Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross.
Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man--there never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronised; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them either as "The women, God help us!" or "The ladies, God bless them!"; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could possibly guess from the words and deed of Jesus that there was anything "funny" about woman's nature.
Dorothy Sayers
Dorothy Sayers
Friday, May 13, 2011
Women & Church Leadership: Deacons
Women are to be working to spread the Kingdom of heaven, exercising their God-given gifts to encourage the Church—just as the men. Paul commended Christian women as his “fellow workers in the gospel (Philippians 4:3), just as he did the men, they were “ministers” just as the men. The Greek word diakonos strangely gets translated minister or deacon when it applies to men but servant when it applies to women. Phoebe was a diakonos and it’s quite possible that she personally carried Paul’s letter to the Romans. (Romans 16:1, 2) Junia, a relative of Paul’s was named as an apostle. (Romans 16:7) Priscilla taught Apollos, “the way of God more adequately.”(Acts 18:24-26)
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First, I want to say really cool blog. I've seen this word diakonos too, and have pondered it many times. Anyway, I like what you're doing here. It's definitely and uphill battle because self-elevation is elevation of the flesh and is part of the curse, so it can be difficult for denominations to release that hold of promotion or demotion by gender because that is letting go of their flesh, but God bless.
ReplyDeleteThanks a.a. it's good to get feedback. Good point. Women have to have our identity in the Lord as well and not fall into the same trap of pride. We need to take our stand in the Lord side by side with our brothers as "servants of all" and not elbow our way there.
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