The issue of devaluing women’s gifts and contributions to the church is a significant problem that needs to be addressed. To answer your question, I believe that God has designed different roles for men and women in his church, but this does not mean that women’s gifts and contributions are any less valuable.
In fact, the Bible teaches that women have a crucial role to play in the life and health of the church. Women like Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, Esther, Anna, Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Magdalene, and Phoebe are just a few examples of women who were used by God to move along his plan of redemption.
To build a culture that values the essentiality of women’s gifts in the body of Christ, we need to highlight the robust role that women had in God’s unfolding plan of redemption in Scripture. We need to teach this history to our boys and girls, so that they can grow into men and women who value the presence and gifts of women in the body of Christ.
The theology of the image of God in all people should radically influence the way we view and respond to women, co-image bearers by God’s design. This theology calls us away from denigrating and objectifying women and calls us to honor them as those who bear the very likeness of God himself.
It calls us to honor their gifts, to give their unique experience a voice, and to train them for work as God’s agents in the world and as essential members of his church. As Spurgeon said, “We cannot say to the women, ‘Go home, there is nothing for you to do in the service of the Lord.’ Far from it, we entreat Martha and Mary, Lydia and Dorcas and all the elect sisterhood, young and old, rich and poor, to instruct others as God instructs them.”
Young men and maidens, old men and matrons, yes—and boys and girls who love the Lord—should speak well of Jesus and make known His salvation from day to day. Women should not try to follow Christ alone, but rather commit to serving their local church.
In conclusion, women’s gifts and contributions to the church are invaluable and should be honored and valued. We need to teach our boys and girls the robust role that women had in God’s unfolding plan of redemption and highlight the essentiality of women’s gifts in the body of Christ. By doing so, we can build a culture that values the presence and gifts of women in the church.
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