Q: Should women be in the ministry?

A: Guidelines:

1. Given the list of women's roles in the N.T., it is not reasonable to think Paul was asking women to be absolutely silent in church (after all, how then could they pray and prophesy [ 1 Cor 11]).

2. Most of the discussion about women's roles in relation to men, in my estimation, is specifically about husbands and wives. The context of most passages makes this clear. Thus women are not to submit to all men, nor are they forbidden to teach any man (otherwise Priscilla was out of line in Acts 18 with Apollos). Rather, women are not to be the primary teachers of their husbands.

3. We are in a global war with the Evil one. If I'm to err, I would rather err or liberating women to join the fray than tying up over half of our soldiers. I am not a feminist, nor is it my intention to "set women" free. My goal as a preacher is to proclaim our unmitigated bondage to Jesus. Nevertheless, we need to ask first, "What is the Holy Spirit calling me to do?" not, "What is my gender role." I find throughout the bible notable exceptions to women's traditional roles. I have no problem with the Spirit guiding a woman in ways that are unique and even extraordinary.

A couple of books you might want to get a hold of:
     Jack Cottrell, Feminism and the Bible, College Press, 1992. (Ultra-conservative)
     Craig Blomberg & James Beck, Two Views on Women in Ministry, Zondervan, 2001. (Balanced)

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