omen in the church w o ering t minist ministering to women in … · 2019. 5. 14. · the third...

Ministering to Women in the Church

Transcript - ML505 Ministering to Women in the Church © 2019 Our Daily Bread University. All rights reserved.

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LESSON 17 of 24ML505

Teaching Women About Leadership

Ministering to Women in the Church

A woman who is going to lead others will need to possess certain strengths and characteristics in order to go before them to show the way. Deuteronomy 6:5–7 says, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” Notice that God’s Word must first be on our own hearts before we can impart His truths to others. You cannot impart what you do not possess. First and foremost, a leader must show the way. What is important to you as a leader will become important to those who will follow you. There is a great deal of material in the Bible on spiritual leaders, their qualifications, their duties, and their limitations. This is a necessary study in order to clarify the requirements for spiritual leadership that are used in the life of the church. Without such clarification, the image of a leader is often vague, and the criteria open to arbitrary application. Consequently, truly biblical, spiritual leaders are rare today.

I would like for us to begin by looking at some Old Testament characters to get a foundation for our principles that we’re going to establish. Let’s first look at Moses. He’s a good start. He was a lawgiver, a prophet, a priest, a judge, and a prince. He was the mediator of the covenant. His call to service can be separated into two parts. The first part would be in his own strength. We’re familiar with his actions in Exodus 2 where he rashly struck down an Egyptian who was beating up a Hebrew. The second part would be God’s call. In Exodus 3–4, we see God appearing to Moses in a burning bush to direct him. I know what you’re thinking. You’d love a burning bush. I sure would. But that’s not how God calls us today, because we have His full revelation through His living Word, Jesus Christ, and His written Word, the Bible. The center of the issue here is faith in the sufficiency of God. For the work is His from the beginning to the end. Moses said, “Who am I that I should go?” God’s answer was that it doesn’t matter who you are, “I AM. And I will be with you.” We need to see that God’s call always brings provision.

Lucy Mabery-Foster, PhD Experience: Professor of Pastoral Ministries,

Dallas Theological Seminary (1990-2002)



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The second point in Moses’s character is looking at his spiritual position. In Numbers 12:7 it says, “Not so, with My servant Moses, he is faithful in all My household.” There is nothing more important for God’s servant than faithfulness. The second verse I want to look at is Hebrews11:24–25, because it says “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” We must identify with Christ. So often our stand outside the church is such a closely guarded secret that we cannot impart to the lost and dying world the difference. Another point is from Exodus 18, which shows us that Moses was meek and patient with those he was leading. Numbers 12:8 tells us that Moses spoke with God “mouth to mouth.” You know that old saying, “Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.” It is so easy to push God aside and work from our own strengths, but they will not be blessed. And we will become empty, and we cannot give from our emptiness.

The third point about Moses is his mediation of the covenant showed that he was God’s servant. His most significant work as mediator was his intercessory prayer. Numbers 16:4 says, “When Moses heard this, he fell on his face.” Exodus 32:31–32 says, “Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, ‘Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” This is real intercessory prayer of a man of God.

The fourth point that we need to see about Moses was his failures. With great privileges of leadership come high standards. Two times Moses was confronted by God. The first time was, he had not complied with the sign of the covenant which was circumcision. And we find this in Exodus 4:24–26. The next time, he smote the rock in Numbers 20:12 when God had told him to speak to it. In that verse it says, “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given you.” Moses disobeyed God at that point. Those who lead the people of God must display by their actions the holiness of God. We as Christian women who are in roles of leadership need to really look at the life of Moses to see that the world as well as our own community will judge us by another standard. God says “To whom much is given, much is required.” And if we know the Word of God and if we are modeling before others, then we must be willing to be held accountable for our actions.

The fifth point that I want to make about Moses’s life is his



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spiritual influence. He selected elders in Exodus 18:25. It says, “And Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.” But Moses spread out some of the responsibilities because it was overwhelming to him. A lot of times we as women want to do everything ourselves. We don’t want to trust others, but we need to learn to raise up other women so that we can spread responsibilities and, therefore, fulfill the commandments that God has given to us. The second point that we need to see about his spiritual influence is that he modeled the office and ministry of a prophet as described in Deuteronomy 18:15–17. In doing this, Moses followed the letter of the law completely.

