Can Women Be Gifted To Serve And Lead In The Church?
Greetings,
“There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” Luke 2: 36-38
Here we have New Testament biblical evidence of a female prophet.
“He (Apollos) began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.” Acts 18: 26
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.” Romans 16: 3-4
Right here in the text again, as plain as day, Priscilla taught and instructed Apollos in the ways of the Lord. Paul also says right out front that Priscilla was his fellow worker in Christ Jesus. The scriptural evidence points to this fact…Priscilla was a pastor/teacher. I have also read somewhere that Priscilla might perhaps be the author of the book of Hebrews.
“Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.” Romans 16: 7
Right there in black and white is Junia…yes a female apostle. Paul was in prison for sharing the Gospel and it is likely that Junia was right there with him for the very same reason.
To me it is extremely clear that God gifts, places and uses women to serve and lead in His Church. This truth is confirmed both in scripture and also in my 37 years of serving Jesus in totally free and open, Spirit led, relational fellowships. To me, if you deny women their God -given right to total equality in the Church, even in regards to that thing some call leadership… you sin against not only women, but also The Lord Himself. Any hierarchy in the Church is wrong and sinful, including the one that always places men over women.
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3: 26-28
In Christ we are now all one. This means we no longer are to be divided by nationality, working or social class, gender or anything else. To say one group is superior than another goes directly against our oneness in Jesus. In Christ we are all equals and Jesus can use ANY one of us to lead whenever He desires. Why disqualify 50% of the Body from service? Because men only ministry is the tradition of most of the “church”. It is one of the traditions that nullifies the Word and cripples the Body. I strongly believe in following those who follow the Lord, even if that person is a woman. I thank God for female leaders in my life. I would not be who I am in Christ without them.
Love and…..
Kirk Out !
P.s. Everyone shares, serves and leads in our relational fellowships..so this is very rarely an issue among us.
P.s.s. Please pray for the Murphy family? Judy Murphy age 74 passed away December 11th just 4 days after finding out she had stage 4 untreatable lymphoma. I had known her for over 25 years as we both served on various county wide service committees dealing with at risk youth. As an addictions counselor I served Judy’s daughter and her two grandsons. I also presided over 2 Murphy weddings and grandson Ryan’s funeral after he hung himself 3 years ago. This Friday I will conduct Judy’s memorial service. She was a tough old gal, but had a heart of gold. So I have both married and buried Murphys here in Sturgis. This is very emotional for me. Your prayers will be deeply appreciated.
notesfromthebridge 
Amen!
Great post, bro! It amazes me how many things there are in the Bible that are plain as day, yet the church teaches a completely contrary message. All my life I’ve heard over and over again that women are forbidden to hold leadership roles in the church. In recent decades, it has become more acceptable for women to be in leadership positions, but this is the first thing I’ve seen, where someone actually vocally opposes traditional teaching on the subject, using the Bible to show how false it is. Since the church has yet to awaken to this truth, yet is actively placing women in leadership positions, it seems that the church is either simply bowing to cultural pressures, or standing in quiet defiance against what it believes the Bible teaches, without actually acknowledging that it doesn’t believe what the Bible says is right and true. In either case, it is rooted in a denial/defiance of what they believe the Bible teaches. I find this very interesting.
Interesting point 2trakmind
Thank you! I spent 45 years of my life seeing mostly women serve in church while just a few men “led” them. They basically did all the teaching (of children or other women, of course), nursery work, hospitality ministries, VBS, etc., and yet, they had absolutely no say whatsoever in how things were done. I always felt there was something wrong with this and felt like I was less important in the body as a female than my male counterparts. I also had experiences where many women present (sometimes myself included) were more knowledgeable and mature in their faith than the male leadership and were still expected to give in to the will and desire of the men and were not allowed to correct a false/incorrect teaching because they were merely women.
Thank you for putting this in such simple terms.
Jewell, all too sad, but true in the vast majority of “churches” out there.
Amen
Interesting that elsewhere Paul clearly instructs Timothy that he (Paul) does not permit women to teach men and instructs him to tell women to ask questions at home. This appears to be a contradiction. Unless… Paul is talking about two different things…. one being Holy Spirit gifted talents being exercised, and the other being just gabbing and chattering. Of course, men do plenty
of the latter, as well.
Tom Ball, I too feel that Paul was talking about 2 different things. Because Paul also said in no uncertain terms that when we come together everyone has something of great value to share with the rest of the Body of Christ and that we can ALL (including women) give a prophetic word in turn.
the more i come to realize how messed up traditional church leadership is in the organized church,the LESS i even consider women serving and leading an issue.They have actually been doing it all along anyway,thank God !…in spite of all the barriers that misguided men have tried to impose on them.I recently read a very good article that indirectly relates to this topic,where the author points out that the apostles sometimes imposed barriers and structure that addressed a single church and culture…due to spiritual immaturity,but it was never intended to be a “forever” condition for all christians of all time. Barriers and structure were given because of immaturity and as people grow,such things are no longer necessary.In my opinion,keeping women from teaching,instructing,leading others,…is just foolish.I am sorry for the loss of your friend.
I’m so glad you mentioned Junia! I discovered that scripture about a year ago and was absolutely thrilled. She’s now the 1st example I think of.