Can’t we just agree to disagree?
Have you found yourself sharing the Bible’s support for women’s gospel-service when someone asserts emphatically, ‘Can’t we just agree to disagree? This isn’t a salvation issue, after all!’ And, being peace-loving Christians, we are at first inclined to agree, until we remember someone like Lottie Moon.
Considered one of the great missionaries of all time, Moon’s refusal to obey male authority led to the salvation of many. Lottie’s male supervisor opposed her desire to build a church in Northern China, where she not only made massive inroads for the gospel, but where she also inspired the next generation of Christian missionaries – and all the generations since then!
Today, Lottie is celebrated as one of the greatest Southern Baptist missionaries to ever live. Why? Because she answered the biblical call of missions and evangelism! She even placed the call of Scripture ahead of human authority, particularly when human authority opposed the Word of God.
Consider also the life and work of Phoebe Palmer, regarded as the mother of the Holiness Movement. After leading thousands to Christ, Palmer told her critics that even Satan did not deny that her ministry was from God!
Our time here on earth is short, and the harvest is abundant. Women have been bringing the good news of Jesus since the empty tomb. Let us open doors for women and give the greatest message of all a much larger hearing!
