When building a biblical perspective on women in ministry, people often go to the most logical place. They go back to the beginning, to the book of Genesis. Even the Apostle Paul referenced the book of Genesis in both 1 Timothy 2 and 2 Corinthians 11. While we have considered portions of these passages in previous articles, we intentionally left the handling of Genesis alone in anticipation of this article. In 1 Timothy, Paul addressed false teaching in Ephesus. He warned against those who were susceptible to being deceived teaching and leading in the church. At that time and in that culture, it was women. In 2 Corinthians, Paul voiced concern that the Corinthian church would be deceived “just as Eve was deceived,” and consequently led astray from faith in Christ. The warning within these two passages is consistent: beware of being deceived, like Eve.
The failure of Eve in the garden often forms the foundation upon which a biblical perspective on women in ministry, and women in general, is constructed. The issue we find in this approach is it uses the curse and its effects as the starting point, not the original arrangement that preceded it in the creation account. Put another way, Genesis 3 presents us with a cursed order rather than the created order. What we read in Genesis 3 is a description of the consequences of the fall, not a divine prescription for the way things should and must always be. To start with Genesis 3 is to begin with a broken system, a system that the Lord God promised to correct with the coming of Christ.
A significant consequence of the curse is unbalanced power dynamics within humanity.
Genesis 3:16 provides the portion of the curse that applies specifically to Eve and all the women who would follow. It reads, “To the woman he said, ‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” There are three consequences in this portion. Childbirth would bring about “very severe” pain, the woman would “desire” man, but the man would “rule” woman. The latter two consequences are relational in nature. They present a push and pull between woman and man, wife and husband. The “desire” of the woman and the “rule” of the man both represent an attempt to dominate. A significant consequence of the curse is unbalanced power dynamics within humanity. This can be seen within the marriage relationship, but also across all human relationships. We won’t chase the power struggle rabbit throughout scripture, but we dealt with it briefly in our article on 1 Timothy 2. One of the major issues at play in Ephesus was an imbalance in the religious power dynamics that skewed heavily towards women. Is it more likely that Paul and others were attempting to reinforce the effects of the curse, or, in light of the work and person of Jesus, to restore the good creation God initially gave us? We submit restoration is the only legitimate option!
Genesis 1:26-28 provides us with the account of the creation of Adam and Eve, man and woman. It reads, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God created male and female in the image of God, blessed them, said what had been done was very good. Included in that was the charge for male and female to “subdue” creation. Often, this is understood as a mandate to take dominion, to rule and control. Again, the concept of power and control flows from the curse. You only have to control that which is out of control. And “in the beginning,” all of creation was all good.
From the outset, the intent was not that humanity would dominate creation; it was that humanity would care for creation. We were designed and commissioned for compassionate care.
From the outset, the intent was not that humanity would dominate creation; it was that humanity would care for creation. We were designed and commissioned for compassionate care. We were meant to reflect and replicate the image of God through loving service. Jesus restored this divine image through His life and death. In the gospels, Jesus declared that He “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Paul reveals the logical outworking of this truth when he declares “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Jesus removed the cursed order and restored the created order. And Paul, as he did throughout his epistles, was actively working to encourage women and men to live in and reflect the compassionate grace that Christ modeled for the church.
We would borrow from the words of Paul and encourage you not to be deceived like Eve, but also not to intentionally walk in error like Adam. Let us not continue to establish our relationships with one another, within the church or elsewhere, upon the brokenness of the curse. Instead, let us build upon the solid rock of Christ, both His life and His Word. Let us go back beyond the curse to the good creation of God, where both women and men were equally called and qualified by God to serve as servant leaders in the image and likeness of the Divine.
