Women in Leadership

Took the time to read through this (http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/About/StatementOfFaith/Overview.aspx) and I'm pretty aligned with this statement of faith, especially the "Empowered By the Spirit" part! I have to say that of all the statement of faiths I've read (and I've read a lot of them), this one, in every part is pretty holistic (well-rounded), easy to understand and very clear.

Having read every line of this thing and being in agreement with every little line, the only thing I take issue with is the following: "Women play a vital role in the life of the church, but in keeping with God’s created design they are not... permitted “to teach or to exercise authority over a man” (1 Timothy 2:12 ESV). Leadership in the church is male."

I have not yet arrived at a conclusion when it comes to the topic of Women in Leadership and do a lot of studying and reading on this whenever I have spare time. I have read literature coming from both ends of the topic and will continue to do so. Since I have been in the "middle ground" for quite a couple of years now, I will share that the more word studies I do (Greek language), the more I'm reading the theological perspectives/commentaries of scholars, the more I'm in the direction of being in the position of "defending" Women in Leadership. My simple thought on that (which will more than likely be expanded on at a later time) is that God CAN and WILL use ANYONE, regardless of gender. So, who am I to say that He can't or won't? That's my take on that.

I find it interesting that in "The Scriptures" section, it states: "Each book is to be interpreted *according to its context and purpose* and in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through it in living power." (*s, bold - emphasis mine) And... the tension I face or what I have wondered with biblical scholars on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to Women in Leadership is if each individual has truthfully examined the biblical text(s) "according to its context and purpose" ... Because whether we like it or not, every single one of us approaches biblical text with our own biases, our own prejudices, our own set of lens ... None of us can say that we approach God's Word in a completely pure manner ... So, really both sides stand by their position on FAITH more than anything else. Because if one or the other tried to prove each other wrong, it would just keep going round and round, going on for years and years ... And it has been ... still is!

I think there are bigger issues than this! God's created design, order still exists and is in place, simply by virtue of the fact that we were each made different - man, woman - we think differently, respond differently, process things differently, etc. That already supports God's created design, that there is an order to things. To add, in marriage, the husband is still in a position of spiritual leadership, as well as the home. When it comes to church life, there is much to be done (in the pastoral context and others) that takes more than one person. So then, where the responsibilities (pastoral and others) can be shared, should they not be? One of the bigger issues at hand is that the harvest is plenty, yet the laborers are few. Instead of harping on something like Women in Leadership, why not work together, on the pulpit or off, so that more people would come to know Christ? Some might say,"The ends don't justify the means." To that I would say, "Women aren't just the means to an end."

Just some reflection and thought questions for myself (and others if they'd like to come along).