A Church That Honours Women

Introduction

Two Extremes

In the church today, we face two extremes when it comes to the place of women and gender roles within the church. Both extremes are greatly harmful to Christ’s Church and her witness to the world, though in different ways.

Male Authoritarianism

In Paul’s day, the extreme that existed for the most part was the extreme of male authoritarianism. That is, the idea that women have less dignity or value than men and that women exist mainly to have children and be quite. While less prevalent today and almost never professed, some conservative evangelical circles continue to treat women this way. It is a viewpoint that has often led to abuse, neglect, and harm for families, churches, and societies. The stem of this idea, I think, is a misunderstanding of the fact that God made men to be generally stronger physically than women. It is a very might makes right primal and animalistic intuition that the sex that fights wars, hunts animals, and builds houses more often must be better. They should be the ones that speak, and their word should be law to an extreme degree. This, of course, is a misinterpretation of God’s design. God did not give women the same upper-body strength as men in general, nor did he give her the same emotional state. There are many differences, and yet those differences highlight glory, not weakness or a lack of worth. Aristotle believed that women were much less intellegent than men, but this is only because women did not get the same education as men. Men and women, we could say, each show a different side of what it means to be made in the image of God. Any man who looks down on women should be humbled by the many ways God’s glory is uniquely demonstrated in them.

Feminism

On the other hand, we today encounter the other end of the extreme in modern feminism. Feminism paints equality with a wide brush, not only giving women equal dignity and worth but also equal roles and abilities. Modern feminism chants a woman can do anything a man can, but in the end destroys women. Today, so many women turn 40 and realize that, having spent their youth building an education and a successful career, that they want a family and its become too late for it. The natural desire to be a mother is pushed out in youth and only when they are coming home to a nice house which they share with their working husband and a dog or cat do they realize how their femininity was cheated from them. Feminism does not bring out the best in women, it is an over-reaction to male authoritarianism that takes away what is beautiful in being a woman and replaces it with a manufactured masculinity. Feminism does not lift up women, it tears them down by telling them that being a woman is worthless and that you should try to be a man instead. Woman are put into combat in the army, which I believe is beyond unnatural. Why? Because feminism says, being a woman is worthless, try to be a man instead. It is no wonder that feminism led to transgenderism. If there is no difference between men and women, what is to stop a man or woman from being the opposite?

Phoebe: Sister, Deaconess, Patron

How may we avoid the danger of both of these extremes? Though both problems seems like opposites, they both have the same basic problem. Both feminism and male authoritarianism diminish the great and unique gift that is biblical femininity. The church needs women. Feminism destroys the feminine nature by pressuring women to embrace masculine traits and roles. Male authoritarianism silences women to the point that femininity is seen as weak and something that must remain hidden and suppressed.

What Scripture gives us, however, is a balance in which men and women are free to engage with the traits and roles with which they were created, with the unique pieces of each gender complimenting one another in a way that honours both to the glory of God.

In Paul’s commendation of the Deaconess Phoebe, we see the honour of a faithful and greatly important women in the early church celebrated above all the names Paul goes on to list. This makes it clear to us that, in the Church of Jesus Christ, women are honoured as important and powerfully necessary parts of the body of Christ.

Who Was Phoebe?

A sister, and more than that, the first and most honoured saint in this list of names Paul mentions.

A deacon, which we will look at more later. The text tells us she was a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae. We don’t know a lot about this church, in fact the only other mention of this city in the NT is Acts 18:18 where Paul cut his hair because of an unexplained vow he took. Nevertheless, he certainly knew this church and Phoebe was being sent from there to do some work in Rome, and was likely delivering this letter to them.

A patron of the Apostolic Ministry. Roman society was dominated by patronage and most people in society existed in a patron relationship. A patron was a wealthy person who would sponsor people who were lower on the social ladder. In some ways this was similar to employment, but the relationship was quite different. This was not a contract of employment, but a relationship of honour and dependence. Many of the early churches in the Roman world were meeting in the homes of wealthy women, and this was likely true of Phoebe. It is quite likely that her church met in her large home, and she spent her wealth to act as a patron to Paul and other believers, giving them money for their work in the Gospel to continue.

The Honour Paul Give Phoebe

In this last chapter of the book of Romans, Paul mentions many people. A couple are recognizable from the book of Acts, such as Prisca and Aquila, but most of them we do not know. Most of them are offered greetings from Paul and were apparently either in Rome or soon to be there. Phoebe, however, stands out. She is being sent to Rome from Paul and her local church for some unnamed task. As she is being sent by Paul and introduced to them, he writes a few words of recommendation to them so that they will greet her warmly and without any suspicion.

