Where Have the Women Gone?

Richard Hollerman

There is a time to ask where have the women who aspire to godliness gone? Where have the Biblical women gone in our day? Why is it that men are rare and also why is it that true women of God are gone today? Even those who claim to be followers of Jesus are so far from the ways of the Lord, that it is ludicrous and nonsensical!

Paul writes of those women who make “a claim to godliness” (1Timothy 2:10) but where are these women? Just today I turned on my computer and was greeted by messages that come from a women who purports to be a “Christian” woman—but who is very far from a Christian. The person I am writing about claims to be a “evangelist” but where is there anything like a female evangelist mentioned in the New Testament?

We know that women are not to exercise authority over the man (1 Timothy 2:11-12) but are to remain silent in the assembly (1 Corinthians 14:33-37). How is it possible for a woman to be a fully-functioning evangelist and yet obey the instructions of God in this place? An evangelist is one who proclaims the word of God publicly and seeks to bring the good news of Christ to a lost world. Is this possible when a woman arrogantly chooses to disobey the plain commands of God in Scripture—regarding women’s public participation?

This unknown woman also claims to be a “worship leader.” Again, we ask the simple question: if a woman is not to open her mouth publicly, how is it possible for her to be a “leader” in public worship? What assembly would choose to avoid Scriptural directives and allow or even appoint a woman to be a “leader” and especially a “worship leader”?

We surely don’t want anything that we say here to be construed to mean that we would be negative toward women in general. No, for God has created the woman “for the man’s sake” and to follow his lead (see 1 Corinthians 3-16, especially vv. 8-9). This is true for the unknown woman about whom I am writing. She is a creature of God (Genesis 1:26-28) and must be seen as his special workmanship.

A woman is to give birth to children and to be a “helper” of her husband (Genesis 2:18)—but she is not intended to be a leader or a worship leader or an evangelist. Surely, she is not to be an overseer in the assembly (1 Timothy 3:1-7). But today, we know that women (and men) have overthrown the commands of God and want to do whatever they want to do. As we know, this violates the will of God in every way.

How about you? Forget about the woman from the computer whom I have been describing. What about you—personally? Will you humbly serve the Lord in the way that He has commanded? Will you run from the contemporary egalitarian views and humbly submit yourself to God’s will in Scripture? We know that this will put you in the minority—but it is better to be in the minority with God than to have the world’s applause.