- Galatians 3:28
- 1 Corinthians 12:31
This is the question. Can a woman direct the affairs of a church body and be the lead pastor/preacher? Here is the biblical answer. Certainly she can but the greater biblical question is "should" she direct the affairs of a church? Should she even be expected or encouraged to stand in that role of ultimate accountability to the Lord?
However, a more important question is this: Is being a lead pastor/preacher of a church family even the biblical role of accountability of a woman in other words, is it God s best design and God s most excellent overall plan for a church family? The contextual answer from the word of God is clear. No, it s not. Going by the clear biblical examples laid out from the first to the last chapters of the entire Word of God it never has been declared the most excellent way.
According to the contextual Word of God, men and women have their unique God ordained roles, responsibilities, and sometimes abilities, but more significantly accountabilities in life, churchmanship, and marriage. All of them are assigned by the Lord Himself within the sound academic and contextual interpretation of the Word of God our supreme guide in such matters. As many readers will know, a contextual interpretation is one that takes out of a text - what it clearly says exegesis especially in its relationship to the entirety of the rest of God s word. However, reading into words and adjusting their meanings to arrive at the interpretation one desires is called eisegesis an overall academically poor and ultimately incorrect way to interpret scripture.
First let me give an illustration I often use in preaching/teaching. Every time I use it, the vast majority say they get it and thank me for the practical biblical enlightenment it brings. I pray it does the same for the reader.
Here s the illustration:
Consider a firefighter, police officer, and a paramedic who s the most important among them? Who is the greater entity of usefulness to society? Better still, who has the greatest responsibilities and accountabilities?
For example, if my house is burning down, are all three equally important and accountable to the greater society. No in that instance they are not. In fact, when my house is burning down I want firefighters, with lots of water! I don t care if the police or paramedics show up at that moment but they certainly would not be my first contact. Give me firefighters!
Similarly, if someone is breaking into my house, and/or threatening me with bodily harm on my property - I want police officers with guns! And, if someone has had a terrible accident or a heart attack, I want paramedics, and eventually doctors, nurses, and surgeons people who have a lot of training and the proper medical equipment to save lives!
So one is not more important than another - in general. They are each important! Nor can they properly do each other s jobs. Most importantly, their accountabilities to society are different. It s as simple as that and it s the same with the roles of men and women in the church and marriage. It has always been so within the context of God s Word. They each have different roles and different culpabilities to God, but those differences do not make one more important than the other. They each have their specific training, abilities, equipment, and accountabilities within their God appointed roles of operation.
The most critical consideration is this: Does the Bible, particularly the New Testament, clearly and categorically say, in black and white, that a woman should be or must be encouraged to be a pastor/sheperd, overseer, bishop, elder, main leader, and preacher of a church body? The answer is that it absolutely does not say anything like that. Anywhere. Are women in the NT church and even Yeshua s ministry exalted to places of tremendous importance? Yes! Was this new position for womanhood in that first century culture against the grain of the overall ethos in which they were living? Yes, it was! But did Yeshua or Paul or any of the other NT writers ever pointedly speak of women as lead pastors and administrators of the affairs of a church. Absolutely not. Not once. Following is an example of this fact:
I have examined the Greek language of this verse, and 47 different Bible translations from the very oldest, to the very newest - and all of them interpret this passage into the male form only. See THIS link to examine them yourself.
There is only one clear example in the NT that appears to even come close to this consideration, but it fails so many contextual tests (in reference to a supposed female pastor/shepherd/elder) that it simply cannot and must not be used to justify a woman as a lead pastor/preacher. That example is Phoebe, mentioned in only one place in the Bible Romans 16:1. And she s the only woman described with the distinctive Greek words involved. In the Greek text, the words for elder, pastor/shepherd, leader, or overseer/bishop (1) are not associated with Phoebe s name at all. Instead, the Greek word for deacon or deaconess is used. And so is the Greek word for what is commonly interpreted in English as patron. (See the following subsection on this word)
and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. (ESV Romans 16:1-2)
Now, let s have a look at what Paul is actually saying within the proper grammatical and biblical context of Romans 16.
