How to disagree better on the role of women in ministry

There are rarely days when people fail to see negativity in the news media. Whether it be about wars, murder, assaults, conflicts, or a plethora of other saddening events, negativity seems to always be looming. It often feels as if life in 2026 is not about thriving but simply about surviving. This is even true of those within the faith. 

The news media loves to pit Christian vs Christian, denomination vs denomination, and tradition vs tradition. Why? Well, it creates a good headline on a slow news day. The people the world most needs not to take the bait seem to fall into that trap far too often. 

Followers of Christ should be at the forefront of resolving conflicts with mercy and grace, yet that is not always the case. A test case in this conversation is how the media and church leaders have recently been distributing Albert Mohler’s persuasion on women in ministry. This topic has been all over the social media of various pastors, influencers, and church leaders, not all of whom have been positive in tone. 

While it is no secret that Mohler is a staunch complementarian (women cannot serve as pastors), it seems that this issue (like many) has become weaponized amongst believers. Whether one agrees with Mohler or not, the problem is not that the conversation about women in leadership exists in the church, but rather how the conversation is approached.

How to avoid division

The way the church approaches a conversation that contains significant baggage has become an essential part of doing everyday ministry. It is not acceptable for someone to say, “Since you believe in women in ministry, you must be a liberal feminist.” Likewise, it would be wrong to assume that those who believe God has limited the roles women can fill in ministry reached that conclusion because they think less of women. 

These kinds of blanket assumptions and verbalized attacks inflict great damage upon the church and discredit its testimony to the world. 

To those outside the faith, it looks like Christians eat their own. How convicting it should be upon the hearts of believers when Christians sound and act more like the world than Christ. This is not what Jesus has called His flock to, and it is the very kind of division that Paul tells us to avoid in Romans 12 and elsewhere across his writings.

For clarity on this topic, it is essential for Christians to know why some of their brothers and sisters hold different persuasions. These topics are not black-and-white. Many evangelical traditions embrace women in ministry because it has significant scriptural backing. While this article will examine only a section of the argument, it is fruitful for believers to know that those who believe differently from them on such issues are not living in rebellion or heresy. 

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what the Bible says to better understand how believers equally committed to the truth of God’s word can come away with different views on this subject.

What does the Bible say?

For starters, the argument for women pastors is often something many raised in a complementarian home have never heard before, or at least with much exegetical depth. The hallmark passage used in both ends of this conversation is 1 Timothy 2:12, where Paul writes, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet” (NIV).

This seems fairly straightforward in plain English, but the original Greek and the historical context paint a more nuanced picture. 

With Timothy’s audience including numerous newly converted believers from paganism, many of them women seeking to usurp Timothy’s already established pastoral authority, the landscape of what Timothy is communicating changes. The Greek word for “authority” in this context is Authenteo (αὐθεντέω), a much rarer word than the more traditional or everyday word for “authority” —Exousia (ἐξουσία) in the Greek—which means authority that has been delegated, or general authority. 

By contrast, Authenteo means to “usurp authority” or to “dominate.” These women were trying to bully and usurp Timothy. The egalitarian side argues that the Greek strongly suggests women are not restricted from pastoral ministry any more than a man would be, with the conditions being alike; that they are mature in the faith, unlike the women suggested in this passage. 

The reality is that gentilic women were extremely educated and felt that they could do the pastor’s job better; this is why Paul instructs Timothy as such in 2:12. 

As Ben Witherington notes, the Greek verb for “permit” (epitrepo) “is a present continual tense. Paul does not say, ‘I will not/never permit,’ but rather, ‘I am not [now] permitting.’” Thus, those who support women pastors would say that Paul is being descriptive here, not prescriptive. 

“A new demonstration of Christianity”

My purpose in writing this article is not to convince you that the egalitarian position is correct. There is far more to both sides of this debate than just what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:12. Rather, I wanted to demonstrate that the egalitarian position does not stem from feminism, politics, or worldly pressures, but from Scripture itself.

To be sure, there are those who try to make the case for an egalitarian understanding from those unbiblical reasons. In the same way, there are those who argue for complementarianism from their equally unbiblical counterparts. However, if we resort to assuming the worst of those who think differently from us, then joining together to advance God’s kingdom becomes far more difficult. 

If you are a complementarian, you can and should work with your egalitarian brothers and sisters. If you are an egalitarian, you can and should work with your complementarian brothers and sisters. These sides are not enemies. 

Unfortunately, it often feels as if there is an elitist tension between believers over issues that are not essential to salvation. One side must be right and be heard, and the other side must be wrong and condemned. . . Friends, this must stop. 

It could be said that America will always be a mirror of the church; if the church is divided, America will be divided; if the church is united, America will be united. At the end of the day, our theological persuasions do not malign us; rather, it is our Savior that defines us. 

As believers, we cannot continue to give more weight to all the things we disagree on instead of focusing more on the things we do agree on; the essentials that will lead our country and our world to Christ. And at the heart of those essentials is Christ’s call to unite around the mission to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20a, NIV). 

Leonard Ravenhill once said, “The world out there is not waiting for a new definition of Christianity; it’s waiting for a new demonstration of Christianity.” Brothers and sisters, let us be that demonstration.

Note: For more on what the Bible says about women in various roles of leadership in the church, see Dr. Jim Denison’s “Should women be pastors? Or church leaders, deacons, or teachers?”