Why Women are Oppressed in the Church
Many women wake up every day to a world of discrimination, simply because of their gender. But the most troubling aspect of this oppression is that the Church is often found leading it!
Many believers have developed a theology that proactively uses the Bible to disqualify women from the most formidable roles of leadership, especially in the Church. I am appalled by the number of Christian leaders who are convinced that women are not as qualified, called, and/or gifted to lead as men. The argument for disempowering women is illogical, unscriptural and beyond-outdated! I’d like to propose that any stinking thinking that relegates women to a lower seat of power or authority is way past its expiration date and it’s high time we get with the program that Jesus preached throughout His ministry.
In light of my recent posts on Instagram and Facebook, in which I apologized on behalf of male leadership to Beth Moore and Paula White; two of the finest leaders of our time, for the recent public discrimination they faced, I wanted to take some time today to unpack some of my thoughts and responses to your questions.
DISEMPOWERING WOMEN IS UNSCRIPTURAL!
We have failed to realize that Jesus founded the Women’s Liberation Movement. He taught women, spoke to them publicly, protected them from the religious community and empowered them to minister.
Biblically speaking, while ten apostles huddled up in a house trying to save themselves, it was only three women (and John) who stayed at the Cross to comfort Jesus in the dark night of His soul. Although Jesus had been telling His disciples for months that He would be crucified and rise on the third day, it was only two women who visited the tomb on that fateful day.
When the women found the tomb empty and encountered excited angels, they ran back to the village to tell the “world-changers” that the stone was rolled away and Jesus was gone. Yet only Peter and John even bothered to see if there was any truth to their story, while the rest of the apostles refused to believe. In spite of all of this, (in the name of the Bible) many Christians still disempower women and relegate them to the back seat of the bus.
Consider that with 40 authors writing the Bible over a period of 1,450 years in several countries and multiple cultures, in various situations and in the Old and New Covenant, only one man seems to restrict women from leadership and teaching—the great apostle Paul.
If God wanted to restrict half the population from leading or teaching men (kind of a big deal, I think), then why are 39 authors virtually silent on the issue, while Paul seems specifically to restrict women? And once more, why does Paul write to nine different churches or church leaders, but only restrict women in three locations? Why does Paul empower women in some places and limit them in others? I’d like to propose that the cultural context of the letters which restrict women is the key to understanding Paul’s instructions.
I spent hundreds of hours doing Biblical and historical research on women in the church for my book, Fashioned to Reign - Empowering Women to Fulfill Their Divine Destiny. I’ve had so many questions about Paul’s instructions this week, that I want to give away the two chapters of my book that specifically unpack the Biblical reasoning behind empowering women.
You can get Chapter 5 — “Jesus: Founder of the First Women’s Liberation Movement” and Chapter 6 — “The Misunderstood Apostles” for free by clicking here. I pray these bring clarity to you!
THE CURSE DIED AT THE CROSS
For now, let’s examine one argument that is common in some Christian environments… the idea that men are to rule over women.
One of the curses over women in the book of Genesis was increased pain during childbirth, but the verse that had the greatest negative impact on womanhood was God’s proclamation that their husbands would rule over them. The Hebrew word for “rule” is mashal, which means “to have dominion.” It is imperative for us to realize that before the curse, husbands and wives were commissioned to co-reign together (see Genesis 1:27–28). It was only after the curse that husbands were given dominion over their wives (It’s important to note that men were not given authority over women, but again, husbands were given authority over wives.)
Yet even under the Genesis curse, Old Testament women were empowered to be prophetesses, judges, queens, and leaders. When Jesus gave His life up on the cross, He became sin for us and thus destroyed the curse that was propagated against us (including the curse that caused husbands to rule wives) in the Garden of Eden.
The apostle Paul put it this way, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). When Jesus died on the cross, He broke the curse off mankind. Paul also said, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:2).
But 2000 years later, much of the Church has only applied God’s redemption to one gender and relegated women to the ball and chain of the Garden tragedy. The fact is that in the last hundred years, many countries of the world have begun to champion women, giving them places of leadership in politics, in business, in education, and in almost every realm of society, while much of the Body of Christ won’t even allow them to be elders in a church of fifty people. It’s appalling and we need to wake up!
In light of these things, my question is, “What makes us think that men were set free from the curse of the Law at the cross, but that women should still be under the curse that allows husbands to dominate them in the name of God?” In fact, Christian women who have been redeemed and transformed by their Savior ought to be among the most powerful people on the planet.
WHAT’S THE REAL PROBLEM?
After many years of research, I am convinced that there are four basic reasons why men and women are not empowered equally in the Church.
1. The devil hates women even more than he hates men because the curse that God pronounced over the SERPENT was that women would be hostile with the devil. Therefore, the spearhead of demonic warfare is focused on women.
2. Many men are insecure; reducing women helps them feel more powerful.
3. Many Christians have misunderstood the Bible with reference to women. Therefore, they don’t want to violate their understanding of the Scriptures to empower women or be empowered as a woman. (Remember, you can get Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of my book, Fashioned to Reign, here. In these two chapters, I aim to clarify the Biblical standard for empowering women.)
4. As a people group, women tend to be less competitive than men, they are not “typically” fighters, they are prone to be more humble and gentle. Maybe this is because they gave birth to everyone on the planet. Men often mistake these attributes for weakness and believe women are not as qualified to lead. This results in women being promoted less frequently than men, or men purposely oppressing women.
The moral of the story is this: we need women to rise up as matriarchs alongside our patriarchs in every realm of society so that God’s full intention for the planet can be fulfilled.
WILL YOU STEP UP?
To all the women out there reading this: I want to apologize to you on behalf of anyone who has oppressed you, made you feel less-than or taken away your voice. The Body of Christ needs you to rise up and be who God created you to be, in all of your beauty, strength, wisdom and power! You are incredibly valuable in the body of Christ, and if we’re missing you we are missing half of God’s attributes and nature!
To all the men out there reading this: It is our responsibility to take the humble heart posture of respect and empowerment towards the women in our lives. I want to encourage you to cut out any insecurity that may be leading you to hold them down or silence their voices. Let’s be their biggest cheerleaders, their loudest supporters, and their most empowering partners in ministry!
Where do you stand on this issue? How do you see yourself being a part of the solution to this broken part of society and the church? Let me know in the comments below.
If you’re an auditory learner who is hungry to know more about this subject, I encourage you to listen to these two podcasts: The Theology of Empowering Women — Part 1 and Part 2.
