Womens Role In The Church

Imagine going to a new church, the people there are warm and welcoming as you enter their church, the place is nice, and you feel good about it all so far. Soon, the congregation all sit down and the service begins. You notice a woman walking up towards the podium; she opens her Bible and begins to read from The Word. But it doesn’t end there. She continues to talk, preach if you will, about the scriptures she just read out to the assembly. You soon start to notice that this woman is indeed preaching, and is calling herself a fellow pastor of this new church you have attended. What do you do? How should you feel? Is this right? What does The Bible say about all of this? I want to answer these questions for you in accordance to God’s Word, so let’s take a look.

First things first, women are not to teach, to preach or have any kind of authoritative stance in the church. There are scriptures in The Word that clearly explain this. For example, in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35,  ^“Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church”. Like in the household, the same kind of hierarchical structure applies in the Church. Husbands (men) are the leaders, followed by the wives (women), and then children. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3). Many, however, choose to disregard the simplicity of these scriptures and the true meaning behind them, and take their own approach to them. We are not supposed to add to or take away from God’s Word. For it is written! “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you…For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19).

This scenario that I had created for you was a simple representation of many modern churches today. So many are misunderstanding or ignoring the scriptures which clearly states that women are not to have these kinds of roles or stances within the church. Instead of sticking to what is written and what we must believe and abide by, so many churches have fallen into the trap of following worldly desires and cliques to fit in and become popular with such beliefs, rather than following The Word. I believe it is because so many people are reading the newer, perverted translations of the Bible that have been proven time and time again to be misinterpreting and translating several scriptures in the Bible, as well as taking away various texts too. I am a firm believer in the King James Version (KJV) translation, which is what I always use, and when you compare these modern versions of the bible to the KJV, it just makes even more sense. If you have a poorly translated Bible, then of course you are going to get the wrong conclusions when studying The Word of God.

But this isn’t the only factor in all of this. Too many believers or those who claim to be Christian are following the world, following others, and simply accepting what they have to say or preach about, rather than studying the Bible themselves in order to learn and to grow. “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). So this is another reason as to why people are believing that women can preach in a church. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

So how should we feel about all of this? Personally, I feel disgusted and frustrated because there are people out there who are twisting the scriptures, preaching false doctrines, and influencing people to believe as they do, and also to go against God’s Word in their actions too. When someone misuses and teaches false understandings of the Bible, we should feel righteously angry. This is why God told us that we can and should rebuke and correct others. When someone is stumbling, we should help them back up again. The same goes for Christians who need correction and rebukes over their interpretations of His Word.

In the scenario that I described above, what should we do if we ever find ourselves in that place? It’s happened to me. I went to my brother’s church, not knowing what to expect exactly, and I saw a young female around my age standing up on the Church stage preaching (poorly too might I add). I actually walked out and went home. I felt disgusted and pretty bothered by the fact that she called herself a pastor. She was reading a terribly translated modern bible version too which makes a lot of sense. I think it is okay to walk away, especially if feel as though there is something wrong in the spirit, because that’s the Holy Spirit talking through to you, warning you.

I had a friend who found a church in our city and he decided to go check it out. He told me the name of the place and so I had a quick look on their website and I saw that the head pastor’s wife claimed to be a pastor of the church also. I mentioned this to my friend and he just said meh. I told him that’s wrong because the Bible doesn’t allow women to preach in a church. I mean, for argument sake, let’s say this church had great, biblical, informative sermons that seemed to be on point, but there was a female pastor there, or a female preaching. Is this still okay?! Honestly, no. No to the female preaching. But can you still stay? Would it still be beneficial to seek fellowship from these church members? This may be up to you. I would recommend praying to God about it and letting the Holy Spirit guide you. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13).

Correlating to all of this is the scripture in Titus 2:3-5, that states that older women can teach young women. More specifically, it talks about older women needing to be sober, kind, loving, have a gentle spirit, to love and obey their husbands, and to be a positive influence on the younger women to love and obey their husbands, their children and to have that gentle, kind, soft loving spirit with their family and with others too. “The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:3-5). Women can most certainly teach and encourage other women, and children too. But they cannot have authority over or go over the top of a man or men. That is why they cannot be leaders in a church setting.

It is highly encouraged that women gather together to form fellowships with one another in order to strengthen and grow in their faith with God, and to improve on and enhance their relationships with their husbands and children. If this was all done in a church setting with only women, then this is a great way for women to come together to pray and to study the word together. Overall though, we are not to follow man, or the world. Having fellowships with other members of Christ, and gathering together is fantastic in embracing the love of Christ, and improving on our understanding of God’s Word and our roles in our own lives, and in the lives of others.

Another important factor to discuss is that women can be used in so many different ways in the church that allows them to have an active part, without the overarching leadership type position. For example, there are instruments that are played to make church music such as the piano or acoustic guitar, that women can play, as well as singing along and having a strong impact on organizing and partaking in a choir or group of church members leading the congregation in song. Therefore, these scriptures that I have mentioned above does not limit women’s abilities to have active/important roles in the church.

To conclude, the scriptures are clear in the woman’s role in the church. This doesn’t mean that they cannot help and encourage other women, moreso those who are younger than them. It also doesn’t take away from women having relationships with other members of Christ in the Church and learning and studying the truth of the Bible together. I truly hope that this has cleared up anyone’s conclusions on women’s role in the church.

Stay encouraged.

God Bless.

Category: christian-blog