A Male Ruled Kingdom?!

A real hot potato here!

Will God use a woman to lead His church? Yes, in the areas where he wants them to!

I see men going nowhere spiritually, and women putting effort into following Him. I guess we all do. Does that mean God has changed His design intention for men and women? Of course not.

Indeed if a women steps out of her creation role to be a 'helpmeet' she should not be surprised if some of her 'spiritual' activity turns out to be chaff, even if it sounded good to some at the time! This role was defined by God and before the fall. The oppression of women came after the fall. Biblical submission of women need not involve oppression. There should be a willing, reverential acknowledgement of both gender roles.

I am not saying that women should not minister, even to men. But they should not do so in a domineering, directive, usurping, disrespectful way. The authority of spiritual direction for a congregation belongs to men God has prepared, influenced and supported by Godly women.

I realise this is against the zeitgeist or 'spirit of the times'. However, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, and he chose 12 men  to head the early church! This does not mean they were always the quickest on the uptake however!

Yes, regarding salvation and value to God, there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free. But regarding roles within the family, society and the church, we should not cause scripture to waste it's breath.

This is not to supress female self-expression, but to steer it in the right direction.

Males for their part have abused feminity so much that women have difficulty trusting us with leadership and authority in their lives.

There are many wounds to heal, and God will heal them if we ask, but the Bible does not teach that men and women are fully equivalent apart from the physical plumbing!

Now there are factors in our interpreting scripture I agree. I am scratching at the tip of the iceberg on a related subject here. There is a factor of cultural backdrop. This cannot be ignored entirely, and will alter the outworking of some statements. There is the possibility (depending on one's beliefs about scripture) of bias and predjudice in the human writers. Also some apostolic writing is clearly corrective rather than absolute. (For example Paul advises people in one context not to marry, whereas in another he advises them to do so). However all scripture is breathed of God and it seems dismissive of its authority to disregard so many passages on this issue.

I have noticed that here in suburban South Africa, decay is a few years less evident than the UK and US in things like family breakdown, lack of general respect, delinquent children etc. Is it a coincidence that on the whole male/female roles are also more traditional and therefore biblical?

Please understand I am talking about the issues the Bible talks about, such as love, respect and headship. Things such as wisdom, sensitivity, tact, intelligence, diligence, intuition, even courage, are not subject to any absolute gender discrimination, or it may be in  favour of the female of the species!