For a growing number of businesspeople, the marketplace is a platform for ministry.

When Debra Coover first visited Dr. Pete Sulack’s office in October 2007, she had been suffering steadily worsening bouts of pain and imbalance for four years. Plagued by muscle spasms and insomnia, she says her feet hurt so badly she often felt as if she were walking on glass.

Defeated and tired of going to doctors, she tried Exodus Chiropractic clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, as a last resort. The peaceful atmosphere, Scriptures on the walls and offers of prayer that greeted her were a pleasant surprise. Still, when Sulack assured her she could be healed, she struggled to believe him.

“I was pretty skeptical, but it happened,” says the homemaker and mother of four. “My pain decreased gradually. I lost my balance problem. I still have a little bit of pain, but I no longer use a cane. It’s getting better all the time.”

Righ O’Leary is another believer in miracles after taking his 8-year-old son, Keenan, to Sulack in January 2008. Diagnosed with asthma and esophageal reflux disease at age 4-1/2, Keenan was put on seven daily medications, including an inhaled steroid. His breathing grew progressively worse. Two years later, the once-energetic boy couldn’t participate in any physical activities.

Yet within a week of seeing Sulack, the boy had stopped using his inhaler. Two months later he stopped his other medications. “This time last year [Keenan] wouldn’t even leave the house,” says O’Leary, a medical sales representative. “Now he doesn’t even have asthma. It’s incredible.”

Those are just two of dozens of stories from Sulack’s clinic. The doctor says they have also seen cancers healed, a diabetic whose blood sugar dropped 120 points and those with high blood pressure who now are out of danger.

Sulack’s story is fascinating enough: an evangelical raised by a father who once preached against spiritual gifts gets filled with the Spirit and senses God calling him to minister to patients—and, eventually, to preach to crowds in India. Yet the stirring narrative of a doctor who founded Matthew 10 Ministries is being repeated in countless other places. Sulack is only one of many businesspersons ministering in the marketplace.

“There’s thousands,” says Bruce Cook, president of VentureAdvisers in Austin, Texas, and a member of C. Peter Wagner’s International Coalition of Apostles (ICA). “Dr. Sulack is the tip of the iceberg. Business is simply a platform for ministry.”

Their numbers are growing, agrees Rich Marshall, a charismatic pastor who left his pulpit a decade ago and now runs a corporate training and consulting firm in Denver. “There were a handful; now there’s hundreds,” says Marshall, president of ROI Equipping. “They are people who see their business as ministry, who won’t leave business because ministry is there.”

Cook, an elder at Glory House Christian Center in Austin, says 1,000 people attended his first business-oriented Kingdom Economic Yearly Summit last fall, and he’s expecting twice as many at the next event April 22-25 in Austin. “I think it’s a restoration,” Cook says of the marketplace ministry movement. “What we’re seeing in the marketplace is the church waking up to it. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. It can be both.”

Chuck Ripka—president of Rivers International bank in Elk River, Minnesota, and Ripka Enterprises, an import-export business—says fusing business with ministry was always part of his vision. Before he founded the bank in 2003, Ripka says God told him: “Chuck, I want you to pastor the bank, and I’m going to use you as a model of what I can do. If you do all the things I’ve called you to do, I promise you I’ll take care of the bottom line.”

In Ripka’s three years there, the bank exceeded financial expectations by reaching $132 million in net worth. But Ripka became better known for praying with customers and others, including a New York Times writer who accepted Christ after interviewing him. The author of God Out of the Box, Ripka says dozens of people have been saved and healed at the bank, where tellers not only service accounts but also pray with customers.

“My goal isn’t becoming rich,” Ripka says. “It’s sharing the riches of Christ with others in the marketplace.”

That’s a message Denver businessman Jim Barthel has been sharing with marketplace ministers through his Kingdom Business Alliance, which has exceeded 100 attendees at the last two meetings in Denver. An annual summit is planned for this fall.

He says Christian businesses have an opportunity to participate in God’s kingdom economy. “God’s highest priority is the restoration of the kingdom of heaven, here on earth,” Barthel says. “We need to have a passion for the kingdom.”

Sulack’s passion for the kingdom has taken him around the world. Despite a lack of theological training, the 33-year-old takes two or three trips to India annually and preaches to huge crowds there. Sulack estimates that 100,000 people accepted Christ during crusades in 2007. In the last three years he says hundreds of thousands have been healed of such conditions as cancer, blindness, deafness and paralysis.

