Women as Pastors: Debate of the Day
With the resurgence of the age-old women as pastors debate, the media has created a firestorm of men and women attacking one another. You can read about the Southern Baptist Convention's desire to create a doctrine that says women can’t be pastors here. It has created a lot of debate and straying attention away from the heart of the Gospel.
As a woman who has been in ministry for years, this is an issue I can speak on plainly. First, doctrine is man - made and Tirzah is devoted to teaching women to read the Bible for themselves. The biggest thing I noticed from this video was a man speaking his own opinions without utilizing Scripture as the main conversation piece. This is why Tirzah stays out of affiliating with a specific document or doctrine. Every doctrine and document was a man’s interpretation of the Bible.
After being affiliated with and working alongside many denominations, there is one thing that continues to stand out to me about women being pastors. The modern - day church organization tends to be a man - made structure with the name “pastor” leading it. If you open the Bible for yourself (which I encourage you to do), you will find that the structure of Baptist and many other denominations was created by man. When you read about the Biblical structure of the church, there are three core Scriptures.
That first Scripture is the entire book of Acts. This outlines the start of the church and what it looks like. We see that the church met daily, went to one another’s houses, and made sure everyone had everything they needed. It is also shown that you are to make sure everyone’s needs in the church are met first - like a family. I highly recommend you read this book to understand the church.
Second, there is a specific structure in the church outlined in Ephesians:
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
- Ephesians 4:11-13
Notice that pastors is one of five roles given to the church. I’m not going to delve into how each role functions - but that is the BIBLICAL structure of the church. We cannot elevate man’s words over Scripture. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who falsely use these roles and manipulate them. There have been scandals in churches that follow this five - fold model. That has caused people to want to abandon what God has clearly spoken. The entire argument that Mohler has about women is faulty because he does not have an appropriate understanding of what a “pastor” is. This is where you see all of the confusion comes in.
That leads into our last Scripture, which is the book of Titus. In the book of Titus, qualifications for an elder/deacon are given. No matter how you choose to look at it, those do actually state that an elder/deacon should be a man. Read the book for yourself - and determine what you believe. In addition, it does state that older women are to teach younger about life - and same with men. We cannot simply ignore Scripture.
From a personal standpoint, I have discovered that women should not be “shepherds” (pastors) in the church. THIS function is the role of a leader in the church who cares for, visits with, and ensures all of the people in the church are kept safe. One of the biggest Baptist doctrine problems is they don’t communicate or understand “evangelist”, “apostle”, “prophet”, “teacher”, and “shepherd”. If they were following a clear communication of the Scripture, there would be a lot less confusion.
Clarity is kindness. I actually appreciate what Mohler is doing. He is saying that if you believe this, join us. If you don’t believe this, don’t join us. You know where the Baptist stand and you have the free will to join or not join. Being Baptist or another denomination is not a prerequisite for salvation. While I, personally, don’t believe in women being shepherds over men, my best friend is a female pastor. I love her and she loves me. We both stand before God on our own and answer to Him. She has also been one of the most consistent, loving people in my life - and the lives of many others. I see the fruit in her life.
Before listening to me, a random man talking about doctrine, or the people around you - go to the Word of God. Then, look at the fruit of that person’s life. Make your decisions for yourself. My main concern is that every woman know they can hear from God for themselves, have a personal relationship with Him, and can proclaim His name. You do not need me, Albert Mohler, or anyone else to know Jesus. He wrote you a love letter. He speaks to you today. Trust Him first.