Developing a Theology of Women

A few years ago, a colleague told me about three widows he trained, leading a movement of new believers in the Muslim world.

Women? I said. They're the leaders of your house-church movement?

Oh yes. Forty-ish year old widows, single moms, he said.

That conversation planted a seed that eventually grew into a full re-examination of what I believed about women in spiritual leadership.

A distorted Theology of Women silences half the world—and stunts potential movements that could bring the Kingdom of God in a more full and complete way to the ends of the earth.

Lofty and heavy words, I know.

But let me explain.

My Journey: From Shadow Leader to Sunday Morning Teacher

I grew up believing women weren't allowed to lead men spiritually or to speak publicly teaching men spiritual things. The apostle Paul's words in Timothy about women being silent, learning in submission, being deceived first, the words headship and submission seemed clear to me.

I remember my husband and I both thought I would be better suited to facilitate our church small group—both because of gifting, desire, and time. (Side note: he did not want to lead our small groups but we both believed he had to do it, so I played the role of a 'shadow leader', writing out the questions, thoughts, and plans and handing them off to him to be the voice).

Because he was a man.

And I was a woman.

Women could sing on stage on Sunday. But never give the sermon.

Women could teach women or children from the Bible, but not men.

Women on church staff could be called Directors, but not Pastors.

I knew in the core of my being something was off about my practical application of women in the church—and that it bothered my soul at times—but I didn't know why, what, or how to explain it.

Over the years, I've grown to know who I am in Christ. I've shed any spiritual inferiority the church (and myself) used to place on my contribution. After my book published, churches started asking me to teach on Sunday mornings. I knew intuitively God gave me something important, Spirit-filled, scriptural—and practical—to say, and so I said yes.

But I had never studied Biblically or historically why my views on women in the church shifted over the years, and I certainly couldn't explain those difficult passages.

Until a few years ago, when I finally did study and learn.

What Changed My Mind

I dove deep into the history of women in the early church and through the centuries—studying how political, societal, and patriarchal views in society influenced the church's view (and thus doctrine) about women's roles.

One thing shocked me: almost all Bible translations were completed by groups of men. Even the New Living Translation (my favorite translation of the Bible) only has 1 woman out of 200 translators on the committee. We've missed out on the unique perspective women's voices would bring to difficult translation decisions—and those decisions inform what turns into doctrine.

I also studied what each of the different views had to say in the Bible—both those who would say that women cannot teach men and those that say that they can. I felt encouraged to form my own views on what the Bible actually teaches and illustrates about women and their purposes in the Kingdom of God.

Here are four key discoveries that are informing my still developing Theology of Women.

① The Words We Mistranslated

Helper (Ezer)

When God used the word helper (the Hebrew is 'ezer') to describe the woman he created for man in Genesis, we have traditionally looked at it as a subservient role, not really as powerful, or dare I say, important, as the one doing the main work, on the front lines.

But it is the same word used of God 66 times in Scripture.

This 'ezer' speaks of God's strength, power, and protection, help, and being a rescuer. Not submission. Not inferiority. Strength.

Head (Kephalē)

The word head (kephalē in Greek) literally means head, a part of the actual body, of which a body cannot exist. You must have a head and a body.

In the first century, head didn't equate to authority, as we might think of it today. It referred to origin, something created firstly. Translation of the Greek word kephalē in other parts of the Bible similarly refers to origin and is translated that way. Except for in this passage. If we are consistent with translation, it means simply that he was created first and should read:

Christ is the origin of the church, just as male (or husband) is the origin of the woman (or wife) in creation.

It means simply that he was created first.

This has unfortunate implications when we translate this word as an authority word, as male leadership or headship over women in role, both in church and marriages—instead of alongside women as equal partners in role, loving, serving, and submitting to each other equally.

② The Verses We Misunderstood

Once I understood the words, I had to wrestle with the verses themselves.

When studying Paul's verses in Timothy regarding women being silent, and not being permitted to teach men, we must ask ourselves: "Was this a prohibition for all women in all churches for all time, or a particular command for a particular situation?"

