Are Women Deacons Biblical?

Are Female Deacons Biblical by Trent Roseman?

First, what is a deacon?

The Greek word diaconos or deacon in the New Testament is utilized both in reference to the action of service or ministry and in reference to an office of leadership in the local church.

First, it is used in reference to the action of service or ministry.

The word diaconos can literally be translated as serving, attending to, or waiting tables.

Therefore, to be a deacon is to be a servant, an attendant, a minister or a helper.

In Matthew twenty, twenty-eight, Jesus said the Son of Man came not to be served, that is diaconio, but to serve Dicaneo again, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

So Jesus said in Matthew twenty, twenty eight, the Son of Man came not to be deaconed, but to deacon and give his life as a ransom for many.

Here Jesus is not referencing an office in a local church, but his ministry of serving others while here on earth.

This is ministry all believers are called to in the pattern of Jesus.

In Matthew twenty seven, fifty five, many women, including Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the Mary, the mother of Zebedee's children, ministered, that is diacono, deaconed to Jesus' body following his death.

Moreover, spiritual gifts are given to all believers in the local church that they might spiritually serve or deacon one another.

First Peter four ten through eleven says, as each has received a gift, use it to serve, again there's the word diacono, deacon one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.

Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God.

Whoever serves diacon, that is deacons, as one who deacons by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

So we are called to deacon one another, every believer, male or female, by serving one another, as Jesus deaconed or served us.

But second, diakinos or deacon is also used in the New Testament to reference an office of leadership in the local church.

While all believers are intended to be ministers or servants, and in some sense deacon, the New Testament also refers to an office of deacon mentioned in first Timothy three as one of two church leadership offices, the other being the elder or overseer or pastor in the church.

They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, and let them also be tested first, then let them serve as deacons, diacono, if they prove themselves blameless.

This office seems to find its origin in Acts six, when Hellenistic widows were being neglected in the early Jerusalem church's daily distribution of food.

To mediate the situation, the apostles encouraged the church to deputize seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom.

The church was to pick a few spiritual members who would lead in making sure the physical organizational needs of the body were met for the sake of maintaining the unity of the church in order to help those called to lead the church in the word and prayer continue without inhibition.

And the Lord bless their wisdom.

For the church unified and the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

So while every believer should serve or deacon one another in their local church for the building up of the church, Ephesians 4 12, there is a specific diaconal office designed to serve the physical and tangible needs of the church for the unity of the body.

This leadership office does not lead the congregation by preaching, leading the gathering of the saints, making directional decisions, or vision casting, but rather it leads by serving the tangible needs of its members.

This is different than the office of elder, overseer, and pastor, episcope, mentioned earlier in 1 Timothy three, who quote rule by quote preaching and teaching.

Historically, in a number of churches, especially within the Southern Baptist Convention, with which we joyfully partner, there will often be a senior pastor and a quote board of deacons.

Whether or not they refer to themselves as a board, deacons in this model tend to operate as the oversight of the church, keeping the pastor in check like a board of trustees, or leading the congregation in the case of a senior pastor vacancy.

Biblically, however, the office of the deacon is not one of many on a board responsible to oversee the spiritual direction of the church, but rather a group of people designated to be unifying models of servanthood while they spiritually serve the local church's physical needs.

Here are five biblical reasons we believe women can be deacons.

Baptist churches have historically been in unanimous agreement that the office of elder slash oversleader slash pastor is reserved to men as qualified by Scripture.

See, for example, Article 6 of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, as is the clear teaching of Scripture.

See 1 Timothy 2, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1, 1 Corinthians 14.

See also a lack of female elders in the New Testament.

At the same time, there has simultaneously been disagreement between Baptist churches over whether or not women can serve in the office of deacon.

Here are five biblical reasons we believe women can serve in the office of deacon.

Let's be reminded of scripture where we find a deacon's qualifications, and then we'll take each reason one at a time.

Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.

These men must also first be tested, then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.

Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.

Deacons must be husbands of only one wife, and good managers of their children and their households.

For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Paul uses this word eight other times in first Timothy, and in most of these occurrences, women is the proper understanding and not wives.

In fact, in one hundred and twenty nine of the instances it's used in the New Testament is referring to a woman without regard to her marital status.