The next point we need to see about his spiritual influence was that he trained and ordained the priest. He also wrote the manual for the priest to follow, which was the book of Leviticus. And finally, he organized all of the worship for the nation in Exodus 35–40. The next group of people we see as leaders are the people of God. Exodus 19:6 says, “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Whatever was true of the priesthood was in general to be true of Israel as a nation.

The first point I want to make about the people of God is that they were a kingdom of priests in the world with a mediatorial work among the nations. They had a responsibility. They were supposed to be in the position of priests to the rest of the nations. They were supposed to represent God to the nations. The second point about the people of God is that they had a purpose to fulfill—the Abrahamic covenant as mentioned in Genesis 12:3. In this covenant they were to preach peace to the nations as presented in Deuteronomy 20:10. They were to carry the warning of judgment and the message of God’s compassion to the people far off as in Jonah’s commission. The third point that they were supposed to fulfill was: at Sinai they were designated as a holy nation. The church is now a kingdom of priests and a holy nation as 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Remember, the kingdom was taken from a nation not bearing fruit and given to another as told in Matthew 21:43. We as Christian leaders do not want this to happen in our nation. We do not want, because we are failing to fulfill the mandates that God has given to us, to have our responsibilities taken away from us and given to another.

The third group of people as illustrations of leadership that I want to look at are the elders. These elders were to make decisions like umpires. They judged cases. They were to bear the burden of the



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people. As Numbers 11:17 said, “They shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it alone.” With this responsibility, they would need to know Scripture well, because you can’t bear the burden of the people as Moses was doing without knowing what God’s Word said. So these men were set apart to a specific purpose, to know the Scriptures so that they could apply it in the lives of the people. The third thing that these elders did was that they shared in the sacrifices. Exodus 18:12 says, “Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God.” And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’s father-in-law before God.

The fourth point about the elders is that their qualifications were described in Exodus 18:21. They were to be “able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain.” We could compare this with Acts 6:3, “Men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom you may put in charge of a task.” Also, 1 Timothy 3:1–4 says, “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, uncontentious, free from the love of money,” managing his own household well, keeping his children under control. Look at all these qualifies that are listed here. The first one is maturity. These able men were to be moral and physically efficient. Therefore, they were to be an accomplished and respected leader in the community. They were to be mature. We as Christian women, when we are following the pattern of leadership in Scripture, need to be mature if we are going to lead others in the right way.

The second characteristic or quality was that of being spiritual. These men were fearers of God. The central religious qualification was to fear God. I think we are losing sight of this in our communities today. We don’t fear God. We so often use little clichés to refer to Him as “the Man upstairs” or “the big Father.” These are not representations of someone who fears God as being all sovereign, as being the Creator of the universe who there is none like Him. A God-fearing person is one who truly believes in the Lord and seeks to live a life of obedience to God’s command. It doesn’t mean that the person is sinless, but it does mean that the person is a true worshiper. That person must be spiritually minded.

The third quality is that of faithfulness: men of truth, reliable, faithful. As women of God, we need to be faithful to the truth of the Word of God. If there is a Scripture that we don’t seem to like, and we put it in the background so that we don’t impart it to others, that’s not being faithful to the truth of God’s Word.



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We need to be reliable; and we need to make sure that we are imparting spiritual truths the way we should. Another quality is that of being impartial. They should be haters of dishonest gain. They must reject bribes. The Scripture was to be interpreted correctly and applied evenly. They had to be impartial. So often, women get into positions of being impartial in various fields. And we as Christian women who are in leadership roles do not want to be impartial.

The fourth group of people that we’re going to look at is that of priests. Deuteronomy 33:10 says, “They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob, and Your law to Israel. They shall put incense before You, and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.” Now the priests had three tasks. The first task was to teach the law and the commandments. Their primary function is presented in Malachi 2:7, which says, “For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.” So the priest had to teach the law and the commandments in a truthful way.