Sulack says the call to ministry emerged after he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Raised in a Christian home, Sulack was taught that the gifts of the Spirit, including tongues, had ceased. But his theology began to shake in 2002 when a friend called to congratulate him on opening a new office and ended his voice mail by speaking in an unknown language.

That led him on a two-year journey to understand tongues and other spiritual gifts. His quest ultimately ended when he called a friend in South Bend, Indiana, who had been mentored by the late Lester Sumrall. “I want all that God has for me,” Sulack told him. “If this is of God, then I want it. I don’t want Him to hold anything back.”

Not only did he receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit during that call, but within two months Sulack was on his first mission trip to Africa, a prelude to the overseas ministry God would call him to in 2006.

Despite having a successful chiropractic practice that included two clinics and a financial interest in a third, Sulack later sensed God telling him to spread the gospel. “If you ask for 100 million souls, I will give them to you in person,” Sulack recalls God saying. “I want you to become sensitive to My voice and learn how to respond.”

Sulack—who has helped plant 38 churches in India and is building a children’s home and school there—says he wants Christians to know that ministry isn’t restricted to a church building. That’s why he remains in the marketplace instead of relying on full-time evangelism.

“God can use you right where you’re at,” says Sulack, who this spring plans to debut a talk show, God Can Use You, on Sky Angel and other media outlets. “I see 1,000-plus people a week. People that come into my office will never step foot in a church. I’ve actually started a church plant in my office. I have a youth service on Wednesday night that has 60-plus kids, all getting baptized in the Holy Spirit.”

Seeing God at Work

David Turner says he made a conscious decision to make his businesses his mission field. His career started in 1985 with Southwest Commodities, a suburban Phoenix importer of nuts and dried fruits. Then in 1997 he formed Suntree, a California-based plant that packages peanuts, trail mix and other products.

But today the Arizona businessman preaches worldwide through his David Turner International Ministries. In India, he says he has seen thousands of salvations, healings and miracles.

A one-time traditional church member who decided to follow Christ in his mid-20s, in the early 2000s Turner was praying the prayer of Jabez after reading the best-selling book. Suddenly God told him: “You have land you haven’t harvested. Why don’t you start taking care of your land instead of looking for new territory?”

“I took that to heart and started making my companies my mission field and praying for people in faith and sharing about Jesus,” Turner says.

A few years later when a charismatic pastor prayed for him, the businessman felt like he had been hooked up to an electric current. When the pastor asked what he thought about healing, Turner said he doubted that it still happens. “You won’t see it—you’ll do it,” the pastor replied.

Soon after, a compressed disc cost Turner the use of his left arm. After a month of frustration, he cried out to Christ and was instantly healed. Then he received another miraculous healing of torn knee ligaments.

That touched off an effort to pray for others. Turner says that dozens have been healed of cancer and other illnesses.

“After a time, Jesus showed me His heart,” says Turner, who attends Scottsdale First Assembly of God. “He wants to heal people’s mind, body, soul and spirit because He loves His people. [Healing is] used to get their attention and show them His glory and power.”

Turner later met Indian pastor Harry Gomes, and the relationship led to his partnering with Gomes to lead crusades and establish an orphanage in India.

Despite the recession, Turner expects his businesses to gross $150 million in sales this year, but he says those dollars don’t produce the thrills he feels when he sees God at work. “When you see Jesus open the eyes of a blind person or someone who’s barren get pregnant with a child, how do you get excited about doing a Wal-Mart deal?” Turner says.

But that doesn’t mean Turner is turning his back on business. Though he devotes a healthy portion of his time to ministry, his income frees him from needing honorariums or expense allowances. “If a church invites me to speak, I buy my own ticket, pay my hotel bill and pay my expenses to go there,” Turner says. “I go to the poor and spend money to do ministry.”

Canada-based pastor Pat Francis takes a similar view. A doctor-turned-pastor, Francis launched Elomax Enterprises—short for Elohim Maximize—to fund her ministry work. The business grew from real estate and mortgage brokering to include commodities and jet fuel today.

In addition to supporting the work of her 3,000-member church, Kingdom Covenant Ministries in Mississauga, Ontario, Francis says Elomax has helped fund medical centers in the Caribbean and Philippines, build an orphanage in South Africa, and support programs to reach troubled youth in the Toronto area.

A member of ICA, Francis leads the Kingdom Leadership Network and speaks frequently about marketplace ministry at churches and conferences. She says the business world represents the kingdom of mammon, and she believes more Christians need to engage in “kingdom enterprise.”

