Disney’s much-anticipated streaming service Disney+ arrived November 12th, 2019 with boatloads of classic Disney films in addition to original offerings. My wife and I choose one such original piece of entertainment to kick off the Christmas season, Noelle, because of its star-studded cast and promised unique take on Santa Claus movies. But surprisingly, though I could see the ending coming a mile away, the silly, G-rated movie actually made a good case for women in ministry (and it was also just a good movie all around).
In the film, Christmas-obsessed Noelle (Anna Kendrick) with Buddy the Elf-like tendencies is the daughter of Santa Claus and someone who always wanted an important job in the North Pole. However, it’s her brother Nick (Bill Hader), who is destined to one day take the reins as Santa Claus, presumably because he is the next male in line. Through the first part of the movie, it’s alluded several times that there are certain magical abilities of a Santa Clause—like being able to speak any language and knowing intuitively people’s names and desired gifts. Nick, as is shown early in the film, lacks a serious knack for being the big man in the red coat and he doesn’t have those abilities. When Nick doesn’t come back from a weekend vacation, the plot focuses on Noelle’s attempt to negotiate the strange land of Phoenix, Arizona. She discovers things about herself, like that she can speak languages she never learned, knows people’s names, and knows intuitively what people want as gifts. So it’s no surprise when, at the end of the movie, Nick declares that Noelle should be the first female Santa Claus.
Disney’s feminist take on Santa Claus is surely silly (by the G-rating, it’s evidently made for younger kids). Yet, the House of Mouse managed to create a perfect argument for church leadership founded on spiritual gifts that can help churches today navigate issues surrounding gender inclusion. Like in Noelle, church leaders are chosen for their roles. In Ephesians 4:11-13 Paul explains, “The gifts he [God] 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, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ” (NRSV). God “gifts” positions to certain people for the goal of building the ministry effectiveness of the church of Christ. More famously, 1 Corinthians 12 list several “spiritual gifts,” most of which correspond with a particular role in a church community, many specifically for what we might consider “up front” leadership.
It’s commonly expected that in churches your ministers should be gifted for their work: evangelists should have the gift of evangelism, teachers should have the gift of teaching, ect. This is the spoken theology of many churches. But in practicality, this can work out differently, especially when gender is concerned. In my experience growing up in a relatively conservative church, it was common for young boys to be pushed into leadership roles. Many at the worship service, particularly those older, would light up when a young man leads a prayer or reads a Scripture. Additionally, our youth group would sometimes go to smaller churches and “do” their service for them—if you had a XY chromosome pair, you were probably up front in that worship service somehow. If a boy didn’t want to go up front, there was the unspoken sense that you were neglecting your Christian duty.
Pushing men to lead is well-intentioned, but it ignores the power of God to equip people to suit certain roles. I’m all for training—and sometimes you need to push people to develop their gifts—but this idea is often rooted in an expectation that if you are a man, you are a leader (the term here is used in the broadest sense possible). But for unity to take place, as Paul argues in Ephesians 4, we need the right people in their right roles—he never specifies gender (in any of the spiritual gifts passages). Those with the gift must act upon the gift, that’s why Paul warns fellow minister Timothy to “not neglect the gift that is in you” (1 Tim. 4:14). If someone is in a position of leadership when they are not gifted in that way, it’s like the eye trying to make the body take a step forward. I’ve seen time and time again men unskilled to lead doing the leading, when their wives would have done a way better job. Alternatively, a gift-based ministry frees us from just filling slots with any male body available regardless of if the person will be miserable or has any kind of skill for the task.
Churches who hold up passages like 1 Cor. 14:34-35 or 1 Tim. 2:11-12 (texts that rightly deserve to be a part of the conversation—but right now we are talking bigger picture theology) as their chief proof texts against women in leadership ignore the helpful theology of gift-based ministry. What talents are we missing out on when all the women in the congregation are ruled out as potential leaders? Tons! In Noelle, the titular character is clearly the woman for the job, but her brother is a man and thus gets the Santa gig. Noelle is known for spreading joy, loving Christmas and has a deep compassion and understanding for others. Not only does she have the magical Santa-abilities, she experientially knows how Christmas is for real people, unlike the fill-in Santa, Gabe (Billy Eichner), who can’t see past his rigid algorithm for determining naughty or nice.
