For the record, RDP... the word of God is clear that women are commissioned to preach the GOSPEL to any soul to will listen. That is the great commission, given to every man, woman, and child who believes. If you have received the power of the spirit, you have received with that power, the great commission to go and preach the gospel.
There is a difference, however, in church discipline, and church order. I will go out on a limb here, and expose what God has shown me about HIS order.
God's order is simply this: God, Christ, man, woman, and child. The church is called the "bride" of Christ. Christ is the head, the leader, the husband. We (as believers) are the bride, the wife, the surrendered, the submitted group of believers. We (the church) do not tell Christ what to do... we are surrendered to Him, to His purpose, and His will.
Paul taught that this order carries down even further into the home. The husband is the head of the home, the wife is surrendered, and respects her husband, yet they complete each other and are one. One does not try to outdo the other, but they work together as a team, as once again, a beautiful picture of Christ and the church.
When this thought is logically applied to the church, it stands to reason that men would naturally be in leadership, but women would be work together to help, assist, and carry out whatever tasks necessary for team work to take place. There is not any place logically, allegorically or otherwise in scripture that would bear out the wife/woman telling the husband/man what to do.
The bride of Christ does not tell Christ what to do. The church is submitted to Christ, not Christ submitted to the church.
So, in carrying this parallel through to its completion, in the church, men should be in leadership and women likewise are partners, helpmates and team workers in the church. If you look at the picture of Christ/church, Husband/Wife, it stands to reason that church leadership be male - and that females would be submitted helpers, and team workers, etc.
However, this does not preclude women and children from the great commission. As long as a woman is preaching the gospel, or teaching other women/children, she is completely within her secure place. However, a woman should never overstep the boundaries of the allegory of Christ/church, husband/wife in the leadership arena of the church.
Preaching the gospel is something we are all called to do - man, women, and children. Yet, when it comes to authority, headship, and leadership, we must follow the principles outlined in scripture to be safely within the boundaries God has set forth for the church to stay within.
Yes, women have assisted in the gospel, have preached the gospel, and have been a vital part of the great commission... but keeping the allegory of Christ/church in mind, women must not seek to secure a leadership position/role in the church body, because that does not follow the order set forth from the very beginning of creation, and how men/women were designed.
God has a beautiful place for women in the church, and I believe women can preach the gospel... all souls can and should. But when it comes to headship, church discipline, and divine order... men and women should be careful to stay within the safe boundaries God has set up in his divine plan for the well being of all.
This is how I see it from the principles of the Word of God, not just from one scripture or two, that are twisted to somehow bring the context I want from some obscure lexicon, or translation. The reasoning I have set forth is based on principles of the Word of God, not cultural traditions, not semantics, not debate, and so really the principle cannot be argued with... unless one wants to argue that the church has a right to tell Christ what to do, the wife has a right to tell the husband what to do/a woman has a right to tell a man what to do. Those principles are not taught anywhere in scripture, to my knowledge.
With this understanding, it has brought great clarity to me to understand a woman's place in the church. Of course, she can prophesy. Of course she is able to speak concerning things pertaining to the gospel. But when it comes down to discipline, and authority, that is a place God designed for men to be, and since God was the one that ordered it from the beginning of creation, and with the parallels of Christ/church before us... who am I to argue with Him?
That is how I see it now. I'm hoping that now that I've stepped out on a limb here, that the branch will hold me
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!) - not "preached a sermon".
! Will you be consistent in your gender usage?
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