For example in Matthew 23:11 Jesus tells the crowds (men and women) that those who desire to become the greast among you must become the servant (diakonos) of all. Did Jesus mean to say that one must ascend to the "office" of "deacon" in order to be "great" among the people? Of course not. Likewise, Paul, in Colossians 1:25 says that he "became a servant (diakonos) to the church..." for the sake of the Gospel. Did he mean that he had become a man that was ordained in the office of Deacon? Again...no - that is not the contextual meaning. The nuance of the word usage, and the context, cleary sets the meaning. We must all be as servants to those around us - attending to their spiritual needs when appropriate, and in that way we will be truly esteemed by those in the Body of Christ.
The only place in the scripture that outlines the qualifications for the New Testament church "office of Deacon," describe those qualifications to be for men only (1 Timothy 3). These men are to come along side of the Pastor/Shepherd - Overseer - Elder and assist in carrying out the functioning of the church and its ministries - at the specific direction of the pastor(s). The context is crystal clear. There are no passages outlining an official office of deacon" for women in the church.(3)
Those passages about the male deacons serving in the office of Deaconship, however, do describe the fact that deacon s wives must also reflect and support those same qualifications as their husbands, which only makes sense if the man and his wife are going to be legitimate servants to the church body as a married team. Some scholars refer to wives of deacons as deaconesses as a way of recognizing who they are but the wives are not usurping their husbands ultimate responsibilities and accountabilities to the pastor(s) and to the church family at large.
Others, in attempt to make 1 Timothy 3 and the qualifications for the office of Deacon speak of women deacons - point to the Greek word translated as "wives" rightly note that this word in the Greek also means a woman in general. From that grammatical truth, they then attempt to read into the passage that Paul is now speaking of women who hold the "office of deacon." However, the context of that entire passage taken together screams otherwise. These "women-wives" are clearly said to be the "women-wives" of thier husbands. And that the male Deacon must be the "husband of one 'woman-wife'". Again, context is everything. This context could not be made any clearer. Paul is speaking of the qualifications of male deacons and stressing that even their wives must hold to a standard of integrity that is known by the church, in order to properly assist her husband (as a team) in his official role as Deacon to the church body.
This is exactly how Paul describes Phoebe either as a deacon s wife, or as a woman who has the gift of service to the body but does not hold an official office as overseer/elder of church affairs as the office of male deacons have been given - and for which they are held accountable. Nor does Paul's compliment towards her somehow set Pheobe apart as a biblically legitimate lead pastor/preacher. It simply does no such thing. Paul would not have directly contricted every one of his other designations and qualifications of deacons, overseers, and elders.
For what it s worth, I even disagree with the common acceptance of male deacons as being those who run the church. Nowhere in scripture is that said either. They are to assist the pastors in serving the needs of the church. In fact, they serve under/at the service of the lead pastor/pastors according to the context of scripture. This is a huge difference from a lot of common practice within today s church, regarding the office of Deacon!
Here is what Thayer s Greek Lexicon say about diakonos.
In fact, the Greek word prostatis is a legal term, according to Vincent s Word Studies. It is found only once in the entire New Testament in Romans 16, connected to Pheobe.(6)
The bottom line biblical words have meaning and context. To say that Paul somehow was acknowledging Phoebe as a lead pastor/preacher is a huge stretch of biblical context and the proper Greek word usage and Romans 16 is the only place in the New Testament that even comes close to saying that Pheobe was somehow a pastor. Close-ish, but certainly not what he says!
Paul does not mince words or shy away from controversial matters. If Pheobe was a lead-pastor/overseer/preacher, he would have said so. But he didn t! Instead, he carefully chose his words to properly honor Phoebe and her ministry among the body. It s as simple as that.
The importance of women to Yeshua, Paul, the early disciples, and the church in general, and to the institution of marriage, were absolutely culture busting and groundbreaking in the civilization norm of the first century.
However, no serious student of the Word can scholastically declare that the absence of women pastors mentioned in the New Testament is simply because of a cultural gender bias . Rather, that absence is because of specific God ordained reasons of responsibility and accountability.
