Why a Woman Could Be a Deacon

Welcome

RECORD AUDIO

Where we’re going:

Week 1: When a woman shouldn’t be a deacon.

When it threatens our doctrine and unity

Last week: Why a woman shouldn’t be a deacon

Biblical arguments against woman deacons

Tonight: Why a woman could be a deacon

Biblical arguments for woman deacons

Next week: Why a woman should be a deacon

Explain some potential benefits of female deacons

Brag on the elders

Opening prayer

I told you last week I was going to sound schizophrenic over the next two weeks, not because I’m conflicted myself but because I want you to see as clearly as I can show you the best arguments for both positions.

Why should a church have female deacons?

This isn’t about who is liberal or progressive, or who is bigoted and chauvinistic

This is an honest, in-house debate between Bible-believing, Jesus-loving, Gospel-preaching, Orthodox Christians on both sides

My goal tonight is to present the case for women deacons.

Essentially it’s going to be a point-by-point response to the four reasons not to have female deacons I shared last week

With one additional reason at the end

Five Reasons to Have Female Deacons:

A church could have female deacons because...

1) The office of deacon DEVELOPED over time

Last week we observed from Acts 6 that the first “deacons” were all men.

Given that their job was to serve widows, wouldn’t it make sense to recruit women to this office?

Perhaps, but what we’re seeing in Acts 6 is not the fully developed office of deacon

They aren’t called “deacons” (the verb form is used, but not the noun)

There are no elders, only Apostles

Paul’s qualifications aren’t given...

Acts 6:3—“Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.”

At least two of these “deacons” (Stephen and Philip) are later seen doing more elder-like activities, preaching God’s Word

Nobody would argue that churches don’t need deacons because Jesus never talked about them. Why? Because we understand the NT develops over time.

The same is true with the office of deacon. If Acts 6 is the inception of the office, it’s not yet fully formed.

Therefore, we should not exclude women from the diaconate simply because they’re absent at the inception of the office.

A church could have female deacons because...

2) There is a female deacon in SCRIPTURE

Last week we said there wasn’t any female deacons in Scripture

Sam asked about Phoebe in Romans 16:1

Last week I explained why some interpret this passage as simply highlighting Phoebe’s service.

Tonight, let’s examine another possible interpretation: that Phoebe actually was a deacon

Romans 16:1-2—“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.”

Does anybody remember what the Greek word for servant is? Diakonos.

This is the same word used at various places throughout the NT to refer to the office of deacon

But the word doesn’t have to mean deacon. It almost always doesn’t mean deacon. Most of the time it is translated “servant” or "minister”

Last week: We only translate it deacon if there’s strong contextual clues to do so

Strong Contextual Clues:

Presbyterian theologian Edmund Clowney— “If diakonos were being used in the general sense of ‘servant’ we might have expected ‘servant of Christ.’” [1]

But the passage doesn’t list her as a generic servant of Jesus, but a servant of a specific church. This is a clue that Paul is referring to her office.

SBTS professor and NT scholar Tom Schreiner— “the designation ‘deacon of the church in Cenchrae’ suggests that Phoebe served in this special capacity, for this is the only occasion in which the term ‘diakonos’ is linked with a particular church.” [2]

NT scholar Douglas Moo agrees: “the qualification of ‘diakonos’ by ‘of the church’ suggests . . . that Phoebe held at Cenchrae the ‘office’ of ‘deacon’ as Paul describes it in 1 Tim 3:8-12.” [3]

A church could have female deacons because...

3) Paul refers to FEMALE deacons

Turn to 1 Timothy 3

Two clues in these qualifications why a woman shouldn’t be a deacon:

Verse 12—Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.

Does this mean a deacon has to be married and have children? Why not?

Paul is saying “if he’s married he must be faithful his wife”

If we agree with that, could we not also agree that Paul may be saying that “if it’s a married male deacon he must be faithful to his wife”

This really hinges on what we believe about verse 11...

Verse 11—“Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.”

On face value Paul is giving requirements for wives of deacons

But the term gynaikas (translated here as “wives”) can also mean “women”

Someone read 1 Timothy 3:11 in NASB or NIV

NIV—In the same way, the women

NASB—Women must likewise be

How do you decide on the proper meaning when more than one option is available?

NOT WHICHEVER ONE YOU LIKE BEST!!!

