Today’s topic is not one of my favorites, but we’ll briefly dip into it. There is a fair amount of argument within the church as to whether or not a woman should be allowed to speak a sermon from the stage, be a pastor, run a ministry, or otherwise be a part of church administration or be in ministry of any kind. Extremists on one side say that women should not be allowed to speak at all, or maybe they should simply never be allowed on a stage to sing or to speak. On the far other side, it’s accepted that, under the new covenant, women have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and should be aloud to preach, teach, sing, or whatever else God has called them to do, publicly or privately.

My issue with the former group is that it’s simply not Biblical. Paul does mention women staying “silent” in the church (1 Corinthians 14:34), but he also encouraged women to pray and prophesy (1 Corinthians 11:5). In the stories I’ve heard and experienced, most often when a man got upset with a woman for “teaching,” she wasn’t teaching at all – she was offering wisdom outside of the church context on a specific topic, such as how to arrange furniture or speaking feedback into an important decision.

My issue with the latter group is that they blatantly ignore some scriptures or (more often) come up with excuses for why these scriptures don’t say what the Scripture says. (Help yourself to the idea that the reason Paul said women must be silent was because there was chaos in the churches and women were speaking out of turn; while it’s possible, there’s no concrete evidence for this in the Bible).

So here is a (probably very bad) translation of the two most controversial verses in the New Testament about women in the church (taken from Mounce’s Reverse Interlinear – I’m not a Greek scholar, but I do know how to use a Strong’s Concordance).

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

The woman [should] keep in silence or keep from revealing [things] in or before the popular assembly for [they] themselves [should] not have management over speaking but [should be] arranged under [submission], as the law speaks*. If exercising the will or intending to learn [about] someone or something of worth, [they should] question [their] own husband in a house or household, for it is being shameful [for a] woman [to] speak in or before the popular assembly.

*Quick note here: There is no law in the Torah forbidding a woman to speak or specifically requiring a woman to be in submission to her husband, though the latter is indicated through various laws. I’m guessing Paul is referring to traditions and rules within the synagogues or possibly to Roman laws which did not allow women to speak in public assemblies.

1 Timothy 2:11-12

A woman learns in rest or tranquility, in all subordination or obedience, but now give [them] no management over teaching and not authority over a man, but still more to be in rest or tranquility.

This all said, here are some examples of things we see women doing in the New Testament or that are dictated for women to do. (I may only list one verse when in reality the concept comes up multiple times in the Bible.)

Joining in public prayer (Acts 1:14, Acts 16:13)

Believing the gospel (Acts 5:14, Acts 8:12, etc.)

Suffering for their faith (Acts 8:3)

Serving the poor (Acts 9:36-42)

Interacting with men and carrying messages (Acts 12:13-15)

Inviting people into their homes (Acts 18:26)

Explaining the gospel (Acts 18:26)

Prophesying (Acts 21:9)

Serving as a deacon or simply serving (Romans 16:1-2) – the word here can mean servant, attendant, one who executes a commission, a minister or preacher of the gospel, a minister charged with an announcement or sentence, a devoted follower, or one with an official duty to serve and specifically distribute money in the church

Working hard for the benefit of others (Rom. 16:6)

Serving as an apostle (Rom. 16:7; 12)

Hosting church services in her home (Colossians 4:15)

Teaching what is good (Titus 2:3)

Praying and prophesying publicly (Acts 2:16-18; 1 Corinthians 11:5)

I don’t believe this is an exhaustive list of everything a Godly woman can or should do – culture changes, and as it does, things that a Bible woman would never have dreamed of doing (because it was so counter-cultural) become commonplace and normal. And not everything that the women in the Bible did are recorded in the pages of Scripture. In whatever we do, whether male or female, we must be careful to do so following God and His will – and we should not try and push or limit others into things God is not calling or is calling them to do.

If this is a topic that interests you, I hear on good authority that the best book on the topic is “Equal” by Katia Adams.

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