The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Anjela Paje of Spokane, WA, from the tape, GC 1301-W, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 25."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  ©1983. All Rights Reserved.

Questioner

I was wondering, how you feel about a woman being a pastor of a church as you are?


John MacArthur's Answer

I feel very bad about that. Let me just read you what the Bible says, okay? 1 Timothy 2:11, “Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. I permit not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” And, this is in relation to verse 15, of chapter 3, “That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

So, if you want to know how to behave in the church, the first thing you do is, you don’t have a woman be the pastor. Because that’s what it says in the Bible. That’s not my opinion. I’m not trying to be a chauvinist. I’m just trying to do what the Bible says. And, that’s the thing that’s the issue.

Now, the balance comes, you say, "Why is that right? Why is that so?" and somebody says, “Oh, that’s Paul, he’s a chauvinist, and we can throw that out." "Oh, it’s a rabbinical gloss. Some rabbi got carried away and stuck it in Genesis 2, and then, it’s a Pauline extrapolation, and so forth, and he just stuck it in there." "And, it’s cultural." I hear this stuff. "It’s cultural," all the time. "It’s cultural." But, it says in the next verse, "...the reason is Adam was first formed and then Eve." That’s not cultural, folks. That’s creative. That’s the way it was from the creation, and not only that, "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

So, the woman is confirmed in the submissive role, 1) by creation, 2) by deception. She needs protection. She was created as a helper to the man and it was made evident when she stepped out from under his authority, she goofed up the whole human race. So, basically, (laughter) Well, I mean, I don’t want to leave it just at that, you know. Somebody said, God created man, then He rested, then, He created woman, and no one’s rested, but, (laughter) In fact, somebody even went so far as to say there wouldn’t be any women in heaven because it says in Revelation 4, “There was silence in heaven for the space of 30 minutes. (laughter) But, I don’t want to, I don’t want to get carried away. See, those things are definitely chauvinistic statements, so.

But, let me say this, that the reason God has designed it this way is just that’s because God has designed it that way, and a woman ought to accept the wonderful role she has, which is given in the next verse, verse 15, "she shall be saved in child-bearing, if they continue in faith and love, and so forth, and holiness."

What does that mean? It means this, look, the man is given leadership. But, the woman is saved. Saved? What do you mean saved? Soul salvation? No, you’re not saved by having a baby. You’re not saved by childbirth. Well, what does it mean? "She should be saved in childbearing." It means this, you’re saved from any thought of second-class status. Men, we have the authority, but women have the influence. I mean, a babe that suckled at the breast of a mother for the first few months and years of its life develops an intimacy that never changes, if that mother loves that child the way that child needs to be loved, and there will be an intimacy of relationship, and an intimacy of influence. Let’s face it, a child is 95 per cent shaped by the time it’s five years old, and 90 per cent of that shaping has probably occurred from the mother in many, many cases.

So, the balance that God is built in so marvelously is husband has headship, wife has influence. And, that is another reason why I’m so strongly committed to the fact that women ought to take care of their kids in the home, and they ought to develop intimate and long term relationships to those children. That’s their input, not taking a briefcase and marching off to the factory or the plant or the office. That isn’t how women influence the world in God’s design. They influence the world be shaping the personalities of the next generation. And, that’s the priority role as I see it.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur's Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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