To Ordain or not to Ordain?

I often wonder if people that discuss these issues are truly "open-minded," or if they just want to state their opinion without rebuttal. So, just to make sure it's clear: I enjoy conversation and entertain any conversations that are within reason, so feel free to click that chat button.

Those who have at least been aware of the discussion a few years on the issue should remember that before we were discussing whether it's okay to ordain women as pastors we were discussing the role of women in ministry.

It seems like the popular way to do this is to describe your own personal sort of 'journey of discovery' so, I guess I'll play along for a bit.

It may help to know that I have grown up in a family quite balanced in this area.

First of all, we are a Bible-believing, God-fearing family. The Bible, especially the New Testament, has historically only served to elevate the position of women in every culture it has entered. The freedom the Scripture gives to women is quite spectacular and liberating for women not only in opportunities, but in fulfilling their deepest needs and desires. Interesting now that it seems the culture says, "it wasn't enough!"

Secondly, My mother has been the Principal of a private Christian School for the past 35+ years. She has led well, and brought many to be part of a community where they know more of the excellence of Christ.

Currently, my sister can be found preaching from time to time at her church. She is the director of the small group ministry at their church, and recently received her Masters from Fuller Theological Seminary.

I don't speak in theory. My goal is to deal with what is real.

A few years ago I was youth pastor at a church where there was a woman assistant pastor. At first, I wasn't in complete agreement with this, but I was able to get along for quite a while. How? You may ask. Did you change your view? No.

This is where the discussion really begins.

See, my own experience has nothing to do with truth, but how I interact with it and experience the effects of my response both positive and negative. This can help illuminate for others how to apply the same truth to a different situation.

The reason could put up with what I was/am convicted was a breach of biblical leadership was because:

1) I'm not a legalist.

God is not a legalist.

He forgave King Hezekiah for celebrating Passover inappropriately because the fault was done out of his zeal and love for God, not out of arrogant pride. (2 Chronicles 30 - https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/2ch/30/1/s_397001)

This means that I'm not going take my convictions and demand that others follow them.

2) There seems to be a cultural misunderstanding with what a pastor is and what the qualifications are in general. I'm willing to walk with people despite the misunderstanding.

I also believe, as many have, that we live in the last days and the return of Christ is soon. This means the condition of church will be as in Laodicea -- lukewarm. In such a condition what can I expect except many derivations from Biblical Christianity.

Now, as I was a youth pastor at the church Newport Beach, CA I could get along well with the woman who was an assistant pastor because Scripture does not say, "a woman can't be a pastor". However, Scripture clearly says the woman is not to teach or take authority over the man, and since she wasn't the head pastor she wasn't taking that ultimate authority position, which of course is the idea of a teacher as well.

Meanwhile, we also witnessed as her husband, an incredibly gracious man, struggled to be able to fully operate in his gifting as a blessing to the church because his wife in many ways 'was in charge'. We watched and realized he would never be able to be the man God called him to be until the roles were reversed. Oh, what a great pastor he would have made!

Well, then came the time when the head pastor stepped down, and the female assistant pastor assumed the role of head pastor. After talking to the Lord about it, I sent her an email asking if we could talk about this. She knew I was teaching at a local Bible College. Her response was an email saying, "Please see attached document." It was her doctoral dissertation on women in ministry. Wow.

Having read her dissertation it was as classic as I could imagine. Line by line addressing the obvious passages that we all know and agree on that affirm the roles of women in the life of a local body of believers, and then dealing with the two passages which put limitations on those roles in light of cultural contextualization. Thus the two or three "negative" passages are usually explained away, and taken as non-applicable to today.

Culture never determines the context of the Scripture.

In many modern churches a pastor is nothing more than a religious department manager.

Thus we have the worship pastor, the pastor of family life, the executive pastor, the teaching pastor, the small groups pastor, the missions pastor, etc. In reality these are not necessarily pastors.

They are elders managing a particular aspect of the work of the local church. You may notice that I didn't include 'youth pastor' in the list above. That's because the youth pastor is usually the under-appreciated one who is truly serving and 'pastoring' the young people under his charge, and often the lead pastor wants little to do with it because it takes energy work. Yet the youth pastor is paid below poverty wages, and the lead pastor above average. This is a broad brush, and tends to be 'generally true', but I do realize it's not true in every case.

Now, there can definitely be a biblical case made for having women in ministry serving as department managers of these particular areas. If these women who want to become pastors are functioning as department managers under a lead pastor I guess I could get along with them, but I don't understand the need to tag-on the title 'pastor'.

Honestly I don't understand it for the men or the women in many of these cases.

Perhaps it's for tax benefits. Perhaps there's a double tax benefit if your wife also has the title 'pastor'. Definitely there can be double income if both can be on staff in a leadership position. I'm not sure what the reasoning is, but for some reason there are men and women everywhere that go into ministry for the title. That is wrong.

Unfortunately, not too many people take pastoral qualifications seriously anymore. And unfortunately, I have learned the hard way that it is very important to hold them all without wavering. Furthermore, it's a good checklist for any pastor to be sure that he continues to "walk worthy of the calling to which he's been called" as Paul said, "lest I should become unqualified."

(Below I've attached the full checklist in the form of a handout I made that you're welcome to use in your ministry.)

Now this may be the point when I marginalize myself, but let the chips fall where they may.

One of those qualifications pertinent to this conversation is "He must be the husband of one wife," or even more literally "he must be a one-woman man."

Now, this holds many cultural implications today.

Firstly, since it's the one off-topic, he cannot be a homosexual.

He must be a man married to one woman.

This is not something possible for a woman to be.

I know it's not popular, and even more would disagree, but it says what it says and my conviction is that this also means 'he must be married' and not single.

Remember this is as the leader of the church, and the logic given in the text is "if he can't lead his house well, how can he lead the people of God."

***let's also not gloss over the fact of how many men don't qualify just in this one requirement

In other words, it is the man's experience as a man leading his family well that gives him the practical wisdom to be ready to lead the local church - that's the logic the Holy Spirit gave us.

Nothing here diminishes the role or value of women, rather it equips them to be even more fulfilled.

Too often we as human sinners, are too focused on what we're not allowed to do, rather than all the freedom God has given us to live for him in the fulness of his Spirit.

Please remember the only two prohibitions Scripture places on women is teaching the men / elders of the church, having authority over them.

Just for clarification, women not having the teaching-authority position DOES NOT mean men can't learn from women. Whoever holds that view is just being plain stupid.

Now just think of all that there is to do:

Women missionaries - who preach the gospel to both men and women

Women directors of various ministries and activites

Women prophetesses (Philip had 4 prophetess daughters - see Acts 21) - that means they speak - it's not a 'shut up and be quiet attitude'.

Women counselors

the list goes on....

To wrap this up I want to encourage you to walk in the fulness of the calling God has put on your life within the limitations of Scripture as interpreted by Scripture, not by man or culture.

So, to ordain, or not ordain?

I believe that God ordains.

Human ordination is merely to confirm the work of God in a man's life.

Does God ordain women to lead his churches? He didn't say he would.

Therefore I cannot ordain a woman a pastoral leader of His church.

All that said, I am sooo grateful for the women, like Hannah (prayer attached), that God has used who have been available to the work of the LORD when the men of God are absent or silent. Where would we be without them?