Four Major Interpretations:

1) Wives of deacons

Problem: Why qualifications for deacons’ wives and not elders’ wives?

Some say that the nature of deacon work would require a deacon’s wife to be involved in ministry in a way an elder’s wife would not

I’ve never been a deacon, but after over 15 years of pastoral ministry, Holly and I both would tell you that an elder’s wife is often involved in nitty-gritty ministry

2) Wives of deacons and elders

This solves the above problem, but it creates another

Almost impossible to argue from the context

If Paul is talking about deacons in verses 8-10 and verses 12-13, it seems implausible that he would implicitly switch his argument to deacons and elders in verse 11.

3) Women who assist deacons

This sidesteps the problems with interpretations 1 and 2, but it essentially creates a third office that is mentioned nowhere else in the NT

Sherlock Holmes—“When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

4) Women deacons

Five Reasons:

1) Missing Pronoun

The possessive pronoun "their" isn't in the original language but has been supplied by the English translators.

So literally the ESV should say"wives likewise..." not “their wives likewise.”

The word “their” isn’t there.

2) Transition Statement

The word "likewise" is a transition word for a new section in Paul’s logical flow.

He begins with elders (v. 1)

In v. 8 “deacons likewise must be dignified ...” (followed by three qualifications)

v. 11 — “women likewise must be dignified...” (followed by three qualifications)

3) Qualification Placement

The placement of the qualification "husband of one wife" in the section on deacons is a subtle clue that suggests the likelihood for female deacons.

The phrase “husband of one wife” is only used three times in Scripture

1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6

In both 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6 the qualification appears at nearly the top of the list. This makes sense because a man who isn’t a faithful husband won’t be a faithful elder.

Why then does Paul drop this qualification down so low in his section on deacons? Why would he deviate from his usual pattern?

I believe he didn’t. I believe that verses 8-10 are listing the general qualifications for all deacons, v. 11 lists the specific qualifications for female deacons and v. 12 lists the specific qualifications for male deacons.

This explains why Paul waits until v. 12 to list “husband of one wife” as a qualification; because that’s where he begins listing qualifications for male deacons.

1-7 — Qualifications for elders

8-10 — General qualifications for deacons

11 — Specific qualifications for female deacons

12 — Specific qualifications for male deacons

Side note—when Paul gives instructions for men and women in the home, he begins with women (Col 3, Eph 5)

13 — Summary for all deacons

4) Word USAGE

The term gynaikas is used nine times in 1 Timothy

I believe the best translation in every instance is woman, not wife

1 Tim 2:9-14—“likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 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; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.”

1 Tim 3:2 and 12 are both usually translated “husband of one wife,” but a better translation that you’ve likely heard before is “one-woman man”

If that’s the preferred translation of 7 uses of this word, it isn’t a stretch to translate the 8th instance as woman also

If you disagree with this interpretation, it is significant that v. 11 is accusative and vv. 2 and 12 are genitive

A church could have female deacons because...

4) Elder authority is UNIQUE

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.”

Last week we looked at this text and argued that women shouldn’t be deacons because deacons have some authority

We considered five models of deacon ministry and tried to assess whether they exercised authority

Let’s think through a few more examples and ask yourself if this is or isn’t exercising authority...

Leading prayer or reading Scripture in a church worship service

Writing and signing checks

Making benevolence decisions

Signing contracts on behalf of the church

Having a church credit card and using it to make purchases on behalf of the church

Planning and leading church-wide events

Leading a ministry team with male volunteers

Depending on how you define it, any of these activities could be considered an exercise of authority. Yet all these activities and more are currently being performed by women.

The best way to navigate questions like these is to ask what does Paul mean by exercising authority?

The Presbyterians often think deeply about these things, and this case is no exception. A book of Church Order from 1867 divides the authority of elders into three categories [4] which I’m going to call...

Doctrine—the authority to teach and guard/guide the overall teaching ministry of the church

Discipline—the authority to lead the church in the faithful shepherding of members including the right execution of church discipline

Direction—the authority to lead the church in it’s overall direction

We tend to be okay with women functioning like deacons as long as they don’t have the title of deacon. Paul views things exactly opposite. He prohibits women from having the office of elder, not by saying women can’t be elders but by saying women can’t do the function of an elder

None of the three healthy models of deacon leadership have authority in this sense. They don’t lead the church’s doctrine, discipline, or direction.

