Let's address the elephant in the room early - much of church history has not been kind to women. The role of women within the context of the evangelical church and marriage has been a hot topic of debate. Some questions that students of the Bible have attempted to answer are: “What does the Bible say the roles of women should be within the church? What about within marriage? Or singleness? Or in the workplace?” I believe that many students rightly land on the complementarian end of the spectrum after study on the topic. However, the answers that these students come up with for those previously listed questions fall short of God’s design for women because they fail to interpret difficult passages within their greater context. In fact, I would argue that the better question to ask would be, “What is the church missing when we prevent women from living out God’s design?” I think you will find that misunderstanding God’s call for women has dangerous consequences for both women and men.
The two major views on the biblical roles of men and women are: complementarian (men and women are equal in value but differentiated in responsibility) and egalitarian (men and women are equal in value and hold no distinction in responsibility). I choose to use the word 'responsibility' rather than 'role' in my definitions of complementarianism and egalitarianism intentionally. I have a reason for this word choice - a responsibility is something that requires effort to succeed at. It requires effort and intentionality to lead well, to disciple well, to support well, to encourage well. A ‘role’ is comparable to an actor’s part in a play - a temporary job that an audience expects them to perform rather than an on-going responsibility that defines the inner workings of a relationship.
As someone who seeks to align my thinking with the truth revealed to all us in Scripture, I find it undeniable that God made both men and women equal in worth and value as His image bearers, and he has also ordained distinctions in responsibility between men and women. Allow me to dig in to the creation story as an illustration. God created all of the world's 'stuff' before creating his image bearers to inhabit the world. "Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:26-27)
Interestingly, God gives men and women the same mission: "And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so." (Gen 1:28-30)
To paraphrase, "Make more image-bearers, and rule together over creation."
As the narrative of the bible continues, we see greater explanation. Chapter 2 shows us some of God's interactions with Adam before Eve came around. We see God give Adam the responsibility of tending to the garden and abstaining from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. After giving Adam these responsibilities, God says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." It reads as if God knows that these responsibilities are soul-crushing when one person is carrying the weight of them alone. So God creates a 'helper'.
If you are like me, then the word, 'helper' makes your stomach turn a little bit. Let's look at that responsibility a little deeper.
A quick search using the app called "Blue letter bible" shows me other places this word has been used. In the Psalms, we see the word "helper" over and over again in reference to God himself. "Do not hide your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper; do not leave me or abandon me, God of my salvation" (Psalm 10:14) "LORD, listen and be gracious to me; LORD, be my helper." (Psalm 30:10) "God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble." (Psalm 46:1) "God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my life." (Psalm 54:4) "If the LORD had not been my helper, I would soon rest in the silence of death." (Psalm 94:17) We also see this word used in Exodus and Hebrews. The concept of a life-saving, irreplaceable 'helper' is well established throughout the bible.
Faithful biblical theology (or the practice of tracing the development of a theme, in this case the theme is the role of 'helper', as it unfolds throughout the biblical narrative) shows us the real nature of the responsibility of a 'helper'. Without this 'helping' work, mankind is left in a dire, deathly situation.
However, somehow, the gravity of this helping responsibility has been understated throughout church history. The church has treated the role of women as supplemental and optional. Somehow the message shifted from "Men, you will be crushed if you attempt to accomplish God's call on your life alone," to, "Men, you've got this. But if you want a better quality of life, go find yourself a woman." What's worse is that the message shifted from, "Women, in order for you and the people around you to live according to God's purpose, it is vital and necessary that you partner with other believers on mission in any way that is helpful," to, "Women, your role is to provide a better life for men."
Here is what I want to ask of you: please read all other passages addressing the role of women with the context of her mission in mind. If you come across 1 Tim 2, Titus 1, 1 Corinthians 11 in your reading, I want you to remind yourself to interpret these passages within the larger context of what God has to say about his mission for women. I plan to tackle each of these passages in later blog posts in an effort to bring clarity and faithfulness to the conversation. I have so much more I want to say on this topic.
But this is what I want to leave you with:
If your belief concerning the role of women diminishes the life-giving, health-producing, vital responsibility that women are entrusted with, then your belief falls short of the commands of God. If you believe that marriage and child-rearing is the only biblically appropriate option for women, then you are ignoring your responsibility to practice faithful biblical theology. If you think that women exist for the purpose of making a better life for men, then you are conveniently forgetting God's command given to the first woman to, "fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen 1:29)
Church, let's partner together on mission - men and women - as God designed.