CAN A WOMAN TEACH IN THE CHURCH? Josimar Salum

CAN A WOMAN TEACH IN THE CHURCH?

Josimar Salum

God does not work with contingencies or according to necessity. Something that is working or prospering does not determine God's will in a positive or negative manner! That is, we do not use so called facts to determine whether something is according to the Will of God or not, but we analyze any and every fact and experience in the Light of the God’s Word. Just because a person is doing something and succeeding does not mean that he or she has God's approval. If such were so, cults would not be as successful, considering they are disapproved of by God. 

In the New Testament we have many examples of women who have been partners with God. The women who received miracles from Jesus, those who served Him as they walked together in the lands of Israel (Mary Magdalene more specifically), the daughters of Philip, Priscilla, Aquila's wife, Lydia, and many other women who anonymously served Jesus throughout history and even today are wonderfully used by God. Yet it is an absolute truth that there is no man or woman in the New Testament who is called a pastor. You find apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers, but none who are called pastors; there is no mention of a pastor or pastors. 

The “pastor” as he is known today is a strange figure in the New Testament. The brazillian Greek linguistics professor, Wilson Régis, my beloved mentor, once wrote an article: "It is a sin to be a pastor." I responded: “Professor, it is sin to be a pastor too”. This singular pastor who commands a single congregation is not biblical. There is no such entity in the New Testament. There is no single figure with a higher authority over the flock, except for the Catholic church that condones the high pontiff, the pope. To this extent every single pastor as the sole leader of a church is a pope.”

To say that Timothy was a pastor is not biblical, but I can clearly state that he was an apostle. “Paul, Silas[a] and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you.”; (1 Thessalonians 1: 1, 2: 6-7) 

As for teaching in the church, what is taught in the New Testament and the whole Bible is that the woman should not exercise authority over her husband. This is basic and easy to understand and there are many texts that teach this truth. Now, could a woman theoretically lead a ministry?

 It is already clear that a woman should not be a "pastors" in the Church of God, but by the interpretation of Scripture as we know today, neither should a man. Leaving the churches of men and their confusions aside, one should not confuse “Ministry” with governing the Church of God. The Church is shepherded by a group of irreproachable and mature men whom the Bible indicates to be the Presbytery; the church was never in the New Testament shepherded by a single man. There is no individual shepherding in the New Testament. There is no such figure as "my pastor, my apostle. We must remember that Jesus said: "There is only one Shepherd!"

There is no pastor of a church in the New Testament. He who usurps this position of a single shepherd of one church occupies the place of Christ and so, even without knowing it, becomes an "anti-Christ." But to do justice to the text in the New Testament, NOTHING in the Church is individual. The coming to Jesus is individual. "If anyone wants to come..." You come to Jesus by yourself, there is not collectively salvation. And after you have come to Christ you become part of a Body, a Community; everything in the Church is about collectively. There are no solos in the Church of God. 

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4: 11-13)

In the above context, men and women are apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, and teachers. Because the Church is composed not only of men, but of men and women. 

Notice this text: ““The elders (presbyters) who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;” I Peter‬ ‭5:1-3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The word “presbyteros” in Greek literally means “an older man." This person was considered, in the world of the New Testament a man over forty years of age. 

It is also an indisputable fact that there is no mention in the New Testament of the word "presbyteros" in the feminine form and no mention of a woman serving as a "presbyter" in any of the churches mentioned in the New Testament. 

However, one also can not confuse ministry with presbytery. There is no restriction in the New Testament forbidding women from exercising their ministerial gifts as long as the episcopate is clearly and exclusively destined for men. "Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer (bishop) desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach..." (I Timothy 3: 1-2). 

Finally, it is worth remembering that in the world of the New Testament  there were so many presbyters in the market, as in the squares, in the houses, in the government posts, etc. as there were also presbyters in the churches. The word presbyter has to do with age, so a young man (from the Greek “neóteros”) could not shepherd the church of God because he was simply not "presbyteros" (older). And not every older man (presbyter) of the church was made a "bishop" (overseer) to shepherd the flock of God. Only those who filled the biblical qualifications and were chosen by the Spirit of God, were ordinarily established by the apostles; they were never chosen by the saints. It is worth mentioning that the process of election is unknown in the New Testament, where believers vote to choose their leaders. So when the Word of God uses the word "gave gifts to men" it does not concern only men. A woman can exercise the pastoral ministry, as well as an evangelist, a teacher, a prophet and a apostle, but never in the New Testament was she made a "bishop" to shepherd the flock of God.

When Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples He commanded us both, men and woman. When the Holy Spirit fell on Pentecost Day He filled both men and women. In Jesus “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians‬ ‭3:28-29‬ ‭

#ASONE