Essay Example on Women's Leadership in Church: Bible vs Culture

The issue of women's leadership in the church is not without controversy. While some believe that women should be church leaders, others argue that the most important thing that matters is what the Bible says. Because of the cultural attitude and beliefs of some religious believers, they think that females were not meant to be leaders in society (Bishop 1). Similarly, they quickly jump point out verses that tend to limit the role of women in societies and the church (Scholer 1). Although it is wise to refer any claim to the Bible verses, they tend to forget about potential verses that support equality and critical examples Jesus set about the role of women. The church should be looking to women as next leaders because men and women and women were created equal as illustrated in the early church.

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The church should be looking to women as the next church leaders because from the beginning God created Adam and the word was used to refer to a human. Later, Jesus realized that it is not good for man to be alone. Consequently, He created a helper for him. It means that God created a female as a strength to help man and be alongside him. On the same note, there is no hierarchy of roles when God created Adam and Eve and this is illustrated in Genesis chapter 1 verse 27 (Bishop 2). It simply shows that God created a woman to help a man in various roles including church leadership. The Bible does not illustrate incidences where women were not allowed to lead the church or other roles but it was a man who differentiated leadership roles. Therefore, the church should be looking to women as the next church leaders.

The church should be looking to women as the next leaders because the Old Testament shows many incidences where God used women to lead people. Also, there are incidences where God used women to save his people in different situations (Bishop 3). For example, God used Deborah in Judges Chapter 4 to lead Israelites when they were in the hands of king Jaban, who was the king of Canaan. Deborah took the leadership role after the death of Ehud. As a way of illustrating women in leadership, she held courts under Palm between Ramah and Bethel (Bible Gateway 1). She was also a prophetess during the time. Based on this illustration, it is evident that God used women in various leadership positions in the Old Testament. The implication is that God never discriminated against anyone based on their gender. It is good for the church to continue with the same spirit by looking at women as the future church leaders by following the example of Christ.

Additionally, the church should be looking at women as future leaders because, from God's creation, God did not have different roles and responsibilities for different genders. In Galatians Chapter 3 verses 26-30, Paul's letter addressing the Galatian church says that for all those who have been baptized, nobody is a slave or free, Jew or Greek and there is no female or male in Jesus Christ. All those who belonged to Christ are all seeds of Abraham (Denison 2). What this text means is that all people baptized are children of Christ and there are no differences in gender roles. In this context, females should play the same role as males, as long as they are baptized and regarded as Abraham's seed. Therefore, the church should treat all people equally regardless of their gender since the Bible treats all people equally and this includes leadership.

Paul recommended Phoebe in Cenchrea. Before her recommendation, she was a servant of the church. He commended her and asked the congregation to give her the necessary support she needed to perform her roles and duties successfully. She had great help from different people, including Paul himself. The translation of the word servant in Greek means a deacon (Denison 3). So Phoebe was a meant a deacon of the church and this means that she held a leadership position. By appointment, it means that she had an official position in the church equivalent to seven deacons appointed in Jerusalem as explained in Acts Chapter 6, verses 1-6. It means that women can be church leaders, because they were appointed to various positions in the early church (Gaultiere 3). In this regard, the church should not change roles to prevent females from taking leadership roles in the church; instead, it should be looking to women as future church leaders. Women became pastors in various ministries showing that they are equal to the task (Senior 4). However, the church must create an environment that allows women to take leadership positions.

Because the Bible demonstrates many women leaders, churches should also emulate the early church and look at women as future church leaders. For example, Miriam is an example of a greater leader in the Bible. She picked up an instrument and led the children of Israel in worship after crossing the Red Sea. However, this was not her only role (Influence Magazine 2). In Micah Chapter 6 verse 7, Miriam is named as the leader of the nation alongside Aaron and Moses. It shows that the early church treated women equally and they took various leadership roles. In the same way, the current church should be looking at women as potential church leaders. They should emulate examples from the Bible and demonstrate by appointing women to various leadership positions (Cole 3). Therefore, women should be seen as current and future leaders of the church. Another illustration of a female leader in the early church is Lydia, a businesswoman (Influence Magazine 2). She offered Paul hospitality services when he arrived in Phillippi. Later, believers gathered in her home and she became a leader in the early church. It is evident that not only males can be the church because even women leaders demonstrated leadership skills in the early; hence, the need the modern church to look at them as potential leaders and appoint them to various leadership positions.

Women were regarded as inferior in almost every aspect of life before the teachings of Christ. However, with his actions and teaching, Jesus affirmed the worthiness of involving women in various roles and wanted to change the value of women (Scholer 3). For example, Jesus did not tolerate male chauvinism because they used any lame excuse to divorce their women. Jesus taught against looking at women lustfully and the primary aim of the teaching was to change the perception about women and wanted to promote equality to some extent. Furthermore, Jesus involved women and men in establishing the Philippian Church (Scholer 4). For example, a group of women gathered outside the gate of Philippi city for prayer and this is where Lydia emerged as one of the greatest women leaders in the church. As a way of promoting respect for women, Paul explains that the sexual relationship between a man and a woman is a matter of respect and equality (Scholer 6). All people should respect one another and uphold their rights. In his letter, Paul goes ahead to name women who worked with him in the gospel ministry, although this is neglected significantly in the New Testament. The leaders of the house of churches, the only church in the 1st century include Chloe, Nympha, and Apphia and they are in the same category as Lydia. Therefore, these demonstrations indicate that the church should be looking at women as future leaders as they illustrated leadership skills in the early church.

CONCLUSION

The church should be looking to women as next leaders because men and women and women were created equal as illustrated in the early church. Although many early degraded women in almost every aspect of life, females emerged as strong leaders in the early religious. Christ's teachings and actions changed the way communities perceived the role of women in society. Many women emerged as leaders, including Miriam and Lydia and they led their congregations in various aspects. Women leaders, such as Deborah who led Israelites while Lydia became a leader of the church show that woman should be regarded as future church leaders.

Works Cited

Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+4&version=NIV www.biblegateway.comMarch 22, 2020. 2020. Web. 16 April 2020.

Bishop, Kelly Ladd. "Women in Leadership: The Only Thing That Matters is What the Bible Says, Huffpost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/women-leadership-bible_b_8214140, 2015. Web. 16 April 2020.

Cole, Kadi. "Developing Female Leaders in your Church."Leadership Network. https://leadnet.org/online-event-developing-female-leaders/ 2020. Web. 16 April 2020.

Dr. Denison, Jim. "What Should be the Role of Women in Church." Denison Forum. https://www.denisonforum.org/resource/faith-questions/what-should-be-the-role-of-women-in-church/, 2019. Web. 16 April 2020.

Gaultiere, Bill. "Women as pastors, elders, and leaders in Bible-based churches" Soul Shepherding. https://www.soulshepherding.org/women-pastors-elders-leaders-bible-based-christian-churches/ 2020. Web. 16 April 2020.

Influence Magazine. "Ten Women Leaders in the Bible." Inspiring examples from the pages of scripture. https://influencemagazine.com/en/Practice/Ten-Women-Leaders-in-the-Bible 2019. web. 16 April 2020.

Senior, Jennifer. Review: 'Notorious RBG: The life and times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.' The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/books/review-notorious-rbg-the-life-and-times-of-ruth-bader-ginsburg.html2015 2015. Web. 16 April 2020.

Scholer, David M. "Women in Ministry."Fuller seminary. https://www.fuller.edu/womeninministry/#article 2019. Web. 16 April 2020.