Question: How do most Southern Baptists (and others) believe the roles of church leadership in terms of Pastors, Deacons, adult teachers, etc are to be filled?
Answer: By men. [ding, ding, ding, ding] Correct!
Bonus question: What if the boys don't step up and lead?
Answer: [crickets chirp]
I make funny, but honestly, I think this is a problem. In fact, I know it is, simply because of how God made us.
(Before I really get rollin', let me say that I'm making broad generalities and there are certainly exceptions to every stereotype.)
For starters, many men (not all men all the time, of course) are content to allow someone else to lead when they're outside of their office. These bulldogs at work come home and allow their collective wives to run their homes, discipline (as opposed to bark and command) their children, and generally LEAD their home. The same thing goes for church. Men are less prone to responding to guilt when asked to serve or lead - so they usually don't.
Women, on the other hand, seem to rise to whatever occasion their given. Absentee father? Mom plays "Dad" too. Next door neighbor lost their job? "Oh, Jane would love to bring dinner." Your friends just had their second child, Sally offers to watch the oldest when needed.
What's this mean in the church? It means that when there's a void in leadership of the church, where men SHOULD (or at least COULD) step up, women more frequently do.
In the church, this can result in a potential for debate. While I won't get into the whole gender-role argument, there is a principle and relationship that should be understood well.
The bottom line is that when God talked about the submission of women to their husbands, it was in direct relationship to the men leading their families. Likewise, when Scripture talks about roles for women in church, roles for men are also laid out. Certainly, it is incumbent on men to "lead". But what when they don't? I believe many women are more than ready and willing to lead in the absence of a man doing so, but the Bible is clear that the role of leadership (generally speaking)
So, why do I think this is how God made us? Well, who better than He - the Creator who created us knows us can instruct us on our behavior? Because of that intimate knowledge, He as Jesus Christ admonished those around Him because He knew their tendencies. Christ knew that women have an internal desire to lead and command. It's the struggle against this desire to submit oneself that Jesus highlighted for women. Likewise, many men are usually content to be apathetic (or lazy), indecisive or noncommittal, and generally OK with someone else doing "their" work for them.
The question remains of what should be done when men won't step up to lead where there is a need? Beyond forcing a man to do it, there are two options: Let the need go unfulfilled or allow a woman to do it.
First, certainly the rules of engagement are different depending on the role in question. For the more easily agreed upon role of "Pastor", which most Baptists agree is reserved for men, if no man agreed to step in and lead, I think most (men or women) would not have a women take that position.
But what about a co-ed (i.e. married couples) Sunday School class? If your view is that women cannot lead over men, then should the role go unfilled? Certainly, if it's not OK for a woman to hold that role, committing a sin while teaching about God is not acceptable. However, that's not really my point.
My point is that too often men don't step up to take the roles that God presents before them. Too often, men will wait in the shadows and on the sidelines for someone else to take the position. But if that position was taken by a woman, they'll be the first to squeal that she shouldn't be leading. The man sins by not accepting and fulfilling God's role for him. The woman (perhaps) sins by taking a position outside of the role God has designed for her. Therefore, to avoid sin, the role goes unfulfilled.
What a travesty! The Word of God is not discussed, taught, or preached simply because there's no one willing or available to do it? We should be clamoring for opportunities to share our joy over what Christ has done for us. We should be yelling over one another to talk about the hope we have in Christ. We should be running from one hilltop to another to spread the Good News of the Gospel to whoever will hear.
What happened in my Sunday School class this past weekend...?
[crickets chirp]