FEATURE ARTICLE

Samuel Bayo ArowolajuFriday, September 25, 2015
[email protected]


ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE
TO YOUR FRIENDS

SHOULD WOMEN BE ORDAINED AS PRIESTS OR PASTORS?

advertisement

uring the visit of Pope Francis's to Washington, DC, United States of America, seven people were arrested for protesting against the Pope's visit. They were members of a pressure group which calls itself 'Women's Ordination Worldwide' seeking official papal seal for the ordination of women as priests in the Catholic Church. The protesters were on the street while the Pope led a midday prayer at the St. Matthew Cathedral in Washington DC. Some of those gather were Catholic Church renegades who hungry and thirsty of being called priests, had gone outside the Catholic Church to have their uncatholic ordinations.

The group decided to take this disorderly or riotous and unholy approach of blocking the path of the Holy Father to draw his attention because according to them the Catholic Church has been "ignoring women; we sent letters, books, we ask to meet with Bishops and are ignored. We are treated like untouchables because we mention women maybe equal to men. This is the only way we can get anyone to talk to us." Some of them actually lay on the street and block the traffic on the Pope's route. This disorderly conduct is quite unbecoming of a Christian and anyone who wants to be a Priest. It has however reopened the debate about women ordination as a Priest or Pastor in the Church generally.

The roles of women in the Church has become a contentious one among many Christian denominations. It has become an issue where personal preferences have overcome scriptural or biblical doctrines. Also, some women due to inordinate and consuming ambition or crass acquisitive instincts for power and materialism, want to be pastors at all cost so that they can have unlimited and unhindered access to the Church funds.

Besides dividing churches and parishes, this issue has divided or destroyed some homes. There have been instances where some women self-ordained pastors have insisted on becoming the Senior Pastors of churches even over and above their husbands who are even more experienced, knowledgeable and educated in the gospel. There are instances where in some big churches, some women pastors are promoted over their husbands and posted to headquarters while their husbands serve under them as junior pastors. The big question is what moral and religious teachings are these churches and their women pastors bringing to homes and families, which normally and biblically should come first before the Church? The One Million Dollar question is: Where is God in these churches and in the lives of these women pastors?

Going back to the story of Creation by God, Man was created first, then the woman, the home and the family. Nowhere was anything said or inferred about the Church. By this Godly order and arrangement, the home and family are and should be more important than the Church. On social platform, I am one of those who believe that the family is the most important social institution. It is not only the foundation of the Church - a religious institution, it is also the basis and foundation of Government - a political institution and of course the bastion of all economic institutions and sources of the greatest and best factor of production - Manpower.

Unfortunately some women and men will want to and are actually sacrificing their family on the altar of their church. Ask them to choose between the church and the family; without equivocation or hesitation, they will shout church with a big Amen. This not because it is Godly or scriptural but because of their selfish, parochial and myopic considerations. The greatest being what they want to take from the church rather than what they want to give to God and humanity.

In discussing this salient issue, let's not polarized or dichotomize it into men and women affairs. There are some women who will do anything to protect their homes and families even with the last drop of their blood. There are some Godly women of valor who will not support ordination of women or women leading and usurping their husbands in Church. They would rather support and complement and not compete with their husbands anywhere. Yet, there are some men who will solidly support whatever the women says or does. Those are men who are always seeking one favor or the other and thus becoming what in Nigeria is called "Women Wrapper". They have no values for God and His words or for themselves. It is only what their heroine 'pastor/prophetess' says that matters to them and not even what God says. They cannot answer the question from Isaiah: Whose message are they going to listen to; God or woman?

To avoid personal opinions, let us go to what God the creator of both man and woman says. Let me quickly add. Our unbelief in God and His words does not really change the existence of God, his word and his powers. Secondly, for those who believe in God and his words, no explanation here is necessary and for those who do not and will not, no explanation here is sufficient.

In Genesis 3:16, God says to the woman: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you."

In Ephesians 5:22-24 God says: "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything".

I have deliberately quoted from the New and Old Testaments to prove the universality of the topic. The two scriptures were not written by the same author but they are the same word of the one and only true God of the Universe - Jah Jehovah written thousands of years and spanning thousands of miles apart. For over thousands of years the Bible has survived all sorts of persecution, nothing from the above has changed till today for those who are true children of God, man or woman. Now, let us go the Church, which spiritually is the body of Christ but whose members are men, women and families. The Church is Spiritual and Social as Christ is Divine and Human.

