Women Pastors: "Forbidden fruit still tempting Eve!" (The pattern that God established is

Just as husbands and fathers ought to exercise godly leadership in their human families, so wise, mature men ought to be appointed as fatherly leaders (pastors, elders, and overseers) in the church (place of worship). This is the clear and biblical teaching of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-6. Just as in the case of marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33), the respective functions of men and women are not reversible. Men, not women, are called on to exercise the fatherly leadership as pastors! The clear teaching of the Bible is that the models for family and church interrelate. They do so for these reasons. First, these are the two God-ordained institutions in which we find spiritual resources for full Christian maturity. Second, these two institutions have unique ability to reveal God to a world blinded by sin. Family and church share the central place in God's order of things. God's design for leadership in His church must be embraced and upheld! Male oversight in the church is God's design for His church! The central use of the household analogy naturally points toward inferences regarding authoritative leadership in the church. The leadership and headship within the Christian family is vested in the husband and father (Ephesians 5:22-6:4). The church as God's household also needs wise, godly, and competent leadership. According to Scripture, that leadership is to be sought among men who have already shown their abilities in the context of their immediate families (1 Timothy 3:1-7). Women, by contrast, are not to be placed in authority over men in the church, because such a role would not harmonize with the general relations between men and women in marriage, as established at creation (1 Timothy 2:11-14). Thus, the differences between the roles of men and women within the context of marriage and family carry over into the differences in roles that men and women may assume within the place of worship! Women teaching and exercising authority over men is not biblical and is in defiance of the clear teaching of Scripture! As Christ followers, we are to take the Scriptures seriously. Who knows what's best for the church? Is it us or is it God? How can women who call themselves pastors, while contradicting the Scriptures concerning male leadership in the church, be trusted to correctly interpret other areas of Scripture? How can that possibly lead to you being blessed? Women calling themselves pastors are advocating a different doctrine and are not agreeing with sound words with respect to the office that God forbids them to occupy! Your move. Be encouraged!