Praise Jesus, I dont know if its a good ideal to try to run 2 studys at the same time , But I will try .  I would like for us to meet in a chat room Maybe we could call it General Assembley of the Christian Community are some thing like that. What do you think.     Lee

 
 

The story is told of a tragic car accident involving a father and son. The father was pronounced dead at the scene as his child was rushed off in an ambulance. Upon arrival at the hospital, the son was moved quickly to surgery. Orderlies, nurses, and doctors reacted with the awareness that every second counted. As the surgeon donned gloves and mask, however, the unexpected happened. Looking into the face of the boy for the first time, the doctor looked away saying, "I can't operate. This patient is my son!" Alarm spread among the surgical attendants. How could this be? The boy's father had died.

Many who hear this story for the first time find it confusing. The doctor's reaction doesn't seem to make sense. The son was not adopted and never had more than one father. Few guess quickly that the surgeon was the victim's mother.

It is difficult to change habits of thinking. In spite of legislation designed to remove sexual prejudice from the workplace (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), gender-defined roles and expectations remain burned into our minds.

Many in our day are wondering to what extent such cultural perception has also shaped our views of women in ministry. A growing number of men and women believe that when a church refuses to allow a woman to preach, baptize, distribute communion, or lead a business meeting, it is being influenced more by human tradition than by the will of God. As a result, some denominations have adopted policies calling for the ordination and full participation of women in all aspects of church life and leadership.

Such trends deserve careful evaluation. Until recently, the only congregations willing to ordain women to pastoral ministry were those lacking a high view of Scripture. It was usually the minister trained in a liberal seminary who taught his congregation that the apostle Paul could not be trusted when it came to his view of women in the church. There was no other way they could adequately discount the limitations that Paul seemed to place on women in ministry.

Today, the picture has changed. The cause of women in ministry is being led by people who confess to a high view of Scripture. This group is raising questions not about Paul, but about traditional interpretations of key texts. The result is that widely respected Bible teachers and scholars are now saying they are not so sure the Scriptures require us to withhold ordination from women. Such men and women say that what they are sure of is that the Scriptures are not as male-oriented as they once thought. Many believe that male leadership in both the home and church has been so exploitative and abusive of women that any interpretation giving men authority over women is dangerous.

The result is that with the recognition of past mistakes, unanswered questions of interpretation, problems of application, and the endorsements of many respected Christian leaders, an increased number of conservative Christians are opening up to the idea of woman-led churches.

"Christians for Biblical Equality" is one group that has published a statement in Christian periodicals calling for a rethinking of gender-defined roles for men and women in the home and church. A portion of their statement reads: "In the church, spiritual gifts of women and men are to be recognized, developed, and used in serving and teaching ministries at all levels of involvement: as small group leaders, counselors, facilitators, administrators, ushers, communion servers, and board members, and in pastoral care, teaching, preaching, and worship. In so doing, the church will honor God as the source of spiritual gifts. The church will also fulfill God's mandate of stewardship without the appalling loss to God's kingdom that results when half of the church's members are excluded from positions of responsibility."

For application to the family, this same group says, "In the Christian home, husband and wife are to defer to each other in seeking to fulfill each other's preferences, desires, and aspirations. Neither spouse is to seek to dominate the other, but each is to act as servant of the other, in humility considering the other as better than oneself. In case of decisional deadlock, they should seek resolution through biblical methods of conflict resolution rather than by one spouse imposing a decision upon the other. In so doing, husband and wife will help the Christian home stand against improper use of power and authority by spouses, and will protect the home from wife and child abuse that sometimes tragically follows a hierarchical interpretation of the husband's 'headship.'"

There is much that rings true in this call for biblical equality. We have too often overlooked the shared partnership of men and women and the many ways in which both have been gifted to serve one another and the body of Christ.

For instance, in the early church, both men and women had the gift of prophecy. While prophecy is distinguished from the gift of teaching (Rom. 12:6-8), there are many similarities. Paul wrote that the one "who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men" (1 Cor. 14:3). He also said that the result of prophecy was that the whole church could learn and be encouraged (1 Cor. 14:31). It's important to recognize that women had that kind of participation in the first-century church.

There is always a danger, however, in overcorrecting past mistakes. Spiritual equality is not the only principle to be applied to men and women in ministry. We need to remember that first-century women had authority to prophesy only when they wore a head covering, which in Middle-Eastern culture reflected gender distinction and acknowledgment of male headship (1 Cor. 11:3-12).

It was this kind of "truth in tension" that provided the basis for the RBC booklet titled, What Does God Expect of a Woman? In that study we saw that a balanced view of Scripture leads a woman to (1) feminine distinction, (2) selective submission, (3) spiritual equality, and (4) strength of character. In this booklet, we will reemphasize the same principles but with a special interest in how they relate to woman's role in ministry.

We are indebted to those who have helped us to rethink our assumptions about the relationships between men and women. Much has been written about the way Christ lifted women to a place of honor far exceeding the social attitudes and customs of first-century life. Much has been written to show the achievements of noteworthy women not only in biblical times but throughout all periods of church history. Equally significant and urgent are the calls for men and women to rediscover our unity and spiritual equality in Christ.

Much of the current literature, however, is emphasizing one side of the coin to the exclusion of the other. Many are making the assumption that spiritual equality in Christ is the one overriding truth that makes it necessary to explain away the gender-linked ministry roles found in the Bible. There is a certain justice to this overadjustment. In the past, the opposite occurred. The Bible was approached with a view that caused women to be taken for granted, their gifts wasted, and their opinions ignored. The Bible was used to establish the kind of male dominance that lacked balance and regard for the spiritual equality and complementary roles designed by our Creator.

This struggle for balance in our view of men and women is similar to the doctrinal tug-of-war that occurs with all sound doctrine. All truth is held in tension by counterbalancing factors. Law and grace, free will and sovereignty, faith and works, the love and fear of God, His permissive and directive will--all must be accepted in "both/and" rather than "either/or" conclusions. The same is true in the issue of men and women. We are both called to submit to one another, yet men are called to sacrifice their interests for the sake of women in different ways than women are to selectively submit to men.

It would be easier to do away with either headship or equality. But in either case we would satisfy our minds at the expense of the other side of an important biblical truth.

The following pages are presented in summary fashion to help us realize that there is not just one but many factors that must be considered before we can have a balanced, biblical view of women in ministry. Some of the specific details will remain to be worked out according to the study, wisdom, conscience, unity, and faith of individual congregations. We pray that what follows will prove helpful to such discussions