“You cannot influence a kingdom outside of a kingdom,” says Francis, who in January 2008 was appointed a United Nations representative to address humanitarian issues and systemic poverty in partnership with world leaders.

“For example, the church would say, ‘I’m going up to the high places to tear the devil’s kingdom down.’ You cannot tear down the [immorality] in the entertainment world if you’re not in Hollywood.

“If you really want to influence these kingdoms, you have to penetrate them. To influence mammon, you have to penetrate it. And you have to do spiritual warfare there. You cannot win or lose a game if you’re not in the game.”

She says her DNA is “charity and enterprise,” and she believes that God is raising up more and more people with a similar sense of mission. “I think God is going to, more and more, raise up people with a charity and enterprise DNA and motivation,” she says. “Because the solutions we [Christians] need require money.”

Cook of VentureAdvisers agrees. He believes the marketplace ministry movement will continue to grow as more Christians expand their focus beyond personal revival and exercise their callings in business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, religion and the family.

“What God is looking for is sustainable transformation that not only gets people saved but affects the seven mountains of culture,” Cook says. “Sometimes revival can be shortsighted. The gospel of the kingdom is transformation of the whole culture.”

Ken Walker is a freelance writer based in Huntington, West Virginia.

WATCH THESE VIDEOS

View Pete Sulack’s talk show, God Can Use You, and watch videos of David Turner’s services here.

FREE BOOK ONLINE

If you’re interested in reading more about how to serve God in the marketplace, download three free chapters of Chuck Ripka’s book God Out of the Box here.

This Easter, remember that Jesus refused to take pain reliever on the cross. There was no shortcut for Him when He drank from the cup of suffering.

he wrestling match was about to begin. This would truly be the greatest spectacle of all time. Only a few, however, would witness it: God the Father, Satan and Jesus. Angels were kept at bay; no rescue mission would be deployed.

The disciples were asked to sit ringside, just off the mat. But they became overwhelmed with exhaustion and missed the main event. Jesus would wrestle His opponent alone, sans the fanfare.

Jesus knew going into it that this would be the wrestling match of His life. The name for the arena of His struggle, Gethsemane, means “oil press”—a certain indicator of the pressure He would feel. The conflict was real, the challenger was His own will, and the battle was to the death. Only the winner would get the cup.

I don’t like wrestling. It’s an intense sport with lots of bodily contact. As a mom I had to sit in the stands and enthusiastically cheer my son on as I watched him get twisted like a pretzel. Skin on skin, arms and legs interlocked, I sometimes wasn’t sure who was winning. The flip-flop back and forth was incessant, as the two contestants tried to press each other into submission.

That’s what a confrontation with our own will is like. The carnal nature doesn’t go down easily. Jesus was engaged in a fierce wrestling match with His humanity.

From the moment He crossed over the threshold into the Garden of Gethsemane, He did so fully human. If He were ever going to identify with the weaknesses and frailties of mankind, He would have to leave His royal robes of deity outside the garden and enter the press “in the likeness of man” (Phil. 2:7, NKJV). The Messiah would have to experience the fullness of excruciating pain, anxiety, suffering and betrayal, all as a man.

His raw humanity cried out for another way. Jesus petitioned His Father to see if there was another cup less lethal, an alternative to redeem the world. Yet His spirit was fully prepared to swallow the contents.

In our humanity we do the same thing. We avoid pain and suffering, asking God to keep us from experiencing misery. We would rather be rerouted to the path of least resistance.

Fast tracking, however, is rarely offered with God’s plan.

Jesus put His flesh in a headlock when He proclaimed, “ ‘Not my will, but Yours, be done’ ” (Luke 22:42). The carnal nature was weakened. Drops of blood fell from His brow as the intensity of the contest increased.

Maybe some support from His disciples would strengthen Him. Leaving the place where He was praying, Jesus looked to His small group—James, John and Peter—for support.

But no encouragement came from this impotent prayer team as they lay sound asleep on the ground. Perhaps it was then that Jesus realized there was no other way.

Our fallen nature, exemplified by the spiritually slumbering three, desperately needed to be redeemed. Returning to the place of prayer, Jesus went in for the kill. He pinned His flesh to the mat once and for all and gained the victory when He denounced His own desires and feelings, declaring that He was choosing the Father’s will over His own.

