Women in Leadership

The TV reporters checked and rechecked their equipment, going over their list of questions one more time. Every camera was fixed on the podium; every eye was fixed on the fluttering behind the curtains. As the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, stepped up to the microphone, she was greeted by the flashes of a hundred different cameras. As I sat watching the TV screen, I admired this lady's courage and calm. She knew what she was talking about, and she knew whom she represented.

Should a woman be in a leadership position? Thousands of books and sermons have been written on this subject, and there are a million individual points of view. The real issue at the heart of this question is whether a woman should hold a position of authority over a man. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul does forbid women to teach men and to "usurp authority over the man" in the church. "Usurp authority over" basically means to dominate and take over by force that to which you have no right.

A queen has authority over her subjects. A woman that has a hired hand or a butler has authority over them as Mistress of the house. A woman who runs a business has authority over her employees. A woman elected to public office has been given that jurisdiction by the ones that elected her. It is their right to that authority and they have been given that jurisdiction.

Women can, and should, be leaders. Most people automatically associate leadership with authority but in Webster's Dictionary of American English, the word lead is defined: To guide and conduct by showing the way, to go before, to direct. A leader can hold complete authority or simply guide, without controlling and commanding. Deborah, one of the judges of Israel, is an example of a woman in leadership who did not overstep the jurisdiction that had been given to her; she led without taking over Barak's jurisdiction as a man and as the leader of Israel's army.

This is not an issue with an easy answer. God has given clear instructions on the role of women within the family and the church and these should be followed. He has not given clear instructions, but principles regarding women's roles outside of family and church. Women were designed to be helpers and a woman can carry out that role even in a position of authority or leadership over men, when they adorn themselves with "a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price (1 Peter 3:4)".