Let me quickly clear misgivings from some quarters about the usage of man/husband and woman/wife in the Bible. Each set of words can all be used interchangeably. The Greek word used in this passage in which the text is written, has the same meaning for man and husband, and woman and wife. So, the scriptural injunctions is to the man/husband and also to the woman/wife. For instance, in 1Timothy 2, both men and husbands are asked to lift up hands in prayer without "without wrath and doubting. Also both women and wives are enjoined to dress "in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation". Therefore, Adam scripturally represents all men and husbands as Eve is the representative of all women and wives. It is not true therefore that the scripture is referring only to the husbands and not men or women and not wives as some would want us to believe.

In 1 Timothy 2: 11-12, God says, "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence". This applies also to wives and husbands. This is not discrimination by God or the Church. What God did is to assign different roles and responsibilities to men and women or husbands and wives, based on the way he created them and his knowledge of which area he wants them to function. After all, he is God. This is why God went on to explain the reasons for the separation of responsibilities. He said: "For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman (Eve) being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control".

Here, the only thing God has taken away from the woman or wife in the Church is having spiritual authority over men, which teaching or preaching will command. In my understanding therefore, this simple instruction to Pastor Timothy says, a woman cannot be a Pastor or a Priest in a Church as that would make them rule over man in power and authority. Where and if this is allowed, it will be directly against God's commandment in Genesis 3:16. A woman pastor or priest will invariably preach and teach men openly or publicly in the Church, thereby exercising spiritual power and authority over them as against the will of the Sovereign God.

I have heard a woman pastor justifying her unholy and unscriptural role in the Church by her education. She claims, it was because women had no education in those days that God said they couldn't teach or preach in the Church. This to my mind is clear naivety or gullibility. Otherwise, where did the scripture mention lack of education as to the reason given for women not been allowed to preach and teach men? Nowhere in 1 Timothy 2:11-12. But come to think of it, if education was the prerequisite for ministry then, how many of the disciples of Jesus would have been qualified? May be none or few.

Yet, none of the Jesus twelve apostles was a woman. Have these apostles of women pastors and priests ever ask themselves why Jesus did not pick even one woman as part of the twelve? Or did Jesus made a mistake? Were there no women around Jesus who would have readily fitted into such role? What of women like Mary, Martha and Mary Magdalene? How many women were founders or leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel? Did Jacob/Israel not have daughters that could be used? I leave the answers to the women pastors and their supporters, although most of them don't know the scriptures more than what they want to take from it.

Again these women pastors quickly point to the Old Testament women who occupied leadership positions in Israel as a justifications or rational for their greed and covetousness in leadership position in the Church. They are quick at pointing to great Old Testament women like Miriam and Deborah. This is completely out of place. Nobody is saying women cannot lead everywhere. The point is that God is saying women cannot lead men in the Church. God do raise, equip and empower women even now for God works and glory. Neither of the women cited ever led men in the Temple of God then. After all, there are women Generals like Deborah today as well as successful women CEOs of companies; Presidents and Prime Ministers of nations exercising authorities over men.

Yet, the authorities of women over men in the Old Testament is not even relevant to the issue of women pastors in the church today. The structure and function, roles and responsibilities of the Church is not comparable to any other religious, social, political and economic institution now or in the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. As said, there were women who ministered to Jesus in life and death. Thank God for women like Mary and Mary Magdalene, who wanted to minister to the body of Jesus after burial early on that Sunday morning, the apostles in hiding would not have known that the Christ has resurrected as promised. The women thus became the first set of evangelist after resurrection and they were NOT pastors.

Also in John 4: 28-30, the woman at the well of Jacob in Samaria after an encounter with Jesus went to town to talk to men about Jesus. "The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him." Now we can see the outcome of what the woman did in verses 39-42 as many Samaritans believed in Jesus Christ as the 'Savior of the world". This is a perfect example of the noble and Godly work women can do in the ministry of Jesus and not teaching, preaching and having authority over men.

Yet, other proponents of women pastors and priests will cite Priscilla and Phoebe from the New Testament as women in ministry. Yes, I agree that the two women were ministers of Christ BUT surely and definitely NOT pastors in the Church in the likeness of Timothy or Titus. As a matter of fact, in Acts 8:26, Priscilla and her husband taught Apollos the gospel of Jesus but not in the Church and not even in the Synagogue. When they discovered he was lacking in some gospel knowledge, "they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Neither ever pastored a Church nor taught publicly nor exercised authority over men.