Clearly put, Jesus said, “I release My personal ambitions and surrender to Your plan, Father, because I want Your sovereign will to be accomplished in My life, not My own.” That decision secured Jesus’ place in the winner’s circle and won for Him the cup. He would indeed drink it and accept the plan of His Father.

The cup, a Jewish metaphor for sin and wrath, was symbolic of the lot that lay before Him. Jesus agreed to take it on our behalf.

In the cup was our sin. It was brimming over with our brokenness, pain and suffering—all that separated us from a holy God. Jesus chose to take it in our place. He embraced the purpose of the Father and became the vicarious sacrifice for you and me. He drank the cup.

But He refused another kind of cup. It was customary for the accused to receive an intoxicating drink of wine and myrrh before crucifixion. This remedy provided deep hypnotic effects that eased the guilty mind and soothed impending suffering.

But the innocent one refused such a drink. Jesus would not be anesthetized, taking a detour from the road of complete suffering. He would not allow His senses to be dulled or deluded as He freely paid the price of sin and its ravenous impact on you and me.

The blameless Son of God drank the cup of suffering but refused the cup of ease, and, in so doing, forever identified with us. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

Friends, how many times have we been asked to drink a painful cup? The lot of our life suddenly includes swallowing a tough and difficult thing.

Maybe we have been thrown on the wrestling mat because of the betrayal of a close friend or someone’s selfish act, and now we are in a struggle with our hurting humanity. All too often we cry out for instant relief. We are tempted to reject the cup that leads to the crucifixion of our flesh, preferring instead the drink of temporary consolation.

Beware! Don’t be deceived into sipping on the myrrh. The world’s painkillers are plentiful but poisonous. We can temporarily self-medicate by partaking of the supply life has to offer, but if we do, we will be in danger of missing the purpose and destiny God has for us.

Jesus’ victory in the garden gives us the pattern for overcoming. As a man He sympathizes with our hurts. He knows exactly what we feel, and yet He conquered by choosing the Master’s plan. His determination to do it God’s way propelled Him into His destiny.

Like Christ, our example, we may discover that our biggest victory is preceded by our deepest and most painful experience. But if we win the wrestling match against our flesh, we too will gain victory.

One day Jesus asked His disciples, “ ‘Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ ” (Matt. 20:22). They quickly replied, “ ‘We are able.’ ” And indeed they had to—and every other follower of Christ must—one day drink from a cup of suffering and pain.

Jesus embraced the will of the Father, declined the wine of the world and endured the cross for the joy set before Him. That joy? You and me. We were the joy set before Him. This Easter remember—whatever challenges you face—endure. For Jesus is the joy set before you.

Dawn Scott Jones (dawnjones.org) is the executive associate pastor of Resurrection Life Church in Grand Haven, Michigan. She is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God and the co-host of the weekly radio talk-show Let’s Get Real.

MORE ABOUT EASTER

Should we observe “Resurrection Sunday” or “Easter”? To read about why there is a difference, click here.

Many of us have missed the spiritual significance of Communion. Today the Lord is inviting you to dine with Him.

When God first established His covenant with us, He also became our great provider. His provision extended to our spiritual, financial, emotional and physical needs—even physical healing. The covenant of healing may be manifested through several different methods of healing described in the Bible, including laying hands on the sick, anointing the sick with oil, and so on. One of the most important methods is receiving Communion.

Many believers have never heard about the link between the Communion meal and healing, but it is time for us to acknowledge the potential power of the Lord’s Supper. After all, the Lord’s Supper is part of the covenant of healing.

However, I don’t think we should approach receiving the Communion meal, which represents the body and blood of Christ, in a haphazard manner. I believe we should follow an important four-part process beforehand and then partake of the meal in seven steps. Here’s what I recommend:

Part 1: Look Inward. Before receiving Communion, believers should examine their own hearts and spirits. This inward self-scrutiny is to ensure that we have no hidden or known sin in our lives. The Bible says, “But let a man examine himself” (1 Cor. 11:28, NKJV).

Doing a self-examination is like placing an MRI or a spiritual X-ray into your mind and spirit. After all, it is what comes out of our mouths (from our hearts) that defiles us (see Mark 7:18-23). If your heart senses a feeling of guilt, then immediately repent and ask God for forgiveness and cleansing. This action will keep you humble before God as well as pure in mind and spirit. As a result, you will live a healthier and fuller life.

