06/11/2026
Since the SBC decided to stick with Scripture, which is a good thing, here is a dialogue that answers many of the proponents for women pastors need to understand.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
Brother, let me just say from the start, I appreciate your passion. I really do. I can tell you love Scripture. But I think sometimes we can become so focused on guarding doctrine that we forget the people involved. These are faithful women. They love Jesus. They preach the gospel. They serve the church. They lead people to Christ. Surely we ought to be careful before we tell God He cannot use someone.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
There it is already: the velvet rope around rebellion. “Brother, I appreciate your passion” is usually Southern Baptist for, “Please stop asking what the Bible says because the room is getting uncomfortable.”
Nobody said God cannot use women. God used Deborah, Huldah, Mary, Priscilla, Phoebe, Lydia, and faithful women in every age. God can use a donkey, a pagan king, and a fish with Jonah in its gut. The question is not, “Can God use women?” The question is, “Has God authorized women to hold the pastoral office and exercise authoritative teaching over the gathered church?” Stay on the target. Do not throw emotional confetti in the air and call it exegesis.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
Well, I hear you. But many of these women are not trying to overthrow Scripture. They are gifted teachers, shepherds, evangelists. The Spirit has clearly blessed their ministries. If people are being saved, discipled, and helped, should we really focus so heavily on titles?
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Yes. Because titles name offices, and offices are governed by Scripture. “Pastor” is not a participation trophy for spiritual usefulness. It is tied to eldering, shepherding, teaching, oversight, and authority. If Scripture restricts that office to qualified men, then calling disobedience “fruitful ministry” does not baptize it.
Fruit does not override law. King Saul had a sacrifice ready too. God still called it rebellion. Uzzah had steady hands. God still struck him down. Good intentions do not turn unauthorized fire into worship.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
But brother, 1 Timothy 2 is difficult. There are cultural issues in Ephesus. Some scholars argue Paul was dealing with uneducated women spreading false teaching. So perhaps Paul’s instruction was local and temporary, not universal.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
That argument keeps getting dragged out like a church basement casserole from 1978. Paul does not ground his command in Ephesian sociology. He grounds it in creation: “Adam was formed first, then Eve.” Then he mentions the deception. That is not local. That is Genesis.
If Paul had said, “I do not permit this because the Ephesian women lack seminary degrees,” you would have something. But he did not. He went straight to creation order. Your argument only works if we pretend Paul accidentally wandered into Genesis while trying to address a local education problem.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
I just think we need humility. Faithful Christians disagree. We should be careful about drawing hard lines where the body of Christ has sincere differences.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Humility does not mean pretending the text is foggy because disobedience learned to speak softly.
Yes, faithful Christians can disagree on baptism timing, eschatology details, polity nuances, worship style, and a hundred secondary matters. But “I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man” is not written in invisible ink. The qualifications for overseer are not written as “spouse of one spouse.” Paul says husband of one wife. Male household leadership is built into the pattern.
You do not get to call every hard command a “sincere difference” and then act like clarity is arrogance. That is not humility. That is cowardice wearing moisturizer.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
That feels harsh. These women have been wounded by churches. Many have been told their gifts do not matter. We should not crush people who simply want to serve Jesus.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Then stop lying to them about what service must look like. Women’s gifts matter. Women’s discipleship matters. Women teaching women matters. Women training children matters. Women evangelizing matters. Women writing, counselling, serving, praying, correcting privately, showing hospitality, doing mercy ministry, and shaming lazy men by their holiness all matter.
But the fact that women matter does not mean they may occupy an office God assigned to qualified men. Boundaries do not erase dignity. A man cannot become a mother. A child cannot become an elder. A deacon cannot administer what only elders are charged to oversee. Distinction is not degradation.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
But Galatians 3:28 says there is neither male nor female in Christ. The gospel breaks down the walls that divide us. Shouldn’t the church model that freedom?