The second responsibility that the priest had was to burn incense. Psalm 141:2 says, “May my prayer be counted as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.” Revelation 8:3 says, “Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censor; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” And in Revelation 5:8 it says, “When he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” And so if the incense was supposed to represent prayers of the people, the important task of the priest was to take these prayers and offer them to God. We know now from New Testament times that our prayers are offered directly to God. Prayer was one of the main functions of the priest. They were intercessors. How often do we intercede for those who are under us in leadership? How often do we intercede for our own families and for the women with whom we are working?

The third qualification or the third task for the priest was that they offered sacrifice. They were spiritual leaders. In summary, these leaders were called by God. Holiness was absolutely required. Faithfulness was required. Sobriety was required. They couldn’t drink when on duty in the temple. The law didn’t prohibit these beverages, but Nazarites under their vow, rulers making decisions, and priests leading corporate worship were to abstain. The fifth point is that they were exemplary marriage partners as described in Leviticus 21:22. The priest was to be an exemplary person in his



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marriage. The sixth point is that physical wholeness was required.

The fourth group of people we’re looking at to see their qualifications of leadership are the prophets. They were called by God to speak His Word with divine authority. Deuteronomy 18:18–22 describes their positions.

But the prophet who shall speak a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

Looking at the prophets, we see that the first thing to observe is that the words that he spoke were authoritative and binding. The second point is that their message had to harmonize with the Word of God as described in Deuteronomy 13:1–5. If the prophet had a sign telling the people to follow other gods, his word should not be followed. How often today are we as women of God following other prophets? How true to God’s Word are we? How much time do we spend in God’s Word so that as we lead other women, we are going to truly walk in the truth of the knowledge of Scripture and not bend to our culture? True prophets preached and applied the Word, and they predicted the future as proof of authenticity of their message. In other words, a true prophet in Old Testament times announced decisions of the heavenly council, and they predicted impending judgment. They also interpreted the history of Israel, and they were God’s spokesmen or spokeswomen in the theocracy. Therefore, they were over other positions. Remember, we have talked about women being prophetesses in the Old Testament. These prophets anointed kings and priests and judges. They were constantly at odds with Israel’s leaders and even deposed them on occasion, because remember, they were in positions of authority over them. They also exhorted and influenced behavior and moral teachings and exhortations. They came on the scene primarily to rebuke sin and warn of judgment. I wonder, as Christian leaders today, those of us who are in leadership, how much do we rebuke sin? How much do we walk away from it? Can the world tell that we’re different?

Another quality of the prophets was that they wrote holy Scripture from Moses to Malachi. Crucial to the understanding of the prophets is the authority they carried, which was the Word of the Lord. The prophets were merely messengers, spokesmen and women for God. They had no authority in and of themselves.



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Their authority was in God’s Word. The phrase, “Thus says Yahweh” appears some 3,800 times in the Old Testament alone. “Thus says Yahweh.” This means their authority was in God’s Word, not in themselves. Exodus 4:15 says, “You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do.” Are we this dependent upon the Lord to allow Him each time we get up to speak to have the Holy Spirit speak through us? Do we really stand up before people today with this attitude that we are only vessels to be used? Or do we stand up before people today enjoying the position of leadership that we have thinking that we are responsible for everything we say, and it’s from our own mouth. In the Old Testament, it was very clear when God said to Moses and to Aaron that He was going to place the actual words in their mouths. In Deuteronomy 18:18 it says, “I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in His mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”

The fifth group of distinctions that we want to look at for leadership is the king. He was the central figure in the theocratic administration. Under the new covenant, Jesus Christ is our king. Therefore, He is a pattern for us to follow. He was elected by God as Hosea 8:4 implies: “They have set up kings, but not by Me.” And so, therefore, we know that it was God who was the one to set up kings. And yet people took over that responsibility. The second point about the king was that he was enabled by God to rule. God gave him his power. God gave him his authority. God gave him his ability. The third point about the king was that his obedience was to the Lord as Psalm 45:72, 101 describe. His obedience was to the Lord. Is our obedience to the Lord, or is our obedience to culture? Therefore, the Old Testament leaders were to be by divine election. They were servants, and righteousness was required of them. In making a transition from the Old to the New Testament, we see that changes took place between the end of Israel’s kingdom period and the New Testament church.

