Women in the Bible and leadership

women in spiritual leadership
some notes
the Bible teaches that women are gifted and
called to spiritual leadership roles, just like men are.
Genesis: Woman is created as ‘helper’ for man. That is not a subordination word, because it is most frequently used of
God toward his people, he is my ‘help’ in time of trouble, etc. That man is created before woman does not imply
superiority – worms were created a day or two before man, yet they are not man’s authority. The first time subordination
comes into play is not as a creation ordinance, but only as a curse/consequence as a result of sin, in Genesis 3:16 the man
will now ‘rule over’ his wife. Yet the Good News of Jesus Christ is release from the guilt, power and curse of sin – restoring humans to right relationship with God and one another in this life, not just in the future, including sinful power-over relationship between man and woman. History is littered with the unholy wreckage of that consequence of the Fall.
Judges: Deborah is one of the mighty ‘judges’ who ‘led’ Israel while being a ‘prophetess,’ before they had a king, recorded
in Judges 4 and 5. Her leadership was spiritual and political and legal. There is no clarifying statement such as ‘since no
worthy men were around to fill the role.’ In such a strongly patriarchal society, this is remarkable as part of the normative
Biblical witness to leadership among God’s people.
Gospels: Jesus’ interactions with and treatment of women is legendary in the face of the opposite in the culture of his
time. Much has been written about this.
Acts: At Pentecost the church is born, to become the community which lives out the Gospel of Jesus as a redeemed people living redemption values, while inviting others into this redemption from sin and its cursing and power. Acts 2:17-18 records Peter’s sermon that day, quoting that the coming of the Holy Spirit to form the church is the fulfillment of the Jewish prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. This quotation declares that in the church, both ‘sons and daughters will prophesy. ‘ This word’s primary meaning is to preach/proclaim what God has already said and done, the secondary meaning is to predict future events in God’s plan. Again it reiterates: ‘Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’ Here at the birth of the church, the Spirit is promised to not only equally fill men and women, but to also equally ‘prophesy/preach/proclaim.’
Paul: In the 1st letter to the Corinthian church, Paul gives evidence that in fact women did equally share in the prayer
and preaching/prophesying duties in that church! In chapter 11, in a section where he is instructing the Corinthian
believers to have appropriate order in their gathered worship services, he writes in v. 4 “…every woman who prays or
prophesies…” The context is in the worship service. He acknowledges that women equally participate in public leading of worship and teaching! Then goes on to instruct them to do so in culturally appropriate ways! Any treatment of his statement later in the SAME letter in 14:34 that ‘women should remain silent in the churches’ must be reconciled with his statement in chapter 11. Clearly 14:34 is not a prohibition for all times and all churches, because it wasn’t even an absolute prohibition for the Corinthian church.
In Romans 16:7 Paul writes a greeting to “…Junia…” (a female Roman name) who is “…prominent among the apostles…”
A female is clearly esteemed as an apostle by the apostle Paul. FOR MANY YEARS those in charge of interpreting the
Bible from its original languages into Latin and English CHOSE to insert a masculine form of this name, Junias, instead of allowing the most ancient records of a woman’s name, Junia, to stand. Thus a patriarchal view of gender and culture and church leadership was imposed on the Bible, rather than letting the Bible witness on its own, in this instance.