So, now for the big question which seems to never be sufficiently answered: What does the Bible say about women serving as leaders in the church? My absolute, definite, and most accurate answer: I really can't say for sure.
Bear with me, please as I try to explain myself.
When looking for a scripture to back up an assertion that women cannot, or even, can serve in the capacity of Elder, Deacon, or Preacher, you just won't find one. Now, before the emails begin flooding in, let me reiterate: when looking for a scripture... There are no scripture passages which explicitly state that a woman cannot serve in these leadership roles. It just isn't there. But, you may say, what about the one that has been cited at the opening of this article? Well, look at it again. It doesn't say that God forbids, or the law teaches against a woman to be a leader. Paul says that he will not allow it. There are many things that Paul discouraged or disallowed, for which there is not a scripture passage to which he defers. Keep in mind, he was leading a group of new believers, Jews and Greeks, who were vying for their proper positions in the church by attempting to conform the church to their cultural mores and societal acceptance. This was creating disharmony, disunity, in-fighting and total chaos. So Paul, as the overseer, stepped in, put his foot down, and set some necessary "rules" for proper worship and organization. We see this same thing occurring in other letters of Paul, for similar reasons. But, does this mean that, because the church is two-thousand years older, and society is more liberal (at least American society) regarding its egalitarian views toward women, that Christianity and the Church of Christ should become that way as well? We'll discuss that further next time...
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