Complementarianism
vs. Egalitarianism
by Pastor Terry L. Reese; 11/12/23
No More Moore!
Our society
has sought over recent decades to redefine the roles traditionally ascribed to
men & women within the context of both the home (Eph.5:22-33) and the Church (1Tim.2:8-15). Today, evangelicals are debating a basic
question: “Are there distinct gender-based functions and restrictions
that apply to local church ministry—OR, is there an absolute equality
between the sexes that translates into an interchangeability of functions?
Can women serve as pastors as well as men?” Within modern evangelicalism,
there are two opposing camps…
A. Complementarianism. Masculinity & femininity are to be embraced as Divinely-ordained distinctions; the genders are designed by God to complement & complete one another (Gen. 2:18, 24). While Complementarians affirm the essential spiritual & intellectual equality of men and women as human beings who are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27), they also affirm important gender-based distinctions when it comes to the exercise of their functional roles—particularly within the realms of the church (1Tim. 2:8-15 & 1Cor. 14:34) and the home (Gal. 5:22-33; 1 Cor. 11:3). Complementarians affirm the historic/traditional viewpoint that God has restricted women from standing in authority over men in certain leadership roles within the church—especially in regard to the pastorate. Rather, women are called to serve in different—but important—complementary roles within the local assembly. Basic Scriptures clearly teach complementarianism: 1Tim. 2:8-15 & 1Cor. 14:34; and the pastoral qualifications of Titus 1:6-9 & 1Tim. 3:1-7. Complementarianism, which is an exegetically-derived doctrine that is rooted in God's original design for Creation, IS what the Bible teaches--and also is thus what God-honoring and faithful Bible teachers have proclaimed throughout the centuries.
NOTE that complementarians are NOT declaring women to be inherently or qualitatively inferior--but rather, they ARE recognizing that God is a God of administrative order! In the same way, the Son--who, as Deity, is NOT inferior to the Father--willing submitted Himself unto the Father (1 Cor. 11:3), so too are Christian women called to submit unto their husbands and pastors.
B. Egalitarianism. The opposite view—which arose out of the scourge of postmodern evangelical feminism—affirms that there are NO gender-based restrictions with regard to local church ministry—and thus allows for women to serve as pastors, believing that there is a basic interchangeability of functions with regard to men and women. While the Bible does NOT teach such a viewpoint, our culture has steadily promoted its acceptance within the churches. The recent disturbances within the Southern Baptist Convention over the incompliance of the Saddleback mega-church with regard to this issue is a case in point. Often, Gal. 3:28 (which in context, speaks of salvation—not of the pastoral office) is misapplied in favor of Egalitarianism (as are other, off-topic and out-of-context texts)—even while clear texts such as 1 Tim. 2:12 are ignored and rejected. Rick Warren, the Pastor-emeritus of Saddleback who has fanned the flames of controversy by supporting the ordination of women, is typical of the advocates of this view, in that he defends his position by employing eisegesis--which involves cherry-picking Bible passages that seem to support one's extra-biblically derived pre-conceptions and presuppositions. Such "proof-texts" that Warren regularly employs include the following three examples--which he claims "convinced" him of the truth of egalitarianism: Matt. 28:19-20 (i.e., the Great Commission, which involves teaching, was given to all Christians); Acts 2:17-18 (there were presumably women at Pentecost, and the quotation speaks of "daughters" prophesying); and the Gospel narratives depict the women such as Mary Magdalene first functioning as proclaimers of our Lord's Resurrection. NOTE that Warren ignores specific Biblical instruction that bars women from the pulpit and turns to narratives that say NOTHING with regard to who is or is not qualified for the pastoral office!!!
This sin is of a most serious nature: God clearly and explicitly calls for Christians to observe appropriate and distinctive gender-based functions within the realms of both the home (Gal. 5:22-33) and the church (1 Tim. 2:8-15). Willful failure to observe God's prescribed patterns of order is an act of REBELLION (which is likened to the sin of witchcraft in 1 Sam. 15:23) and is conforming to the Luciferian image and likeness of the original Rebel (Isa. 14:12-15) who seduced the entire world by enticing our mother Eve to set aside her appropriately assigned role and leave the protection of her husband, Adam (Gen. 3).