In Romans 16:1, Phoebe is very well commended as a "deacon" (or "servant") in the church. Yet, like Priscilla, the scripture does not show where Deacon Phoebe was a pastor or a teacher of men publicly in the church. Ability to teach is given as part of the qualifications of elders and not for Deacons. In 1 Timothy 3: 1-13, one of the prescribed qualifications for the position of a Bishop or Overseer in the Church according to the Scripture is that, "He must be a HUSBAND of ONE WIFE". Today in the some churches, we have women bishops and many are aspiring to be one. For God's sake how does this passage relates to women, when do and how can they become "husband of one wife". Anyway, some of these women pastors have no respect for their husbands to the extent that they have virtually become husbands and leaders of their matrimonial homes and the church. To some, there is nothing wrong with this.

Please hear me and hear me real good. I am not here to disparage women, especially the humble, respectable and Godly ones. I have absolute respect and regard for womanhood. I call woman the crown of creation, reflecting the fact that God created the woman to balance and perfect the work of creation when he looked down from heaven and said: "It is not good for a man to be alone". I will therefore not denigrate the perfect work of God that brings goodness and happiness to man. But as the Yoruba say, wherever is designated as the head is not meant or fit for walking. The man is the head of the woman, so declared God, and some religions and respectable cultures.

It is an indisputable fact that many women excel in gifts of hospitality, mercy, teaching, evangelism, and helps. Much of the ministry of the local church depends on women. I don't know how the Church of Christ will survive without the women. They have very vital roles to play beside teaching and preaching publicly. Women in the church can publicly pray and prophesize, but this is not teaching and doesn't carry spiritual authority over men. The Bible nowhere restricts women from exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Women, just as much as men, are called to minister to others, to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and to proclaim the gospel to the lost (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; and 1 Peter 3:15). What better way to glorify God with our gifts than for men and women using their different spiritual gifts for the edification of the Church without undermining the gifts of others. Let the teacher teach and the prophet prophesize without the woman usurping the authority of the man. That is the intention of Christ for his Church.

God in his infinite wisdom, knowledge, understanding and power has ordained that only men are to serve in positions of spiritual teaching and authority in the church. This is not because men are necessarily or normally better teachers or because women are inferior or less intelligent. This is absolutely not the case. It is simply the way God designed the church to function. Who can query God? Who can counsel him? Who can fathom him? That is why he is God, our creator, our maker and creator of the universe. Can a pot query the potter why he made it round, big or small?

Men are made to be the God examples of spiritual leadership in the Church, in their homes and in their lives by their words and works or deeds. As confidants, counselors and helpers or partners of men, women are to take a less authoritative role. They have greater roles teaching and working with other women (Titus 2:3-5). The Bible also does not restrict women from teaching children. The only activity women are restricted from is teaching or having spiritual authority over men. This precludes women from serving as pastors and priests to men. This does not make women less important or inferior, by any means, but rather gives them a ministry focus that is more in agreement with God's plan and their nature and make up.

Why is it that all the women wanting to play the roles of men in the Church have not asked their husbands to conceive and give birth to their children? Sounds stupid? Both different roles are the ways God wants to do his things. Every man and woman will be called to account by God for what they do. We should all remember what happened in the Garden when and how God called out Adam, Eve and the Serpent to account for what they did. Adam and not Eve was the first to be called by God as the head and one in-charge of the Garden even when it was Eve that was deceived to eat the forbidden fruit and sinned.

We should all learn to accept who we are as perfectly made by God and fitting the roles he has graciously given to us. The ten fingers in our two hands are of different heights because of the different roles each is performing for us. None of us can increase the height God has fitted us with, no matter the height of the high heels we may wear. Neither can we change our DNA simply because we don't like the family or country into which we are born.

To our women pastors or priests, let me leave you with the counsel of the great apostle Paul whom God used to send the message telling you that you cannot teach and preach in the Church as pastors and priests because God doesn't want you to have spiritual authority over man. In his First Letter to the Church in Corinth chapter 11 verses 8 -12 Paul said and he is still saying: Man is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority (man) on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.

I am not unaware of some very successful women pastors but the Serpent also succeeded in deceiving Eve and Adam and causing their fall and his success is very temporary. It is human to be impatient. That is not the attribute of God. Today, they may enjoy themselves as if tomorrow will not come. However long and painstaking it was, the snail make it to the Ark. Their days of reckoning will surely come. No wonder God says: Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb (Psalm 37: 1-2).

Jesus the Founder and Owner of His Church says: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7).

Note:

This write up is written in cognizance and expectation of criticisms or objections. These are welcome. However, lets discuss the facts and issues based on the Bible as the Word of God and in particular reference to the Ministry of Jesus Christ and the Christian Faith without wrath but in a dignify educative ways from which we all can learn as students of the Word.

advertisement

IMAGES IN THE NEWS