These differences are important because the teachings of the apostles draw on both the Old Testament temple and the New Testament synagogue leadership in order to carry forward instructions for spiritual leaders. For instance, in the exile between 605 and 536 BC, nonsacrificial worship came into being making the ministry of priests and Levites almost nothing. The synagogue’s beginnings can be traced to this period. Also, we see the beginning of teachers and scribes. They were not mentioned in this capacity before this period. The return from exile and the restoration of the temple worship came in 516 BC. This new emphasis was retained so that both formed Israel’s religious



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experiences—the temple worship and the synagogue. During the Hasmonean period from 165 to 63 BC, there was great corruption in leadership, so that Jewish political leaders seized for themselves the religious leadership. They bought and traded the office of high priest, uniting the two positions. The Pharisees opposed this, so we can see that they had certain praiseworthy characteristics about them. But their self-righteousness and their self-importance got in the way and made them examples of leadership gone astray. I’m wondering if sometimes we as leaders, even though we have qualities that are really helpful in the kingdom, allow our own pride and our own desires to get in the way. Do we ever pray, as we lead women, to help God to keep us from getting in the way of what He wants to communicate to them?

The scribes and the teachers lived in a period beginning with Ezra to the second century after Christ. These men were occupied with various aspects of the law—copying it, recording it—and making legal decisions. Their primary functions were to interpret the law to the people. In this they saw themselves standing in the tradition of the prophets, for prophecy had all but died out. They had knowledge of the Word of God, and they could interpret it for everyone. They could innovate new laws and interpretations which could become binding. These laws were prescribed by the scribes. Their authority was considered as strong as the prophets. For Jesus to say that they had erred not knowing the Scriptures would have been a great insult to them as you can see. We should note at this point how people with great knowledge of the Scriptures became the authorities themselves. We need to take heed to this warning. They did this by making their applications of the Scriptures more important than the Scriptures themselves. Do we make our applications of Scripture more important than Scripture? Do we try to take Scripture and make it fit into our own perceptions of it? Or do we try to take our perceptions of the way something is and see if it fits within Scripture?

Application replaced interpretation in the teaching. Many of the Jewish leaders became active teachers among the people. Teaching had been the responsibility originally of the priests, the Levites, the prophets, and other leaders of the nation. But with this change, a new class of teachers arose who had knowledge. The chief requirement of teachers was to be faithful to the law. The Jews took the task of teaching very seriously. A teacher of the law was viewed as second to none in importance. A teacher was even more important than one’s own father. If a person wanted to become a proselyte, a disciple, that person had to engage a teacher. So we can see the significance of Jesus having disciples or making the Great Commission with the words “to go and make disciples.” That emphasis from the Old Testament through



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Judaism is valid for the new covenant. But Jesus was also very critical of the Jewish teachers and scribes, for their traditions and interpretations had gone beyond the Scriptures. In Matthew 23, Christ said in verses 2 and 3, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and they do not do them.”

Is this the way we live as Christian leaders of women? Do we quote Scripture which God will tell the women to follow, but do we live by these rules ourselves? Do we say, do as I say and not as I do? What Jesus was teaching them was that when they sit in Moses’ seat faithfully teaching what the text says, people have to listen to them. But people should not do as they do. Jesus’ point was that the true authority is the Word of God, not the teachers—except one teacher of course, and that’s Christ who is the Word. He is authority. Christ made it clear that any teaching that did not lead to Him as the Messiah was false. John would explain that believers are to test the spirits of teachers. When John tells us to test the spirits of teachers, we need to be very careful that what they say fits with the Word of God. And if they deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh and is the Son of God, then they’re false teachers.

Now let’s look at the elders and the judges. If scribes and teachers took the place of prophets and priests, elders became more prominent in the role of spiritual leaders. So in the synagogues, special seats for elders on the Bema (that’s the raised platform), and the priests were fairly restricted to announcing the blessings, as in Numbers 6. The priests had their sacrificial functions until the temple was destroyed in AD 70. But the leadership of the priesthood had been bought by unbelieving, wealthy political leaders. The essence of leadership to the Jews was a seat on the great Sanhedrin. A very high quality of knowledge and physical perfection was demanded for this position. A member had to be a man of stature, wisdom, good appearance, mature age, and with extensive knowledge of languages and customs. Their moral qualifications had to be high. The Mishna listed many who could not serve. The great Sanhedrin was made up of a large number of priests and Levites.

