Cheryl Schatz

Alison,
You said:

2. If God didn’t intend for women to be leaders, why did He give them leadership gifts?

This is a question for complementarians that has really bugged me. No one doubts that women have these gifts. The gifts are evidence for all to see. However comps must either say that the gifts are to be limited in some way to the presence of other women or it appears that God taunts women by giving them gifts that they must refuse to use. Having a gift and then having to deny the expression of that gift would make God out to be a tormentor. Better that He didn’t give women these gifts, then that He would give the gifts and deny their use.

The question for those who believe that the gifts can be used but only with other women, would be to show these gifts being used in the scripture in the presence of only women. While the older women are told to teach the younger women to love their husbands, the bible never says that the older women are told to teach the younger women about the bible. I believe that the absence of one woman teaching other women the bible is because the usual pattern in the life of the church was for one’s gifts were for the use of all (the common good). Any other usage of one’s gifts is not the norm in the life of the church. The women did not go into another room and teach other women. The women stayed in the congregation and used their gifts just as Paul said – for the edification of the church.

BTW, I am really frustrated today as my internet has gone down twice during the time I was trying to post this comment. I have a technician coming on Tuesday. Hopefully I can get my next post up on Monday as Mike and I agreed that would be the next date for our joint posts. If I am unavailable for awhile, I am probably out walking or cleaning toilets as I wait for my internet to show up again for a few minutes before it goes down again. (Mutter, mutter, mutter).