Well, now that I have your attention, please afford me a few moments to explain.
I am a woman in ministry. Throughout my twenty years of pastoring and teaching the scriptures, I have had a good amount of friends, pastors, and strangers inform me that the scriptures do not support women in ministry. Some go as far as to share with me the specific verse that confirms their belief.
This used to bug me. Big time. I have an entire conversation in my arsenal wrought with years of deep study into the theology of women in ministry, the verses that put this calling into question, and the historical context of the writings themselves, along with the opinions of thousands of professors, theologians, and spiritual leaders who support the position of having females in more predominant ministry teaching roles - but over the years I have pretty much let those things go.
Not because I agree with the conclusion that women cannot have leadership roles in ministry but because I understand why they have come to it.
Most people who believe that the quintessential role of a shepherd must be fulfilled by a man are believers who desire to keep strictly to what the Bible teaches (even if my interpretation and study of scripture point me to a different understanding). These are not godless, loveless people. These are not even lukewarm believers who are trying to do harm to the church or affirm some sin they hold dear. They simply read a verse that says women must be silent in the church or are raised in a denomination that deems women are without spiritual authority to teach and have stuck with that.
But hear me: If women teach or do not teach, preach or do not preach, no one is going to Hell.
It’s what is called a “secondary issue”. Meaning not salvation-centric. And if it doesn’t impact a person’s salvation, then the only way it can have eternal ramifications would be to have so much division stirred up around the topic that it is emotionally sensationalized, causing many to walk away from the church.
Oh wait… that’s happening.
People are walking away from faith because we have made our preferences and our secondary theological issues into saving platforms and the things that were never given the weight of determining a person’s salvation are now becoming their eternal undoing. That sounds like the work of the enemy. That sounds like pride and idolization of ideology. That doesn’t sound like Heaven.
I am a woman in ministry. Sometimes I preach in our church. To adults. Sometimes people even walk out while I am still teaching. It’s ok. Truly.
Image for comedic relief as our church photographer cannot get not one normal picture of me speaking. This is just who I am. Animated and awkward.
There are churches that are seeking to follow Christ and understand the scriptures differently on this issue (or tattoos… or cafes where you sell things inside of a church building) that would welcome you in. I pray you find them. I pray you grow there. Your acceptance and approval for what God has asked of me, what I have wrestled with and questioned God about, is not needed for me to continue obeying the Lord how I have been led. And I am not questioning your belief in God if you need to be taught the scriptures by a male voice. I celebrate that you seek to know Him more. I do, too.
I would like to agreeably (not just agree to) disagree - and continue to run our races together, focusing on the things that we know to be true.
Sin separated us from God and the punishment for sin is death. Without repentance, without turning from our sin, there is no hope.
BUT Jesus (God in the flesh) came to be our living hope. He made a way for us to be reconciled by His own death. The penalty is satisfied in Him, and His resurrection gives us the victory to continue to turn from what separates us from God.
He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I get to walk boldly behind Him into the throne of grace because He desired that I be there with Him… to the point of death. His own death.
When I celebrated this Christmas season, I joined with believers all over the world that declare Jesus CAME and is coming again. I lifted my eyes to the heavens and, with a joyful heart, sang of that Holy Night, thinking of what a piercing jubilee it must have been in such a darkened time. But I also brought to memory the prayers that Jesus prayed for us all as He left, speaking of unity, glory, and love when He said, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22-23)
As I kick off this New Year I hold to the joy of Jesus and His words for not just one year but every year that would follow.
The goal was never to be perfect students of our doctrinal beliefs, perfect Christians who perform all that the scriptures teach, but to be perfectly one.
Oneness is a matter of the heart, not of our theology. In fact, we grow when we disagree which makes it a vital part of our faith. In Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, Ann Spangler says, “…debate was a normal part of the life of disciples, an essential way to learn.” It wasn’t just included in discipleship, it was encouraged.
It might not feel nice, but if we are to be followers of the Way, we, too, need to learn how to challenge and be challenged by our interpretations and our thinking. We need the space to get some things wrong and the freedom to grow beyond our ruts. And we need to both be the one who teaches and the one who learns. WE are the body, the whole church. Even as we still wrestle with what is right.
I may respectfully disagree with how I understand the scriptures used to disclude women from teaching, but I still want you at my table. If you desire to follow the Lord in all of your ways and with all of your heart, we have much to learn from each other and further still to grow. I don’t just like your input, I need it.
And it turns out, that oneness isn’t sameness. Heaven has room for us both.
May you experience more of God’s glory, unity, and love as we open up 2025 amid the confusion, division, and frustrations that may still be present. May the truth of Jesus be the only hill you choose to die on as we pick up our crosses and follow Him. And may we love God and our neighbors in greater ways this year. This is my heart’s desire this year.