In our current cultural climate, we are trying to discern what the Bible says about the rights of all people and we are to work together as a community. I’ve been thinking about if women can be pastors lately. I wrote this post to explain what I found.
Can Christian women be pastors? The short answer to this question is maybe. Complementarians would say that the Bible does not permit women to hold the office of pastor. Egalitarians would argue that the Bible does support women in this role. Ultimately, it is up to you to discern the scriptures and listen to the Holy Spirit to uncover what the Bible truly says about women pastors.
My personal conviction is that complementarianism is the view best supported biblically. I will however do my best to represent the egalitarian position thoroughly and fairly. Ultimately it is up to you to search the scriptures, pray, and seek wisdom and discernment from the Holy Spirit to find the truth.
Viewpoint #1 – Complementarianism
The basic definition of complementarianism is the idea that men and women are equal in personhood, but have different roles designed to work together and create a better whole.
They would not allow a women to be a pastor.
Historically this view has been most prominent throughout history, however, it has declined some in popularity since the women’s rights movement in the twentieth century.
Definition Of Complementarianism
Let’s unpack that definition. First, men and women are equal in personhood. They are equal in worth.
From the very beginning, God created mankind male and female in his image and called it “very good.”
So God created man in his own image,
Genesis 1:27 ESV
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Secondly, men and women have different roles. This too is exemplified at the beginning of creation.
Man was created for leadership, and female was created to help.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it….Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’
Genesis 2:15,18
One of the misconceptions about this concept today comes from our culture’s understanding of leadership. Culture would say that those in leadership are somehow better than those who are subordinates. This is not a biblical concept.
Biblically the leaders (men) are there to serve their congregation and women are there to support them in that role. Biblically the roles are of equal importance and value.
And, finally, these differences are designed to work together and create a better whole.
The word “complementarianism” comes from the word “complementary” (not to be confused with “complimentary”), which expresses precisely this idea. Two different parts fit together to create a better whole.
This concept is consistent both with the biblical understanding the body of Christ where each member has a different gift that contributes to the whole.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
1 Corinthians 12:14-20 ESV
Scripture
Now that we have a basis for complementarianism, let’s look closer at what the Bible has to say about it in the context of women in leadership.
The most prominent scripture in this discussion is 1 Timothy 2:11-13:
Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
1 Timothy 2:11-13 ESV
Here, it appears that Paul is prohibiting women from holding leadership positions over men which would exclude them from the role of pastor in a church.
However, this does not mean they are excluded from serving in the church. Paul’s letter to Titus encourages older women to be pouring into the lives of other women, teaching them to live in a Godly manner.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
Titus 2:3-5 ESV
There are examples throughout the New Testament of women stepping into these roles of serving the church just not in the role of pastor.
In fact, the Greek words for bishop and pastor, episkopos and poimen aren’t used anywhere in scripture to apply to the role of a woman in the church.
In Philippians 4 Paul encourages the church at Philippi to help a group of women who worked with Paul in sharing the gospel.
Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Philippians 4:3 ESV
When Apollos was preaching in the synagogue Priscilla and Aquilla pulled him aside to teach him the gospel more fully. In this way, Priscilla was involved in growing him as a disciple.
He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
Acts 18:26 ESV
Lydia also supported Paul and his ministry by inviting him and those with him into her home and caring for them.
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Acts 16:13-15 ESV
We also see women like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna serving, and supporting Jesus and his disciples in their ministry.
Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.
Luke 8:1-3
1 Corinthians 11 also discusses the requirements for women prophesying in the church. This would indicate that it is appropriate for women to prophecy in the church.
Impact
The result of holding to this view is that women are able to serve in the church just not as elders or pastors. These leadership roles are reserved for men by God’s design.
Women throughout the New Testament are shown as operating within the role of supporting and helping those in leadership and helping them to be good stewards.
This role is no less important than the male role of leadership, simply different and just as valuable to the mission and function of the church.
One important distinction to make in this discussion is the difference between a pastor and a deacon. Biblically a pastors role includes teaching, rebuking, overseeing, and shepherding. All of these tasks revolve around the leading of a congregation.
A deacon supports the pastor in this role by having a firm grasp of the gospel and using it to serve.
It is therefore also biblical for women also to be deacons.
Churches
Some churches that tend to be complementarian include Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist. Some Presbyterian, Mennonite, Reformed, and Lutheran churches also tend to lean complementarian however it is not universal.
Resources
If you are still curious and want to learn more about this subject, here are some more articles that may be helpful to you as you attempt to understand this debate better.
Some of these resources also address related applications of this principle as complementarianism is often also applied to family structure as well.
4 Dangers for Complementarians – Gavin Ortlund
In this article, as you may have guessed, Ortlund expresses some dangers of the complementarian position.
