Sixty-five years ago, on May 4, 1965, the Methodist Church voted to allow for the ordination of female clergy for the first time in its history. Of course, women had always played key leadership roles in the spread of the Methodist movement, but they were never considered candidates for ordained ministry until 1965.
That decision opened up the door for thousands of women to answer their call to lead the Church, including our own Pastor Geovanna, who has been a Methodist pastor for twenty years. Last Sunday she delivered this beautiful Mothers’ Day message called “A Cross-Shaped Legacy,” and if you missed it, you can still check it out online.
Not everyone in the Church is in agreement about the legitimacy of women pastors. Many denominations have chosen only to ordain men, and some prominent pastors on Twitter have gone to great lengths to disparage churches where women are allowed to preach. Despite the occasional, hyperbolic tweet, I believe that Christians who oppose the ordination of women are usually doing their best to be obedient to Scripture, and even though I disagree, I can at least see where they’re coming from.
After all, the Apostle Paul did instruct his understudy Timothy to not permit women to teach or exercise authority over men (1 Tim. 2:12), so what right do we have to break ranks with scriptural authority today? You may recall that, in a recent message, I insisted that all of our theological conflicts should be guided by the Bible – even if we feel differently or think we know better. If Scripture is our guide on controversial issues like human sexuality and abortion, where do we get off abandoning Paul’s restrictions on female leadership? Or, as one person wrote to me this week:
“We read the same scriptures you do and come to a different conclusion regarding LGBTQ persons, much as you have apparently come to the conclusion that Paul’s admonition that women should not speak in church no longer applies, to name an obvious example.”
But is this really an obvious example of sidestepping Scripture, or is there more to the story? Certainly there can be no denying that, in a few instances, Paul openly restricts female authority in at least two of the churches he planted, but what about all the other biblical references to God-ordained female leadership including, but not limited to:
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Deborah (Judges 4) – with God’s blessing, she led all of Israel, both the men and the women.
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Huldah (2 Chronicles 34) – a God-ordained prophetess who spoke with authority over the people of God.
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Mary of Nazareth – the woman hand-selected by God to bear the Light of the world, and to testify on His behalf.
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Mary Magdalene – along with the other women at the tomb, Mary Magdalene delivered the most important sermon ever preached – I have seen the Lord! (John 20:18)
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Mary and Martha – Jesus interacted with these two sisters as he did with his other disciples, including the time he allowed Mary to sit and listen to him instead of rushing to prepare a meal for their guests. (Luke 10:39-42, John 11:17-27)
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The women who preached in Paul’s churches – yes, the same Paul who prohibited female leadership in some settings, apparently allowed some women to preach in other settings. (1 Corinthians 11:2-5 – this is a confusing passage about head coverings, but it’s clear that, for Paul, prophesying = preaching [see 1 Corinthians 14:3-4])
As I wrote in my book, Scripture and the Skeptic, “So which is it—are women supposed to keep silent in church like Paul said to Timothy, or are they supposed to preach with their heads covered like Paul said to the Corinthians? The rules aren’t clear, and I believe that whenever the Bible isn’t crystal clear about an important issue like this, it’s generally a good idea to look to Jesus.”
In Jesus we find a man who valued gender differences without valuing the genders differently. From his interactions with the women in his life, we see a man who was willing to trust female leaders with the most important work on earth: telling the good news of God’s saving grace, made available to the whole world through Christ Jesus. If that approach was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me.
And one more thing. If the same biblical evidence existed to support other points of view on human sexuality, gender identity, marriage, divorce, and remarriage, I would be first in line to rethink my stance. It’s hard to go against the grain these days, and life would be much easier if we could all just go with the flow. But living in full submission to Christ means trusting him enough to surrender to his word. As difficult as that might seem, and as high a price as there might be to pay, I’m persuaded to choose fidelity to Christ over capitulation to culture, and I hope you are, too.
So preach on, Pastor Geo, and all my sisters in Christ who are called by God who share the gospel! We’ve got your backs, but more importantly, God’s Word has your backs, and that’s all the support you really need.