This is compared to ninety-two times it is used of married women.

Put simply, the word geneicus, translated wives in the New Testament, most often means a woman of any age, whether a virgin, married, or a widow.

Two, there is no there.

Then comes the question of the preceding article in the passage.

The text says their wives, or women, as I've argued, with an article implying that the Genicus, wives or women, has a relationship to the diaconos, the deacon, listed in the preceding verses.

However, there is no possessive modifier in the text, meaning their, as in their wives, is not actually their in the Greek text.

Thomas Schreiner, theologian and professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says the ESV and KJV actually translate as their wives, but the Greek lacks the word their, and its insertion reflects an interpretation by translators.

The word used here is Genicus, which could be translated as either wives or women, and thus the Greek doesn't really help us here.

However, there is actually a hint that Paul refers to deacons rather than women, for if he'd used the pronoun there, we'd have no doubt that wives of deacons were intended.

The bare use of the word women suggests that women deacons rather than wives are in view.

three Transitional Phrases.

The third point in support of female deacons is the word likewise, at the beginning of verse eight and verse eleven in first Timothy.

This phrase, literally in like manner, is the turning point from male elders to male deacons in verse eight.

The same phrase in like manner is used when seemingly transitioning to Geneicus women in verse eleven.

Why repeat the transitioning phrase if it's only referencing the wife of the deacon already transitioned to above?

In our opinion, it is transitioning again and transitioning now to speak of female deacons.

Number four, qualifications.

If the word should be rendered wife, not woman, as we have argued for, and there are qualifications for the wife of a deacon, and not for women in general, i.e.

women deacons, then why are there no qualifications listed for the wives of elders in the preceding passage?

Are elders' wives not held to the same standard as a deacon's wife?

If elders are the pastor teachers of the body and lead the congregation, why would their wives not be held to equal or higher standards than the wives of deacons?

This poses a problem for those who interpret Genaicus to be wives, and not women generally, and therefore female deacons.

We believe the reason there are seemingly, quote, no qualifications for the wives of elders, end quote, in this passage, isn't because there are no expectations or required character qualities for wives, but rather because this passage simply is not delving into qualifications for the spouses of either office, and instead giving the qualifications to those who take the office itself.

Therefore, we take this passage to give the qualifications for male elders, male deacons, and then female deacons, not the wives of female deacons.

Finally, reason number five, the Phoebe factor.

The fifth and final point in support for female deacons is the case of Phoebe in Romans 16, 1 through 2.

While the word for deacon, diaconos, is the term used for the diaconal office, it can be and is used throughout the New Testament for the act of serving and ministering in the church, as we have previously said.

In our opinion, there is not conclusive evidence to the question of whether Phoebe served as an official deacon.

However, it must be noted that Paul not only trusted Phoebe with the letter to the Romans, but requested that they receive her in a worthy way as she has been a benefactor or patroness of many, including Paul himself, as he calls her a deacon.

When there should be deaconesses and when there should not be deaconesses.

A plurality of elders, overseaters, pastors, rule as the spiritual leaders of a local church by preaching, teaching, and shepherding.

A plurality of deacons, as needed, serve the church by meeting practical needs, unifying the church through service, in order that the ministry of the word and prayer, that is elder and pastoral ministry, might flourish.

If the office of deacon is not clearly and functionally separate from the office of elder, overseer, and pastor, as it is not in some churches, we personally would not advocate nor permit the ordination of a female deacon lest she be serving in a pastor teaching role not biblically permitted.

Once again, if there is a governing deacon board, or if the deacons exercise the authority designated for the elders of the church, then a woman should not be permitted to become a deacon in such a model.

In conclusion, we believe that if a church is truly and undoubtedly elder, overseer, pastor led, women may serve in the deacon office and should be considered for such a position in a person by person case like that of male deacons.

I believe if given the opportunity to serve as a deaconess, women will greatly benefit the local churches flourishing with both their unique perspective and God-given abilities.

This all being said, we stand indebted to wise men and women who disagree with us on this subject.

We pray that we might preach and teach on controversial issues, both with a contrite heart and a convicted spirit under the supreme authority of the inerrant, infallible, and sufficient Word of God.