Should a Woman Teach, Preach, or Pastor?
Few topics divide the Church as deeply as this one.
This post was inspired by a recent conversation I had with a friend, not someone decades older, but a peer, someone from my own generation. That surprised me.
I shared a sermon by a female preacher... Stephanie Ike Okafor. He admitted he didn’t even watch it. The reason? She is a woman.
That suprised me.
Are the gifts of the Holy Spirit available only to men? Or is the issue simply that a woman stood on a stage and taught a crowd?
He admitted that his real discomfort lay in the fact that she is a pastor.
That conversation pushed me to dig deeper.
The Passages Most Often Quoted
I revisited the three main passages commonly used to argue against women teaching or leading in the Church:
- 1 Timothy 2:11-12
- 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
- 1 Corinthians 11:3
The first thing that struck me was that all three were written by Paul.
That alone made me pause.
Could there have been a personal bias?
Could personal experience, cultural norms, or specific church issues have influenced his instructions? It’s a fair question.
1 Timothy 2:11-12
Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. (NKJV)
Just a few verses earlier, Paul instructs women not to braid their hair, wear gold, or dress expensively (verse 9). Yet today, churches are filled with women wearing jewelry, styled hair, and elegant clothing, without anyone considering it sinful.
Why?
Because we instinctively recognize cultural context.
If we can apply discernment to verse 9, why do we suddenly abandon it when we reach verse 12?
1 Corinthians 14:34-35
Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. (NKJV)
Paul was writing within a strongly patriarchal society, one where women were largely uneducated and excluded from public discourse. That context matters.
Interestingly, only a few verses later (verse 39), Paul encourages believers to prophesy and speak in tongues... practices many of the same churches opposing female leadership either downplay or ignore entirely.
The truth is denominations can be selective when it comes to their doctrine and the Bible.
1 Corinthians 11:3
But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. (NKJV)
This passage is part of a broader discussion on head coverings. I understand it as addressing marriage order, not universal male authority over all women.
If this verse meant that all men had authority over all women, then women should not lead in workplaces, schools, or even homes. Sons would not submit to their mothers. That interpretation simply collapses under real life.
Again, culture matters.
How many married Christian women today still cover their heads when praying?
How many Christian women keep their hair short?
Paul was addressing specific churches in specific contexts. Could he have imagined that his letters would one day be read across continents, cultures, races, and centuries?
The Role of Context and the Holy Spirit
We cannot ignore context when reading Scripture.
Let context and wisdom from the Holy Spirit be our guide.
Discern what God is saying from what is religious tradition or doctrine.
Deborah: The Uncomfortable Example
One biblical account that deeply convicted me is Deborah’s story in Judges 4.
For those who firmly believe God never calls women to lead men, I often wonder how they explain Deborah.
In a time when God directly governed His people, He chose a woman as prophet and judge. Her authority was so clear that the commander of Israel’s army refused to go into battle without her.
This isn’t an instruction, it’s a record of what actually happened.
It may not be common. It may be the exception.
But it proves that God can and does call women to lead men when He chooses.
A Balanced Truth
Yes, many women stand on pulpits today who were never called by God.
But the same is true of many men.
I firmly believe that some women have genuinely been called to serve the Church with their spiritual gifts. Ephesians 4:11 does not reserve apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher for men alone.
What also struck me is that the same denomination my friend belongs to... very rigid on women pastoring... also conveniently ignores most teachings about the Holy Spirit’s active work in the Church.
There is little emphasis on the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Little discussion of spiritual gifts.
Little openness to speaking in tongues.
Again, selective obedience.
The Bigger Picture
The truth is, no one obeys every biblical instruction perfectly.
Every denomination has passages it overlooks or interprets through a preferred lens.
Every Christian does the same often unconsciously.
Yet when it comes to what truly matters for salvation under the new covenant, Scripture is clear:
“That we should abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.” (Acts 21:25)
A Call To Unity
My hope is that we stop allowing the enemy (Satan) to divide the Church with endless, pride-driven arguments.
We can disagree and still be united in love.
We can hold different convictions without condemning one another.
We can remain united while growing in understanding.
Through humility, we should recognize that we are all still learning on this Christian journey.
And ultimately, only God judges perfectly.
He alone holds all the puzzle pieces... past, present, and future... to see the full picture of every life.
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