The welcome is very sincere and dignified. Remember that this is in a world where women were very much seen as second-class citizens. From the worlds perspective at the time, the fact that he not only recommends this woman to them with such high honour, but also entrusts her with this letter, would perhaps be shocking to those around him. Women were seen as less intelligent and less important than men. Indeed, modern feminists have accused Paul of being a misogynist himself. But one thing that Christianity clearly did in these early years was drastically raise the honour and dignity of women far beyond what was common in that day.

This is because Christianity is committed to the biblical concept of the common image of God in men and women. The image of God transcends gender, class, position, age, or ethnicity. As Paul says in Gal 3:28

Galatians 3:28 ESV

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.

This oneness in Christ meant that no one believer could see themselves as inherently more or less valuable or dignified than another. This does not do away with social structure or roles. Elsewhere, Paul affirms that husbands should lead their wives and wives submit to their husbands. He encourages slaves to submit to master, even when the whole idea of slavery itself is wrong. He encourages church members to submit to Church government and the authority of their elders. Nevertheless, these structures and roles are not determined by inherent value or dignity, any more than Christ’s submission to the Father makes his dignity or glory as fully God any less. The Trinity itself teaches us that we can exist in different roles, even in social hierarchy, without diminishing the equality of our standing before God as his Image Bearers. All believers are equally God’s image-bearers, equally one with Christ, equally being prepared for glory in the future world.

With that being the case, we can uphold the biblical gender structures and roles that exist and yet champion the equality of our dignity as believers in Christ. So it makes sense that Paul, in a world that looked down on woman as less than men, could boldly and clearly champion a sister in Christ with the honour and dignity that she deserved as a sister, a deacon, and a patron of Gospel ministry.

The Church Father John Chrysostom writes about this text:

See how many ways he takes to give her dignity. For he has both mentioned her before all the rest, and called her sister. And it is no slight thing to be called the sister of Paul. Moreover he has added her rank, by mentioning her being “deaconess.”

With that quote, let us look into her office as a Deaconess of the church at Cenchreae.

The Office of a Deaconess

Verse 1 is a very contentious verse in the debate of the role of women in church offices. The ESV decides to translate the Greek word diakonos literally as servant with a footnote. This is the same word that is elsewhere transliterated to describe the office of deacon as Paul does in 1 Tim 3:8. The word deacon literally means servant, and the same word is used here to describe Phoebe. Some argue that the use of the word diakonos here identifies Phoebe as merely an extraordinary member of the church in her service, while others see this as a title that identifies her clearly as fulfilling the office of a deacon in this particular church. Let us look at the evidence in the NT as I will be defending what Pedro and I believe to be the biblical interpretation.

First, it is important to note the difference between deacons and elders in the roles they play. Elders, also called bishops, overseers, pastors, and presbyters, form the spiritual leadership of an individual church. They hold the authority given them by the Holy Spirit through the congregation itself to lead, teach, instruct, rebuke, bring order, and shepherd the hearts of the local flock. Deacons, on the other hand, never have their role clearly laid out. A common belief is that this office stems from Acts 6 where seven men were chosen to serve (diakoneo) so the Apostles did not have to concern themselves with administrative tasks like food distribution among the saints. This is the best scriptural clue we have as to their role of providing administrative assistance to the elders so that they may focus more on the spiritual leadership and teaching ministries.

In 1 Tim 2:12-13 we see the clear reason, given from creation, of why a woman may not be an elder, but this does not apply to deacons.

1 Timothy 2:12–13 ESV

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve;

In Paul’s list of qualifications for an elder a few verses later in 3:2, he says an elder must be able to teach. Elsewhere in the NT, it is clear that authority is given to the elders over the church (1 Tim 5:17; Heb 13:7;1 Peter 5:5). Thus, Paul’s statement that women cannot teach or exercise authority over a man excludes them from this office. Being an elder inherently means teaching and exercising authority. This is due to the nature of the roles men and women play in creation, marriage, and the church. For example, it would not be right for a wife to have spiritual authority over her husband, as this would invalidate the marriage roles created by God and affirmed by Paul in Eph 5. Paul affirms that this is because man was created first and then Eve. This does not mean man is more important, honourable, or even necessarily more gifted in natural leadership, as Genesis 1 lists both men and women as inherently made in the Image of God. Rather, this means a submission to the created order according to the wisdom of God. Think of it like this: in the Trinity, the Son submits to the Father but the Father does not submit to the Son, though each person is fully God equal in dignity, power, and honour, so it is not right that a woman be the spiritual head or leader of men though she is equal with man as an image bearer.

However, there is absolutely nothing in the NT that even remotely suggests that this applies to the office of a deacon. That being the case, the assumption should be that women can be deacons too. Nowhere does Paul say a deacon must be able to teach. Nowhere does the NT talk about obedience and submission to deacons, and even the very name servant shows the office of a deacon to be not one of authority in the sense Paul is referencing in 1 Tim 2. Since what bars a woman from eldership does not bar her from being a deacon, the assumption should be that the office is open to them.

