The following is part 3 of David Kotter’s articles entitled: Does Sarah Palin Present a Problem for Complementarians?
Life is endlessly interesting and God’s Word speaks to every facet of this complex and joyful life. Lifted suddenly from relative obscurity, Governor Sarah Palin is now being analyzed (and accused) in the media from unprecedented angles. It is encouraging to see Christians thinking biblically and quickly about this new dimension of the presidential campaign. Nathan Finn notes, “There may be any number of reasons why Sarah Palin—or any other female—would make a problematic candidate for high political office. But gender should not be one of those reasons. He also quotes Barrett Duke:
God’s design for male headship in the home and the church does not require the exclusion of women from leadership in public life, where spiritual headship is not involved. Such extrapolation carries the biblical teaching about the role of women beyond the Bible’s own application.
It is permissible for a woman to serve, and she is not required to imitate a man to attain that position. The Bible expansively shows that from the beginning men and women were created to be quite different. Even though a man or a woman could serve in a particular office, it does not extinguish the innate differences between male and female leaders. J. I. Packer notes, “It is important that the cause of not imposing on women restrictions that Scripture does not impose should not be confused with the quite different goals of minimizing the distinctness of the sexes as created.” Though equal in value and dignity, men and women are created to be complementary in their role and function in the church and home. These complementary differences will necessarily be expressed in other areas of life.
When placed in leadership, a woman sometimes feels the need to abandon her femininity. A woman serving as a Vice President is still female, and her womanliness should be expressed as she serves. Though biblically permissible, if a woman is elected vice president, it will feel peculiar for quite a while. We will need to resist the urge to typecast the Vice President into a “national mom” or another more familiar form of female leadership. There will also be an element of personal strain on the people because there are inalienable aspects to the sexes. Packer says:
By this I mean that, other things being equal, a situation in which a female boss has a male secretary … will put more strain on the humanity of both parties than if it were the other way around. This is part of the reality of the creation, a given fact that nothing will change.
This reminds us that male headship in the church and home naturally (though not necessarily) extends into other areas of life. A woman Vice President is permissible, but humble male leadership is more typical. Even though Esther and Deborah are viewed positively in Scripture, they were the exceptions in a long line of kings and male leaders.
Go here or the original article and links to parts 1 & 2.
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
Jason,
I’m having problems with this line of reasoning, and I am working through it. I just do not understand how a woman VP/President doesn’t violate the created order.
We often argue that women should not be put into combat situations, even though we readily admit that there are women who are better shots or who could beat us up. Would we want a woman being a General of an infantry division? How does this square with a female Commmander-in-Chief?
I’m not a Palin-hater. I wrote some very positive things about her at my blog. And I will vote the McCain/Palin ticket. But I believe the idea that the Bible does not speak to gender roles in the ‘secular leadership realm’ is incosistent, and it seems to compartmentalize the Chrisian worldview in ways many have argued against for years.
I have a problem with this line of reasoning too Brad. For another reason though, Sarah Palin, is a mother of young children. This is not a case where the kids are all grown up and she has more time on her hands.
I think there is a problem here for complementarians. Sarah Palin has a beautiful family and her pursuits are demanding ones. I understand that not everyone takes the Titus 2 passage to mean that women must not take a job outside the home. Many take a more moderate position with Titus 2, but Vice President is beyond even a moderate position.
Sarah Palin is an incredibly brilliant woman and I do not doubt her abilities to multi-task and get the job done as VP and super mom, but not without casualities. Good politician or not, I struggle with mother’s sacrificing their family for pursuits that keep them out of the home (a lot)!
Just a thought!