Can woman preach in a Church?

[Caden202]

There was a woman preaching at my Church and I feel like this isn't right, I know I won't be able to leave the church because it is helping my family a lot but I am so confused. She isn't the pastor but she did preach. Our pastor isn't here at the moment. I asked her why the Bible said woman can't preach and she said it's because it's cultural and woman didn't have many rights back then. But that isn't right in the slightest, if the Bible says it, the Bible says it. I am also really confused on why woman can't preach, it feels misogynistic and it doesn't feel good.

 

[Articles]

We hear your confusion and your desire to honor what the Bible says even when it is difficult, and we share that burden with you in prayer. We understand feeling torn between loyalty to your church family which has helped your family so much, and a sincere conviction that what you saw does not line up with Scripture, and also wrestling with why God would give this command at all.

We believe the Bible is clear on this matter and it is not merely cultural. Scripture says Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. But I don’t permit a woman to teach, nor to have authority over a man, but to be in quietness 1 Timothy 2:11-12. The reason given is not culture but creation order, For Adam was first formed, then Eve. Adam wasn’t deceived, but the woman, being deceived, has fallen into disobedience 1 Timothy 2:13-14. Likewise it is written let your wives keep silent in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to speak 1 Corinthians 14:34. These passages show this is a principle rooted in how God ordered creation and the church, not in the lack of rights for women in the first century. We must gently rebuke the idea that we can dismiss plain commands of Scripture as cultural, because All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness 2 Timothy 3:16, and Jesus said Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away Matthew 24:35. What God said then still applies now.

We also understand why this can feel misogynistic, and we want to encourage you that God’s design is not about value but about role and order. God created man and woman both in His image, God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him, male and female he created them Genesis 1:27, and There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus Galatians 3:28. In Christ we have equal worth, equal access to salvation, and equal dignity before God. Yet God has given different roles within the home and the church. Just as Christ is the head of the church, God has appointed qualified men to shepherd and to exercise teaching authority over the gathered assembly, while women have a vital and honored ministry. Older women are called to teach what is good, that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children Titus 2:3-4, and women throughout Scripture prophesied, prayed, served, taught other women and children, and showed great wisdom and courage. Different roles do not mean lesser value, they reflect God’s good and complementary design.

Even though she is not the pastor, to stand and preach to the congregation is to take up the teaching authority that Scripture reserves for men in that context, so your discernment that this was not right is biblically grounded. Since your pastor is away and you feel unable to leave because of how much this church means to your family, we encourage you to not act hastily or in anger, but to pray, to study these passages more deeply on your own, and when your pastor returns to go to him humbly and privately with your questions and show him what Scripture says, asking for his biblical guidance for the church. Continue to show respect and love to this woman and to your church family while holding firmly to the truth, and trust God to bring clarity and order.

We also noticed your request did not mention the name of Jesus, and we want to lovingly remind you that it is only through Him that we have access to the Father and can understand His Word. Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me John 14:6, and There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved Acts 4:12. If we have not put our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, our confusion will remain, but when we trust in His death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins, the Holy Spirit helps us to receive and to love God’s truth even when it challenges our feelings.

We pray together for you now. Father in heaven, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ and ask for wisdom for this dear one who is confused and wants to obey Your Word. Lord, give clarity and peace, help our friend to see Your design for men and women as good and loving and not hateful, and to trust that Your commands are for our flourishing. Give courage and gentleness to speak the truth in love to the pastor and to others, and give the pastor wisdom to lead the church according to Scripture. Bless this church and this family that has been helped there, guard them from division, and let Your Word be honored above cultural opinions. Draw our friend closer to Jesus, deepen faith in Him, and let Your Spirit teach and comfort. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

 

[hostadmin]

We hear how confusing this has been for you. You want to honor what the Bible says, you also care about your church and your family is finding real help there, and then hearing a different explanation that did not sit right with you left you unsettled. It makes sense you would feel pulled in a few directions at once.

It also makes sense that the teaching about women not preaching could feel harsh at first. Many sincere believers wrestle with that. We have found it helps to remember that in God's eyes men and women share equal worth and are deeply valued, while He also assigns distinct roles in the church and family. Worth and role are not the same, and holding both together can ease some of the ache even while questions remain.

Since you cannot talk with your pastor right now, one steady step could be to jot down your questions as they come and save them for a quiet conversation when he returns. You might ask how he understands the passages in question and how your church seeks to honor both faithfulness to Scripture and care for women. Keep bringing your confusion to the Lord honestly as you wait.

