Some don’t believe that women can be pastors. Perhaps some even believe they can’t hold other leadership positions either. The office of a pastor is one of five special spiritual offices that are invaluable to the elect, who is the body of Christ. These offices are entrusted in some (not everyone) to help build the rest of the body of believers to reach full purpose, potential, and function in Christ. These offices are part of who the specific person is and, if faithfully walking with God, they can consistently and very naturally operate in these areas.
The five-fold ministries are those revealed in Ephesians 4:11…”And He has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the Holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ (TPT).
I highlight the word ‘some’ that proceeds the listing of every office, which is such a valuable and clear witness in defense for women. The Greek word for ‘some’ includes ‘the, this, that, one, he, she, it’ (Strongs Ex Concordance 3588). For someone to say that a woman can’t be called to one of these offices would be trying to say that the five-fold ministry offices—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers have specific genders attached to them, but since the same Greek word proceeds each office, that cannot be true.
Someone may point out 1 Timothy 3:1-7, especially mentioning only having one wife as a qualification, and compare that to 1 Timothy 33:1-7, where the qualifications of a deacon of the church are also mentioned. Like 1 Timothy 3:2, it also states that if a man is in that position, that he must be faithful to his wife, but if you’ll read Romans 16:1, Paul recognizes the female Pheobe as a deacon, which is the original word in the Greek and that means a minister and servant. (The Strong’s concordance states that a deacon is technically a Christian teacher or pastor.) We had just read that a qualification for these leadership positions mentioned in both Timothy verses are that one must have only one wife and must be faithful to her. So, if we believe that Paul does not contradict himself between the Timothy and Romans verses, then it would suggest that he was not writing the two Timothy verses in the way of saying that only a man can have these authoritative roles, but perhaps letting the reader know that if a man is seeking these positions, then they can only be married to one woman and that he better be faithful to her…Paul would especially have to mention these details because that culture had some men who took multiple wives.
Paul is also the writer of Ephesians 4:11 and it is clear that he is very intentional about his word choices in his letters. He would have to be if scripture is divinely inspired and would be held accountable! If God wanted to restrict the offices to only men, He would have made sure He locked it in with a straightforward word for male through Paul’s hand. But, as I point out, he uses the Greek word ‘some’ rather than ‘a man’, which is the same word in front of all the offices, which leaves them open to the possibility of a female. And looking at events in scripture with and after Jesus, we can see that women fulfilled the nature of these offices (such as Jesus Himself sending the women at His tomb to proclaim His resurrection to the men and others) and other crucial roles in speaking the gospel to men and women. Some women prophesied to both men and women God’s words and heart.
Now I want to rewind to the old testament for a moment (Judges 4 and 5), because there is a completely unsupported and gross theory I’ve been exposed to which insists that the female Judge Deborah was only given her leadership position by God because no man was available. I feel intolerance in my Spirit concerning this. There is no actual biblical claim for this and is not a reflection of God’s true character! God is NOT a last resort God but, as seen throughout the Bible and the foretelling words of the prophets, God is always ahead in knowing and preparing and is VERY PURPOSEFUL and INTENTIONAL in Jesus’s Name. He has special purposes for each of us and does not give us someone else’s plans. Someone cannot honestly say that, out of all Israel, there wasn’t a single man who could have been used! Deborah even had a husband who wasn’tthe judge! Deborah was chosen because, as the Word says, “God raises up the judges” (. I also want to defend Barak who is from the same biblical account, since some look at him as weak for respecting Deborah. I’ve always respected him for taking a woman’s leadership seriously and i see him not as weak, but as respectful of God no matter what gender He chose to speak through. An example of consideration to defend his acceptance of Deborah, is that many people didn’t believe God would speak through Jesus because the people had their own expections of qualifications for the Messiah…they expected a military leader instead of a humble figure with a humble beginning, but those who did/do believe Him were/are in God’s will, being rewarded with eternal life through salvation. Barak was not willing to go to battle without Deborah, so if Barak was only looking and expecting God to speak through the gender that was most expected, he couldn’t have acted in faith, being recognized later in Hebrews as having faith! Yes, the new testament validates his actions as being in faith!
While we’re talking the old testament, i must add that the prophet Joel divinely prophesied, which was later echoed by Peter (Acts 2:17), that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit on ALL people, meaning both male and female. We have been in the last days since the cross, so this applies to now.
I could also add that God created both men and women in His image (Genesis 1:27), so both bear His authority and each have a needed piece/reflection of His character and righteousness that is needed to represent Him in this world through the church.
So, surely women as well as men are called into leadership roles in the church! Truth is truth, in Jesus’s Name!
Oh For Something More in You, Lord 