E-Quality Spring 2005 Does Gender Matter

As believers in Christ, we all deeply desire to see the message of the gospel proclaimed and accepted around the world. If we have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives, to make us better and more useful persons, we want to let the whole world share that experience.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:18 that we are to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you" (Living Translation).

Who is to do this work? Apparently all believers--men and women--are to share this responsibility. A quick look at history indicates that God uses whoever is willing to be used, without regard to gender. However, tradition and culture around the world have often limited the work that women have been permitted or encouraged to do.

The Bible says clearly in Genesis 1 that men and women alike are made in the "image of God" and are given identical responsibilities:

When sin entered the world (Genesis 3), this oneness and mutuality was damaged and life became much more difficult. Violence, suspicion, and prejudice grew and grew. Power became a consuming desire. This is apparent throughout the Old Testament.

In spite of this, God kept using people (men and women) to carry out his work. We all know about the prophets Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and others. However, many people have never heard of the prophets Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah. We know about King David, but God also used Queen Esther. Gender distinctions were apparently far more important to people than to God. Thus, we see God releasing women for service to God, whereas culture restricted them. This has been true throughout the history of the church.

Although God clearly created and commissioned Adam and Eve as equal partners in the garden, by the time of Jesus, Jewish and Gentile cultures had made women second class citizens with clear limitations on their activities. Nevertheless, Jesus (God in human form) often acted contrary to these cultural limitations. He taught women as well as men--not just in crowds, but in more intimate circles as well. Jesus privately taught his disciples that he would be crucified and rise from the dead (they did not believe it), but we know from Luke 24:6-9 that he also taught about his coming death and resurrection to some of the women who followed him closely. The angel at the tomb of Jesus reminded the women of what Jesus had taught them, and they remembered his teaching.

Two other examples illustrate Jesus' giving women a place of prominence not granted by the culture at that time. It was to the Samaritan woman at the well that Jesus first said to anyone that he was the promised Messiah. The "bent-over" woman was called to the front of the synagogue (where women were not supposed to go) to be healed by Jesus (Luke 13:10-17).

We also find that women were active leaders of the early church. Before Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus, he was intent on destroying the new followers of "the Way." Acts 8:3 says that Saul was going everywhere to devastate the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into jail. Obviously, he would not have bothered with women if they had not been important in the burgeoning church.

The first convert and apparent leader of a house church in Greece was Lydia, a seller of purple (Acts 16:13-40). Women and men prayed and prophesied in the early church (1 Corinthians 11:4, 5). Paul calls Junia a prominent apostle (Romans 16:7). Paul's favorite co-workers were probably Priscilla and Aquila--a husband and wife team. Paul mentions them more often in the New Testament than anyone except Timothy. Usually, Priscilla's name is mentioned first (contrary to ancient custom), which probably indicates that she was more the leader of the team.

When intense persecution began against the early church, women were thrown to the lions along with the men. Women's prominence continued throughout the early church. Women served as missionaries, martyrs, and Bible translators.

In the medieval church, women often were considered inferior, blamed as the cause of men's sin, and restricted from most church ministries. During this monastic period, convents were common and women were always in charge. One such women was Hildegard of Bingen (11th century), an abbess of a double monastery (comprised of women and men). As time went on, some women became politically powerful in the convents and monasteries. They usually came from the upper classes and were better educated than the peasants. Unfortunately, their skills and abilities were not always put to use for the good of the community or the church, as were the abilities of men.

With the coming of the Reformation in the 16th century, many things changed. However, the attitude toward women and their contribution to the church changed very slowly. The perspective of the Reformers toward marriage was very similar to that of the Catholic Church; the primary calling for women was as wives and mothers who were to be subordinate to men. In spite of this, some women with leadership gifts, powerful skills, and devotion to God made important contributions to the church as it was undergoing reformation.

Many of them had been Catholic nuns who were educated in convents, one of the only places where women were permitted education in the Middle Ages. Perhaps the most well known is Teresa of Avila: writer, mystic, and church reformer.

Some women of noble birth became influential in the Reformation. Among them were Marguerite of Navarre and her daughter, Jeanne d'Albert who, after her conversion, became a powerful supporter of the French Huguenots. There were many other courageous women reformers, some of whom were burned at the stake or suffered other horrendous tortures for their faith.

In the New World, prejudice was strong against women leaders, although they kept appearing despite great efforts to limit their work to the home. For example, Anne Hutchinson was the most well-known women preacher of colonial times, despite great opposition to her leadership. Women evangelists become more common during the great revivals. Perhaps the most well-known woman evangelist was Phoebe Palmer, who became known as "the mother of the Holiness Movement." These women often held revival meetings, but were rarely pastors in the 18th and 19th centuries. They met the same kinds of resistance to their ministries that is found today.

The women's missionary movement of the 19th century was the result of the failure of most denominational mission boards to appoint single women to the kind of work that used their full gifts and callings. Because of this, many women's boards were developed which appointed only single women. Their work grew rapidly and was enormously successful. Soon, there were thousands of single women missionaries serving around the world. By 1890, India alone had more than 700 single women missionaries.

Beginning in the early 20th century, most denominational boards were appointing single women for a variety of ministries. They appealed for the women's boards to combine with them. Eventually, all of the women's missionary boards were taken over by the general denominational mission boards.

Today, there are many more women missionaries than men. Single male missionaries are rare, but there are many single women missionaries serving in the same kind of work as men. They preach, translate the Bible, plant churches, begin and administer schools, hospitals, and Bible schools.

Where does that leave the church today? We recognize that many Christians believe the ministry of women should be largely limited to the home, or to work with children or other women. Yet, nearly all churches around the world include many more women than men. Is evangelism advanced when we place limitations on women carrying the message of Christ? Are the churches advancing the great commission when they limit women's service? This is where we must consider the theological, cultural, and social challenges facing the work of God in the world.

In this Occasional Paper, we offer the perspective of Christian scholars and lay leaders from many countries and every continent, representing many denominations as they face these crucial questions and their responsibilities in spreading the gospel of Christ.

The question of women being empowered along with men to minister to the whole church is an issue of church governance and an assessment of the Biblical stance. It is not an issue which reduces in any way the gospel message and those who take one view or another cannot be criticized on the grounds that Biblical authority has been ignored. Rather, it is a matter of interpretation of the passages that leads us in different directions. Both those who take the position that women should not be in a leadership role and those who grant women leadership respect the authority of the Scriptures, and both groups advance the gospel message with great passion and devotion.

In the last few decades, the issue of abuse--sexual, physical, emotional, spiritual--has come into the spotlight in many parts of the world. While different cultures respond differently, we see how abuse weakens evangelism and what the church can do to address it.

Through the writings and experiences of people from many cultures, we observe how the issue of gender confronts the cultures and branches of the church around the world, and how Christian leaders are dealing with gender barriers that weaken the gospel message.

Although gender issues have been with us since the beginning of the world, only recently have Christians begun to deal honestly with all of their ramifications and their effects on the spread of the gospel.

Perhaps you would like to share your story with the readers of E-Quality. If you have an article you would like to submit for consideration, send it to cbe@cbeinternational.org. We also welcome any other feedback, comments, or suggestions you may have.