Day 2 of our 3-day series on Satisfied and Complementarian by the Council of Biblical Manhood & Womanhood. To see yesterday's post click here.
Value all People
Second, we can rejoice in the fact that no matter our gender, race, socioeconomic status, occupation, or position in the church, we are persons of worth in God's eyes and deeply loved by Him (Psalm 139). Although God created Adam and Eve with different roles, giving Adam the leadership role, both males and females bear the image of God. Genesis 1:27 states, "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Women equally bear the image of God and are full persons before Him. We live in a society that loves to define the value of people by their function or role in life. "You're a doctor, lawyer, professional athlete, movie star? Wow!" we say. "You're a janitor, a garbage collector? Oh," we say. This is an extremely unbiblical viewpoint on the worth of human beings. This is where Galatians 3:28 is rightly applied. "For there is neither Jew nor Greek (worth based on national or ethnic group identity), slave nor free man (worth based on economic class or social status), there is neither male nor female (worth based on gender); for you are all one in Christ Jesus." As women we can rejoice in the fact that God loves us and has a purpose for each of us individually just as much as He does any other person He has created, male or female, famous or not. We need to separate roles (functions we perform) from the value or worth of a person.Abide in Christ
Third, if you are walking in fellowship with God, you will have a ministry. Jesus said in John 15:5, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing." Notice the dichotomy here. Jesus said that if we abide in Him, we will bear fruit. In contrast, if we don't abide in him (focus on our relationship with Him first, seek to obey) then we won't bear fruit. This can be hard to discern at times, based on external appearances of activity. In Revelation 2:1-7, Jesus chastises the church at Ephesus for being a "good" church on the outside. They tested prophets, would not put up with evil men, and endured hardship (verse 2-3), but their activity only covered up the fact that they had fallen from their first love--Christ Himself. They looked good on the outside but from Jesus' perspective they were not abiding in Him and in His eyes were not bearing real fruit. In verse 5, Jesus told them to repent from this sin or else He would take away what testimony they did have (their "lamp stand"). In contrast, we see other places in Scripture such as Mark 12:41-44 where seemingly obscure people, in this case a widow who offered all she had (only two small coins), have a true ministry in God's eyes.So how does this apply to the role of women in the church today? If a woman is consistently growing and maturing in her walk with God by staying in the Word, obeying it, praying for God to make her life all He wants it to be, she will have a ministry in God's eyes. Based on the promise of John 15:5, she will bear fruit. This may mean working for Christian organizations and having a formal teaching and speaking ministry to other women, or it may mean being a godly influence in the home, a light in the secular workplace or in the neighborhood, caring for unwanted children or elderly people, sharing the gospel with a friend who doesn't know Christ, and so forth. When these activities are the overflow of a walk with God, they will have a reward from Him (Matthew 10:42).
On the other hand, if a woman has a formal, public "ministry," which includes having positions of authority in a church or ministry that God's Word forbids, then she risks having to face God and not being rewarded for her "ministry" because it was not done His way, according to the plan He laid out in Scripture. It is tempting for all of us to do things our way instead of God's way. One good way for both men and women to test motivations of the heart is to ask, "Am I willing to fulfill the tasks and duties of an office without the title or glory of the office?"
The pastor of a church I attended for several years often spoke fondly of his parents. His father spent many years as a milkman in order to support his family. This man not only delivered milk but went to visit his customers when they had illness or death in the family and "ministered" to them in a variety of ways. He also taught Sunday School and served as a lay leader in his church. Later in life, this man was able to attend Bible college and became a pastor just as his son (my pastor) had done. My pastor said that one day, a little while after his dad started pastoring a church, he asked his dad, "What's the difference between now and when you were a milkman?" His dad thought about it for a moment and replied, "Nothing really. It's just that now I get paid for it." Women (and men) who feel they do have "pastoral" gifts can still exercise those gifts in a variety of ways without actually being a pastor or an "official" teacher. Walking with God and bearing fruit, not activity alone, is to be our concern. We need to work hard at redefining "ministry" as Ephesians 4:11-12 does. "And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ." Every believer is to have a ministry. A biblical definition of ministry does not mean the office of pastor or elder only. True joy comes not from holding an office or a position but rather from seeing God work in and through your life.
Check back tomorrow for the final post!
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