Theologian and author John Piper recently asserted that women shouldn’t hold leadership positions in parachurch organizations.
“I work for a global parachurch organization which is well-known. Recently our leadership decided that all positions of leadership within the organization will be opened to women. This includes campus leadership, regional leadership, and national leadership,” the listener explained.
“Previously, these positions of spiritual authority over men were reserved for men alone. The reason given for this change is that a parachurch organization is not the church. Therefore, the commands addressed to churches about the role of men and women in relationship to one another do not apply in this case. How do you see it?” the listener asked.
In response, Piper lamented the ministry’s decision and called it a case of rejecting “God-ordained differences” between men and women because of “cultural, societal pressures.”
“The culture as a whole is in a free fall of denial. Nobody in this free fall has on a parachute. It’s all going to end tragically, the evidences (sic) of which are all around us,” he added.
“A person who stands up and draws attention to God’s word or the teaching of nature and questions the wisdom of undifferentiated sex roles will not only be thought a fool, but also unjust and, very likely, soft on abuse, even though all the while the sex-leveling egalitarian impulses wreak havoc at every level of our culture,” he added.
Piper, the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota, then cited the apostle Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2:12-14 which reads, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.”
“Paul saw in the Genesis account of God’s word that built into creation from the beginning, before the fall, was a peculiar responsibility of men to bear the burden of leadership and care,” Piper continued.
“So, the fact that Paul gave instructions for how this original design relates to the church in no way implies that it is limited to the church or the home. That was one application of many.”
When it comes to parachurch ministries, Piper believes Paul would say: “I have taught, Moses has taught, nature teaches that it goes against man’s and woman’s truest, God-given nature to place a woman in a role of regular, direct, personal leadership over men.”
Related:
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Southern Baptist Convention Expels Saddleback Church over Women in Church Leadership
Rick Warren: Southern Baptists Will Change ‘at Some Point’ on Female Pastors
SBC Messengers Vote to Approve Constitutional Amendment Banning All Women Pastors
Photo courtesy: Micah Chiang/Creative Commons, image cropped and resized.
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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