Jerry Stutzman

Y’all agree?

A friend of mine returned from TGC this past week and said that some of the people he met there were saying that women can "shepherd" disciples in the church. (Many limited this to "shepherding" other women, while others did not. Some even used the word "pastor" as a title for women's ministry in the church.) I have no idea whether this is the official position of those with authority at TGC, but I do know that these sorts of language games are slippery slopes that often precede full-blown egalitarianism, whether those engaging in such language realize this or not. Besides all this, referring to the activity of women (or unordained men) in the church as "shepherding" lacks biblical precedent. The verb ποιμαίνω (to shepherd) is only used 11 times in the NT. It refers to: 1. The ruling activity of Jesus (Matt. 2:6; Rev. 2:27; 7:17; 12:5; 19:15) 2. The literal activity of shepherding literal animals (Luke 17:7; 1 Cor. 9:7) 3. The activity of apostles and elders as overseers of the flock of God (John 21:16; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:12) 4. The activity of false teachers who feed themselves instead of caring for God's people (Jude 1:12) That's it. Thus, the burden of proof is on those who want to make the case that women can "shepherd" in some sense other than how the Scriptures use the term. The same goes for the noun form of "shepherd" (ποιμήν), which is used 17 times to refer to: 1. Literal shepherds of literal sheep (Luke 2:8, 15, 18, 20) 2. The role of Jesus vis-à-vis the people of God (Matt. 9:36; 25:32; 26:31; Mark 6:34; 14:27; John 10:2, 11, 12, 14, 16; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25) 3. The role of "pastors [shepherds] and teachers" (Eph. 4:11), which shares a single definite article in the Greek [τοὺς δὲ ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους], linking the two terms as either being (a) synonymous or (b) related in some categorical fashion. Dan Wallace argues for the latter in his Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, saying that Paul seems to envision a distinction between pastors who shepherd and pastors who both shepherd and teach with authority (cf. 1 Tim. 5:17). Many people stake their entire argument for "women shepherds" on Ephesians 4:11, but, once again, this goes against the hermeneutical principle of clearer texts interpreting less clear texts. And since the NT never uses the noun or verb forms of "shepherd" to refer to anyone except Jesus, literal shepherds of literal animals, elders/overseers, and false teachers, there is simply no warrant for using the unclear and unhelpful language of women "shepherding" in the church. Why not stick closer to the way the Bible speaks? Why not speak of "teaching what is good" [καλοδιδασκάλους] as Paul does in Titus 2:4, where they "encourage [σωφρονίζωσι] the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled" (Titus 2:5)? I suspect the reason so many are eager to use biblical words in extra-biblical ways is because they think it will be a pressure-release valve for the mounting pressure conservative churches feel as the Western world moves further and further away from a biblical vision of the sexes. This won't end well, and if you're part of a church that is flirting with this sort of terminology, I'd urge to you reconsider your course before you slide further from how the Scriptures speak about these matters.