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Galatians 3:28 is about equal standing in Christ, not the obliteration of creational roles. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, yet Jews do not stop being Jews and Greeks do not stop being Greeks. Neither slave nor free, yet Paul still gives instructions to masters and servants. Neither male nor female, yet husbands and wives still receive distinct commands.
You are taking a soteriological text and using it like a crowbar against ecclesiology. That is not liberation. That is hermeneutical vandalism.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
I worry this debate distracts from mission. Lost people are dying. Communities are broken. The world needs the gospel. Do we really want to spend our energy fighting over whether a woman with obvious gospel fruit can be called pastor?
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Mission without obedience is not mission. It is marketing.
The Great Commission commands us to teach the nations to obey everything Christ commanded. Not “teach them the parts that test well with focus groups.” If your church’s mission requires disobeying apostolic order, your mission has already been compromised. God does not need rebellion covered in sugar to advance His kingdom.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
Now, brother, I don’t think it’s fair to call it rebellion. These are sincere servants of Christ. That kind of language can be hurtful.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Sincerity does not sanctify disobedience. Rebellion covered in sugar is still rebellion. A poisoned cupcake is still poison. You can pipe frosting on it, add sprinkles, call it “missional,” and serve it with a smile, but the toxin remains.
And this passive-aggressive “that language can be hurtful” routine is precisely the problem. You are trying to move the debate from Scripture to emotional management. I ask, “What does the text say?” You answer, “That might hurt someone’s feelings.” Feelings are not irrelevant, but they are not Lord. Christ is Lord.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
I simply want us to lead with grace.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Grace does not mean permission to ignore God. Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness. Grace saves rebels and trains them to obey. Grace is not a denominational fog machine that hides the word “no.”
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
But what about churches where women preach under the authority of male elders? They are not usurping authority. They are being permitted and supervised.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
That is like saying, “The bank robbery was elder-approved.” Paul says he does not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. He does not say, “unless a committee of men gives her the microphone.” Delegated disobedience is still disobedience.
If male elders authorize what Scripture forbids, they are not providing covering. They are providing camouflage.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
Surely there is room for different interpretations within our convention.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Not if words still mean things. A confession that says the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture cannot honestly include churches with women pastors. That is not diversity. That is contradiction.
You cannot say, “We affirm male-only pastors,” and then say, “But we also affirm women pastors, depending on how warmly they smile and how many people like them.” That is doctrinal double bookkeeping.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
I just think our tone matters.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
There it is again. Tone. The emergency exit for men losing the argument.
Yes, tone matters. But truth matters first. A soft voice can tell a lie. A gentle smile can sell rebellion. A pastor can manipulate with kindness just as easily as another man can bully with anger. Overly nice deflection is still deflection. Southern sweetness can be just as evasive as open hostility.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
So what would you say to a woman who feels called to pastor?
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
I would say: test every calling by Scripture. The Spirit does not contradict the Word He inspired. If Scripture forbids the office, then the desire is not a divine call to that office, however sincere it feels.
Serve Christ mightily. Use every lawful gift. Teach where Scripture permits. Disciple women. Evangelize. Write. Counsel. Show mercy. Build the church. But do not call disobedience calling.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
And to churches that already have women pastors?
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Repent. Lovingly, clearly, publicly. Change the title. Change the office. Change the practice. Honour the women as sisters, not pastors. Do not humiliate them, but do not continue the error because correction feels awkward.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR:
That may divide churches.
CAGE STAGE CALVINIST:
Obedience often divides. Truth divides light from darkness, sheep from goats, faithfulness from compromise. The goal is not institutional peace at any cost. The goal is obedience to Christ.
A church can die smiling. A denomination can rot politely. A rebellion can wear a cardigan and say “brother” every third sentence. None of that changes the issue.
What does Scripture say?
That is the question. Not what feels affirming. Not what preserves relationships. Not what avoids lawsuits, bad press, or denominational embarrassment. What does Scripture say?
And where Scripture has spoken, the church does not get to whisper amendments.
