Let The Women Shine (Part 1 of 3)

By: Rob Peralta

God in His infinite wisdom has chosen a path for woman to be exalted and really "shine". At first glance and understanding this path looks "degrading" and downright second-class. We ALL can choose to obey God's word and find ourselves in high esteem with the Almightly, but with woman God lays a specific plan, that if followed , she will have GREAT BLESSINGS! It is an obedience plan for sure but it is part of God's supreme order. Something He deems righteous (right thing to do).

Because this subject is a controversial topic and many have strong views, I wanted to take this matter up with our Lord. I prayed and studied His word. Answers came in a dream and a sign, and His revealing the real truth about this matter in scripture. So it is with strong confidence I will let you know what God has revealed.

As I often do, I write about things I notice in my walk with the Lord. Recently our church has hired a "associate pastor" who is a woman. I like her very much and appears to be a very caring, and loving Christian woman. But I was alittle troubled because I was familiar with the scriptures about being against a woman in church leadership (particularly teaching men).

We must realize that submission to God's word is the right thing to do. ALL OF GOD'S WORD. Not just what "we" want to submit to. And God's word shows a certain "order", a chain of command as it were. In (1 Cor.11:3) we read "...at the head of every man is Christ, and at the head of every woman is man, and at the head of Christ is God (the Father)" Here we see that a clear "order" is made. Woman is not head over man any more than man is head over Christ. But the KEY thing to remember is that THIS IS GOOD BEFORE GOD. The leadership is purposeful and correct. If one of the beings mentioned decides to ignore or subvert this order, they do so to their detriment and even to others in the chain. Man should never try to be woman, and woman should never try to be man.

Now that we know "God's order" we can see how to apply this to our lives. In particlular the VERY important subjects of "worship" and "family". In his booklet called "God's role for women in ministry" Doug Batchelor makes many powerful arguments for God's word to be obeyed and followed. He says " many who advocate the position that the Bible sees no difference at all between men and women in the church and family must often discard very pointed remarks from Paul's letters, sometimes without any textual reason for doing so--but on what basis do they come to that conclusion?...are we as individuals the final arbiters of truth?"

If we are the final arbiter, where to we stop and begin? Which verses can we trust to be true and which must we explain away to fit our traditions and customs? If we start being "God" and ignore and pick and choose, we cannot come to trust that God's word is infallible. Our ways are first , His word is second --- God forbid!

It is important to understand that the devil is attacking the family unit and our worship in these last days. Anything he can do to subvert God's word, he gains a victory of sorts. The victory becomes larger and larger as more of us ignore and discard God's specific instructions.

I am afraid that in today's politically correct society, the "worldly trends" have seeped into our church. Women as ordained pastors and elders is very much becoming a normal setting within our churches. We must understand and DO God's word in regard to this matter, it should not be ignored, lest we want to lose many blessings! ............ To be continued.