Who Should Lead in the Church & the Home? | 3 Views on the Roles of Men and Women

Type of Doctrine: Secondary

"12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor."

-1 Timothy 2:12-14 ESV

Why does it matter?

Who can lead the church? Men only? Men or women? Who can preach? Men only? Men or women? This topic seeks to answer these questions. If God has revealed who should lead in the church and the home, then we should seek to understand what he has said about it. One's view on the roles of men and women in the church and the home is typically a secondary doctrine which usually affects the church one chooses to attend.

What is it?

Who leads in the church? Who leads in the home? The two main options that have been put forth are called complementarianism and egalitarianism.

Complementarians claim that men and women have been designed equally but have been given different, complementary roles (i.e., men lead/preach in the church and men lead in the home). Complementarians often point to 1 Timothy 2:12: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet." Some proponents of this traditional version of complementarianism are Wayne Grudem, John Piper, and Thomas Schreiner. As Jonathan Leeman has pointed out, some complementarians are more broad in their application (meaning in addition to church and marriage they don't believe that women should lead in the wider society or as civic leaders) while other complementarians are more narrow in their application (meaning they only apply this principle to church eldership and marriage, not to the wider society or civic leadership roles).

Another modified version of complementarianism agrees that men lead in the church and in the home, but it claims that women can preach if the male elders affirm and authorize it. This view claims that not all preaching is teaching and it seeks to distinguish what they call big-T teaching that elders do (1 Tim. 3:2; 1 Tim. 2:12) from little-t teaching that we all may do (Col. 3:16). Andrew Wilson argues for this view in his article "Beautiful Difference: The (Whole-Bible) Complementarity of Male and Female." Thomas Schreiner summarizes Andrew Wilson's arguments here and disagrees with them (arguing for the previous more traditional form of complementarianism). John Piper disagrees with Wilson's version of complementarianism as well and provides his reasons here.

Egalitarians, on the other hand, argue that men and women have been designed equally in personhood and in role (i.e., men and/or women can lead in the church and in the home). They would claim that all roles which are available to men are fully available to women as well. Proponents often emphasize Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Ian Paul has written an article from an egalitarian perspective in response to Andrew Wilson's article here in an effort to argue against complementarianism.

Here are some of the key Bible verses on this topic to study:

• Regarding the church:

  • Big-T Teaching: "12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor" (1 Tim. 2:12-14 ESV).

    • However, Paul can't mean women are always silent in the church assembly, because he also writes that women prayed and prophesied in church gatherings: " . . . but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven" (1 Cor. 11:5 ESV).

  • Little-t Teaching (i.e., teaching everyone does): "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God" (Col. 3:16 ESV).

• Regarding the home: "22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands" (Eph. 5:22-24 ESV).

3 Views on the Roles of Men & Women in the Church

Views	What?	Who Can Be an Elder?	Who Can Preach in Sunday Worship?	Why?
Complementarianism Option A (women cannot be an elder or preach)	Men & women are equal in personhood but different in role	Qualified Men Only (1 Tim. 3:1-6)	Men	They point out that the natural reading of 1 Tim. 2:12 fits here and that Paul grounds his idea in creation (i.e., God made men and women differently).
Complementarianism Option B (women cannot be an elder but can preach)	Men & women are equal in personhood but different in role	Qualified Men Only (1 Tim. 3:1-6)	Men & Women (i.e., Women who have been authorized by the male only elders to preach.)	They argue that preaching might not include teaching (instead it could be the gift of exhortation). Also, there is a distinction between big-T teaching and little-t teaching. If the male only elders affirm it, then it's okay.
Egalitarianism (women can be an elder and preach)	Men & women are equal in personhood and role	Qualified Men & Women (1 Tim. 3:1-6)	Men & Women	They argue that men or women can be an elder or preach. There are various interpretations of 1 Tim. 2:12. Some argue on the basis of moving towards heaven where we will be like angels (Matt. 22:30) and that in Christ there is no male or female (Gal. 3:28).

2 Views on the Roles of Men & Women in the Home

Views	What?	Who leads in the home?	Why?
Complementarianism	Men & women are equal in personhood but different in role	Men	Wife submits to husband (arguing from Eph. 5:22)
Egalitarianism	Men & women are equal in personhood and role	Men & Women (mutual submission)	Mutual submission (arguing from Eph. 5:21)

Application

All churches should seek to have godly, loving, and biblical leadership in the church and the home. Regardless of one's view on this topic, it must be stressed that all of the views love and value women. Of course there are extremes on both sides, but generally both complementarians and egalitarians are well-meaning Christians who simply disagree on a secondary matter. All of the views believe that men and women are equal in personhood. Also, it is important to point out that it's never acceptable for leadership to be harsh, abusive, or domineering (various Scriptures make this really clear; see 1 Tim. 3). The point of disagreement is whether one believes that there is a difference in role or not.

Where can I learn more?

Bibliography:

- Andrew Wilson's article can be found here. 

- Jonathan Leeman's article can be found here.

- John Piper article can be found here.

- Ian Paul's article can be found here.

- Thomas Schreiner's article can be found here. 

For more information:

- Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994.