Complementarians (those who believe that men and women have separate roles in the church, and that women cannot be pastors or teach or preach to men, or can only do so if they are under the authority of a male church leader, etc.) likely disagree with my belief or assertion that there are not separate "roles" for males and females in the church. The following is a reason I reject complementarianism—regardless of, e.g., whether Junia was an apostle (Romans 16:7; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junia_(New_Testament_person), etc.
In my opinion, complementarianism—i.e., sexual or gender hierarchicalism or subordinationism or restrictionism (because despite its claim that males and females are equal in Christ and simply "complement" each other, in actuality it's always the female that must be subordinate to the male in the church and in the home)—is contrary to the nature of the New Human (Christ) (Ephesians 2:15), the New Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), the Kingdom of God, and the Gospel (Galatians 3:26–28) as I understand these things, and seems to be based on judging and evaluating things according to the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16; 1 Corinthians 3:1–4).
As I see it:
If
- Females have the same kind of sin nature as males have, and
- Require the same kind of forgiveness for the same kinds of sins as males require, and
- Need the same kind of salvation as males need, and
- Are saved in the same manner and by the same savior as males are saved, and
- Undergo the same baptism into the same body of Christ as males undergo, and
- Receive the same Holy Spirit as males receive, and
- Drink from the same cup as males drink from, and
- Partake of the same bread as males partake of, and
- Are gift-and-power-graced by the same Holy Spirit as males are gift-and-power-graced by, and
- Are joint-heirs with Christ in the same way that males are joint-heirs with Christ, and
- Receive the same spiritual inheritance in Christ as males receive, and
- Have died with the same Christ as males have died with, and
- Are seated together with males in the same heavenly places with the same Christ as males are seated together with in the heavenly places, and
- Will participate in the same resurrection as males will participate in,
In that same body of Christ, of and in which they with males are co-heirs and co-partakers of the same Christ and the same Holy Spirit, they like males can and are to be and do whatever the same Holy Spirit graces and empowers them to be and do in accordance with how the Holy Spirit places them in the same body of Christ for the building up of that same body of Christ.
There are not different ontologies or different hamartiologies or different soteriologies or different pneumatologies for males than for females. Thus, in the body of Christ there are not different "roles" for males than there are for females.
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.... But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose." (1 Corinthians 12:4–6,18)
“So then, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even though we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we know him no longer in that way. So then, if someone is in Christ, it’s a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:16–17)