Part 2: Look Outward. After looking inward, then look outward. Has strife, misunderstanding or disagreement created a rift between you and a family member, friend or fellow believer? Discern your relationships with others around you. Life is not perfect, and at times people will disagree.

The Bible teaches that if we have something against a fellow believer, our gift, or “offering,” will not be blessed until we first go to our brother or sister in Christ and make amends: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matt. 5:23-24).

Part 3: Look Upward. As we eat the bread and drink from the cup, we should meditate on the finished redemptive work of Christ, recognizing that He suffered on our behalf and that through His death and resurrection we can be made whole in our spirit, soul and body. As we look upward to our High Priest, Jesus Christ, we should meditate on the goodness of God and His mercy toward us.

Part 4: Look Onward. Live every day with the expectation that you will fulfill your God-given assignments and live out all your days. Seize the promise of Psalm 91:16: “With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

One of the great faith ministers was Smith Wigglesworth. Before his ministry began, he was healed and later emphasized the healing gifts during his long ministry. He also received the revelation of taking daily Communion.

He lived to be 87 and passed away quietly while in a church service. That is the way to go! Live out your assigned days and when you are ready to go, fall asleep and wake up in heaven!

Guidelines for Taking Communion

Before you begin the Communion service, it’s important to consider the actual procedure for it. This includes giving thought to the guidelines that follow, which include where and when you will take Communion, what products you will use, a prayer and more.

1. Choose the location. The location may be anywhere in your home where you can spend a few moments of quality time with the Lord. I have a home office, and at other times I receive Communion at a small table in our kitchen area. It is important to have both an atmosphere and a time that affords you the least amount of noise or distraction. After all, you are approaching the High Priest in His heavenly temple.

2. Purchase the bread. I suggest you purchase a box of Jewish Passover bread, called matzo, from a local store. If this is not possible, then use unsalted crackers, preferably without leaven. If you don’t have unsalted, unleavened crackers, then use whatever bread is available. Remember that once the bread is blessed, God recognizes what you are doing.

3. Select the fruit of the vine. I personally believe it is best to use pure grape juice. This can be purchased in any local grocery store. Many people prefer the red grape juice as a picture of the blood of Christ. It is when the juice is blessed that it becomes more than simply grape juice.

4. Find a special cup. Though any cup can be used, I prefer a special silver-cup set just for the Communion meal. Silver cups can be purchased at various stores. Keep the cup in a special place and use it only for the Communion meal. Jewish sources can provide these cups for purchase.

5. Determine the time to receive. In the time of the tabernacle and temples, a lamb was offered in the morning and in the evening (see Ex. 29:38-39). These were called the morning and evening sacrifices. Morning is typically when a person begins the activities or the work of the day, while evening is when he or she prepares to rest at night. The altar of the Lord had lamb’s blood sprinkled in the morning and in the evening. What we entertain on our mind the first thing in the morning often sets the pattern for the entire day.

6. Recite a prayer. Following is an example of a prayer for Communion. As you grow in the grace of God, pray a simple prayer from your heart.

“Heavenly Father, I thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem mankind. I thank You that, through Christ’s sufferings, He purchased a threefold redemption for my spirit, mind and body. Today I ask You to bless this bread that represents the body of Christ. Bless the fruit of the vine that represents His precious blood.

“Father, as You have forgiven me, so I forgive those who have sinned against me. Lord, I forgive and release anyone who has wronged me, and I ask You to search my spirit and remove any trace of sin or disobedience from my life. Today, I release from my mental prison anyone who has hurt me in any way, and I ask You to bless him and help him spiritually.

“Father, as I receive this Communion, I ask You to bring strength and health to me spiritually, emotionally and physically because of the new covenant that was sealed through the sufferings of Christ. Jesus carried my infirmities; therefore, I ask You to lift from me what Jesus has carried for me. I receive it by faith, and I give You all the glory and honor, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

If you are receiving Communion first thing in the morning, clear your mind and heart of all distractions and fully concentrate on the wonderful graces of God. Pour the fruit of the vine into the cup, take a piece of bread in your hand, and, with your own words of prayer, bless the bread and the cup. Thank God for sending Christ to redeem you.

If you are in need of healing, quote the promise, “With the stripes of Jesus I am healed” (see 1 Pet. 2:24). In prayer, tell the Lord that you believe the blood of Christ was shed for your atonement, including your physical healing.

Remember that this is not a magical formula but a sacred moment between you and your heavenly Father. If a person does not receive Communion every day, he should do so at least once a week. But do not allow this act to become a religious ritual devoid of meaning.

