Vantage point
Due recognition
Today’s Pentecostal Evangel has the privilege each year of
producing a special women’s edition of the magazine. It is an emphasis well
deserved.
The works of God among His people — at home and
overseas — shout the significance of women in the Church. Wherever I have
seen a powerful move of God, women have been deeply involved. In some places,
it has been clear that without the ministry of women the church would not be
prospering spiritually.
A glance at both the history of missions and current
missions outreach reveals the impact of female missionaries, single and
married, while the history of Pentecost also reveals the crucial role women
have played, and continue to play, in the Movement.
In the U.S., women are beginning and participating in
ministries at what seems to be an unprecedented rate. Numerous needs in the
church and society are being met because women have taken the initiative.
Christianity has always led the way in recognizing the value
of women. The Word of God made this clear even while most of the world
disagreed. In the Gospels, Jesus clearly elevated the status of women above
that day’s cultural norm. The apostle Paul made a sweeping statement of
monumental significance in Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NIV).
And though it was also Paul who said, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the
Lord” (Ephesians 5:22), his oft-ignored statement in verse 21 qualifies the
marital relationship: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
I am grateful for the key involvement of women in the life
of the Church.
Today is National Women’s Day in the Assemblies of God.
Ken Horn
E-mail your comments to tpe@ag.org.
