Brindo mi Vida (I Offer my Life): November 2013

Great Toolbox question a couple of weeks ago!

What is a woman's role in the church?

Many Christian denominations ordain women for ministry, and have women as senior pastors of congregations. On the flip side, many Christian denominations do not. Why the divide?

Well, to narrow it down quite simply, there are two views: Traditionalism and Egalitarianism.

Traditionalism basically argues that men and women are equal in value, but differ in roles within the church and the marriage. God established an order in the church, and in families, where the man is the head and takes on the role of leadership. Traditionalists quote passages such as Ephesians 5:22, and 1st Timothy 2:12, which forbids women from teaching or having authority over men. Traditionalism argues that men and women are different, yet complementary, therefore this view is sometimes called Complementarianism. This has nothing to do with the value of men or women, but about order and complementary roles God created. Traditionalists do not ordain women to leadership positions in the church which would put them in a position of leading men.

Egalitarianism basically argues that men and women are equal in value and are equal in the role they can play in church leadership and in the marriage. They argue that submission is mutual (Ephesians 5:21), that men ruling over women is a result of the fall (Genesis 3:16), and that in Christ social and gender distinctives are no longer relevant (Galatians 3:26-28). Furthermore, prescriptions by Paul that women should not teach men, or have authority over them, or that women should keep silent in church, are contextual and unique to specific situations Paul was addressing, and we see other examples where it seems that women are permitted, even encouraged, to do just that (See Colossians 4:15, Acts 2:18, Phil 4:2).

Either way, in my experience, many times when we begin arguing these sides, we talk past each other.

For me, the perfect example of what this all looks like is found in the book of Philemon. Philemon is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a man named Philemon, who was a slave owner at the time. While Paul was in Prison, he encountered a man named Onesimus, a runaway slave who came from Philemon. As Paul encouraged submission, he encouraged Onesimus to return to Philemon, which was the right thing for Onesimus to do under the law and social order of the time. However, as Paul also encouraged equality in Christ, he encouraged Philemon to receive Onesimus as if he were receiving Paul himself. In fact, Paul told Philemon to prepare a guest room for his upcoming visit. So if Philemon is to prepare a guest room for Paul, yet he is to treat Onesimus even better than Paul, what does that imply Philemon should do for Onesimus? Actually, Paul tells Philemon to receive Onesimus back not as a bondservant, but as a brother.

Therefore, the result of Onesimus' submission isn't silence and passiveness continuance of the slaveowner/slave relationship. Instead Onesimus' submission was to result in his freedom, and even his elevation above Philemon. Here we see echoes of what Paul said in Galatians 3:26-28.

In all, Paul submitted to the social laws of the time, while at the same time fulfilling the new paradigm in Christ.

Think about what this means. And if you want to explore further, the two main places to explore these two differing views can be found here:

Traditionalism: Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Egalitarianism: Christians for Biblical Equality

(note - links to these external websites do not represent an endorsement of either organization)