Kim Kaze

I won’t add to the deluge of Biblical stuff here, but I’ll say this. I like Matt’s site and his teaching, but I do believe that he is slightly blinkered on this issue and possibly has allowed pride to enter in, in his noble attempt never to allow man’s comfort to adjust what the Bible actually teaches. However, when you reach the stage when saying ‘What does it actually SAY???’ becomes something of your mantra, perhaps religion has crept in there? Who knows. I’m suggesting that I think on this issue of women as Pastors, Matt Slick is wrong. To err is human, though. I hope and pray that he would never show disrespect to a Pastor, Elder or Teacher who was a woman.

I am a woman. I am called to be Pastoral (though not to run a church, at least so far God hasn’t ever spoken to me about that aspect of ministry). I believe the whole of scripture, including the teachings of Christ Himself point towards the role of a Pastor/Elder (shepherd in the greek) as one of great sacrifice and servanthood. It in no way advocates a woman OR a man having some sort of ego trip or powergame in politics in the local church. Such things are carnal, fleshly and frankly have nothing to do with gender since either gender can equally sin in this way. When Jesus talked about the first being last and the last being first, when He washed His followers feet and so on, there was no ego in these actions. The work of a Pastor is never glamourous unless it is simply God blessing you for a season. In my experience of walking with The LORD, it is probably the least glamourous and powertrippy way to live your life, because you’re as likely to find yourself sitting in a gutter at 2am with a drunk person spilling their guts out to you (both literally and figuratively!) as you are to be standing on a platform reading aloud to lines of men in suits, listening to your every word.

In short, I believe that either gender can be called to any ministry and in fact in the Bible there are several examples of women in ministry and positions of leadership, OT and NT. We all understand that many men don’t like the idea of a woman ‘telling them what to do’, but a deeper knowledge of Jesus reveals the fallacy in this – if the Pastor is moving in the Spirit of God, then Jesus is speaking. God is ministering through His hands and His feet in the world, and who is any man or woman to scorn the mere vessel of His works? Test the vessel and the words of the vessel. Test everything, and look for fruit. But I think it is a folley of an person of either gender to misunderstand what the role of a Pastor is. If someone comes to you in the name of The LORD and you test them, then if they are of The LORD, one best honour them as you would honour The LORD.