Practical Pastoring: Roles of Men and Women Part 1

When Pastor Dan stated that there is yet more the Holy Spirit has to teach the church, he was correct. We grow by revelation. Often Christians become stuck in a rut and receive no more revelation from the Holy Spirit. We are capable of becoming arrogant by believing that God loves our church group more than another group of believers. When the Holy Spirit teaches us a particular Bible truth, we are often quick to judge others who may have not yet received revelation on a particular topic. May God have mercy on us.

I was on the receiving end of the anger of both men and women who attended the Ark Church when I arrived in Havre, Montana, over two decades ago to pastor the church. People were hurting by Pastor Dan’s departure from the Ark Church. People were hurting because they did not get their way.

In counseling we say that hurt people hurt people. I agree with Pastor Dan’s statement that a major underlying problem in the church is the confusion of roles between men and women. Some people confuse their worth as a believer with their role assigned to them as a man or woman. Later in these articles I will discuss the roles of men and women in church government.

As I understand the scripture that Pastor Dan cited in his letter (Galatians 3), we are one in Christ Jesus. There is power in agreement. If we learn how to work together, we can accomplish far more than when working alone. The Old Testament teaches that one can chase 1,000 but two can chase 10,000.

A healthy church attempts to honor all who attend. We respect the elderly because of their age. We value children and present opportunities for their education. Recently, a young grade-school girl and I discussed her role at the Ark Church. She has a servant’s heart and loves God. I told her that we would do everything possible to involve her in various ministries at the Ark. By the grace of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit we can honor all and encourage people to embrace the calling God has for their lives.

In the United States, women have the right to vote. This was not always the case. In the church, women have been subject to interesting expectations over the years.

At the Ark Church, the leadership values the women who are part of the congregation. We will look more at the level of participation in ministry later in these articles.

Every culture is unique. As a pastor I hope that you will continue to see the ideal and live in the real. Allow the Holy Spirit to show you and the elders how to proceed as you work to bring your church into the fullness that God has for you.

Each of us possesses biases regarding issues we face in life. We are like an AM radio trying to pick up on the frequency of the Holy Spirit while receiving static and outside interference. This interference may be caused by our parents, classmates, family members, co-workers or the media. We are naïve if we think others have had no influence on our views about life. God is interested in our submitting to His will. We are asked to lay down our opinions and allow God to reveal His heart in regard to the issues that we face while still on earth.

We should remember that our citizenship is in heaven. We are sojourners passing through this life on earth. Hopefully we can reckon our flesh dead and appropriate the mind of Christ that we possess as revealed to us in the Bible. I am afraid that many people who attend church are more interested in being right than they are in obeying God.

Kevin Barsotti, Ark Church

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This article is part of Practical Pastoring: Mentoring Growth Letters from a Senior Pastor to a New Pastor, Book Four. The author responds to his pastor’s letters to him from twenty years ago when he began his pastoral journey.