The sixth group of people we’re going to be looking at for leadership qualities is that of priests. In rabbinic literature, the priesthood had the highest respect. So from this class, most of the leaders would come. There were many illegal qualifications, so there was a need for the scribes and the teachers. The elders instructed the high priest on the Day of Atonement what to say. This was because many of the priests during the period of the second temple from



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its rebuilding in 516 (Herod’s temple) were not appointed for their learning, their piety, or their moral character, which they should have been, but they achieved positions through corrupt political reasons or by bribery. And so they had to be schooled by the elders. The elders had to instruct them what to do. The priests at this time had unprecedented power, and yet in many cases they were inept. They were unlearned, and sometimes they were even unbelievers. The priest’s functions were first of all to lead corporate worship properly. Secondly, they were to serve as judges on the Sanhedrin in order to hear and resolve issues. And thirdly, they were to teach the law. Fourthly, they were to signify the way of holiness by their own lives.

Now I would like to look at the New Testament teachings on what constitutes the qualities of a leader, first, in Christ’s training of the twelve apostles. They have Christ’s authority. Christ alone is and has the authority. His disciples must learn from Him and follow Him in obedience. Matthew 7:29 tells us, “He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” John 10:18 says, “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” Christ had power over nature and demons and nations’ leaders; and His miracles showed that He had the authority to forgive sins. Therefore, those who minister today must minister in the name of Christ, for He is the authority.

The second point is that these twelve apostles that Christ chose have His calling. The disciples were called by Jesus to leave everything and follow Him.

The third quality that these twelve men had was that they have taken on Christ’s attitude of servanthood. Matthew 20:26–28 says “It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Luke 22:26 says, “But not so with you, but let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant.” And John 13:13–14 say, “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so am I. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Leaders have a gentle strength that considers the feelings of others. Do we as Christian women leaders consider the feelings of others, or are we so intent on fulfilling a program or reaching goals or trying to get across points that we do not consider the feelings of those under us?

The fourth quality of these twelve men Christ appointed was that



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they have an attitude of and a commitment to prayer. Of course, there’s the prayer in Matthew 6:9–15, which our Lord commanded us to pray, and His wonderful intercessory prayer for us in John 17. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, Paul says “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

The fifth quality of these twelve men was that they have faith. In Mark 4:35–41 we read about the Lord’s experience with His disciples in the boat with the storm that had arisen. As the storm grew, they became more frightened. And so they awakened Jesus. He calmed the storm. And then He said in verse 40, “Why are you so timid? How is it that you have no faith?”

The sixth quality of these twelve men was that they have sacrificial love. Paul tells the Philippian Christians in Philippians 2 to have the same attitude that Christ had when He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, humbling Himself in sacrifice for us. He is calling us to sacrificially love others. This kind of love is a forgiving love.

The seventh quality of these twelve men was that they have been sanctified. In John 17:17 Christ asked the Father to sanctify believers, to set them apart to the truth of His Word. If we are to be set apart, we must be different. The problem with most of us as Christians is that those of the world cannot tell us apart from themselves. In John 15:5 Christ tells us that if we don’t abide in Him, we will not be able to accomplish anything for His glory. Sure, we can get things done by the world’s standards; but He says that it will not count for eternity if we’re not bearing His fruit. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:3–8 that “this is the will of God, your sanctification [which is setting apart], from all sexual immorality. . . . For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity.” In 1 Timothy 4:12 he says, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” When we look at Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the Spirit, we know that such fruit is the result of being filled. For if the fruit of the Spirit is something He produces in us, we can certainly not have these fruits if we do not allow Him to fill us. And remember in our passage in Galatians, we know that God commands us to be filled with the Spirit. So what He commands us is doable because He always gives us the enablement. Then, when we look at the fruits of the Spirit, the love and joy and peace and gentleness and goodness and self-control, all of those qualities are things that the Holy Spirit will produce through us if we are filled with Him.

