How can we employ the gifts and calling of women and men in alignment with God-breathed scripture?
Here’s our church’s answer: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” That’s from our statement of faith on our website.
There are two points in that sentence.
First, we believe “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” While our church worked verse-by-verse through 1 Corinthians a few years ago, I addressed this conviction in a sermon called “Vive La Différence!” You can review that message here. You should also read Kathy Keller’s book, Jesus, Justice, and Gender Roles: A Case for Gender Roles in Ministry. There are many books I could recommend on this subject, but what makes her little volume distinctive is that she was on her way to ordination in the United Presbyterian denomination when her study of scripture changed her mind. She and her famous husband, Tim, decided to serve in another Presbyterian denomination, the PCA (the Presbyterian Church in America) and, in part, it was over this change of mind. The PCA, like our Southern Baptist Convention, believes that the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
I said our statement of faith on this issue has two points. Here’s the second: We believe “both men and women are gifted for service in the church.” This means that, other than the office of pastor, both men and women should be encouraged to lead and teach and contribute in all kinds of ways. So, at Hillcrest we have women and men serving as Life Group leaders, Bible study teachers, committee members, team leaders, and staff positions.
So, a two-point sentence: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” What are the implications of believing that statement completely?
First: We deny any egalitarianism from the left side of our culture and any chauvinism from the right side of our culture. Some voices from the cultural left erase all gender distinctions, including in marriage and ministry. Some voices from the cultural right belittle a woman’s competency to serve in roles traditionally occupied by men, and they mock any commitment to better gender representation. But since we’re guided by scripture, we’ll celebrate God’s design for the sexes while also celebrating God’s gifting in all his sons and daughters.
Second: We will use the title of “pastor” appropriately. For at least a decade, a trend has developed in our churches to give the title “pastor” to any staff position. Student Pastor … Worship Pastor … Children’s Pastor. There’s no biblical justification for this. In the Bible, the words “pastor” and “elder” and “overseer” are all used interchangeably to speak about those responsible for leading and teaching the entire church. So, if someone leads in one area of ministry but doesn’t also serve on the team that oversees the teaching and direction of the entire church, “pastor” is not the right title for the role. This is why we’ve resisted that trend at Hillcrest. I depend on our ministry staff, our deacons, and our committees to help me set the direction and teaching of our church. But Hillcrest has one person with the biblical title of pastor. One day we should have a conversation about whether to form a team of elders. But neither our staff members nor our deacons nor our committee members are meant to occupy the role of elders as the Bible defines the term.
Third: We will work to ensure our partner organizations share our convictions on this subject. We are an independent church that partners with other like-minded churches at the local, state, and national level. One of the issues facing our national Southern Baptist Convention is whether to disfellowship churches that no longer believe that “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
Sadly, this includes Saddleback Church, our convention’s most famous church.
I’ve learned so much from Rick Warren over the years. But Saddleback has recently ordained women as pastors and, as Warren retired, he announced his replacements would be co-pastors, Andy and Stacie Wood. At first, some of us hoped this was simply a loose and informal use of the title of “pastor.” As I said, some churches have trended toward using the title “pastor” for any ministry staff position. Even some churches that would limit the office of what they call “senior pastor” to men might do this. But in an interview with Christianity Today, Warren said women and men should be eligible for all roles in the church without distinction.
Russell Moore: So, you would…support men and women as elders, as senior pastor, as everything within the church
Rick Warren: I would.
We believe Scripture steers us between the shoals of egalitarianism and chauvinism. So, for Saddleback to veer so deeply into egalitarianism requires a response. With grief, I will vote next week to disfellowship Saddleback.
Why?
Our partnership with other churches at the convention level ultimately impacts a lot of things. What kind of literature our convention creates for small-group lessons. What kind of churches our convention plants. What kind of training our convention provides for ministers in our schools. What our missionaries teach on the mission field. We want to be sure that, in all these areas, our convention participation results in joyfully promoting our conviction that “both men and women are gifted for service in the church,” and “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
For further study:
“What Did Paul Mean by ‘I Do Not Permit a Woman to Teach’?” 6-minute discussion between Don Carson and Tim Keller.
“How Should We Think About Disfellowshipping Churches in the SBC That Have Women as Pastors?” Podcast by JD Greear
“A Time for Clear Complementarianism & Wise Cooperation.” Blog post by Baptist 21.
“A Conversation about the SBC and Confessionalism, Cooperation, and Complementarianism with Nathan Finn.” Podcast by Baptist 21