I love debates. Especially when I win them, which I normally always do! Just kidding, ask my brothers who really wins. Recently, I have come to realize that losing isn't so bad, because it opens new doors of realization and understanding.
A few years back in the youth group I attended, we debated almost every night. Every time, the same topic arose; should women be pastors? Ultimately this evolved; should women speak at church? Should women be leaders?
At first, I was strongly pro in the argument. Of course God would allow women to be pastors, speakers and leaders. After all, He isn't a discriminating God and He loves all equally, which would translate to letting all do everything. Take the Old Testament laws for example, where God allows for women to inherit land from their fathers, in the same way men are allowed to. (Numbers 21:1-11) Obviously God lets men and women participate in the same things. After all, if He didn't, would He be able to remain constant in a society that is pushing for more and more gender equality? Isn't His goal to show the world that He loves all no matter what gender, or race?
However, the opposition has a strong argument. Vital to their thesis is 1 Timothy 2:12, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet." (NIV) Another verse states the same point, 1 Corinthians 14:34 "Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says." (NIV)
At first, I argued that using this verse was taking the words out of their context. Both times the books were written by Paul to new churches that were dealing with authority problems. In essence, all he was trying to do at this point was provide structure to the churches that were just starting off. I believed that Paul wasn't forbidding women to teach at all; rather just not at this point.
However, while I have not completely changed my view, I have succumbed in a few areas. First, I do believe that women should not teach in a church service consistently. Just as I argue with the issue of homosexuality, we must look at the way God created his perfect world. Man came first, and women followed. Essentially we are breaking the basic rules of structure if we place a women in lead. With that being said, at this point I do not have an issue with women business managers, rather only in an religious setting (however I am still studying this). Also, I do feel that God sometimes gifts women or lays upon their heart a topic that does need to be shared in front of the whole church. I have no issue with women leading women, or maybe even having a female teacher/pastor that is solely responsible for helping the female members of the congregation mature in their faith.
One of the greatest areas for women to serve is as Family Pastors. Again, going back to creation, God created women as nurturers for a specific reason: to care for children. While I do not think we should restrict males from serving in this area (one day I would like to possibly serve as a pastor here), I do feel that 9 times out of 10, females will be more successful.
While it may seem that I have set new strict standards for how I view women teachers, I still haven't completely rested all the issues. For instance, I'm still not 100% sure if women should be worship pastors. While at one point I may say that there shouldn't be an issue, on the other side if we restrict women from leading a congregation or teaching them, shouldn't we be consistent across the board?
I think that this issue goes beyond the simple questions of should we allow women pastors. I think at the heart of this issue we are wrestling with the character of God. For many us, we hold preconceived ideas about how our God should and would act. If we go back to my two questions about God staying constant in society, and loving everyone equally, basically what I was trying to do was mold God into a more admirable, likable entity for THIS society. Ultimately, we can't do that. God is way bigger then any of our issues here, and we certainly can't fit Him into this society. Does God really need to change His ways to remain constant with society? Should we really be judging God for His love instead of judging ourselves? And dealing with equal love, do we really think by restricting certain people from doing certain things, God is not spreading His love equally?
When we deal with issues such as gender equality, where I don't believe we will ever all agree on a "right" answer, each of us personally has to pray, study, and dwell in God's presence to come to our own realization. We must be respectful of each other's opinions, and make sure that our differences don't create a rift in the family of believers. One of the biggest mistakes we can ever make is dragging God down to society's level. Doing this does not make Him seem more attractive to non-believers, and it certainly doesn't solve our own problems. God is much more powerful than anything we could ever imagine, and we must continue to revere Him in awe.
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