Dusman

ccanuck,

Thank you for disagreeing agreeably my friend. As an elder of a local church, I have to ditto what has been said earlier by Teknomom and Don. Namely, that being a pastor/elder/overseer is a gift and not an office. An office is something that cannot be found in the NT, was created by men, and is bestowed by men. But, having the desire and aspiration to oversee God’s flock is a gift that is sovereignly bestowed by our dear Lord upon whomsoever He wishes. In light of that fact, Jesus said that those who are the greatest amongst us should have the same “authority” as slaves and children,

Luke 22:24-26 “And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.”

Matthew 23:1-12 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. 8 “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

That means that no hierarchy should exist in the body of Christ. We certainly will have those within the body that have identifiable gifts, but no hierarchy. This is probably the first crucial aspect to the entire complementarian/egalitarian issue, the second can probably be boiled down to this one question: “Is there any law in Scripture that prohibits a godly adult woman from teaching true doctrine to an adult male?” (cf. Acts 18:26)

Thanks for your willingness to post in a combox where your position on this issue is the minority report, but we trust that you will be a Berean, which means that we don’t ever adopt a “first-glance” theology; for this is the stuff cults are made of.