A church could have female deacons because...

5) The HISTORY of the Church

Female deacons are not foreign to the historical church. They have been approved by Christian leaders and have existed in many churches throughout church history. [5]

Bible scholar Hermann W. Beyer says, “It is indisputable… that an order of deaconesses did quickly arise in the church."

The Early Church

Pliny the Younger (111-113) talks about two female deacons he tortured in a letter to the Roman Emperor Trajan

Clement of Alexandria (150-215) interpreted 1 Timothy 3:11 as referring to female deacons

Origen (184-253) interpreted Romans 16:1 as referring to female deacons

The Didascalia Apostolorum (early 200s) say that deaconesses are necessary to serve and care for sick and needy women

The Council of Nicaea in 325 contained special instructions for women deacons

Jerome (347-420) supported women deacons

John Chrysostom (349-407) interpreted 1 Timothy 3:11 as referring to female deacons

Olympias (368-408) was a female deacon who supported the ministries of John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nazianzus

Apostolic Constitutions (380)

Augustine (354-430) was close friends with a female deacon named Melania the Younger

Robert Thune—"In cultures which were strongly patriarchal, the early fathers of the church saw the appointment of deaconesses neither as a threat to male headship nor as an affront to Scripture."

The Medieval Church

The Council of Chalcedon in 451 gave instructions that female deacons should be at least 40 years old

Justinian (527-565) refers to female deacons in some of his writings about the church

Barberini Euchologion—a liturgical book from the Eastern Orthodox church in 790 contained instructions for female deacons

Female deacons were serving communion until at least the ninth century

Irene of Chrysabalanton was a deaconess in the 9th century

The Reforming Church

Martin Bucer (1491-1551) recommended that deaconesses be appointed in Strasbourg to care for the poor and sick

John Calvin (1509-64) believed that the women in 1 Timothy 3:11 referred to deacons’ wives, but he did believe that Phoebe was a deacon and he says in his Institutes that “Deaconesses were created . . . to discharge the public ministry of the church toward the poor and to strive with all zeal, constancy, and diligence in the task of love.”

Reformed churches in Amsterdam, Wesel, and several other cities of the Rhineland instituted female deacons to care for poor widows and single women

Theodore Beza (1519-1605) who succeeded Calvin at Geneva believed that 1 Timothy 5:9-10 (Paul’s instructions for enrolling widows) referred to female deacons

In 1576, a group of English “non-conformist ministers” wrote church policies that included guidelines for female deacons

In 1606, a Puritan church in Amsterdam had a widow acting as a deaconess

John Smyth, often called the founder of Baptists, affirmed women deacons in 1607

There is evidence that the earliest Puritans in New England had female deacons for visiting sick and afflicted women

The Modern Church

Just drawing from two streams: Reformed and Baptist theologians

The famous commentator Matthew Henry (1662-1714) believed that Phoebe was a deacon

In his book A History of the Work of Redemption, Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) cites the female deacon position favorably

Deaconesses were found in the 1700s in Baptist churches in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina

Princeton theologian Charles Hodge (1797-1878) refers to Phoebe as a “deaconess”

R.B.C. Howell (1801-68), the founder of the Southern Baptist Convention, supported female deacons

The church historian Philip Schaff (1819-93) found support for female deacons in 1 Tim. 5 and Rom. 16

The Presbyterian pastor Robert Dabney (1820-98) believed that 1 Timothy 5 was referring to women deacons

Charles Spurgeon (1834-92) said: “Deaconesses [are] an office that most certainly was recognised in the apostolic churches.”

The Dutch Calvinist Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) saw support for female deacons in 1 Tim. 3, Romans 16, and 1 Tim. 5

Princeton theologian B.B. Warfield (1887-1921) believed that Phoebe was a deaconess

Baptist historian Leon McBeth says “The evidence suggests that in the nineteenth century many Southern baptists approved deaconesses and regarded the offices as biblical. Moreover, at least some churches acted upon these views and regularly set aside deaconesses as well as deacons. Probably Southern Baptist churches have never been without deaconesses.”

Today’s Church

Gregg Allison, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, Dan Doriani, John Frame, J.D. Greear, Wayne Grudem, James Hamilton, Tim Keller, Andreas Kostenburger, John MacArthur, Douglas Moo, John Piper, Tom Schreiner and others