Every single use of the Greek words that often translate in the New Testament in English to elders, presbyter, bishops, overseers, and shepherds are all in the male form. Not one is in the female form of the Greek language. Neither is there a single woman identified in the New Testament by any of these designations.(7)
Contrary to the argument of some, the word pastor is in fact in the New Testament except pastor is the Latinized word for the Greek word that translates to shepherd. (see: 1 & 8)
The two words are therefore synonymous. The larger issue is that only men are identified as shepherds in the New Testament documents. No woman is ever called a shepherd of a church in the New Testament body of Christ.
In Ephesians 5 Paul makes a very pointed comparison with a biblical marriage relationship between a man and woman and the church (which Paul clearly says is the larger point of his entire treatise on marriage and the roles of husband and wife).
That passage actually begins in verse 22, often overlooked by preachers/teachers, with the understanding of mutual submission to each other after first submitting to the Lord. The context of that submission is the mutual respect, protection, and cooperation, as well as the faithful observance of the roles of accountability assigned by God to the man and woman.
In both the marriage and the church, Ephesians 5 makes the matter crystal clear the man is to be the overseer, elder, presbyter, and shepherd of the church/marriage.
The woman is to come along the side of her husband and assist/encourage/strengthen him within his lines of accountability to the Lord and the man is to do likewise with his wife and her accountability before the Lord. The man must be the one who is always ready to make the supreme sacrifice for his wife and family just as Yeshua did for the church that is to lay down his life for his wife. This not only means the literal laying down of his life unto death, but also the daily sacrifices of convenience, preferences, and personal care of his wife in the matters of carefully attending to her specific needs, spiritual life, and personal health.
Ultimately, the husband will be held accountable for the overall working and health of the marriage and the church. Paul could not be more specific, pointed, and painstakingly clear regarding this issue. It is a black and white declaration of the issue of women as lead pastors/preachers over a congregation of the Body of Christ. However, let s be honest. In a fallen world, there are always emergency exceptions. Always. Sometimes a woman will have to become the head of the household and marriage. Sometimes a woman might need to be the pastor of a church family this often occurs on foreign mission fields, for example. There are myriad examples of how these situations might occur. Most are common sense scenarios of necessity. Still, the bigger picture is What is the most excellent way? This is what we are exploring here, according to clear biblical context. This context should always be the goal of a church family and a marriage, whenever humanly possible, with God s help. Always.
I have had women in the pulpit on a Sunday Morning during worship to speak/share testimony/and to give ministry/missions reports and plans. Ultimately, all the women and men of our church family answer to the Pastoral team for the quality of their work and the tenure of their service. That responsibility and accountability initially belongs to the man/men that the Lord has called, and the Church body has set apart, for such accountability. These men can be biblically called pastors, shepherds, overseers, presbyters, or bishops. This is exactly how it was done in every New Testament church example laid out in the scriptures.
This truth does not negate the biblical fact that New Testament women took the role of starting churches, hosting churches in their homes, stood by Yeshua s side as faithful disciples/ministers of the faith, served as teachers, leaders, and protectors. There were also ministers of great encouragement to the men who were in leadership as well as to the entire church body. The problem in the churches of today is not women lead pastors, or even women in the pulpit.
The greater problem is often with men who fail to take their God given answerability to take the leadership for which God holds them accountable. The same is reflected in our overall culture and the marriages within it. And it all started in the Garden of Eden a fact that today s church largely overlooks, or purposely ignores. When a man fails to take the lead accountability in a marriage, home, family, or church leadership sometimes a woman will step up to the task (the OT Deborah is an example of this sometimes necessity. As already mentioned, many women on foreign mission fields have had to do the same thing. When she must do this, in reverence and humility, with no motive toward usurpation, the Lord will honor that woman and her ministry of necessity. But shame on the men who would not step up! They will be held accountable.
The woman is not less than the man. God does not view the woman as less than valuable over the man in any way. It s just that the scenario of a woman lead pastor/preacher is not the most excellent way for the operation of these institutions that God created and ordained. It grieves the Lord to see a man that does not step up to what God has called him to do much like the Adam and Eve scenario from the beginning. Thus, the men who fail in this matter will always be held accountable first. Just like it was with Adam and Eve.
