A Brief Comment on the SBC, Interpreting Scripture, and Women in Ministry Leadership

I read a comment on YouTube earlier today from a guy who was supporting the Southern Baptist Convention's vote to further restrict women in ministry leadership. He vaguely referred to the “clear words of Scripture“ for his biblical support. It just “got me to thinking.“ This may let you know a little bit about how my mind works – or wanders, as the case may be.

I stumbled, quite literally, across some “clear words of Scripture“ while looking for something else. I don't think these are the “clear words of Scripture“ my brother was referring to, but here they are, nonetheless. Paul says in Philippians 4:3, "Help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel.“ Seems pretty “clear“ to me that Paul was quite comfortable with a casual mention of women CONTENDING – “synēthlēsan moi“ (συνήθλησάν μοι) meaning “laboring WITH me“ or “SHARING in the struggle.“ These ladies were ministry partners.

The problem here is the way we read Scripture. If we read the Bible like a science textbook, then we will treat Scripture like a series of steps to be followed. This is what my good brother must have meant when he referred to the “clear words of Scripture“ because this is the general appeal of conservative or especially fundamentalist Baptists who tend to read the Bible “prescriptively“ like a science textbook telling you step-by-step how to perform an experiment and come up with a consistent result.

To keep this short, suffice it to say that the Bible must also be read with historical and cultural context taken into account. This leads us to read the Bible “descriptively“ so that not everything that guides our theology or doctrine is taken from Paul's inspired assertions but also from the Gospels, the book of Acts, and Paul's lived experience as an apostle–such as can be seen here in Philippians 4. The interpretive method that looks for the “clear words of Scripture“ would just as soon ignore these “clear words of Scripture“ because they don't check the “prescriptive“ hermeneutical box but the “descriptive“ hermeneutical box. This is a stale way of reading Scripture, but it is the common approach used to denounce women in ministry leadership.

If we are not careful, we will talk ourselves out of the very story that we have been brought into. Mary, the mother of Jesus, carried the Gospel in her womb and delivered Jesus into the world. Women were the first to tell the good news that Jesus had overcome the world when he had risen from the dead. We don't even know how many women were included as followers of Jesus. When all of the male disciples except John had abandoned Jesus for fear of their lives, the women were the ones to stay and take care of Jesus' body. Paul is VERY clear in Romans 16 that women were among his partners in ministry.

What more can be said...? Well, one more thing: as evangelist Katie Campbell once said, “If a woman can help bring sin into the world, then a woman can help take it out!“