The Adventist Ordination Crisis, Pt. 2

Scripture: Ephesians 5:22-24, John 17:22, 1 Corinthians 11:3

Date: 06/06/2015

Should women be ordained as pastors? This is a sensitive, important subject that can be divisive. What does the Bible say about it? - Part 2

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2 Comments

Godsamazinggrace

Thank you for the sermon, Pastor Doug. I agree that we should never compromise Biblical truth for the sake of unity. The Bible has to be the standard by which we, who profess to be Christians, must live by. The Seventh-day Adventist church should not ordain women as ministers because other churches do it. If we pride ourselves in being the church that teaches Bible truth then we cannot do anything that would undermine that. We must stand up for truth, no matter how unpopular it is. Satan would like it if we were to allow the fear of division in the church to lead us into making compromises.
Women in the Bible were involved in ministry and they financially supported the church but they were not ordained to preach the word. They were not elders. Women were missionaries like the Samaritan woman who witnessed to her community and they were instrumental in spreading the Gospel. They were disciples like Dorcas. There are many ways women can be effective in the church without being ordained as ministers. They can lead in worship like Miriam, they can be prayer warriors like Rhoda and John Mark's mother. Priscilla and her husband were fellow workers.
Paul mentioned Phoebe, saying that she was servant of the church and a great helper to him and many. The word used for helper is "prostatis" which means a woman set over others; a female guardian, protectress, patroness, caring for the affairs of others and aiding them with her resources. This is not much different from a leader of a church ministry today. Paul also mentions Junia, a Christian woman and fellow prisoner who along with Andronicus, was "of note among the apostles".
The women in early times had important roles to play in the church but none of them were ordained to be ministers. Paul gives the order of how things ought to be in the church: "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God" (1 Corinthians 11:3). This is order is the same for the home. Christ-husband-wife-children. This is God's order and it should not be changed to please anyone.

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Anonymous

I totally agree with you. In my church, women are starting to take more important roles, and you can certainly see the bad effect it caused.

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