Whole denominations are ordaining women pastors in
direct violation of God's word, but anyone who dares to speak out is labeled a
woman hater. I am no woman hater, but it is unbiblical to ordain a woman as a
pastor of a congregation.
"Now I want you to realize that
the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head
of Christ is god. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered
dishonors her head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head
uncovered dishonors her head it is just as though her head were shaved. If a
woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off, and if it is a
disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her
head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of
God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but
woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this
reason, and because of the angles, the woman ought to have a sign of authority
on her head"
(1 Cor 11:
3-10)
Now many people will just say this was a
cultural thing in Paul's time, but it is much deeper than that. Notice in verse
10 Paul says that a woman should have a sign of authority on her head because
of the angels. This is not just cultural, it is spiritual. Many people miss
what Paul is really saying. He is not just speaking of head coverings, as some
denominations have taken this, he is speaking about spiritual authority
covering woman.
Paul is saying that if a man is under the
spiritual authority of a woman that is dishonoring his position in Christ and
if a woman is not under the authority of a man spiritually that is dishonoring
also. This does not mean that a woman can't teach, but she should never have
the spiritual authority, it belongs to men, given to them by God. This is not a
sexual things, it is a way for God to show us the lines of authority. Christ is
our husband and He is the authority over all of us. If we rebel against the
earthly authority He has set up, between men and women, then we are rebelling
against the spiritual authority that He has also set up.
In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth, the garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve.
He put Adam in the garden and gave him the authority to name all the animals.
Afterwards, God made Eve as a helper to Adam. This is an important concept
because Paul refers to the order of creation in his epistle to Timothy when he
discusses the relationship between men and women in the church context. Let’s
take a look.
"But I do not allow a woman to
teach or exercise authority over a man, but remain quiet. For it were Adam who
was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the
woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression " (1 Tim 2: 12-14). This passage has several
interesting areas of discussion, but for our purpose we will focus on
authority. At the very least, there is an authority structure set up by God.
The woman is not to have authority over the man in the church context. But this
does not extend to the political – economical world. In the Old Testament Deborah
was a judge in
Additionally, in the Old Testament in
over 700 mentions of priests, every single one was a male. There is not one
instance of a female priest. This is significant because priests were ordained
by God to hold a very important office of ministering the sacrifices. This was
not the job of women. Therefore, from what I see in Genesis 1-2 and 1Timothy 2,
the normal and proper person to hold the office of pastor is to be a man.
"
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is
neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus " (Gal 3: 28).
This verse is often used to support the
idea that women can be pastor because there is neither male nor female in
Christ. The argument states that if we are all equal, then women can be
pastors.
Unfortunately, those who use this verse
this way have failed to read the context. Verse 23 talks about being under the
Law "before faith come" and how we are brought closer to Jesus
and have become sons of God by faith. We are no longer under law, but grace and
we are "Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise (v. 29). The
point of this passage is that we are all saved by God's grace according to the
promise of God and that it is does not matter who you are, Jew, Greek, slave,
free, male, or female. All are saved the same way, by grace. In that, there is
neither male nor female.
This verse is not talking about church
structure. It is talking about salvation in Christ. It can not be used
to support women as pastors because that is not what it is talking about.
Instead, to find out about church structure, you need to go to those passages
that talk about it; 1 Tim 2.
God is a God of order and balance. He has
established order within the family (Gen 3:16; 1 Cor 11:3; Eph 5: 22-33;
In creation, God made Adam first and then
Eve to be his helper. This is the order of creation. It is this order that Paul
mentions in 1 Tim 2: 11-14 when speaking of authority. Being a pastor is to be
in the place of authority. Therefore, within the church, for a woman to be a
pastor, she would be in authority of men in the church which contradicts what
Paul says in 1 Tim 2:11-14.
But does not this teaching belittle
women? No, male leadership does not belittle women. Jesus was given his
authority by God the Father (Matt 28:18). He was sent by God (John 6:38). He
said the Father was greater than He (John 14:28). Did this belittle Jesus? Of course not. Women are of great value in the church and
need to be used more and more according to the gifts given them.
Does the wife's submission to the husband
mean that she is less than the husband, less important, or belittled? Again, not at all. Not having a place of leadership in the
church does not mean a woman is less of a person, less important to God, or
inferior. All are equal before God whether it be Jew,
Gentile, free, slave, male, or female. But in the church, God has set up an
order the same way he set one up in the family. The chain of command is Jesus,
the man, the wife, and the children.