Many times as Bible Believer’s we look at a situation and hurriedly give our opinion and our 25 proof verses to prove what we are saying and we forget that there are souls involved and perhaps lives at stake. With this in mind I would like to approach the question of “should the office of a deacon be filled by a woman?”
Chances are, if you are a woman who is a Deacon or has been asked to be a Deacon, there are several reasons why. You are probably faithful in Church and in dedication to the Saviour. You are probably a person of prayer and seen by those around you as a spiritual Christian. You probably tithe and cause little if any trouble in your Church. No doubt you have a love for the Saviour and people notice this. Henceforth, you have been asked by your Church to consider being a Deacon.
The facts are, that generally women are more faithful to the Saviour than men. I have seen church after church where the only things that get done are the things that the women do. Certainly in the scriptures women ministered to our Saviour. It was not a man who came in Matthew 26 and broke an alabaster box filled with precious ointment only to pour it on the head of the Saviour. No, man is too full of pride; it took a woman to minister to Christ like this. A rich young ruler once turned his back on the Saviour when he was commanded to sell all that he had and give the money to the poor, yet we read in Luke 8 of some women who ministered to Christ and it says that they ministered to Him of their substance. However, in all of this we still must give preeminence to the scriptures more than our feelings. We must be careful not to discourage one from serving the Saviour, but rather encourage serving in God’s way.
So what does the Bible say about the office of a Deacon? According to 1 Timothy 3 we have several qualifications listed for the office of a Deacon. This person is to be the husband of one wife (1 Timothy3: 12). This person’s wife is to be grave, not a slanderer and faithful in all things (1 Timothy 3:11). In addition to this the person is apparently responsible for ruling the children and the house well (1 Timothy 3:12). There are also other qualifications mentioned in the scriptures but to answer this particular question these are the qualifications that will help us to arrive at our answer.
The first two qualifications indicate that this office is to be held only by a man. But for the sake of those who argue, “God is just giving an example here”; let us look at the third qualification. The Bible states that this person is to rule well the children and the house. This would seem to indicate two different things. The children would include only the children but the house would indicate anyone in the family. The first time we ever read in the scriptures of someone ruling over someone else is in Genesis 3:16 when Eve was told by God that her husband would rule over her. To my knowledge you will not find a time in the word of God where God gives the authority of the home to a woman unless she is single. Verse after verse in scripture lays the responsibility of the home in the lap of the man. God says if a man cannot rule well his own house how shall he take care of the church of the living God. Obviously God makes a connection between the home and the church. God’s rules for the home also apply for the church.
The biggest mistake I’m afraid on our part is that we make a big deal about positions and give little attention to faithful service. You would not believe how many times people seem to be let down that I’m just a preacher and not a pastor. However, God’s will for my life is not to be a pastor at this time, but rather a preacher of the gospel. I would say that if someone comes to you and asks you to fulfill a position that scripturally is not yours to fill just tell them that you would rather serve God in accordance to His word.
