If you want to know what it’s like to be a woman leader in the church, just listen. Not to what women say. Listen instead to what women hear. Try to hear specifically what the rest of the Christian community is telling them. Once you do, I think you will find that people in the church reliably send mixed messages to women leaders that at once say yes and no. We say “yes” to them as women, and “no” to them as leaders. If a woman hears the “yes,” then she’ll feel affirmed, and not understand why another woman sees a problem. But if she hears the “no,” she’ll feel disrespected and hurt. The dynamic goes like this. As long as a woman leader is perceived primarily to be a Christian woman, all is well. But the moment she emerges as a Christian leader, things begin to change. Christian women are wise, insightful, and gentle. But we’re not so sure about Christian women who lead. Thus a Christian woman leader must ever prove herself to be more woman than leader for as long as she continues to lead. To be a woman leader is to hear a contradictory message from the church. On the one hand, women leaders are told they can do all things through Christ (Phil 4:13). They can step out into the mission field and evangelize a whole nation. They can disciple a king, rebuke a false teacher, correct a wayward brother, and change the course of history by their prayers. They can lead or preach to thousands as long as the appropriate men invite them to. And if their leadership is more suited for work outside the church, then they can become senators, or CEOs, or even President. There’s really nothing they can’t do. On the other hand, Christian women leaders are told not to lead too much. They can lead women, but aren’t to be called the women’s pastor. They can preach to men in someone’s home or in a conference setting, but not in a local sanctuary. They can oversee big budgets in big governments and nonprofits, but can’t have an official say over the small budget of a small church. Of course theology plays a critical role, but certainly doesn’t justify such vast and pervasive inconsistencies. The question comes down to this: Is it possible for a woman to actually lead? Does the Church have a category for Christian women leaders to act like leaders and be treated as leaders? |
The most important thing for Christian men to understand is that Christian women don’t want to flee or fight. We simply want to go forward. We want to be like Esther who went forward to make a request of the king, even though her presence was unsolicited and unlawful (Esther 4:11). Esther neither fought nor fled. Instead, she went forward and broke the social norms of her culture. Esther went forward because God called her to go forward. So heartfelt were her convictions that she resolved to risk her very life. “If I perish, I perish,” she said (Esther 4:16). The story of Esther foreshadows Christ who went forward in obedience, even to the point of death (Phil 2:8). While on earth, Jesus worked on the Sabbath, healed on the Sabbath, and did many other things that violated cultural protocol. Jesus had the courage and moral integrity to follow the call of God and disregard the voices of dissent. Here’s the key. No one today knows what’s going to happen in the future. Just as Esther went forward without knowing what would happen, so women leaders today must choose to walk an unpaved path. Each must pioneer her own path of obedience to God. Like Esther, she too, must refuse to fight and also refuse to flee. Thus the best way for Christian men to support Christian women leaders is to pray that they will follow Christ and entrust themselves solely to God (I Pet 2:23). Originally published in the Christian Management Report, March/April 2000 |