Again, even though the office of a deacon is less authoritative than an elder, this does not make it less honourable. 1 Tim 3:13

1 Timothy 3:13 ESV

For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

But if you are still not convinced, consider these arguments which I will briefly make.

1 Tim 3:11 speaks of the women deacons. The ESV unfortunately decides to add its own interpretation here and assumes that these women must refer to the wives of the deacons even though the Greek text makes this highly unlikely. The NIV is much closer to the original text, The women also must be dignified. There is no reason in the text to assume that the women refers to the wives of deacons, as if the wives of deacons were held to a higher standard than the wives of elders, who are never mentioned. It is much more natural to take verse 11 as a footnote on how women serving as deacons are held to the same standard as their male counterparts before getting into what is specifically for male deacons, namely their biblical marriage and godly leadership of their family in verse 12.

It is also clear that women served as deacons in the early church, mostly for counseling and caring for the young women of the church. As we already saw, the early church pastor John Chrysostom was very clear that he believed Phoebe to be an official deacon.

Finally, in our text this is the most natural reading. While this Greek word can be used to simply mean servant, this is not how Paul uses it. She is identified not just as a servant of Christ, but deacon of a specific Church.

Think of the word elder. This word can simply refer to an older man in the church. However, if I was writing a letter to another church and spoke of an older man in our church as an elder of Faith Baptist Church, they would certainly think I was referring to their office and not simply that he is one of our older members. He may be an elder in one sense, but to speak of someone as an elder of Faith Baptist clearly communicates the office of an elder. Likewise, for Paul to call Phoebe a deacon of the church at Cenchreae would clearly have communicated her holding an official office of a deacon.

Unfortunately, many churches have defaulted to closing this office to women who very well may be qualified by the Holy Spirit to serve in them, and thus have hindered their ministry as well as withheld honour due to those who take on the responsibilities of a deacon without the title. When Sister Lyn became our treasurer, even though we cannot call the treasurer a deacon for legal reasons according to our bylaws, she is a deaconess in a biblical sense. That is, she holds a recognized office of administration in the church which is exactly what we believe a deacon is, and she should be honoured as such. This office is open for women, and there is nothing in the Scriptures that should hold us back from embracing them in that role. The inclusion of women in the offices of the church makes a great statement about their importance and contribution to the church without negating the clear boundaries of the roles men and women are to have in this life.

Women in the NT Church

In conclusion, how may we become a church that honours women properly and biblically, the way Jesus did? The answer in our text is the two obligations Paul gives the Romans in how they should treat the deaconess Phoebe.

Welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints

The church can honour women by treating them as equal saints in every way. In Christ, we stand despite gender and every other visible distinction, as equals in honour and dignity. In verse 3, Paul does says Aquila and his wife, he says Prisca and Aquila, actually mentioning her name first. There is no preference for men in the church, and every brother or sister ought to be welcomed and honoured in Christ according to their service and faithfulness. Even though we believe men and women inhabit different roles in the church, there should never be a feeling or atmosphere that gives people that idea that women are an afterthought in the church, especially since the majourity of Christians worldwide are women and not men.

Help her in whatever she may need from you

Secondly, women have important work to do in the church, and we should be careful we do not get in the way in order to promote a tradition that may be build on male authoritarianism. This does not mean putting women in places God has not created them to be, such as in eldership, but being open to women filling roles that are completely biblical for them to hold, such as being a deaconess like Phoebe. We also need to be aware of the spiritual gifts that God has blessed our women with and how they can be best used in the ministries they are equipped for. Married women are helpers in the work their husbands are called to and just as honoured for it as they are, as we see with Prisca and Aquila who both corrected Apollos in Acts 18:26. They are a team together. My work here as your pastor is only possible because of my wife, without here there is no way I would be in this pulpit. She is just as responsible for any good my ministry does as I am, rather it is Christ through us. Woman have work to do here, they have important roles to fill, they have unique gifts that go beyond nursery and coffee, although both of those are very important.

So as a body of believers, let us proclaim that oneness we all have in Christ by making sure our attitude towards our wonderful and gifted sisters in Christ. This preaches the Gospel, which holds that all who put their faith in Christ and justified and acts is priests in service to God. In our baptism, we share a common salvation, a common dignity, and a common work. Every Christian has their own post to man, and our gender may be one factor that directs where that work may be. Nevertheless, it must be clear that every Christian, from the full time pastor to the full time mother, have the same great mission to complete in the Spirit of Christ. As we pursue it together, our oneness will show the truth of the Gospel which saves.