7. Conclude with worship. It is good to spend a few moments in worship after receiving Communion. Perhaps you would enjoy singing a song to the Lord. The Bible tells us that, after the Last Supper, Christ and the disciples sang a hymn:

“ ‘But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.’ And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matt. 26:29-30).

Because this was the Passover season, Christ would have sung hymns from the Psalms, such as, “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24).

To sing from your heart to the Lord, you do not need musical accompaniment or the church choir. Paul wrote: “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:18-19).

This simple process can become a part of your daily life’s routine, and it can create an important window of time for you to spend with the Lord. Daily Communion can be a great physical, mental and spiritual blessing to you.

The Final Key: Faith

After many years of full-time ministry, I have discovered an important key to receiving from the Lord. All truth must be processed through the intellect, where we reason and weigh the evidence that we receive: “ ‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord” (Is. 1:18).

For spiritual truth to impact your life, it must be quickened to your inner spirit. The word “quickened” means “to make alive.” There are times when you hear a message from God’s Word and you are intellectually motivated. At other times, you are uplifted and blessed.

There are occasions when the Word of God pierces your soul like a sword and discerns your thoughts and the intents of your heart (see Heb. 4:12). Then there are those times when the message you are hearing or the book you are reading seems to come alive in your spirit.

You know when this happens because the information becomes revelation as the eyes of your understanding are opened (see Eph. 1:18). The truth seems to jump from the pages, and suddenly you can sense inwardly a strong witness that God will move on your behalf.

The spiritual truth you have read must become more than a book in your hands for this message to impact your life. It must quicken your heart and spirit.

When the Word of God moves from intellectual reasoning to a quickened, living word in your spirit, then faith will enter your spirit. You are able to believe what God has spoken and respond to His Word in faith.

This has personally happened to me on several occasions. I recall praying for several months for direction in my ministry. During a special service in Ohio, the Holy Spirit quickened my spirit to act on my faith and, as I responded in obedience, the Lord would meet the needs of our ministry. I acted in faith, and He met the needs.

Therefore, believe as you receive Communion that the life of Christ is working in your body, driving out every sickness, disease and weakness that is hindering your life. Receive Communion in a spirit of understanding and faith.

None of us has a guarantee of life tomorrow. But I believe it is biblical that we can live out our appointed days and then depart in peace.

Perry Stone is an international evangelist who ministers to the body of Christ through television, conferences and other means, and is the author of The Meal That Heals (Charisma House), from which this article is adapted.

FREE BOOK ONLINE

Learn more about the physical and spiritual benefits of Communion by downloading a free copy of Perry Stone’s book The Meal That Heals here. You can also watch a video of the author discussing the book.

HEALING SCRIPTURES

You can download a recording of the late author Jamie Buckingham reading healing Scriptures here.

It’s time the American church stopped arguing about female roles and started empowering women for ministry.

The debate over whether God equips and calls women to serve in positions of spiritual leadership is not over. Last year, some of the same Christians who were delighted to see Sarah Palin run beside John McCain were also reluctant to welcome women to the pulpit on Sunday morning. And when Gospel Today magazine published an issue with women preachers on the cover, more than 100 Christian bookstores removed the magazine from their counters.

Clearly some Christians believe a woman can lead a country but not a church. But what does Scripture say? Does God’s Word make a distinction between a woman’s spiritual and secular leadership?

Consider Deborah, whose service as a judge and prophet influenced all of Israel. Her leadership and spiritual insight were so significant that the men of Israel refused to go into battle without her (Judg. 4:6-9). She is quoted in Scripture as saying, “Villagers in Israel would not fight; they held back until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel” (5:7, TNIV). On a regular basis, as “a prophet ... [who] was leading Israel at that time,” she “held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided” (4:4-5, emphasis added).

Prophets as a group held high positions of leadership over God’s people. Whereas priests pleaded with God on behalf of the people, prophets were used by God to guide the entire nation, particularly its leaders—the priests and kings. Thus prophets such as Deborah and Huldah brought leadership, exhortation and correction to the highest levels of Israelite leaders: the kings, priests and other prophets.

God called Huldah as a prophet during the reign of King Josiah. When the Book of the Law was discovered (2 Chron. 34:14-33; 2 Kings 22), Josiah and his committee went directly to Huldah for advice rather than to either Zephaniah or Jeremiah—both male prophets during this time. Huldah called Israel to obey the Torah and led the nation to its most significant reform in nearly 100 years.

