Again, from the previous post, this is a passion of mine because I believe that passing on the legacy of our faith to the generation behind us is very important, and we cannot continue to pass on this legacy of oppression in the church. However, with that being said, change in church usually comes slowly. So to all the women out there who want to see change happen fast, and will pretty much do things in the church just to show men that women are capable of doing things...STOP! While change is necessary, it is also necessary to maintain the unity of the body. Tearing a church apart just to prove that women are equal to men is as unpleasing to God as the treatment some women get in our churches today. The goal should always be to maintain the unity of the body while change is occurring. With that being said, the generation of woman today (and those fighting the good fight with them) will probably feel like they are making very little headway in terms this topic. However, have hope! That the work that is being done now, will serve generations of women in the church far into the future!
Now let us turn to one of my favorite stories in Scripture, featuring one of the most prominent Judges in all of Israel's history. In Judges 4 we find a woman named Deborah. Now Deborah is one of the major judges in the story of how Israel takes the land of Canaan. Deborah is the only judge to be called a prophet (MALE or FEMALE). In this story Deborah summons Barak (leader of the Israelite army) and gives Barak orders that she has received from the Lord to go to Mount Tabor. She then gives him specific instructions. Barak refuses to go if Deborah doesn't go, and so Deborah goes with him (she doesn't fight though). Long story short, the battle is won and another woman, Jael, is given glory for the victory because it is she who kills Sisera with a tent peg through his temple. The story ends with Deborah and Barak singing a song in celebration.
Now this story is one of my favorite stories, mainly because the method of how Sisera is killed is so awesome (morbid I know). But deeper than that, when I read this story, I think of how it wouldn't even have happened had the Israelites had the same view of women we do today.
Deborah is a judge/prophetess. That in itself would be problematic for us in the church today, since the role of the prophet, and role of pastor are very similar. Deborah's job as judge is to rule according to God's law. Her job as prophetess was to hear from God and lead the people of Israel in the way that God directs. Both of which she does beautifully. And incidentally, it doesn't seem as though anybody mentioned in this story has a problem with the fact that Deborah is a female. The sons of Israel continue to come to her to rule over matters they can't settle, and Barak does not seem to have a problem with hearing God's instructions through a woman.
Now I know this story is not happening in a "church setting," but it is a story of God using Deborah as an instrument to accomplish His plans for the people of Israel. God has equipped Deborah and He used her, something I think we don't allow for in our churches today. In fact, I have even heard horror stories of young girls telling a pastor that they think they are called to pastor a church, and that pastor telling the young girl she is either wrong, or has heard wrongly from the Lord about her role in vocational ministry!
I have even heard sermons on this particular passage where the preacher has said Deborah is in a leadership role because there were no men who were willing to step up and fill that role! Now as absurd as that sounds from the reading of the story (Barak gathered 10,000 men--surely one in ten thousand would have stepped up, right?) this was a very common view of women that I would hear when I first became a Christian.
The statement would be made something like this (and this is not just pertaining to the story of Deborah, but to women in general): "God uses women in leadership roles where they would have authority over men, only when there is no man that will step up and lead."
Now the implications of this statement are horrific! In other words, females in the church are God's back-up plan, God's second choice, etc. Now if I asked someone who made a statement like the one above if the saw women as "God's back up plan, or God's second choice," a lot of them would say no , but that in a sense is what they are saying. That God in His infinite wisdom, created women, just in case there was a time in history where men didn't step up to the plate His plan could still move forward.
We need to consider the implications of what we are saying and what we are not saying. When we use language like the quote above we are in a sense telling young girls, that though God may have equipped you for great things, you can only use those giftings in certain areas, unless of course we can't find a man to do something then we will call you. Conversely, if this is something that is never talked about in our churches, and the only people young girls see at the pulpit or on staff are men, we are sending the same message by your silence. Yes a girl may never hear the words "you can't do that," but the median of never seeing women used in any other way than the status quo is still sending the same message.
May we as a church think about the implications of what we are saying or what we are not saying. May we start looking for the giftings that God has given each person (men or women) and start making that the criteria for roles people have in our churches today.
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