Wednesday 28 May 2014

Pastor and Pastor (Mrs)

There has been a lot of debate on whether a woman becomes automatically anointed upon marrying a pastor. A wife is an help mate fit for her husband. Who else can efficiently help a pastor than his wife? Now i'm just being logical but logic doesn't always make sense in our faith. I feel that the anointing and grace to be a pastor can not be maritally transferred, she should have her own personal gift or calling to pastor a church or to assist her husband in his ministry as a co-pastor (Ephesians 4:11). The 1st Timothy passages point to one direction, a woman can not be a pastor or a deacon but we see later that Phoebe was a deacon.

Can an unmarried man (or woman) pastor a church? 1st Cor 14:2
Can a pastor who divorces his/her spouse or has unruly children continue pastoring a church? 14:4

I'm sorry about the long passage. Kindly read through and share your opinion. Thank you. xoxo

1The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.2Therefore an overseera must be above reproach, the husband of one wifesober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. 8Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,c not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11Their wives likewise mustd be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 12Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 1st Timothy 3.

34Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 1st Corinthians 14

12I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;b she must be quiet. 1st Timothy 2:14

1I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea. Romans 16:1






8 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are salient issues raised, however, being a pastor's wife does not automatically qualify u as a pastor. It's all about ur calling.
I also do not believe that women should have a subdued role in d house of God or in spiritual matters, mother Theresa played a huge role everywhere she went, we have many women doing exploits in God's Vineyard today. Christianity has gone beyond playing d Sexism card. I'm not against the scriptures but times have changed. The new testament was inspired to correct some 'anomalies' of the old.

Jan Zizka said...

Scriptures are very clear in this issue(unlike long hair/cloth hair cover debate).Women are not allowed to be overseers/pastors,because they are not allowed to teach or have authority over man-1Thimothy2:11-15.Even if take this passage in husband/wife context,then also it means that a wife cannot be a Pastor over her husband,she can only be an assistant pastor/deaconess(co-pastor is a misleading term).Also a women who assumes role of a Senior Pastor/overseer will be setting a bad example to other women and men by teaching and having authority over men in the church.
That is why 1 Thimothy 3:1-7 speaks only of men to the post of overseers/senior pastors.1Thimothy3:8-12 speaks of deacons in which in 1 Thimothy 3:11 is addressed to women in the original transalations rather than the deacons wives ,which means women who wish to be deaconess like Phoebe are allowed.In modern times this would include the post of assistant pastors.
Thus we understand from 1Corinthians14:34,1Thimothy2:11-15 that women should not do authoritarian teaching(overseer/pastoral authority) over men,which is also the meaning of 1 Corinthians14:34 saying women must be "silent" in churches and also the meaning of 1 Corinthians11:10 saying women should have symbol of authority on their heads (symbol being long hair/cloth/cap) when they preach(prophesy)/pray in christian meetings because of "angels"-angels means overseers/pastors of church as in 7 angels of 7 churches of Asia in the book of Revelations and in book of Acts in new testament.

So to conclude according to scriptures women can be Apostles(eg:Junia),Evangelist(eg.Pirscillia)Deaconess(eg:Phoebe) but they are not allowed to be senior Pastors/Overseers of a local church according to scriptures.
Also heirarchial authority over a Pastor/Overseer of local church like Bishop/Metropolitan/Pappacy etc are unbiblical.The only authority over the Pastor/Overseer of a local church should be the authority of Lord Jesus Christ.

God bless you

Jan Zizka said...

You are completely wrong.
Not even a word or comma of scriptures will change even if the if the world ends-Lord Jesus Christ.
New Testament is the fulfillment of Old Testament,it was not written to correct errors of Old Testament as you claim.Scriptures donot have errors/anomalies,it does have some mistransalations in various languages due to human weakness.
Jesus proved himself to be the Christ/Messiah by fulfilling more than 300 messianic prophesies of Old Testament/Jewish Tanakh.Also many other Bible prophesies have been fulfilled literally till date.

You can view most of these fulfilled bible prophesies(both messianic and non messianic) in my website yahwehword.wordpress.com.

God is not a man that he should lie...God's word is true...you can verify it by fulfilled Bible prophesies,
many miracle healings that take place when people with real need cry out to God in Jesus name and scriptures itself with the power of the Holy Spirit to change any hardened "heart/mind".

So God bless you to see the truth and reality.

Anuoluwapo said...

Thank you.
A female assistant pastor still pastors over the male members of the church.
How about the married/unmarried pastor issue?

Anuoluwapo said...

Thank you anon

Jan Zizka said...

A female assistant Pastor(more correct term is Deaconess,as Pastor/Overseer should be a man.
A woman can teach/evangelize a man(Pricsillia did this in New Testament),but she is not allowed to have authoritarian teaching over a man.We can teach both with authority and without authority (like giving a directions to a person or giving vital informations etc which are often intended only for the well being of the taught(pupil) rather than having authority over them.So there is a big difference between Pastoral/authoritarian teaching and a deacon/deaconess teaching/evangelizing.

There is no difference between married and unmarried woman to do ministry,infact all are called to evangelize as many as they can.

God bless you.

Jan Zizka said...

Also no difference betwwen married and unmarried men to do christian ministry,same is the case with women.

Infact Apostle Paul was unmarried and was a Pastor and an Apostle according to his on words in scriptures.Paul says he prefers men and women not to be married as they could devote themselves full to the Lord.But since there is temptation of sexual sins as long as we are in this world he exhorts all to marry.
So no difference between married and unmarried in doing Pastoral,Apostolic,Evangelical,teaching,music or any other ministry of the Church of God.

Anuoluwapo said...

Oh yes true Paul! Thank you