The eighth qualification or quality of these twelve men was



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that they were committed to evangelism. Matthew 28:19–20 is certainly the most familiar passage on evangelism. It says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” With this commandment, Christ gave us the provision to carry it out. In Acts 1:4–5, “He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, ‘Which,’ He said, ‘you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” We know that Christ did not want them to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit had come, because it’s the Holy Spirit who gives the enablement. So often we try to get ahead of God; and we try to do things in our own strength just like Moses tried to do when he was zealous for his people. That was not wrong in his zealousness, but he did not wait on God’s call. We as Christian women must be very careful that we wait on knowing what the Word of God says for us, that we know that God is placing us in a particular role of leadership, and we need to wait for the enablement. We should not do anything on our own.

The ninth quality of these twelve men was that they were committed to teaching. In Matthew 28:19 when Jesus commanded His followers to “make disciples,” He was calling for them to extend the work He had been doing with them. This is an aspect of shepherding the flock as Peter mentions in 1 Peter 5:2–3. “Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.” Are we examples to the flock that we care for? They’re committed to teaching.

The tenth quality of these twelve men was that they had the qualities of apostleship. In John 20:21–22, Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Then “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” When Jesus commissioned the disciples as His apostles, He granted them the privilege and the responsibility of leading the work that He had begun. When we look at the qualifications of elders, we see qualities that all leaders should have.

Paul’s list of qualifications for overseers provides the standard list of qualifications for those who aspire to positions of leadership in the church. First Timothy 3:1–7 lists these qualities: above reproach, a husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious (that



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means inclined to fight readily), gentle, uncontentious (which means not argumentative), free from the love of money, managing his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity, not a new convert, and have a good reputation with those outside the church. Do we as Christian women have good reputations outside the church? Titus adds that the children should be believers as well and that this leader should not be self-willed, not quick-tempered, not fond of sordid gain, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful Word, which is in accordance with the teaching that he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. That’s a long list of requirements for a person in leadership. Combining those verses, we see that as women in leadership are we holding fast to the faithful Word?

We can certainly tell from this extensive list that those who want to be in leadership have a very strict standard by which they must live in order to guide others. It seems clear that the New Testament elder has combined many of the qualifications and tasks of Israel’s elders, judges, and priests in this list. We can consolidate them really into four key areas: spiritually mature, sound character, healthy family, and having ministry skills. What makes Christian leadership unique? The first thing is that it is distinctive as to its position. No Christian leader can be number one. She must know who the Leader is. She must know who is in control. Christ says in John 13:13, “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.” The chief characteristic of Christian leaders must be submission to Christ as leader. First of all, she must know Christ’s revealed purposes. And secondly, she must have truth and love and righteousness evident in her life. She must be a proven follower of Christ; so she can’t be a novice.

The second qualification is that in Christian leadership, the person requires Christian character. As we discussed the qualities of character mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:1–7, we know that Christian character must be in place before leadership is assumed. Leadership requires authenticity and authority.

The third quality is the source of the raw material. Is the gift from the Holy Spirit? We saw this in our lesson on spiritual gifts.

The fourth quality is that Christian leadership is empowered by the Holy Spirit and only Christian leaders can count on His presence and power.

The fifth quality is that it is distinctive in its motivation, because this leadership is motivated by love and concern, not power and position. The Greek word “to lead” in Romans 12:8 means to


Christ-Centered Learning — Anytime, Anywhere

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Teaching Women About LeadershipLesson 17 of 24

assist, to join with, to protect. Leadership is the developed gift of giving direction to others out of care and concern for their needs and is not the result of position or title.

The sixth quality is this leadership is distinctive as to its authority. Christian leadership is a servant leadership. There are principles that surround leadership, and I want to look at these few. The first principle is that Jesus received confirmation before He could lead. So must we. The second principle is that leaders acknowledge the giants who preceded them. Sir Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen farther than other men, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” Good leadership admits accomplishments honestly and sincerely and says, “I couldn’t have done it alone.” In John 4:36–38, Jesus wanted His disciples to know that they owed a debt of gratitude to those who had labored before them. A good leader recognizes interdependence. How can we acknowledge others? We can acknowledge them in many of their abilities and their skills. As 1 Peter 2:5 says, “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

omen in the church w o ering t minist ministering to women in … · 2019. 5. 14. · the third...

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