This seems to be the question of the hour, and understandably so. Our culture finds the exclusion of women from any role to be a relic of the past, one of the last vestiges of an old order from which we have now wisely advanced.
So why are Southern Baptists stubbornly clinging to something so outdated?
What’s at Stake
I believe there are good reasons why a number of Southern Baptists are making this a proverbial hill to die on. The first reason, obvious to many yet dismissible by some, is that male leadership is part of their identity. This is clearly expressed in their defining document, the Baptist Faith and Message: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
The second reason, more foundational and thus more significant, is that Scripture very explicitly forbids women to hold authority over men. When Christians give themselves permission to ignore (or at least to considerably reinterpret) a mandate as unambiguous as this, it inevitably threatens the Bible’s position as the ruling document of our entire faith.
While these two reasons, and especially the second, are sufficient arguments for Southern Baptists to take very seriously this fight for God’s order in our churches, there is yet another consideration that I believe needs to be addressed, and that is why God ordained male leadership in the first place.
Going back to that “first place,” which of course is the Garden of Eden, we see very clearly that God gave a mandate to Adam while he was yet alone. Ruling the earth and filling it with offspring were his specific assignments. But obviously, especially in the case of the latter, Adam could not do these alone. Eve was God’s intended helper and companion from the beginning.
When Adam chose to ignore God’s supremacy in the simple matter of the forbidden fruit, and instead heeded his wife, among the many things that “fell” was the hierarchy of authority itself. In its place, what slithered into the hearts of all men and women thereafter was a deep and ugly resistance to submission—the same resistance Satan had felt and followed before them.
How We’re Being Misled
It’s not accidental that several of our modern guiding principles have been working directly against God’s created design. One of these is the insistence that men and women are essentially the same, other than a handful of biological differences. One way this concept was made popular was through feminist logic, which argued that men had the better lot in life and that women would be happier if they had access to the same opportunities. As a result, women are now admitted to nearly every career, service, and social environment that used to be predominantly (if not exclusively) the domain of men—and our society sees this as a triumph of human liberation.
A second assumption that seems completely normal today is that people should be able to follow their desires, if not sexually, then at least with regard to careers. Within the context of the church, it can easily be assumed that any good desire a Christian has is something God has put in them. Even more than our desires, we are assured that our giftings are evidence that God is also calling us to serve in ways that most fully utilize these talents. And in fact, there are women who not only desire to serve in pastoral roles, but who are also clearly gifted as communicators, administrators, or perhaps even as Bible expositors. Why would God not want these motivations and abilities to bear fruit in every venue possible, especially in a society that so desperately needs Christian ministry?
How God Views These Matters
One of the primary reasons why the modern church has gotten off-course from God’s design as revealed in Scripture is we fail to remember that God’s ways are not our ways. Rather than encouraging confidence in our abilities, God responds to brokenness (Psalm 34:18) and works through our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Rather than seeking happiness through self-fulfillment, God calls us to self-sacrifice (Romans 12:1). And even when our motivation is to serve, our service only has kingdom significance when it is done under the leadership of Christ (John 12:26).
A major error that informs the acceptance of women’s ordination is the disregard, not only for God’s authority through Scripture, but for the sacredness of authority itself. When a man stands in the pulpit to deliver God’s Word, he is representing the authority of Christ to the congregation. He is also affirming the headship of Christ over him (1 Corinthians 11:3). When a woman stands in that place, she is essentially refuting her position as being under the designated leadership of man. What may seem like a minor detail to us is not minor to God—something that was made clear when Korah challenged Moses’ leadership (see Numbers 16).
And there are other ramifications of our modern dismissal of God’s order. One thing to watch is how, when women step into men’s careers and roles, men are eventually inclined to back out and let them take over. Another problem comes when we move from women being permitted to do men’s work, to their being expected to do men’s work—even when they’re often not nearly as qualified. At the same time, women have been discouraged from pursuing those roles for which they are most qualified, especially motherhood.
One other cost that is incurred when God’s hierarchies are ignored is that we lose the beauty of the relationship that Adam and Eve were created to enjoy. Men who bear Adam’s image are designed and called to be leaders. They are intended to assume the weight of decisions, the responsibility of protection and provision, especially for their families, and they are also to be the recipients of honor when they accomplish these things well. Women who bear Eve’s image are designed to be men’s respected counselors, their willing assistants, and the grateful beneficiaries of their care.
A Final Thought
Perhaps the reason women have so easily stepped into a pastoral role may be because the church has forgotten what biblical leadership actually requires. A pastor who authentically ministers through the Spirit will do so in deep humility and with a sense of awe that he has been given this privilege. He will understand that his authority only exists insofar as he himself is fully submitted to the authority of Christ and His Scriptures.
To the extent that Southern Baptist pastors—or any Christian leaders—have wandered from these realities, our problem goes deeper than simply the debate over the ordination of women.
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Some of the concepts I’ve presented briefly here have been described far more eloquently and insightfully by others. I would highly recommend reading “Priestesses in the Church?,” by C.S. Lewis, and “The Essence of Femininity,” by Elisabeth Elliot.
