The wider question of the role of women in church leadership is beyond the scope of this blog: it’s a question that has been debated for centuries, and countless books and articles have been written on the subject. However, it is important to address such issues, for gender equality is indeed a major talking point in today’s society. It is hard for young people to understand the historical question of a patriarchal society; when we read passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-15 in the 21st century, we can come away with the idea that women are, in the words of Tom Wright, ‘second-class citizens at every level… not even allowed to dress prettily… daughters of Eve (and she was the original troublemaker)’ for whom ‘the best thing for them to do is to get on and have children, and to behave themselves and keep quiet.’ Such a view either feeds men’s view that they are superior in every way or causes women to seethe because they feel misrepresented on so many levels. It leads to impassioned debates and heated arguments, but does not necessarily help us to know what the Biblical position on gender differences and leadership really is.
A stereotype is ‘a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.’ There are definite truths to be found in stereotypes, but just as we should all recognise that not all Englishmen wear suits, bowler hats and carry umbrellas or are lager-drinking football hooligans, not all Frenchmen wear striped jumpers and berets with a string of onions and garlic around their neck and not all Middle Eastern men with beards are terrorists, so we ought to put aside gender stereotypes to discover what the Bible actually has to say about gender differences.
Men and women were both created in God’s image (Gen 1:27), but there are fundamental biological and emotional differences between them. Paul recognises diversity within the church, talking about the church as a body made up of separate parts which nonetheless form a unified whole (1 Cor 12:12-31, Romans 12:4-8). Just as he has been keen to stress the need for a wide range of spiritual gifts in order to build up this vibrant organic body of Christ (Eph 4:1-16), we have to recognise that men and women possess different gifts and personalities which are all needed, but which are not identical. The typical stereotypes of macho men and simpering women or hen-pecked husbands and ‘women who wear the trousers’ are not enough to recognise the diversity and complexity of human beings.
It does seem that when Paul writes to Timothy in Ephesus, the emphasis there was on a female cult worship: ‘The Temple of Artemis (that’s her Greek name; the Romans called her Diana) was a massive structure which dominated the area; and, as befitted worshippers of a female deity, the priests were all women. They ruled the show and kept the men in their place.’ (Tom Wright) Such a philosophy, minus its religious overtones, may well seem typical of today’s Western society too. There is little surprise, then, that Paul should want to avoid Christianity following this path, which might explain his use of the idea that women should not teach or ‘assume authority’ over a man (1 Tim 2:12). ‘Paul is saying, like Jesus in Luke 10, that women must have the space and leisure to study and learn in their own way, not in order that they may muscle in and take over the leadership as in the Artemis-cult, but so that men and women alike can develop whatever gifts of learning, teaching and leadership God is giving them.’ (ibid.)
Both men and women have many different gifts. I believe the ministry of women is often significantly different to the ministry of men and that for all in leadership, it’s vital to understand the Jesus principle that ‘whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.’ (Mark 10:43-44) Diversity is really far more necessary than we often think, but nothing can ever supersede this principle of service. I believe the best leadership teams will include both men and women (because then the scope of service is greater) who will be willing to work together in humility and submission (Eph 5:21-24) with mutual respect.