus. This will be the ground on which the church continues to draw dividing lines in the future, and all believers and churches would do well to clearly define their Scriptural understanding to protect against the pop-theology of the day and to protect the church against ever-changing cultural pressure. This may prove painful, but the church and Christianity have always been a counter-cultural entity that has the ability to thrive in the face of tremendous cultural and legal pressure.
- https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/image-order-gods-design-men-women ↩︎
- The Hebrew word for “helper” is ezer. Rather than this being a term meant to relgate women to a lower status, as some have used it, it is a term of power and partnership often used of God as He helps His chosen people (cf. Ex. 18:7; Deut. 33:7; Ps. 70:5; 121:1; 146:5) ↩︎
- For further study, see Grudem’s book, “Biblical Foundations for Manhood & Womanhood,” in which, he highlights ten distinct moments in creation (and beyond) to show how gender distinction existed before the Fall. ↩︎
- Complementarianism is the idea that both genders are inherently equal, but that God has designed them to be slightly different in function…they complement one another. Its counterpart, egalitarianism, is the idea that both genders are equal in value and in function. ↩︎
- To answer the objection of Gal. 3:28—the most frequently used passage by egalitarians—we must simply look at context. In this passage, Paul is speaking of equality in salvation, not in roles within the church or home. This essay is not meant to answer an egalitarian argument point-by-point, but it is important for us to engage with believers who hold that position in good faith. ↩︎
- The authoritative, systematic teaching of God’s Word to the congregation is the domain of the church’s elders alone. ↩︎
- For egalitarians, there are a handful of women whose actions in the NT prove that they had a position of recognized leadership in the church. These women—especially Junias, Phoebe, and Pricilla—give us the opportunity to examine some women that contribute mightily to the early church and ask what exactly is the nature of their role. The following article examines the issue from a complementarian position: https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/columns/ad-fontes/phoebe-prisca-junia-three-women-eye-evangelical-storm ↩︎
