Why Aren't Women Preaching?

There are a lot of controversial issues in the church today. Some of them are whether or not to add funding to youth ministry or to seniors ministry within local churches, while others split Christianity in two. One of those issues is women in ministry. Why aren't women preaching? Why are there more men then women in pastoral positions in the church?

Because for some assanine reason Christian men decided that the only place God had for women in the church was to marry Christian husbands, make Christian babies, only serve children's or women's ministry, and feed everyone until the day we die. I am not saying that women are not called for those things as women are the only ones who can bear young but I have a problem with the idea that that is all that we are good for. As Christianity became more and more accepted into society, the church began to adopt certain cultural practices that were not biblical practices. Some of these are the belief that Europeans and European/Western culture is the most superior culture on earth and that men are the most superior gender on earth.

A lot of issues I'll be talking about in this blog things I enjoy to pist me the f_____ off. This issue, the issue of women in leadership or lack thereof, falls right under the pist me the f___ off category. I know, I am a Christian and I use coarse language. Well, that is another controversial issue within the church. However, that is a more "whatever fits the situation" with me. This is one of those situations. Why? Because I fail to see how so many men are into history and can study all the wars, atrocities, and injustices their gender has committed because they had the power to do so because they were in leadership and still say that our world will not spin unless men are in leadership.

The only thing men have been superior at when it comes to leadership is committing all kinds of violent acts that go from sexual assault to genocide. You men have had 2000+ years to show that you are superior in leadership, and you have done virtually nothing but abuse that privilege. Some days I look forward to judgement day when God holds men accountable for their abuse of their leadership positions in the church, home, politics, and the world.

 Except for the odd honourable male that pops up in history, the only man that truly belongs in leadership is Jesus Christ because He is only one that can be trusted to not abuse His powers. My proof? Being God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ could have used His divine abilities to ensure global domination. Instead He chose to be dirt poor and had to get money out of a fish in order to pay the temple tax. All others fall flat, including King David who proved to be an incompetent, whiny, weeping wimp in the end.

During this year I read books on egalitarianism and I have found them quite compelling, and they bring a lot more sense to Bible passages, like 1Timothy 2, then complementarians (only men belong in leadership) ever did. One of the ministries God lead me to was Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE). It turns out that CBE has a chapter in Toronto. If I could, I would join CBE but for now I will post blog articles about women preaching. Perhaps I will do an internship there if God wills it- note it is not if a man wills it but if God wills it.

Women are not property, we are not the inferior sex. Women are equal with men and made in the image of God. The image of God is male and female, not just male or more male then female.  Christian Women, it is time for us to follow God's lead and do His will, even if it is through hardship. If men want to stand in God's way then they'll be the ones to reap the consequences in the end. However, Jesus will honour people who strive to do His will regardless of the consequences.

Before I end this. here are a couple of speeches I wrote for the RBC scholarship on what I was passionate about.  I am passionate about two things: Jesus and biblical women's rights. For the scholarship I chose to write about women's rights, specifically women in leadership. Thanks to CBE and all the egalitarian literature for inspiring me to write about this, regardless of whether I won or lost. And thanks to my mother, another woman who encouraged me to hold on to my egalitarian beliefs, who edited the essays for me!

RBC Scholarship Essays

Question 1: Please present the community or environmental issue you are most passionate about, whether it is global or community based.

Entering full-time Christian ministry can be a difficult choice for Christian women. There are many women who have felt God’s call to full-time Christian ministry and have achieved all the educational requirements; however, they are constantly prevented from entering into senior pastoral positions because of their gender. My passion is to see women have active positions in the church hierarchy and for Galatians 3:28 to become a reality in the church, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NIV).

Question 2: Imagine yourself addressing a room of your peers. Please write a speech that you would give to inspire/ask others to mobilize for your cause and join you in being an agent of change to achieve your cause related goals.

Galatians 3:28 says  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NIV). I have experienced that verse become reality in my daily life at Emmanuel Bible College. Here Christian women and men come together in order to learn how to minister to other people. The same cannot be said for the church where in most cases the higher echelon is exclusively male. Many of the women, like myself, studying theology today will attempt to enter church ministry after graduating, only to be prevented because they are women. As I ponder this reality in the church, I wonder if pursuing a theological education is a waste of our time and money. For many women studying the various facets of theology today future employment will be limited to women’s and children’s ministry. Why is it that we have the same calling from God, complete the same studies, but cannot have access to the same positions in the church?

I believe that there are many women called to women’s ministry and children’s ministry, and I want to see them carry out what God has planned for them. However, there are also many women that feel strongly called to church leadership. They successfully complete their schooling, equalling or exceeding their male counterparts, only to have the church oppose God’s calling for them. This hierarchal structure, where women are subordinate to men is similar to what women are still subject to in many other areas of Canadian culture today. For example, in the year 2000 women only made 71% of what men made (Macionis, Jansson, & Benoit, 2009, p. 266).

Jesus Christ came to overturn societal norms and to proclaim a more egalitarian society:

The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.  (Luke 21:25-26).

This double standard that results in women being stopped from pursuing the paths that God has called them to by those who believe the higher echelon of the church is a male exclusive domain, questions whether the church is representing what God, through his Son Jesus Christ, envisioned.  As we move toward egalitarianism in our society, it is for the church to take the lead in our society towards equality.  It is time for women to take their rightful places as redeemed people of God and follow His calling and his lead wherever it may take them.

References

Macionis, J. J., Jansson, S. M., & Benoit, C. M. (2009). Society: The Basics (4 ed.). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall.