Ordaining Women ...

Separate but equal?  How can we divide people based on an arbitrary criterion and simultaneously expect equality post division?  The Supreme Court of the United States finally came to see the wisdom of eliminating arbitrary divisions in order to affect equality.  But the church seems reluctant to do the same.  The church seems content to segregate based on sex, and sometimes even on race, or age, yet continue to expect equality in the work of Christ.  After all, the Bible does seem to identify certain roles for men that it does not seem to state women should perform.  This has led some modern folks to decry the scriptures as based in the prejudice of the day, and the prevailing sexism in Middle Eastern cultures.  But if we are to accept the Bible as our cornerstone of faith, unaltered, and speaking only truth, what should be our position on equality in the church.  Is it OK then to ordain women to the ministry of Christ?

To begin I think it important to understand how the word of God comes to mankind.  In the beginning, God Himself walked in the Garden of Eden with both Adam and Eve.  He spoke to them both.  He treated them both as His children.  He did not choose to speak alone, and only with Adam, trusting Adam to relay His messages of love to Eve.  Instead He showed Eve the same respect He showed Adam, and the same love.  Later, God spoke through Miriam, the sister of Moses, as His prophetess.  Moses already had direct communication with God.  Aaron, his brother, was already God’s high priest in the Sanctuary services.  Yet despite both of these men in elevated positions, God still spoke His prophecies through the mouth of their sister Miriam.  One could argue that Moses was the leader of the people, and Aaron the leader of the ministry, yet Miriam’s role was no less important to the people of the Lord.  And Miriam was not the last woman to serve the Lord in the role of prophet to His people.  Others would follow.

In the days of Christ, there is much focus on His disciples and work they performed.  But when the friends of Christ are mentioned there were at least three – Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.  Two of the closest friends of Christ were women.  He counted them as His friends.  In addition to saving Mary Magdalene from stoning, He also accepted her gift in washing His feet, and seemed to take a genuine interest in her life.  Christ speaks openly to the woman at the well.  He rewards the sickly woman who touches merely the hem of His garment.  He compliments and blesses the widow who gives her last two mites into the offering – elevating her sacrifice ABOVE all the rich Pharisees who gave much money into the coffers.  Christ heals the daughter of the Roman Centurion and holds out this Gentile’s faith as an example for the Israelites to aspire to.  Christ showed through His own life and ministry that the lives of women were as important to Him as the lives of men.  He spoke with women directly, not through their husbands or other intermediaries.  He held direct conversations with women.

The counsel given to men regarding their wives, was to love their own wives more than they love themselves.  Were men to honor this counsel, the problems in marriages would all but disappear.  Women are NO less important to God, or to His work, than are men.  So assuming that God values each of us the same, does not mean He intends each of us to be exactly alike.  There are some men who are excellent speakers, and could make excellent evangelists.  Other men, not so much.  We tend to gravitate towards those who appear endowed with the gift of evangelism, and away from those who are not so blessed.  It is the gift of God’s Spirit that determines our ability to fill a role in His church, not our age, not our sex, not our race, nor our education and seemingly natural abilities.

“And a little child shall lead them.”  How often have we quoted the words of Christ, and ascribed them to some cute thing done by one of our kids.  But to consider that a little child would lead us full time appears to stretch our credibility.  Yet Samuel was called to God at the age of seven.  Christ taught the most learned men of His time, at the young age of 12.  Ellen White began a course to God that started in her teens.  All of these past servants of God were not called in their old age, but in their youth, even when youth was not such a prized commodity.  Being 12 years old would not afford Christ much respect in a community of older learned Rabbis who spent lifetimes acquiring wisdom – yet they were so intent to hear His words they stayed for 3 days listening to Him teach.  What was surely a baby in their eyes, had such a clear understanding the love behind their scriptures, that ALL were captivated by His teachings.  A 12 year old.

We ignore our youth as being too inexperienced to really lead us on a sustained basis.  We cynically disregard their idealism as being not based in the real world.  Similarly we set aside the wisdom of our much older folks as being “dated” and based on a life in the past that no longer represents reality.  We look at the differences of people from other races and cultures and decide it is better to “allow” them to meet and group together and worship however they like, rather than attempt to integrate “how” they worship into our own services.  Then we attempt to develop ministries to meet the unique needs of groups of people based on age, or sex, or race – thinking that meeting unique needs can only be done through segregation.  But this was not the approach Christ took.

Christ so valued children, He stopped what He was doing and took time to minister to them first.  Christ so valued women, He spoke directly with them, and was found in their company – even the ones whose reputations were not so stellar.  Christ so valued those of different races and cultures that He personally took time to heal the daughter of the Roman oppressor, and accepted help from the Foreigner who bore His cross.  Christ instructed Peter through a dream that Peter would understand. that the Gospel was meant for all, not for just the Jewish people.  Age was not a barrier to Christ.  Sex was not something to be segregated against.  Race was no obstacle.  Culture was no wall to Him.  Literally ALL were included in His work, His love, and His ministry.

“Where two or three are gathered together” – note He did not specify two or three men, or two or three people of certain ages, cultures, races, or even doctrinal persuasions.  He said two or three who gather in the name of Christ.  Our church was to include all.  The gifts of the Spirit were to include all.  The Holy Spirit was not confined to merely men of a certain age, and a certain race.  Instead the Holy Spirit was poured out on ANY who would accept the gospel and this gift.  Any who were willing to serve the cause of Christ were eligible for this outpouring.  And ALL were blessed as the Spirit saw fit, and the church had need.  Not everyone was called to be a preacher, or teacher, or evangelist – but it did not matter who was called to these tasks.  Whether young or old, men or women, Jew or Gentile – all served, and many died martyrs of persecution for their faith.  The enemies of God did not spare women, children, or foreigners – they killed any who claimed the name of Jesus.

In our day, we limit God, by limiting through our own expectations “how” and to “whom” His gifts should be poured out.  Instead of accepting whoever He chooses, we disregard those who do not come in the appropriate packages; according to the standards we have setup.  The Pharisees missed the Messiah in doing a similar approach.  Our church should cast down the barriers of prejudice based in human tradition and human wisdom, and allow the Spirit to determine where and to whom He will pour out His blessings upon.  If a woman is called to preach, teach, or evangelize – then praise God she is willing to serve, and He is willing to reveal Himself to us through her.  She should not be denied ordination based on our collective “wisdom”.  It is our job, our duty, to accept the will of the Spirit, not to try to define it.  It is our job to accept the wisdom of Christ, not to try to override it based on our own ideas.  If God calls a seven year old girl, from an Inuit culture in northern Alaska, with different traditions and cultures than our own, to be our next evangelist – are we to supersede the ideas of God in this regard?  God forbid we refuse His guidance.

And while we should not deny God His ability to pour out the gifts our church needs on whomever He sees fit, we should also avoid conferring roles to those who are clearly NOT called to serve in the capacity they desire.  We may think ourselves fit to serve in a particular capacity, but if the Holy Spirit does not bless our efforts in this regard, it may be that we deceive ourselves as to where we are actually supposed to serve.  We should not ordain a woman simply because she is a woman, no more than we ordain a man simply because he is a man.  We should instead look for the influences of the Spirit, and the lives and skills that have been clearly touched by God and seek to honor His will in so doing.  We should include everyone in our desire to serve God, disallowing no one based on our preconceptions, nor forcing anyone into a role they are not fit to hold.  We should in a word – follow the will of God, not attempt to define it.  Were the church to do this, the questions of women and ordination would completely disappear.  Children would lead more often than they do.  The aged and elders would carry the respect they deserve.  And the cultural diversity found in the world, would be reflected in our worship services and ALL would benefit as a result.  In short, the church would become UNITED under the banner of Christ, without any form of segregation based on any criterion.  This is what Christ intended for His church; perhaps we could forsake our own wisdom and get back to His plans.