The Confident Woman: Start Today Living Boldly and Without Fear Read Online Free PDF Page B

today, at least in some circles. This question is especially touchy: Can a woman pastor a church?
    As I address this subject, I want to emphasize from the outset that I am not trying to cast dispersion on men in general, because some men truly support women being used by God. These men have thoroughly studied what the Bible says on the subject and they have learned that God always has, and always will, use women in key leadership roles. I know many men who have actually fought to restore women’s rights in the church.
    However, there are men—and entire denominations—that are very much against women holding key positions in church leadership, or doing anything that would be defined as preaching or teaching anything more than a children’s Sunday school class.
    Historically, women have often been allowed to do a lot, if not most, of the praying and servant-type work in the church. Meanwhile, these same men who refused to let them preach or teach stay home and rest.
    Visit any typical American church and you’ll find more women Sunday school teachers than men. This fact is important, because, if we are to take Paul’s famous statement about women needing to be silent in the church literally, then they should not be doing all of this Sunday school teaching. The men should be doing it all.
    No wonder most of the women I talk to about this subject are confused about the whole thing. Especially the ones who believe God is calling them to do something for Him, but are being told to do so would be against Scripture. To confuse matters further, most churches today see more women than men attending services and prayer meetings. Pastors often tell me that if the women quit showing up at church and doing so much of the work, most churches could not survive.
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Pastors often tell me that if the women quit showing up at church and doing so much of the work, most churches could not survive.
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    Again, I want to say I am grateful for the men who actually fight for women’s rights and those who have tried to bring a balanced understanding of women’s roles in the church. There are many of them, and I appreciate them all. I have been shown respect and honor by thousands of men, but there are still men in positions of spiritual authority who are able to prevent women from taking their proper roles. This makes me sad. Why should women be prevented from fulfilling their God ordained destiny by men who have an oversized ego and refuse to look at everything God has to say about women?
    If some men want to have all the authority, they should also take all of the responsibility. Nobody should have authority without also having the responsibility that goes with it. Sad to say, many women are the spiritual head of their home. Some women need their men to rise up and be real men, and I believe that means to be a man who seeks God regularly and leads his family in righteousness and godliness. I certainly know many fine men who are doing that—including my own husband—but I would like to see more men make progress in this area.
    I encourage women to pray for their husbands, that they will indeed take their place as the spiritual head of the home. I also encourage women to let men do that without opposing them. Some women say they want their husbands to be the head of the home, but when he tries, they resist him.

How Much Work Are the Critics Doing?
     
    It’s a time-tested truth: Most people who criticize others for what they are doing, are usually doing
nothing
themselves. It is sad when people have nothing better to do than criticize those who are trying to do something to make the world a better place.
    I recall being a member of one church in which the pastor felt that women should be used only in certain ways. Any woman who wanted to do anything other than pray, clean, or work in the nursery had to present her case to him and the elders for their approval. I was teaching a very successful home Bible study when we began attending the