Prove All Things:
A Response to Women In Ministry

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Chapter 3

Testimony: What Is a Woman Worth?

Rosalie Haffner Zinke

"It's a man's world." This slogan, which has covered a multitude of feminine frustrations for generations, is probably still true today, the women's movement notwithstanding. As a young professional in my early ministry, I faced this situation head on. How would I relate to the predominance of males in my chosen profession?

I had three options. In our male-dominated society, I could rebel against my peers; I could become competitive with males and seek to beat them by their own rules and standards; or I could accept the differences between my role and theirs and find fulfillment by excelling within the framework of my personal God-given abilities and talents.

A period of struggle and uncertainty in my professional life led me to the "blueprint" for the role of women in ministry. After carefully and prayerfully studying the inspired writings I came to the settled conclusion that God had a work for me to do, a work which, according to Ellen G. White, could best be done by women. "They [women] can do in families a work that men cannot do, a work that reaches the inner life" (Evangelism, p. 464).

This process demanded that I deal with the issue of worth. How was my worth as a professional woman to be determined? Would I be trapped into the "man's world" philosophy that determines worth by male roles? Or would I have the courage to resist the pressure of societal norms and measure my worth in ministry by God's value system?

My determination to choose the latter has not been without pain and even rejection at times. It has not been a popular road. I have often walked alone. It has been a costly choice in many ways. For example, the issue of fair pay for a woman's role has dogged my steps throughout my professional life. How often someone has quipped, "You wouldn't be facing this issue if you were a man," implying that if I were doing a man's work, there would be no question about what I was worth.

But in spite of the frustrations I refused to accept the concept that a woman must either compete or involve herself in male roles in order to be fulfilled. I refused to believe that only a man's role is worthwhile and valuable, making feminine roles second rate and undesirable.

I concluded that the women's movement, instead of freeing women to be themselves and do their best, has virtually enslaved them into accepting the male role as an imposed norm. Tragically, viewing things that way makes the old saying, "It's a man's world," more true today than it ever was! I choose to believe the biblical concept that God created men and women as equals yet gave them each distinct roles in personal relationships and in professional outlets. As the privilege of child bearing is the most important responsibility a person can have, I discovered that in ministry, the role of spiritual birthing and nurturing, for which women have special gifts, brings deep and lasting fulfillment.

My life has been richly blessed by my spiritual children. Whatever accomplishments I have achieved in my career, whatever successes might have been mine had I taken a different course, none compare with the joy of knowing that I have had a part in the lives of my spiritual children and in their growth toward the kingdom.