Women Have a Place and Purpose in God’s Story

“I don’t go to women’s Bible studies,” she told me. I must have looked surprised by her confession, but she shrugged. “They usually just talk about how to be a wife or mom, but I’m a single woman. Besides, what we really all need is the gospel, not pink Christianity.” I’d never heard the phrase before, but once I had, I couldn’t help noticing how many resources designed for women are more about roles than about glorifying and enjoying the God who made us. The problem isn’t that resources address women’s particular experiences; it’s that they sometimes shrink discipleship into stereotypes. Both Julia Higgins, in Christ and His Bride: How Men and Women Tell the Story of the Gospel, and Kendra Dahl, in A Place for You: Reframing Christian Womanhood, avoid that tendency. Their books reflect the real longings of women to find their purpose and place in the world. They go beyond cultural applications of a woman’s responsibility in the home, debates over ordination, and the question of roles, and offer rich expositions of redemptive history that can benefit both men and women. Christ and His Bride: How Men and Women Tell the Story of the Gospel Julia B. Higgins Christ and His Bride: How Men and Women Tell the Story of the Gospel Julia B. Higgins Too often, Christian men and women have been told to find their identity and purpose in roles like husband or wife, or father and mother. These good roles are designed by God, and yet, such roles are not the starting place for human identity and purpose. Genesis 1:26–28 tells us man and woman were created in the image of God and given a divine mandate—a regency mandate—to rule over the earth in God’s stead, extending his grace over the entirety of creation. Women’s Purpose In Christ and His Bride, Higgins, assistant professor of Christian ministry at Samford University, argues that women and men have the same creational purpose: regency. Beginning in Genesis 1:26–28, Scripture shows that God made humanity in his image to exercise dominion over creation. These books reflect the real longings of women to find their purpose and place in the world. For example, Higgins argues, “God used Moses and Miriam to teach the covenant people about the character of Yahweh, the One true ruler over all. This confirms for us that, as the story of God advanced throughout the Old Testament, the Lord incorporated both men and women . . . to continue the mandate of regency over the earth” (34). This work is a biblical theology of regency as image-bearing. In contemporary discussions, the emphasis is often on the difference between men’s and women’s roles. But both men and women were created to reign as image-bearers, failed in this task in the garden, receive God’s saving grace, and will be joined to Christ as his Bride in the last day. Though there are still distinct callings in this life, Higgins reminds us, Our being united to Him restores us back to our purpose and design. Just as the bride of Psalm 45 was at the right hand of and ruled with the handsomest of men, the King, so too, Christians, Christ’s bride, are given a seat of honor with Him to extend His gracious kingdom over the earth. (122) Thus, it’s entirely appropriate to ask, “What should brothers and sisters in Christ be doing together to extend Christ’s self-sacrificial rule for the good of the church and the flourishing of society and world?” (163, emphasis original). We often assume women need resources that address fundamentally different theological needs than men’s resources; Higgins proves we don’t. Women’s Place In A Place for You, Dahl, women’s ministry director at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Encinitas, California, addresses the practical issue of where women belong in the church. Though Dahl spends much more time on some of the controversial aspects of women’s roles, she shares a foundational conviction with Higgins: “If our first calling is to be Christians and our primary calling is to the church, the playing field is level. We all—male and female, married and single, parents or not, young and old—have a place in God’s household, standing side by side before the cross” (170). Men and women have an equal share in the story of redemption. Dahl holds to this view even as she maintains a complementarian position. She argues that in 2 Timothy, Paul prohibits women from teaching and exercising authority in the role of elder. She points out, however, that “when we hyperfocus on Paul’s teaching regarding men and women to the neglect of his teaching regarding elder qualifications and proper order within God’s household, we give the impression that the main qualification for teaching and having authority in the church is being male, rather than being a qualified elder.” The church should instead emphasize the correct application of Scripture by reserving the office of elder for “the qualified men who have been called and appointed by the church” (179). Confusion about an elder’s role, especially when maleness rather than spiritual maturity is emphasized as a qualification, contributes to frustration among women in the church. Yet the answer to error isn’t to overcorrect into a new error. Why does God reserve this office for men alone? Dahl doesn’t know. She admits, I’m content to let my theories be theories and instead echo Kathy Keller’s conclusion: “I could speculate, but speculation often leads to error. I will follow that ancient divine who said, ‘Where God has shut his Holy Mouth I will not venture to open mine.’” (180) In these controversial topics particularly, Dahl models how we should approach the unfathomable mysteries of God and the concerns of his daughters. The answer to error isn’t to overcorrect into a new error. Though Dahl emphasizes the unique challenges women face, her conclusion is similar to Higgins’s: Men and women share both purpose and place. This winsome and tender book invites women to enter and remain in the church, even as some women leave in search of a place to belong. Dahl makes it clear: There’s a place for women here. Better Way Debates about gender roles and the church aren’t going away. Complementarians would benefit from renewed focus on helping women flourish within the church as they live out their primary calling: to be a child of God. Dahl observes, It grieves me to think of how much the church loses when it ignores the strategic placement, godly examples, and wise perspectives of the women in its midst. But it also grieves me to think of the ways we rob ourselves of the joy of serving Christ because we become so consumed with fighting to be seen and heard that we miss the good works God has set before us. (115) Both books offer application for women of all walks of life—married, single, young, and old. But they’re also enriching resources that defy the pink or blue labels. Christ and His Bride and A Place for You offer a beautiful picture of the church as they present a positive vision of what it means to be men and women of God.