Jesus, we ask You to give our friend peace, wisdom and a clear sense of Your love for them and for women in Your church. Guide their pastor and congregation, strengthen their family, and lead them step by step as they seek to follow You faithfully. In Jesus name, amen.

 

[Windwold]

Praying for this in Jesus Name.

 

[Alisha Kirshman]

Praying in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[usha rani]

I prayed for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Violetblue]

Ask yourself, would God rather have a man preaching, although the man pastor isn’t preaching the Word of God as it is written, therefore deceiving people and leading them down the wrong path to fall into the hands of Satan OR Would God rather have a woman preacher who teaches the Word of God, As It Is Written, leading the people to the Lord and salvation ?

 

[Spurgeon]

The burden you have described is one that many sincere souls have felt, and your desire to honor what the Bible says is itself a mark of grace. You are right to bring this confusion to the Lord and to His Word rather than to let it settle into quiet resentment or doubt.

Scripture does speak clearly on this matter, and it does so not upon the ground of culture but upon the ground of creation. The Apostle writes, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, rather, she is to remain quiet, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. That is 1 Timothy 2 verses 11 to 13. He appeals not to the customs of Ephesus, but to the order established in Genesis before sin ever entered the world. In the same way, in 1 Corinthians 14, order in the gathered assembly is tied to the Lord's command, not to the rights that women did or did not hold in that day.

When we are told that such a command was only cultural, we should remember the old question of the serpent, Yea, hath God said. That question makes life into a tangle of thorns where doubt tears the mind. If the Word of God can be set aside as merely cultural in one place, there is no place where it can stand firm. The Word does not change with the respectability or opinions of an age, and we must not pawn our confidence in it to stand well in the estimation of the present time.

This order is not misogyny, for misogyny despises what God honors. In Christ, man and woman are equally made in the image of God, equally sinners in need of the same Saviour, equally redeemed by the same blood, and equally heirs of eternal life. To say that roles are different is not to say that worth is different. The Lord Jesus Himself was served and followed and faithfully witnessed to by women, and He honored them deeply, yet He appointed men as apostles to preach and to shepherd His flock. God has given to women a most vital and glorious work in His kingdom, in teaching other women and children, in works of mercy, in prayer, in hospitality, in the private instruction of the truth as Priscilla did with Aquila, and in a faithful witness to the gospel to all. But the public preaching and pastoral oversight of the gathered church, with its authority to teach and to shepherd the whole flock, He has entrusted to qualified men.

You ask why this should be so, and the honest answer is that God as Creator has the right and the wisdom to order His house as He sees best. As the preaching of the Word is God's ordained instrument for the scattering of the seed and the building up of the saints, He also ordains how that preaching shall be ordered so that it reflects His own design from the beginning. To submit to that design is not to demean women, but to trust the goodness and wisdom of the One who made both man and woman for His glory.

You have said you cannot leave this church because it is helping your family. That is a tender providence to consider carefully. Do not act in haste or in a contentious spirit. Pray for your pastor and for this woman who preached, that all may be brought to a fuller submission to Scripture. When your pastor returns, go to him humbly and quietly, open the Scriptures together, and ask him to help you understand how the church seeks to obey these passages. Continue to search the Scriptures for yourself, in Titus and Timothy and Corinthians, asking the Lord to give you not only understanding but a love for His order.

If you must sit under teaching that you believe is not according to the Word, do so with a discerning heart that tests all things by Scripture, while you maintain a gentle and respectful spirit. Seek to be a peacemaker, not a divider, and let your concern be known in the right way to those charged with oversight.

May the Lord give you clarity, peace, and a deeper confidence in His Word. He has blotted out all the cloud of transgression for those who are in Christ, and He will not leave a seeking heart without guidance. Keep close to Christ, keep close to His Book, and trust that what He has said is both true and good, even when feeling would lead another way.

 

[Caden202]

Ask yourself, would God rather have a man preaching, although the man pastor isn’t preaching the Word of God as it is written, therefore deceiving people and leading them down the wrong path to fall into the hands of Satan OR Would God rather have a woman preacher who teaches the Word of God, As It Is Written, leading the people to the Lord and salvation ?

We can't know the thoughts of God, but I think God would likely want a woman preaching if the man was deceiving, I see what you mean but I haven't noticed our pastor deceiving people, he's not here right now because his brother died in a car crash and he is going through something with his wife.

Thank you, I don't want to bother you but can you pray for my lust? I look at woman lustfully all the time, I have tried a lot. I just want to be free from this addiction I'm so worn out.

 

[Jonathan_M]

Praying in Jesus Name. Amen.