I would like to unpack a current hot topic that the Adventist Church is currently struggling with.
The Women in Ministry/Ordination should not be an issue when the Word of God clearly teaches gender roles. At the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, God (Himself) gave each gender specific roles to work while here on earth.
“To the woman He said, I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bear sons, and your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it! The ground is cursed for your sake. In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:16, 17)
Are men called to rule over their wives as masters? No! Jesus clearly teaches that men are to sacrificially love, lead, and serve their wives as Christ loved, led, and served others while He was here on earth.
Satan knows that healthy churches begin with healthy homes. If he can destroy the family units that make up a church, he can successfully destroy the effectiveness of the local church. Many of our communities are not being evangelized because most of our local churches are unhealthy and missionless.
The time has come for us to train our men how to be effective, Christ-centered leaders in their homes. Once Christ is lifted up in the home and our churches are filled with Christ-filled Christians, we will be on our way to fulfilling the Great Commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28…… Go!
FACT: The Bible clearly teaches that men are to be spiritual leaders in the home unit. It also teaches that church leaders must first prove themselves in the home unit before they qualify for church leadership.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: Many of our families are suffering from unhealthy diets and diseases. Instead to teaching our young women how to prepare healthy meals for their families, they are throwing together quick processed food and fast food meals.
The Spirit of Prophecy contains a lot of information about how the family unit should be run for it to be healthy and strong. We just need to turn off the televisions and computers and bust out a SOP book every once in a while (try reading Adventist Home).
Men need to be working, leading out with family worship, setting a good example of Christian living in the home, doing the yard work, taking care of the family cars, doing home repairs, playing with their kids, taking walks with their wives, helping with the house cleaning as needed, and preparing healthy meals when their wives are not available. This will prepare our men to be effective church leaders.
When there are children in the home, women need to only work part-time if needed. Otherwise, they should spend a majority of their time creating a healthy home environment. Women need to take charge of the home when it comes to shopping, cooking healthy meals, gardening, house cleaning, teaching the children academics and spiritual things. If the husband is overwhelmed, the wife can take over the balancing of the finances. Once the children are older and have moved on to academy and college, mothers can then consider spending more time outside the home working. The number one priority of the mother needs to be her children and creating a healthy and happy home.
We need to stop raising our children in daycares, with televisions, and on fast food. God has given us the privilege to train up “His” children in the way they should go. Let us make sure we do so with love and honor.
When it comes to Women in Ministry/Ordination… the battle should not be about equality in the ministry. We need church leaders who can see the big picture of the battle between good and evil and realize that we need to focus of creating healthy homes which will produce healthy churches which will help us fulfill the mission God has given us in these last days.
There is more to be said on this subject, but time does not allow me to keep writing. FYI – I did not cover the topic of how women should be a very important part of our church ministry. We all have important, God-given gifts to be used in active ministry. As for church elder and pastor, I personally believe the Bible only allows men to be used in that leadership role. This does not mean we cannot use women in other ministry roles. I will talk more about this later.
In the mean time… Take care and God bless!!!
David IJB
July 23, 2012
1881: The resolution on ordination of women, appropriately qualified, for the gospel ministry, at the 1881 General Conference Session:
“Resolved, That females possessing the necessary qualification to fill that position, may, with perfect propriety, be set apart by ordination to the work of the Christian ministry.
“This was discussed by J. O. Corliss, A. C. Bourdeau, E. R. Jones, D. H. Lamson, W. H. Littlejohn, A. S. Hutchins, D. M. Canright, and J. N. Loughborough, and referred to the General Conference Committee.” —The Review and Herald, December 20, 1881 (Vol. 58, No. 25), p. 392.
Ken Lytle
July 25, 2012
We need to look to the Word of God for guidance on this subject. Our families and churches are hurting and placing women in roles that were not designed for them will only cause more confusion and weakness.
Jason Physioc
December 6, 2012
Just read this:
http://homelesswinebibber.blogspot.com/2012/12/women-pastors-in-adventist-church.html
David IJB
July 26, 2012
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are.” Ex 21:7
‘Suppose a man has intercourse with a young woman who is a virgin but is not engaged to be married. If they are discovered, he must pay her father fifty pieces of silver. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.” Deut 22:28-29
When the Bible permits us to sell our daughter in slavery, not our sons, or a young woman is forced to marry her rapist, we say this is not right for our culture. Something in their culture permitted this behavior with a clear conscience. So likewise, when Paul says Elders should be male it was his culture. Within 2,000 years of Roman history there never was a female leader.
The Bible was written within its time and culture, as Ezekiel was told by God to cook his food over a fire of human dung (4:12). The timeless is truth that both sexes were created in the full image of God, and the church should reflect this, for to be complete we need male and female leadership. Children are harder to raise with one parent, so is a church harder to govern with one parent.