Unlike people today, those living in Old Testament times did not make a distinction between spiritual and secular leadership. For this reason, leaders such as Miriam, Ruth, Esther, Rahab, Jael and the women who were keepers of Jerusalem’s city gates influenced all of Israel. In spite of the patriarchal culture of the time, women led Israel’s army; judged disputes; exhorted and advised Israel’s prophets, priests and kings; declared the ways of God to the people; and brought major social and spiritual reforms.

Scriptural examples clearly show that God equips and calls women to leadership, despite the cultural expectations of ancient or modern people.

In the New Testament, Christ’s completed work on Calvary leveled the divisions and hierarchy among the people of God, as noted by the apostle Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:27-29: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (NRSV).

Those who are clothed in Christ are no longer identified or limited by their ethnicity, class or gender. If God is our parent, and it is from Him that we receive our ultimate inheritance, then our sisters and brothers receive equally the same inheritance from God’s Spirit.

What do we receive from God? We inherit salvation—the forgiveness of sins. We also receive sanctification—the Spirit’s power to oppose sin, prejudice and oppression. After we become members of Christ’s body, the Spirit works to build unity and mutuality between those whom Christ has redeemed. He also gives each of us spiritual gifts for service (Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:7-10; Eph. 4:11-12), which are not distributed according to gender, class or ethnicity.

Because the ground at the cross is level, the Spirit’s gifts do not come in gender-specific or ethnic-specific occupations. Thus, we find slaves, gentiles and women all serving as evangelists, apostles and teachers alongside Paul, spreading the gospel, building and leading house churches. This is the pattern spelled out in 1 Corinthians 12:28: “God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers” (TNIV). Here are a few examples:

Female apostle. Junia is a woman who was imprisoned along with Paul for working to spread the gospel. She was not only an apostle but also “prominent among the apostles” (Rom. 16:7, NRSV). It wasn’t until the Middle Ages, when prejudice against women became prominent, that anyone doubted Junia was a woman.

Female prophets. As in the Old Testament, prophets in the New Testament provided correction and encouragement to the church. The spiritual well-being of the church was strengthened by prophets (Acts 21:10-11; Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:28; 1 Cor. 14:1,24,29-32; Eph. 2:20; Eph. 4:11-13). Thus, Luke identifies leaders who were also prophets and teachers (Acts 13:1), and Paul suggests that prophets and apostles make known the mysteries of Christ (Eph 3:4-5).

Women such as Anna (Luke 2:36), Philip’s four prophesying daughters (Acts 21:9), the women who prophesied at Pentecost—the birth of the church (Acts 2:4-21)—and the women in Corinth (1 Cor. 11:4-5; 14:31) offered leadership to God’s kingdom as prophets.

Female teachers. Both Luke and Paul acknowledged a female teacher—Priscilla—who instructed one of the most gifted evangelists in the New Testament, Apollos. Well schooled in Scripture, Apollos lacked information, which Priscilla and her husband provided. Apollos received Priscilla’s instruction without reservation (Acts 18:26). Far from condemning her for having taught a man, Luke and Paul recognized Priscilla’s prominence in teaching Apollos.

Moreover, Paul instructs the whole church at Colossae to “teach one another” (Col. 3:16), just as he tells the church at Corinth that he would rather each offer a few words of intelligible instruction than many words in a strange tongue (1 Cor.14:19).

Female evangelists and house-church leaders. There is no shortage of women evangelists or house-church leaders in Scripture. The church flourished because they welcomed the gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-12: “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (NRSV).

Lydia was an evangelist, as well as a house-church and business leader (Acts 16:13-14,40). She launched the first church in Philippi, which was also the first church in Europe.

Paul loved this church. It was the only church that regularly contributed to Paul’s support and the only one from which Paul accepted help. Paul’s letter to the Philippians is perhaps the most tender and personal letter among his epistles.

Lydia was not the only female house-church leader or church planter. There was also Apphia, who oversaw the church in Colossae (Philem. 1-2). There was the “elect lady” mentioned in 2 John 1:1; Nympha (Col. 4:15); Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11); and Priscilla (Acts 18:26; Rom. 16:3). Priscilla’s authority in the early church is highlighted by Paul, who calls her his “co-worker” (Rom. 16:3), a term Paul uses to identify male leaders such as Mark, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Clement, Aquila, Apollos and Luke. Moreover, her name is listed before her husband Aquila’s in four of the six times they are mentioned, suggesting that Priscilla was the more distinguished of the two.

