The Thing About Women Pastors

12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 For Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression (1 Timothy 2:12-14 NKJV).

1 Timothy 2:12-14, is used to justify the fact that women cannot be pastors or teach within the church. According to some, a woman should not have authority over a man. However, Apostle Paul did not say that women can’t be pastors. In order to understand, we must first go back to Genesis.

27 So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth (Genesis 1:27-28 AMP).

We see in Genesis, that when the Lord created mankind He blessed both male and female. One was not blessed over the other, so that rules out the notion that women are less than men. Now let’s talk about spiritual gifts. 

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 6 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all; 8 for one is given to the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kind of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:4-11 NKJV).

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12 NKJV).

All spiritual gifts come from the Lord and He gives these gifts to whom He sees fit. No gift was specifically designed for male or female. So what was Apostle Paul referring to?

 The word “woman” translates to the Greek word guné which means wife. And the word "man" translates to the Greek word anér which means husband. Now that we know the meaning of these two words  to 1 Timothy 2:12-14, we can comprehend what Apostle Paul meant.

 Wives are not meant to use authority over their husbands, because husbands are the spiritual head; not the wives. The Lord intended Adam to teach his wife Eve, that is why the Lord gave Adam the command to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In turn, Adam was tasked with teaching Eve to follow that same command.

A woman who is called and ordained by God to pastor or teach, has every right to do so. For a man does not have authority over a woman, who is not his wife.