Not that the position itself is dangerous but that if you are not cautious, you may find yourself not embracing a biblical view of complementarianism.
Some of these issues include:
- Gender role stereotypes
- Falling into patriarchalism or hierarchicalism or failing to remain separate and distinct from these views
- Defending complementarianism without actually living it out in your own life
- Not celebrating the contributions that women do make
This article expounds upon these cautions and helps guide you to maintain a biblical perspective on the roles of women.
Click here to learn more.
1 Tim. 2:12-13 and Women Pastors and Elders – Matt Slick
This article is an amazing resource that dives even deeper into the passage from 1 Timothy that I discussed earlier.
Given that this is the crux of the argument, it would be good to spend some time digging into this passage to discover what the author intended it to mean.
Click here to learn more.
An Interview with Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner
This article, an interview between the co-authors of “Women in the Church: An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15” discuss how the scene of this debate has evolved since the book’s publication in 1995.
The key concepts of the book and help you to understand some other aspects of this argument. It will also give you good insight into the book which may be a helpful next step for you as you try to figure this out.
Click here to learn more.
Click here to view the book.
Phoebe, Prisca and Junia: Three Women in the Eye of the Evangelical Storm – Paul Carter
The primary evidence used by the egalitarian argument to support their view is the examples of women in ministry throughout the New Testament.
This article takes a complementarian look at those same stories and describes how complementarians understand these passages.
Click here to learn more.
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism and complementarianism are the same in that they both believe men and women are equal in personhood.
However, egalitarianism takes it one step further and says that men and women are also equal in their abilities to fulfill different roles as well.
This view was virtually nonexistent until the late 1800s when the women’s rights movement began to emerge on the scene. As a result, Christians began to reexamine the Scriptures to see what rights women had biblically and this was the result.
Definition Of Egalitatianism
Once again, egalitarianism is defined as the idea that men and women are equal in personhood and in their ability to fulfill all the roles in the church.
Like I said before, men and women are made in the image of God from the beginning. Each is worth the same to God.
They would also say that they are equally able to fulfill different roles, and that those roles should be based on ability, not gender.
They would support women being a pastor.
Scripture
Egalitarians don’t look to specific scripture for support but instead refer to the variety of examples of women fulfilling leadership roles in the Bible.
Some people think that the individual mentioned first is the leader of the group so in the case of Priscilla and Aquilla mentoring Apollos, Priscilla is considered by some to be the leader of that conversation.
Lydia opened her home to Paul and so did the women mentioned in Philippians 4.
Mary Magdalene, Susanna, and Joanna served Jesus during his ministry and women were the first to discover the risen Jesus.
Deborah was a Prophet in the Old Testament.
Each of these women filled a leadership role in the Bible and is used to support the equality of men and women in leadership.
Also, considering the letter written to Timothy prohibiting women from having authority over men.
They would hold that this command was intended specifically for the women to whom the letter was addressed as a result of their behavior which he already addressed.
Impact
This ideology results in women operating in all forms of ministry including pastoral roles.
Men and women are equally created in the image of God and therefore are equal in their ability and biblical mandate to fulfill all roles of ministry.
Churches
There are a number of churches that tend towards an egalitarian theology including Nazarene, Free Methodist, United Methodist, Assembly of God, Wesleyan, Friends, and Episcopalian. There are also some Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Mennonite however it can go either way.
Resources
If you are looking to continue to explore this topic, here are some resources that may help you to gain a deeper understanding.
4 Common Misconceptions About Egalitarianism – Rachel Held Evans
This article will walk you through, as you may have inferred, four common misconceptions about egalitarianism.
This will help you to better understand the argument and filter out some of the faulty stereotypes that have crept in regarding this view.
This post will discuss misconceptions such as:
- There aren’t differences between men and women
- Egalitarians are against traditional gender roles
- Egalitarian marriages suffer from lack of leadership
- Egalitarians don’t take the Bible seriously
If you want to take a closer look at some of these misconceptions, check this post out.
Click here to learn more.
My Perspective of Christian Egalitarianism
It is sometimes helpful when studying different views to get another perspective. This post will help you to understand the egalitarian argument from another person’s perspective.
Click here to learn more.
A Conservative Case for Egalitarianism? – Jane Tooher
This post is an unpacking of a book on egalitarianism, “Partners in Christ: A Conservative Case for Egalitarianism.”
This is an interesting take on the egalitarian position that may be helpful to you in your journey as well.
Click here to learn more.
Click here to view the book.
I have done my best to explain both perspectives although my personal study has led me to believe that complementarianism is best supported by the Bible.
It is up to you to decide what you think God is teaching through the Scripture.