Redeemed Woman

Dear Christian sister who has a female pastor,

I prayerfully write this letter as a fellow sister in Christ with all love and respect because your life has been redeemed by Jesus just as mine was. (And if my assumption above is not true, then you, my friend, have bigger problems.) My prayer is that you will read this letter with a Bible open.

Your female pastor is illegitimate. According to God’s design, women are not to be spiritual shepherds and overseers of His churches. These leaders go by many titles, such as pastors, ministers, and reverends. The office of an overseer is someone who exercises spiritual authority in the oversight, management, and care of God’s church. This office, as Scripture reads, is ordained by God for men only.

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. ² Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³ not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, ⁵ for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. ⁷ Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 (ESV)

The issue is not about her worth or significance as a female. Did God not make the woman, along with the man, in His image (Genesis 1:27)? Are not man and woman interdependent of one another and both from God (1 Corinthians 11:11-12)? Did Jesus not die for both man and woman and save all that would believe in Him (Galatians 3:15-29)? Are women not co-heirs of God’s promises which is to come in Jesus through the gospel (Ephesians 3:6; 1 Peter 3:7)?

The issue is not about her gifting. Are not spiritual gifts given to each member of Christ’s body as God the Holy Spirit wills and choses (1 Corinthians 12:11, 18)? Will God the Holy Spirit now give a woman a spiritual gift for a calling that is NOT authorized by God’s Word but directly contradicts it (John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 12:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:8-15)? Are we not to pay attention to the all-sufficient Scriptures which prescribe how we are to serve Him and not let our feelings lead us (Leviticus 10:1; 1 Samuel 15:17-23; Proverbs 3:5; 2 Peter 3:16-17)?

The issue is not about her incapability to teach and build up the church family. I am sure she is more than capable of teaching others and helping others to grow in their relationship with God. We see in Scripture that God allowed women to be great teachers. He used them to lead their children as mothers, teach other women as older sisters, and encourage His people as fellow believers (Proverbs 1:8; 6:20; 31:1, 26; Luke 2:36-38; Acts 16:13-15; 18:26; 2 Timothy 1:5; Titus 2:3-5). Can God not do great things through His daughters who are obedient to His ordinations?

What is the issue then?

In the Garden of Eden, the crafty serpent deceived Eve into thinking that she can gain wisdom apart from God (Genesis 3:6). Wisdom in itself is not a bad thing. In fact, Proverbs tells us more than once to seek for wisdom (Proverbs 3:13, 4:5, 4:7). However, Eve forfeited heavenly wisdom (Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 2:6; Proverbs 9:10; Psalm 19:7-9; James 3:13-18) and knowingly disobeyed the commandment that her husband received from God (Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:2-3).

God’s response to Adam and Eve reveals that God created male and female for specific roles and order from the very beginning. This created order was witnessed by the angels who themselves are under a created order from God (1 Corinthians 11:10; Jude 6).

Genesis 3:16-17 (ESV),

¹⁶ To the woman He said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
    but he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to Adam He said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

We see from God’s response that Adam failed miserably at his God-given role as leader, protector, and provider. He was there when the whole scene went down (Genesis 3:6)! He didn’t even try to talk Eve out of eating the forbidden fruit. He just passively went along with whatever she told him to do. He could have interrupted the conversation as soon as the serpent started talking to Eve. Instead, he did not protect his wife and allowed the serpent to fill her mind with deception. By God’s provision, He had the whole rest of the garden for food. And yet, somehow, he failed at providing food in place of that forbidden fruit when Eve was suddenly hungry. We also see that Eve, now in her fallen state, will desire to take on the leadership role, but God will not allow it because that was meant for Adam to bear (Genesis 3:16b).

Moreover, isn’t it interesting that the serpent directed his deceptions at Eve when Adam was with her as well? Could it be that part of the serpent’s scheme in deceiving mankind into sin was to undermine God’s created order? The Bible was making an accurate assessment when it described the serpent as “crafty”. Little did they know that they were in the most epic spiritual battle of Old Testament history. Thanks be to Jesus who won the war!

So what?

It is clear from Scripture that this created order is for the marriage context. But does it apply to the church context? Paul certainly thinks so. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and with apostolic authority, Paul writes to young pastor Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 (ESV),

⁸ I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

The issue is not about culture -whether in the Apostle Paul’s times, the present, or any ethnic culture. The issue is obedience to God’s order in the corporate gathering of His people. Is He not a wise God of order (1 Corinthians 11:3, 10; 1 Corinthians 14:33-40)? Just as God has an ordained order for each human family (Ephesians 5:22-6:4; Colossians 3:18-25), would He not all the more have order within the church family which He redeemed with His own blood (Acts 20:28)?

Jesus restored God’s order.

Jesus restored God’s order between husband and wife. In Jesus, the Christian husband learns true godly leadership (Ephesians 5:25-33). Likewise, the Christian wife submits herself to her husband in everything as her act of worship and surrender to her LORD (Ephesians 5:22-24). And it is from this order that the church operates and functions (1 Corinthians 11:3, 10; 1 Corinthians 14:33-40). It is lack of order when the man who leads his wife in the home sits under the spiritual authority (aka “pastor”) of another woman. It is also lack of order when a woman pastor who submits to her husband in the home has spiritual authority over that same man at church.

Prayerfully consider, study, and meditate on the Scriptures for yourself. Don’t take my word for it. If you conclude that your female pastor is a legitimate spiritual shepherd, then you will have to explain away the Scriptures and the order that Christ came to restore. But if you end up with the same convictions as I do, then leave your church and find another church where you can sit under the spiritual shepherding of a godly man. May the grace and love of our great God and LORD, Jesus Christ, be with you.

Father, we thank You for Your Word that gives order into our lives. It is in Your ways that we can truly thrive and receive the fullness of Your blessings and grace. It is in Your order that we have true security and stability. Help us to trust in You and lift our burdens! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.