It is interesting that austute scholors of the word can concusively PROVE either the position for OR against women in ministry, using Scripture. Read either case and the evidence seems compelling…if you read with a rational mindset. I don’t know what that may say to some, but it says to me that I better be a bit careful about taking a mean spirited, dogmatic position either way.

Then, given the need to “rightly divide the word of truth,” I find it necessary to look for pragmatic factors that will tip the scales for me in favor of one or the other of these two divergent, but equally compelling arguments. I have to ask:

1. Has a woman ever occupied a position of ministry where the world has seen that ministry bear fruit that is unmistakably anointed of God? The answer for me is yes. I have read enough church history to be convinced that women have played a key role in the advancement of the Kingdom (capital “K”).

2. Are there changing cultural norms that have “changed” the definition of Scriptural terms? Again, for me, the answer is yes. For instance 1 Tim 2:9 addresses the need for modesty in women’s dress. That term held vastly different expectations as recently as a few decades ago. Modesty is still required, but it looks different now that women’s ankles are not taboo. In the attending verses of this passage, was Paul advancing the inherent law of God, or was he commanding that women should not conduct themselves in a way that would be contrary to Roman law of the time? It was legal under Roman law for men to interrupt a speaker, but not for women. If that were still the law, I would oppose women in public ministry too.

3. Is there any recorded historical pattern that shows where women in ministry have repeatedly hindered revival movements? I don’t think so. Maybe isolated cases, but fewer recorded occasions than of men doing the same.

So, is it not wisdom to allow experience to guide us into truth when evidence in Scripture seems to validate both positions? It certainly seems to be preferable to searching out scripture to support a preconceived bias. We were instructed to work out our salvation through fear and trembling, not through the effective arguments of pundits with preconceived notions.

Finally, is the role of women in ministry so cardiac that we should allow it to divide us as God-fearing ambassadors of the Gospel? Will the world be won more quickly if we polarize the body of Christ around such an imponderable difference of opinion? Is there not a place to agree on the lostness of man and focus on correcting that. Can we just agree to disagree on inconsequential details and get on with the business of the church? I genuinely hope so.