The Truth about Women in Leadership

I started this study in my post back in The Perfect Wife in Proverbs 31. A little expounding on this subject will follow. It has been my experience that most men have a huge problem with women in leadership roles in the church. It is not Biblical that women should not hold teacher postions or have leadership roles. I'll take this week and discuss it.


Scripture does not contradict itself. Therefore, we must do as Paul commended the Bereans and measure Scripture against Scripture for pure understanding, anyone who says he completely understands all of Scripture does not know what he is talking about. It is too deep.

So we must pick up a few pieces of the puzzle here and there and put them in place to see if they fit. If they do, voila! If they do not, then we must do some more hunting and digging to find more pieces.

Let me point to a few things that we should include in this discussion that could shed some light on Paul's teachings.

Timothy was in Ephesus. He was left there by Paul to deal with certain problems in that church such as false doctrine (1 Tim 1:3-7; 4:1-3; 6:3-5), disorder in worship (2:1-15), the need for qualified leaders (3:1-14) and materialism (7:6-19). This letter was written to the Pastor of a church of Gentiles. These people had not grown up learning Scripture. They did not have the opportunity to sit at Jesus feet as Mary did. And Mary did follow Jesus on His ministry journeys as did Joanna, Susanna and many other women. Luke 8. They traveled with Him. (Noted by the idiom "she sat as His feet". Dwight Pryor taught in his seminar "Jesus was a Jew" that this idiom means a "disciple of". And the term following doesn't mean opening the morning paper to "follow" how the Saints are doing in football. It meant literally "gathering His dust". As Jesus walked down the road, His feet would kick up dust. Thus, as His disciples walked behind Him, they gathered the dust kicked up by his feet—therefore, following Him. At one time, over 500 people were following Him. That was a lot of dust.

I ask you: Is that any different than today? Jewish women experienced a lot of freedom that the neighboring countries did not give their women. Already many examples of that have been presented. Lydia is another example Acts 16. Did Paul march up to Lydia and tell her she could not teach anymore? Now here is an interesting point: There weren't 10 Jewish men, heads of households that were interested enough to form a synagogue so the women met to read the OT and pray and discuss what they read. What does that really say? It says the men were not doing what God had commissioned them to do...be the Spiritual Leaders. So the women did it.

In some areas of the U.S. there are a lot more women in church than men. It is a sad state of affairs. My church has about 70% elderly.

And if women were doing what God called them publicly to do and that is teach their children in the Lord as the mother of King Lemuel of Massa did (Prov 31)...then there would be plenty of good theologically solid Christian men doing what God called them to do.

I would think that being called a "fellow worker" by Paul in Rom 16:3 would be excellent commendation. Except she was called by her nick name Prisca. Neither she nor Aquilla were reprimanded for pulling aside this great teacher "mighty in Scriptures", who had been instructed in the Lord and teaching him The Way. The fact that what Aquilla and Priscilla did was mentioned is an implied commendation.

However, that isn't the point of this passage. The point is Truth Teaching as opposed to Incomplete Teaching and/or False Teaching, is the point isn't it? Just because a person is a man does not make him in authority over a woman. That is false teaching. It is the husband's role to cover his wife. I was submissive to my father. And submissive to my husband all the way through all the infidelities.

God does not call us to be submissive to just any man, only to a husband. I will not be submissive to just any Jack I meet. That is not only ridiculous but stupid. Do not ever teach your daughter to be submissive to any man just because he is a man and he is in the church. Authority comes from the permissive will of the Lord God Almighty Romans 13:1 and the ability to handle authority comes as a Spiritual Gift of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 12:28 Respect, on the other hand is earned by the person in authority. While I can respect a person because he is a person or because of his position, I quickly lose respect for that person when I hear false teaching coming from his mouth.