Josh Lail
I gratefully serve as pastor at First Baptist Valdese. We have ties to both the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. We support both of those larger missional networks with our tithes and offerings. We preach no other gospel. Jesus is our only Lord.
We believe that redemption and grace come through a merciful and loving God who holds the power to forgive sins. We believe that God’s grace is offered to us through the life, death, and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ.
Where we differ from many Baptist congregations is that we support both men and women in all areas of leadership in our congregation. We ordain women to the gospel ministry. We have ordained women as deacons for over 50 years.
From 2009-2014, our church had an ordained female associate pastor on staff. Women regularly preach in my absence, because I want our church to remember that support for women in ministry is part of our church’s identity.
We do not believe we get to decide who God calls and equips for whatever purpose God chooses to use him or her.
My fear is that many women may feel the call to vocational ministry, only to have the fire of their calling quenched within them by a pharisaical system.
If the gospel is indeed good news, as I wholeheartedly believe, then shouldn’t we desire as many people as possible to share that message in any way possible?
Would my sisters and brothers in the SBC not celebrate when one responds to the call of Christ to follow Him if that call came under a female pastor? Is anyone less “saved” if they come to Christ under the leadership of a woman? Of course not!
Baptists have historically allowed churches to disagree on secondary or tertiary issues and remain in cooperation with one another. Church autonomy is part of Baptist DNA.
There is no bishop, synod, presbytery or diocese who can tell us what we must believe and teach. To forcefully disfellowship with churches that are not questioning basic Christian orthodoxy does not fit within the historical norms of the Baptist movement.
One of the more frustrating critiques by my Baptist brethren on the opposite side of this issue from me is that I “don’t believe the Bible.” That is a ludicrous and lazy accusation that comes from the biblical inerrancy movement that has a short history in the grand timeline of Christian faith.
Of course, the Bible is my authoritative guide for faith and practice, as it bears witness to God’s work through Jesus Christ. Our difference is one of hermeneutics. We interpret the scriptures differently.
First and foremost, the only way to faithfully and responsibly interpret the scriptures is through the lens of Jesus Christ. This means that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God and the unifying center of the entirety of the biblical story.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He continually challenged those who saw themselves as gatekeepers of the Law. He erred on the side of grace and forgiveness.
He expanded the roles of those who had been deemed unworthy by the world around them. We must take this into account as we interpret the rest of scripture.
Many cite 1 Timothy 2:11-12 as the prooftext that ends all discussion of the matter. In Ephesus, the location of Timothy when Paul wrote this letter, the temple of Artemis was the central place of pagan worship.
It was staffed entirely by women, who held great social and political influence in Ephesus. Paul’s prohibition against women in 1 Timothy undoubtedly had the leaders of the temple cult in mind.
The church was young in Ephesus, and these women of great religious and political influence could have easily confused folks about the nature of the God the church worshiped.
This points to the idea that Paul’s prohibition against women teaching concerned the unique political and religious climate of Ephesus at that time.
The biblical record is strong for women in roles of religious authority. In the Old Testament, Deborah and Huldah clearly lived as respected leaders who conveyed the messages of God.
In all four gospels, women were the first messengers entrusted with the news of the resurrection! At Pentecost in Acts 2, Peter explained the miraculous outburst into tongues by quoting the Jewish prophet Joel’s words claiming that God’s Spirit was being poured out on both men and women, and they were simply responding to the work of the Spirit within them.
What were they saying? They were “speaking about God’s deeds of power” (Acts 2:11, NRSV). In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul gives explicit instructions, perplexing to the modern ear as they may be, for what women are to do when they pray or prophesy in worship. In Galatians 3:28, Paul writes against drawing hierarchical divisions among God’s people, even division by gender.
As Paul closed his theological magnum opus, his letter to the Romans, he sent greetings to many church leaders and servants. He sent those greetings to nearly twice as many women as men! “Junia” in Romans 16:7 is the name of a woman who is called an “apostle.” In Romans 16 and Acts 18, Priscilla is greeted. She was a woman who explained theology more adequately to a man named Apollos.
The word “prophesy,” (prophéteuó as written in the New Testament) means to share a message from God. That sounds a lot like preaching, doesn’t it? As a pastor reads, shares, and expounds upon the scriptures, is he or she not communicating a message from God?
Therefore, to claim that the biblical position clearly and prohibits women from leading over men comes from an incomplete reading of the text.
Never in my 20 years of congregational ministry have I heard more unhealthy talk of “pastoral authority,” as if the office of pastor holds power.
My only role is to point people to Christ. My only model for leadership is Jesus. The only type of leadership Jesus ever modeled was servant leadership. I am nothing more than the chief servant in our congregation.
Called, equipped, and educated? Yes. Authoritative? No. I’ll leave that role to Jesus.
Lastly, religious fundamentalism always divides into infinitesimally smaller groups, as one group will always seek to be more doctrinally pure than the rest. I see that as the future of the SBC if they continue down this path.
Prior to the year 2000, there was no strict prohibition against women serving in pastoral roles in the Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message was revised in the year 2000 to limit the office of pastor to only men.
That language wasn’t restrictive enough for some. Now, the SBC has adopted language that limits any pastoral function to men, “specifically preaching to the assembled congregation.”
What will be next? Only married men? (1 Tim. 3:2) Only married men with children? (Titus 1:6) There will always be a more restrictive group waiting in the wings to make their move for control and power. That strategy is not rooted in the character of Jesus Christ.
The Rev. Josh Lail is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Valdese.
