Women in Leadership

One of my recent assignments was an essay stating my convictions on "women in leadership." This is an interesting subject that I think is not often enough addressed. The feminist trend of offensive, masculine women leaders can bring up a reaction against anything that appears like strength and capability. The key is to find God's balance between the two. I tried to address this in my essay, and thought I would post it here:



I believe in women who are leaders. I believe in women who are fearless and strong, ready for a challenge. I believe that the Kingdom of God will be only as strong as its citizens, and that women are citizens of that Kingdom.


The children of God are called to be leaders, and God makes no stipulation that women are not included. Men and women alike are called to be influencers, to seek to glorify God in their lives and in their society. Each Christian is meant to be a leader. They may lead obviously, or lead quietly, or lead unconsciously, but they all are intended to be leaders.


To reject that design and resign from that leadership is to retreat from the field, to lessen the ranks of the Kingdom’s defenders. Worse, it is to lead negatively. Rejection of design always leads only to perversion. In retreating from the field, a Christian woman does not retreat alone. She takes others with her, and disheartens the ones who remain. There is no true escape from leadership, for we are created leaders.


People often discuss whether women should be in authority. I believe that women may be in positions of authority. It is not sinful for a woman to organize an event, or delegate responsibilities.


That being said, there are some positions of authority that women should not fill. Spiritual authority is delegated to men. So is civil. Any time in the Bible that a woman takes these roles, it is a curse to her people. This does not mean that a woman should not lead other women spiritually—the Bible specifically commands that—but leading and mentoring younger women, and being responsible for and in authority over a body of believers, are two different things.


I believe also that women should be in authority under authority. Scripture clearly states that “the head of the woman is the man” (1 Cor 11:3). God’s design is for women to be under the authority of men, usually their husbands or fathers. If a position requires a woman to be out from under such authority, or to go against it, or to usurp it, it is not an acceptable position for her.


This, by the way, is not some sort of irrational, masochistic stipulation. The same reasoning that brings that belief (a rebellious dislike of authority) concludes that God’s requirement that we be under His authority is irrational and chauvinistic. If God has made a person a woman, it is because she will be better fitted for her fore-ordained destiny as a woman than as a man. Being under that authority will further his plans for her, not hinder them.


The Kingdom of God needs its women to be leaders now as much as or more than it ever has in the past. It needs women of character and courage, women who stand firm at the darkest hour, women who do not lead for themselves because they despise to be led but who lead for their King because they follow Him unwavering. These are the women the Kingdom waits for; these are the women we are called to be.