VI. A Biblical Vision of Manhood and Womanhood in the Church, Part 3

Go to Libbie's site to read an excellent article in which she states, "There are many roles for women in church - many roles in which men are ill-equipped for. Roles in which it is of vital importance that they remain women who can be trusted to do good."

This is my sixth of a series of weekend postings from Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth by Wayne Grudem. (Click the archives on the left sidebar to find the other related postings that are in Roman numerical order.)
Also, I will list page numbers in parentheses from the book that these excerpts can be found on.

Chapter Two: A Biblical Vision of Manhood and Womanhood in the Church in section 2.7:"But what SHOULD women do in the church" (page 84)

Again, I urge you to buy this MUST-HAVE book. What I write here is done in hopes that you will eagerly add this book to your library and buy it for anyone struggling in this essential area.
(drop me an e-mail if you need help getting one)

"If Christ is the centerpiece of your marriage then there should be no such entity as a contentious wife but rather an obedient wife who accepts the authority of her husband as is fitting to the Lord"

In this section Mr. Grudem begins by pointing out that people in agreement with Biblical Womahood ask questions such as "Just where do you draw the line?" because they "genuinely want to encourage more opportunities for women in the overall ministry of the church. He also points out that too many "evangelical churches have been too 'traditional' and too restrictive on ministries available to women." He writes that these people presenting such questions are doing so because they want to examine "the way we have always done things" in light of Scripture. "But they also do not want to encourage anything that is contrary to Scripture."
The Biblical restrictions on the roles women may fill in the church fall into 3 categories. They are (1) governing authority; (2) Bible Teaching; (3) public recognition and visibility. This is according to Paul's teaching that says, "I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man." (and other passages regarding governing and teaching: I Cor. 14:33-45; I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; Mt. 10:2-4)
Mr. Grudem then provides lists that fall under the above categories that are not ranked according to "value or importance to the church." (I Cor. 12:22-23; Mark 10:43) These lists, he writes, are for the "purpose of clearer thinking on the issue."
The list is large (pages 87-89), but NOT totally exhaustive. Because I want you to buy this book, I will not list all of what he has here, but merely whet your apetite. I will only list 3 per category. In list one there are 28 areas, list two has 35 and list three has 20. All of the lists have a subtitle that says "Which offices or categories should be restricted to men."

(1) Areas of Governing authority
President of a Denomination
Permanent leader of a (mixed group) Fellowship in a home
Music leader (in the Worship service)

(2) Areas of Bible Teaching
(I have to add that alot of what was on this list, I did not agree with, but I will not list those here)
Bible teaching to an adult Sunday School class (mixed group)
Bible teaching to college-age class (mixed group)
Formally counseling one man

(3) Areas of public recognition and visibility
(Again there were several on this list that I question, but will not list here)
Paid member of Pastoral (teaching) staff
Performing a baptism
Helping to serve the Lord's Supper

Mr. Grudem states the obvious, "The Bible does not give us a specific verse on each of these situations." But that is true about the entire Christian life... between what is clearly right and clearly wrong we make decisions every day, seeking to be faithful to Scripture as we apply it to everyday life."
He continues by stating that "We must recognize that GOd in His wisdom has given us a Bible that specifies many principles fro conduct and gives specific examples of application. But by its very nature the Bible cannot speak directly to the thousands and even millions of real-life situations that people will encounter through-out the centuries."
He asks, "What then should we do?"
"First, we should understand the principles that allow certain activities and understand certain activities that prohibit certain activities. Then, between these perameters, we should attempt to make a mature judgement based on the wisdom God gives us and our knowledge of the situation.
Mr. Grudem then provides a very useful chart to guide the decision making process on page 91 of this book and then explains how to use it.
On page 93, 98 and 99 Mr. Grudem re-categorizes the list that was apparently originally from the "Danvers Statement from 1987" to include within this list what is acceptable for both men and women. This was very interesting to me because everything he changed was EXACTLY what I questioned.
He then writes, "The broad perspective on the Danvers Statement" beginning on 97. (Remember, I am merely trying to whet your apetite for this book.)
In his conclusion on page 101, he includes "it is the Counsel on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood's desire to open the doors wide to all the areas of ministry that God intends for women to have."