Cheryl

Hello Tiffany, thank you for your comments.

I quoted 1 Peter 3:15 and I took this verse in context since it directly follows verse 14. In verse 14 Peter is talking about those who are suffering for doing what is right and he then encourages those who are suffering for doing what is right to be prepared to defend their faith and their godly actions (verse 15). The two verses go together connected with the word “but”. I tied in verse 14 (suffering for doing what is right) with woman’s suffering at the hands of some who berate them for using their God-given gifts for the benefit of men. I expressed the fact that nowhere in scripture does God tell women that they must be prejudiced against men and scripture is clear that the Spirit’s gifts in us are for the common good. In this post I focused on God’s gifts. While being responsible for a group of believers is a good thing, this is a place of responsibility and maturity and since I was only speaking about God’s giftedness and not about spiritual maturity, hence the issue of being responsible for a body of believers was not part of this post. I do however believe that “pastor” is a spiritual gift given to those whom God chooses (Ephesians 4) and those who have this gift will minister wherever they are. One may use their gift of pasturing in a small group or one-on-one or in the full body. The key here is using our spiritual gifts for the common good instead of any of us acting in a prejudicial way towards men by withholding our gifts for their benefit.

The person who is responsible as an overseer by overseeing the spiritual health of the congregation is not so much seen as a spiritual gift but a place of mature Christian responsibility. All may use their spiritual gifts but only those who have attained to a level of Christian maturity will be encouraged to oversee the flock so that the sheep are kept safe from the enemy and from false doctrine by the safe keeping of a mature and responsible Christian overseer.