Uncomfortable Truth Tuesday: Can Women Be Pastors? What Does Scripture Say?

Welcome to Uncomfortable Truth Tuesday.

Some truths in Scripture are easy to embrace. Others challenge us, confront our preferences, and sometimes make us uncomfortable. This series isn't about creating controversy for the sake of controversy. It's about asking one question:

What does God's Word actually say?

I don't claim to be the authority. Scripture is. So each Tuesday, we'll open the Bible, examine a difficult or often-debated subject, and let God's Word speak for itself.

The message is His. We're the messengers.™

And for our first Uncomfortable Truth Tuesday, we're starting with a question that's sure to cause tension: The question of whether women can serve as pastors continues to divide Christians. Some churches ordain women as pastors and elders, while others believe Scripture reserves those offices for qualified men.

For Christians who want to settle the question biblically, the starting point should not be culture, tradition, or personal preference.

It should be Scripture.

One of the clearest passages is 1 Timothy 2:11–12. Paul writes:

“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.”

Paul then connects his instruction to the creation of Adam and Eve rather than merely pointing to a particular cultural circumstance.

That matters.

Paul gives additional instructions concerning church leadership in 1 Timothy 3. When describing an overseer, he writes that the leader must be “the husband of one wife” and must demonstrate that he can properly manage his household (1 Timothy 3:1–5).

Titus 1:5–9 gives similar qualifications for elders.

These passages are significant because the New Testament connects the role of elder or overseer with teaching authority and spiritual leadership within the local church.

But What About Galatians 3:28?

Some Christians point to Galatians 3:28, where Paul writes:

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

This verse teaches the equal standing of believers in Christ.

Men and women alike are saved by grace through faith. Both are made in God's image. Both are valuable to God. Both have gifts that can be used for His Kingdom.

Equality in Christ, however, does not necessarily mean identical roles within the church.

Scripture gives different responsibilities to different believers while affirming their equal worth, and the Bible certainly does not portray women as spiritually insignificant. Priscilla helped explain the way of God more accurately to Apollos (Acts 18:26), while Phoebe is commended by Paul in Romans 16:1–2. Women participated in prayer, prophecy, discipleship, service, and ministry in the early church.

Those examples demonstrate that biblical Christianity does not teach that women are spiritually inferior or incapable of ministry.

That isn't the question. The question is specifically about the pastoral office and authoritative teaching of the gathered church.

What About 1 Corinthians 14?

First Corinthians 14:34–35 also contains instructions concerning women speaking in the church.

Christians interpret this passage differently. Some argue that Paul was addressing a particular form of disorder occurring in the Corinthian church rather than establishing a universal prohibition against women speaking. Others understand the passage alongside 1 Timothy 2 as part of a consistent New Testament pattern concerning authority and teaching within the church.

Those disagreements should be acknowledged, but acknowledging that Christians disagree doesn't mean we should avoid reaching a conclusion because that conclusion might offend someone.

We have to return to the text.

Where I Stand as a Christian Woman

As a Christian woman, I believe Scripture is clear that women are not called to serve as pastors or elders over the local church. That doesn't mean that women can't teach, lead, disciple, evangelize, or serve in meaningful ministry. Women can lead and teach other women. They can disciple younger believers, serve their churches, share the Gospel, pray, encourage, counsel, and use the gifts God has given them.

The Bible gives us examples of women faithfully serving God, but I believe Scripture places the pastoral office—and the governing and authoritative teaching responsibility accompanying that office—in the hands of qualified men.

And yes, I know that viewpoint can start heated arguments.

Some people feel attacked by it. Others will tell me I'm wrong, but here's something else people should understand about where I'm coming from:

I'm a woman, and there are things in Scripture that I don't necessarily like. There are things that challenge what I might naturally want. There are commands that require submission when my flesh might prefer something different, but I'm also a daughter of the Most High God, and being an obedient daughter means my Father's Word has authority over my feelings.

In fact, Jesus Himself never presented following Him as a path built around our comfort. He said:

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” — Matthew 16:24 KJV

Following Christ requires self-denial. There will be things God's Word asks of us that conflict with what we want, what we feel, or what the culture tells us we should be able to do. Our calling isn't to reshape Scripture around ourselves. It's to submit ourselves to Christ.

“But God Called Me to Be a Pastor”

For women serving as pastors who sincerely believe God called them into that office, I would ask one thing: Reopen your Bible and examine these passages again.

Don't begin with what modern culture says women should be permitted to do. Don't begin with what a denomination has decided. Don't even begin with what you feel God told you personally.

Begin with what He has already revealed in His Word.

Some women say, “God called me to be a pastor," but if Scripture reserves the pastoral office and its governing teaching authority for qualified men, then I do not believe that calling could have come from God.

Why? Because God does not contradict His own Word.

Some may object that Scripture itself contains contradictions. Christians have wrestled with alleged contradictions for centuries, but differences in context, audience, covenant, chronology, or perspective are not the same thing as God contradicting Himself. If two passages appear to conflict, our responsibility is to examine them carefully in context—not assume that God has spoken against Himself.

Scripture itself tells us, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent...” (Numbers 23:19 KJV).

Our feelings can be sincere. Our experiences can feel convincing, but neither outranks Scripture, and that standard applies to me too.

The Message Is His

Ultimately, this isn't about whether someone agrees with me. I'm not the authority. God's Word is. If Scripture says something that makes us uncomfortable, our response shouldn't be to change its meaning until it fits what we would rather believe.

Take the disagreement to God.

Search His Word. Pray. Examine the passages in context. Consider the arguments people make on both sides, and be willing to accept the possibility that Scripture might challenge something you deeply believe because as faithful followers of Jesus, the message is His. We're the messengers.™

Our responsibility isn't to water down God's Word until the world, or even the church, finds it acceptable.

We're here to faithfully share it and obey it, and that includes me.

I don't ask anyone to believe this merely because I wrote it or someone else said it.

Open your Bible. Read these passages for yourself. Pray over them. Test what you've been taught against God's Word, and let Scripture—not me, culture, tradition, personal experience, or popular opinion—have the final say.

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