Also, there was a common teaching in that day that because Eve was deceived first, she was weaker and couldn't be trusted, and Adam was off the hook. What if Paul was repeating a common thought of the day in a sarcastic tone—in order to dispute it as illogical?

Try re-reading this passage in this light, and see how it might come across.

Oh the pain and silencing these verses have caused for so many women over the centuries, and how we've all missed out on women's perspectives and prophetic teaching.

I was encouraged to see how controversial and complicated the interpretation of these few verses are among both egalitarians and complementarians alike. (I'm embarrassed to say that even though I went to a four-year private Christian university, I must have skipped those early morning classes on Biblical hermeneutics, and I didn't even know those terms until studying them in my fifties.)

③ The Women We Overlooked

But theology isn't just about words and verses—it's about real people. And when I looked at Paul's mention of women co-workers in the book of Romans, his obvious acceptance of women in spiritual leadership roles in practice doesn't match the few controversial verses he wrote to Timothy.

Phoebe

"A deacon in the church in Cenchrea" (Romans 16:1-2), whom Paul also entrusted as the carrier of the letter to the Romans.

In that culture, whoever delivered a letter also most likely explained and interpreted the letter to the receivers because that's what carriers of letters did in that time.

Sounds like what Sunday morning preachers do, right?

Junia

A feminine name, "highly respected among the apostles" (Romans 16:7). As an apostle, this meant she preached anywhere and everywhere to anyone.

By the way, if I'd known about these rock star spiritual women before we had our own children, I'm sure we would have named our girls Phoebe and Junia!

Lydia

"She and her household were baptized" (Romans 16:15) and later "returned to the home of Lydia. They met with the believers and encouraged them once more" (Acts 16:40), implying that she may be one of the first house-church leaders.

I also admire her even more knowing her as a fellow woman entrepreneur, "a seller of purple cloths", and that she spent her free time by the river praying, known as a woman who worshipped God.

Philip's Four Daughters

Philip has four unmarried daughters "who prophesied" (Acts 21:9). And we're told to "eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy" (1 Corinthians 14:1), which is the teaching and interpretation of spiritual truths—and there is certainly no restriction for them on who they taught.

These sisters rocked their city with their charisma and spiritual wisdom.

④ The Jesus We Forgot

And then there's Jesus himself, who encouraged women to speak, to lead spiritually.

The Samaritan Woman at the Well

She brought a whole city to Jesus with her evangelistic fervor. She is perhaps the first woman who started a movement of disciples to Jesus Christ. After she shared her story of transformation, she led them to experience Jesus for a few days, and it was "long enough for many more to hear his message and believe" (John 4).

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene

They found the empty tomb first—and commissioned by the angel of the Lord, ran to tell the others the Good News. God entrusted this vital task to women, to go and tell the men.

Mary, Sister of Martha

She sat at Jesus' feet instead of serving dinner, along with the other disciples who followed him, learning right along with the men. Disciples in those days learned from their rabbi, their teacher, so they could learn to teach others what their rabbi taught.

Why This Matters for the Nations

As my mind opens to new ideas found in scripture about women in spiritual leadership and women teaching and speaking, I never realized until now how much of myself I may have silenced in past years. A theology of women that excludes women from spiritual leadership is dangerous because it limits the spreading of the Kingdom of God to the least-reached parts of the earth.

Those three widows in the Muslim world? They're leading a disciple-making movement because someone saw their potential and empowered them.

How many more movements are we missing because we're silencing half the church?

May we raise up and empower more wise women who are filled with God's Spirit so that together, women and men, can lead side-by-side, expanding God's Kingdom on earth, as they were commissioned to do in the Garden of Eden.

P.S. If you want to study this topic more deeply, studying the Bible from both viewpoints, I highly recommend Dr. Cynthia Hester's Theology of Women Academy. That's where I learned most of what I've shared here—walking through history, studying women in the early church and through the centuries, and diving deep into the Hebrew and Greek words. She and I developed our courses at the same time as colleagues, becoming friends and encouragers of each other! She’s the real deal. As soon as she finished her Course, I enrolled and am a much deeper believer because of it. NOTE! If you’re reading this during Black Friday week 2025, she is running an incredible deal on the Course!!!