Women in Church Leadership

This is a selection from Nancy Leigh DeMoss from her program, Revive Our Hearts. It is an excellent reminder about my role in God's program.

I think of a classic biblical illustration of competition for leadership in the community of faith that has an application when it comes to the contemporary church situation. It goes back to Numbers chapter 16. You remember the story where God had ordained Moses to be the leader of the people of Israel and Korah was a Levite who actually stirred up an insurrection against Moses.

Numbers 16, verses 2-3, says,

They rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together [these 250 men] against Moses and against Aaron [God’s appointed leaders] and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

So in essence they challenged Moses’ right to be the leader. They said, “We’re holy. You’re not the only one around here who’s spiritual. Why shouldn’t we be able to be in charge of the community of faith as well as you?” Then you have this narrative of how God instructed Moses to deal with it, but I think Moses’ response to Korah has just some powerful application for women today struggling and striving in relation to this thing of male leadership in the church.

Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them . . .?” (Numbers 16:8-10).

In other words, you have many spiritual responsibilities, gifts and callings. He has brought you near Him. “And would you seek the priesthood also?” .

He says, “Is it not enough for you that God has let you have a relationship with Him? He has let you serve Him? He has let you minister to others in the body of Christ? Are you angry and rebellious because the one thing you can’t have or the one thing God hasn’t given you, you say I must have?” In that case it was the priesthood: “We have to be in charge.”

I think that spirit of resistance against God-ordained authority goes back to this whole spirit of Korah in his rebellion and God dealt with that rebellion very seriously. He used that situation as an example to the Israelites to say, “Look, I have appointed the ones I have appointed to be in charge.” God doesn’t have to explain to us why He does what He does, why He says it is to be this way.

God says, “Is it too small a thing for you as a woman that I have let you have a relationship with Me. I’ve let you serve in the body of Christ. I’ve given you gifts and you are free to use those gifts in many, many different ways—countless ways that you can use those gifts to serve others. Are you saying the one thing you have to have is the pastorate or to be an elder? There’s something wrong with that picture when we say, “God, we have to be the ones who are running this thing.”

Now, that makes a lot of women see red today. That’s a really politically incorrect approach. It doesn’t fit with our democratic mindset that everything should be equal say, equal rule. But the joy for me as a woman comes from stepping back and saying, “Lord, You are God and You are wise and You are good and You are loving and You love me and You love the men and You love the women and You know what is best for Your body, for the church, for the family of God. Whether I like it or not, whether I understand it or not, whether it makes sense to me or not, I bow the knee and I surrender.