Like house-church leaders, evangelists advanced the gospel. Paul said that women such as Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis “worked hard in the Lord” (Rom. 16:12), a phrase Paul used to describe his own missionary efforts. Similarly, Euodia and Syntyche “struggled beside” Paul (Phil. 4:3) in the work of the gospel, and thus Paul affirms Euodia and Syntyche as leaders in the church at Philippi.

Other female evangelists include Jesus’ female disciples (Luke 24:9-10), the Samaritan woman who told the people of Sychar about Jesus the Messiah (John 4:39), and Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus told to “‘Go ... to my brothers and tell them, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”’” (John 20:17, NIV).

Female deacons. Leadership was service and service was leadership in the early church, and those who served were also called deacons (1 Tim. 3:8-13). Female deacons ministered mostly to women, as it would have been scandalous for men in the ancient world to anoint women with oil, baptize women or visit ill women in their homes. Thus, female deacons anointed and baptized other women; they also taught women and children and visited the homes of female believers who were ill in order to bring them Communion.

Phoebe was a deacon who served the church of Cenchrea. She also delivered Paul’s letters to the church in Rome. Paul refers to Phoebe as prostates, or “benefactor” (Rom. 16:2), which literally means one who is in authority or one who presides over (as in Communion). Paul uses the verb form of prostates in 1 Thessalonians 5:12, where it means “exercising leadership.”

The term “deacon” can be used to describe either a male or a female. (“Deaconess” did not come into use in the church until the third century.) Paul outlines for Timothy the qualifications for male and female deacons in Ephesus (1 Tim. 3:8-13), as well as sending him instructions on how to manage women in this church who were abusive or who were teaching heresy (2:11-15). As he did with the women in Corinth, whose freedom in Christ led to disruptive chatter (1 Cor. 14:34), Paul limited the authority of women at Ephesus when their freedom led to heresy and abuse.

Paul affirmed the authority and service of women when they promoted the gospel rather than heresy (Acts 18:26; Rom. 16:1-5,7,12-13,15); when their leadership was neither heretical nor abusive as it was in Ephesus (1 Tim. 2:11-12); and when they prayed and prophesied in public in ways that were not disruptive, either by their clothing or through their chatter (1 Cor. 11:4-5).

But in order to manage heresy, disruption and false teaching Paul did limit the expression of some women’s freedom in Christ (1 Tim. 2:11-15; 1 Cor. 14:34). Yet, in the absence of these problems, both women and men from all tribes and socioeconomic groups were given freedom to exercise their spiritual gifts as equal members of Christ’s body, in which there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female

The Evidence of Scripture

A brief survey of Scripture suggests God delights in using both women and men as spiritual leaders. And there is no dichotomy between secular and spiritual leadership.

Furthermore, among God’s people, leadership and sacrificial service are inseparable. Perhaps this is one reason the apostle Paul addressed most of his letters to whole churches rather than to individuals. In correcting error, in offering encouragement or sending praise, Paul rarely wrote directly to leaders. Likewise, he almost never singled out individuals as leaders.

What does that tell us about authority and gender in the early church? It suggests that everyone is called to lead—because everyone is called to serve and use his or her God-given gifts to build up the church (Eph. 4:12).

Although Paul sometimes referred to himself as an apostle, most often he called himself a servant or slave to Christ. He recognized that leadership and authority are rooted in service. In contrast to the gentiles, whose leaders held their authority over others, the followers of Jesus were to be ready to sacrifice their lives in service to others.

Paul equated his authority as a leader with his commission to build up and encourage the church, a commission we all share (Acts 7:49; 20:32; Rom. 15:2; 1 Cor. 14:12). Though people in the world seem eager to grasp positions of authority and leadership, Scripture makes it clear that hard work and self-sacrifice are integral to one’s calling as a leader.

Biblically, one’s reach as a leader stretches only as far as one’s willingness to stoop and serve others. Whoever is most prepared to put aside his or her personal wishes and ambition in order to build others up is most ready for leadership, regardless of gender.

Women have been called to gospel service and leadership from the beginning, and their God-given abilities have and will draw many to Christ. This is a biblical and historic reality. Women’s prominence as spiritual leaders is hard to ignore and impossible to suppress because their power does not have human origins but is from God.

Mimi Haddad is the president of Christians for Biblical Equality. She has contributed to seven books, including Global Voices on Biblical Equality.

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