A church near me has a woman pastor senior pastor. My take on this that a woman should not be the senior pastor of a church. In which the Bible speaks highly against it.
What is your take on this?
My "take" is that the only "office" the NT prohibits women from holding is that of elder or deacon, and I think that is best understood to be translated "wives" not "women" because all of the examples preceding his admonition are those of married women.
Yes, Paul does say he does not allow women to speak in church and he does not allow a woman to have authority over a man but he wrote those words in the context of women prophetesses in the very same congregations. Presumably, those prophets spoke aloud. If there were wpmen prophets who spoke aloud in the congregation with the authority of God then they de facto held authority over men and were de facto teaching men.
In addition we know that Priscilla and Junias were women apostles. God saw fit to appoint women to the office of apostle. Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, are mentioned three times in the NT and two of those mentions her name precedes his, a convention of the time that indicated her significance over his. We also have the very first witnesses to the resurrection were women. The testified to men and their's was the first preaching of the gospel claim, "
He is risen!"
The OT also has several places where women teach men and hold authority over them. Deborah was a prophet who served as Judge over Israel and the sons of Israel came to her for judgment. Because of the male leadership's reluctance to lead she led an entire army into battle (and won). The Proverbs 31 woman hold property, does business brokering in the marketplace, and rules over servants who were invariably male.
So those of us who believe God's word never contradicts itself cannot proof-text single verses that prohibit or restrict women's participation in leadership over men to make the conflict with other scriptures that clearly demonstrate women can and do lead and have authority over men
by God's own doing.
I would add this: the modern day pastor looks nothing like the NT era pastor. The first century congregations did not appoint one single man to be responsible for the spiritual development of everyone else. That practice arose as the church became more organized and institutional. There were no church buildings. There were no stages nor pulpits, lecterns, or podiums. There were not backwards collars or a lot of other rituals and practices we now take for granted as givens. Does that mean these are all bad things and we should ceases such practices altogether? No. But it does mean we should understand all of scripture as written and understood by its original readers before we start telling more than half the church population they can't teach or even talk to the other half.
1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (NASB)
"For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,' it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you;' or again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it."
You members can teach other but you may not speak to us members.
