The Female Missionary Issue

MISSIOLOGY LECTURE 23, PART II THE FEMALE MISSIONARY ISSUE

Many use for support of a female Missionary the passage in Judges concerning Deborah becoming a Judge, a leader of the Israelites: Judg 4:4-5 And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. First, this is O.T. and doesn’t necessarily easily apply to N.T. times. Second, God chose to use a female because none of the men would rise up with courage; and this would be looked at later as ‘laughable’ in future generations. God can use a woman for greatness, but to be in a position that is prescribed in the Scriptures for men is not warranted.

It is true that woman can, and did, labor together with a male Missionary; but does this mean that they can actually be a Missionary? Phil 4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Priscilla was a helper of a Missionary, but not a Missionary herself. Rom 16:3-5 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have or my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house.

Other helpers of a Missionary were Mary, Tryphena and Tryphosa…but nothing said about them being a Missionary, de facto. Rom 16:6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. Rom 16:12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.

Phebe was a servant of the church; does that mean that she could be a Missionary of the church?! Rom 16:1-2 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

Philip had four daughters that had the gift of prophecy; but it doesn’t relate that they were actual prophets in the church; and it says nothing about them going out to evangelize and start churches as do Missionaries today. Acts 21:8-9 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

The big issue for a female who believes she is to be a ‘Missionary’ is contained in the following: 1 Tim 2:9-14 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. A female cannot usurp authority over the man; she cannot teach men; she cannot spiritually lead men.

Can a female go to a mission field and follow 1 Timothy 2 here and still be called a ‘Missionary’? Well, yes and no. She can surely go to a mission field to help a church there and remain subordinate to the men; but, calling her a Missionary is probably not warranted. A Missionary is one who is sent out by a church on a mission: and that mission ‘must’ be none other than the Great Commission of Mt 28 in which they evangelize, baptize, and

1 educatize! A female shouldn’t be baptizing and teaching men; though she can evangelize women and children for sure. Thus, a female cannot be a Missionary, as I have defined the term. But, if you use a contemporary definition where a Missionary is anyone going to a far away place to help them in any way spiritually, then a female can be a Missionary. It’s all in how you define ‘Missionary’.

A female should not be formerly commissioned out of a church to go and preach the gospel, baptize, and teach the converts the truths of the New Testament. But, a female can go and help a Missionary and his family minister to the converts in that newly planted church. She can be a teacher of women and children; she can help with food issues, clothing issues, cleaning issues, prayer issues, etc..

The problem, as I see it, is that Baptist women today want to be ‘known for something’ in their service for God and have broken through the ‘ceiling’ and are now going from church to church raising support to be sent out as a Missionary to a far away land. I don’t believe any of these ladies are planning to be a pastor; they want to be a help to a church and the Missionary family that is there….and that is applaudable. But, we shouldn’t be calling her a Missionary. She is a Missionary ‘helper’.

The Feminist movement in the USA over the past 30 years has done a lot to change what is acceptable roles for women in society, and in churches. Baptist women are not insulated from this mindset. They have taken some of it in this genre of ‘female Missionarydom’.

I am not doubting that God is working in their heart to do great things for Him in far away places, but I do doubt that God wants them to be on their own as a ‘Missionary’. As stated in an earlier lecture, women should be closely associated with a male relative when they are going off to help churches (i.e. as a ‘helper’). They should never be ‘out on their own’ to do the ‘work of the Lord’. This model does not seem to be supported by Scripture at all.

If they were out on their own as a female ‘Missionary’, they might be put in harms way, be lonely, insecure, not discerning and fall into the wiles of the Devil, taken advantage of by men, etc, etc.

Practical real life scenarios:

*Should our church ever have a female ‘Missionary’ come and present her ‘work’? If we would possibly support one financially, then it would be possibly permissable. But, I would not be in favor of supporting one financially.

*Should our church ever financially support a female ‘Missionary’? By doing this, it gives approval by our church to how and what this person is doing for the Lord; we are shown to be in agreement with her methods.

*Should our church ever support a female who is going as a full time ‘helper’ of her father who is a solid Baptist Missionary? Yes and No: we can financially support many, many things. This woman would not necessarily be violating any Scriptural principles here. However, there are so many undersupported male Missionaries out there who are trying to start churches, and it would be very reasonable to support all these first, and then if there is a surplus of Mission’s monies, we could consider supporting ‘helpers’ (whether male or female, young or old).

*What do we do as a church if one of our godly young females (single) desires to go to a foreign Mission field to help a Missionary that we know very well? Ideally she should go with a male relative (husband, father, brother, etc.) who she could be ‘taken care of’ by. Women out on their own in this sin-soaked world is not very wise, nor very Scriptural. If the Missionary had a wife and was willing to basically allow this lady to live with them in their home and take care of her, then it might be permitted. But, just think of all the ‘tricky’ situations that could possibly arise from having a young lady living in a house with an adult male!

*What do we do as a church if one of our godly ladies wants to go to a foreign field as a helper and her unsaved (or ungodly saved) husband is going to ‘tag along with her’? This would not be a helpful situation for the Missionary; more problems for him than help, potentially.

2 *What do we do as a church if two of our godly single ladies want to go together as helpers to help a Missionary on the foreign field? It would be safer than if they were alone, but they still are stepping out of God’s plan for the woman to be in a situation of direct oversight by a related male (husband, brother, father, etc.).

*As a Missionary, should you accept a female ‘Missionary helper’ in your ministry? If I was related to her, fine. Otherwise, I would not, for the above reasons already made. I may desperately need help; but, I don’t want to do things that would look inappropriate and that might cause something truly horrible to potentially (no matter how remote) happen and destroy the ministry there.

*If you are a single female and feel called of God and greatly burdened to go and ‘reach the people of Sudan’, what should you do? Find a male relative to ‘sponsor’ you; or, better yet, marry a godly man who has the same calling. I would assume that if the calling is truly of God for you, then God will make it all work out…correctly.

*If you are a lady who is married to an unsaved man and you feel God is calling you to go to the field of Turkistan to help a Missionary family there, what should you do? If the Missionary family is ok with it, and your husband is very much ok with it, and your husband is not at all against the stance you are taking as a Baptist, then it might, possibly, work out ok…but, then again, it could be a great problem for everyone.