This is Satan s world. He is the god of this age until the Lord Yeshua returns. But the Church body does not have to, nor should it, operate within the norms of this demonically influenced world. The contextually interpreted Word of God is our manual of operation. And that Word is clear, straightforward, and final regardless of an ever changing culture that surrounds us. There is neither male nor female in the Lord.
They are equally loved by our Creator. They were equally formed by Him as well. But they each have responsibilities, gifts, abilities, and accountabilities that were assigned by Him. And those areas are not always equal between genders. Yet, they are each always vitally important to our Creator within His most excellent way of order and decorum.
When a marriage, home, family, and Church family, both men and women, endeavor to honor these accountabilities in God s clearly defined way then and only then, are we following the most excellent way.
And the Lord of Glory always honors those who hold to the most excellent way.
=================================================NOTES=======================================================
(1.) To see the distinction that grew between Elders and "Bishops" in the early church see this
scholarly hermeneutics article: HERE
The words Pastor/Shepherd, Elder/Presbyter, Leader(s), and Bishop/Overseer translated into English, from the Greek, are:
A.) Bishop/Overseer - GK. 1985. episkopos (https://biblehub.com/greek/1985.htm) HELPS Word-Study ( 1985 ep skopos (a masculine noun, derived from 1909 - "look intently," like at an end-marker concluding a race) properly, an overseer; a man called by God to literally "keep an eye on" His flock (the Church, the body of Christ), i.e. to provide personalized (first hand) care and protection.
B.) Elder - GK. 4245. presbuteros - (https://biblehub.com/greek/4245.htm) Thayers (among Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or churches): Acts 11:30; Acts 14:23; Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22; Acts 16:4; Acts 21:18; 1 Timothy 5:17, 19; Titus 1:5; 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1; 1 Peter 5:1, 5) HELPS Word-Study ( The NT specifies elders are men. (The feminine singular, presbytera, never occurs in the Bible.)
C.) Shepherd/Pastor GK. 4165. poimain -(https://biblehub.com/greek/4165.htm) From whence the Latin "pastor" originates - HELPS Word-Studies (occurs 11 times in the NT, usually with a figurative sense of "shepherding (tending) God's flock." This provides Spirit-directed guidance (care) conjunction with feeding His people (teaching them Scripture)). Thayers (the overseers (pastors) of the church, John 21:16; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2.)
D.) Leader - GK. 2233. h geomai (https://biblehub.com/greek/2233.htm) - Thayer's (the genitive of the person over whom one rules, so of the overseers or leaders of Christian churches: Hebrews 13:7, 17, 24)
(2.) https://biblehub.com/greek/1249.htm.
(3.) The passages are found in 1 Timothy, Titus, Peter. See: https://www.biblicaleldership.com/category/elder-qualifications.
(4.) Ibid.
(5.) https://biblehub.com/greek/4368.htm.
(6.) Vincent's Word Studies
To Assist
See on Acts 1:3. It is used as a legal term, of presenting culprits or witnesses in a court of justice. Compare, Acts 24:13. From this, and from the term succorer, it has been inferred that Phoebe was going to Rome on private legal business (see Conybeare and Howson). It is a way of calling Pheobe a "protector" of Paul's integrity and reputation among the churches...similar to an "ambassador".
A Succorer
Only here in the New Testament. The word means patroness. It may refer to her official duties. The word is an honorable one, and accords with her official position. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/romans/16-2.htm.
(7.) The only exception to this fact is the word elder. When it is used of a female in the church, the New Testament designation is always that of an older woman or a woman of great respect among the church family. It is never used as a leader of an entire church family in the female gender word usage.
(8.) This is similar to the argument that some make concerning the word rapture. They will declare that the word rapture is not found in the New Testament therefore a rapture does not exist. The problem is a lack of understanding about language and translations. The English word rapture comes from the Latinized form of the Greek harpaz meaning to be caught up. The word rapture is in the Latin translations, but in the English translations harpaz is translated as caught up. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
