120 FEMINIST VIEWS THAT UNDERMINE SCRIPTURE
In personal conversation, people will sometimes say, “I heard Anne
Graham Lotz preach, and it changed my mind about women preach-
ing.” Or they will hear Beth Moore preach to both men and women at
a conference and think, “This is such good Bible teaching. How can it
be wrong?” But is this reasoning true? Does the evident blessing of God
on some women pastors prove that what they are doing is right?
A. HOW CAN GOD BLESS THE MINISTRIES OF SOME WOMEN?
It is not surprising to me that there is some measure of blessing when
women act as pastors and teach the Word of God, whether in a local
congregation, at a Bible conference, or before a television audience. This
is because God’s Word is powerful, and God brings blessing through his
Word to those who hear it. But the fact that God blesses the preaching
of his Word does not make it right for a woman to be the preacher. God
is a God of grace, and there are many times when he blesses his people
even when they disobey him.
One example where God brought blessing in spite of disobedience
is the story of Samson in Judges 13–16. Even though Samson broke
God’s laws by taking a Philistine wife (Judges 14), sleeping with a pros-
titute at Gaza (16:1-3), and living with Delilah, a foreign woman he had
not married (16:4-22), God still empowered him mightily to defeat the
Philistines again and again. This does not mean that Samson’s sin was
right in God’s sight, but only that God in his grace empowered Samson
in spite of his disobedience. Eventually God’s protection and power were
withdrawn, “but he did not know that the LORD had left him” (16:20),
and the Philistines captured and imprisoned him (v. 21).
If God waited until Christians were perfect before he brought bless-
ing to their ministries, there would be no blessing on any ministry in this
life! God’s grace is given to us in spite of our failings. But that does not
mean that it is right to disobey Scripture, or that God will always give
such blessing.
On the other hand, there are many successful ministries by women
that are fully consistent with obedience to Scripture. For example, noth-
ing in the Bible prevents women from doing evangelism locally or in
other countries, whether speaking privately or to large groups of peo-
ple. Thus, I have no objection to women serving as missionaries and