The elves in Noelle dismissed Noelle as a replacement for Santa not for any nefarious reason. They just assumed a man would be the next Santa and that Noelle, as a female, would need to take a different role. The church often does something similar by overlooking the contributions of its female members. Thomas Oden captures the sentiment in his acclaimed book Pastoral Theology concludes that “it simply is unacceptable to assume that women by virtue of their sex are incapable of being empowered by God the Spirit to preach the word, administer the sacraments, and provide pastoral care for the flock.” God’s power doesn’t only work in those with an XY chromosome pair—God’s power can work in any person of God’s choosing. Think about Miriam, who defied Egypt as a child and was later called a prophetess, or Deborah, a prophetess and judge who showed up military leaders. Then, amidst the difficult and awkward discussion of women’s head coverings, Paul assumes women will be praying and prophesying in 1 Corinthians 11:5, the context suggesting they are doing these things outside the home where the head coverings wouldn’t be an issue. These women are not just leading a women’s Bible study—they are prophesying (inspired speaking, not necessarily telling the future) for everyone!
I have heard it argued before that if women were allowed to lead in the church, none of the men would want to—they’d let the women control everything. This argument comes from a well-meaning place—a desire to push people to serve God out of their comfort zones. However, not only does this unfairly paint men as lazy and women as control-seeking (both of which might have truth, depending on who you ask!), it fails to recognize the power of the New Testament’s call to a gift-based ministry. If all the women in a particular church are endowed by God to lead and none of the men are, then let it happen! If certain women just want the power trip and they are not Spirit-driven, then the gift-based model allows us to correct this issue. Leadership in the church is based on where the Holy Spirit leads, not based on what your genetic makeup looks like. Who decides? The church together discerns if the Spirit is present.
When Noelle got on the sleigh on her first Christmas Eve, the elves and people of earth who saw her were skeptical. She also had to deal with an oversized suit—promised to fit her once she believed she was Santa Claus. Though at first it’s a rough night, it all changes when a young girl refers to her as “Santa.” Finally, Noelle sees herself as Santa and the suit magically fits. Noelle, as Santa, finally found happiness because she finally found her place. Nick, not Santa anymore, was also happy. It all happened because a tradition was challenged by the criteria of giftedness and by what produced better fruit in people’s lives. If the church did the same, not only would we see a richer Chrisitan community lead by the right people, but we could see many women finally find happiness in their God-ordained role. The church is at her strongest when roles are filled by women and men gifted by the power of God.
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Resources
These are all books I’d recommend personally. Ordering them through the provided does give me a small kickback. Thanks for supporting the site!
- Paul and Gender by Cynthia Long Westfall
- It’s academic by a foremost scholar, but it’s also easy to read. She brings in the social context and even draws parallels to modern sociological research in cultures like the Middle East. Westfall isn’t trying to make a position about women in leadership, but shows that Paul is a lot more fond of women in positions of power than most think!
- Women in Ministry: Four Views edited by Bonnidell and Robert G. Clouse
- It’s good to read up on opposing views, one, because you’ll learn something, and two, because it’s just respectful.
- Discovering Biblical Equality edited by Ronald W. Pierce, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, and Gordon Fee.
- A very interesting work that collects diverse voices, some more scholarly, some more casual. The volume roughly defends a modified complementarianism, where mutual submission is required but there is no hierarchy.
- Paul, Women, and Wives by Craig Keener.
- Keener is a top scholar. I quote him in my academic papers all the time with confidence. I haven’t actually read this book, but I do recommend it because I know the author so well, and, like many scholars, Keener does not buy into readings of the text that exclude women from leadership. It’s a tad older but will do a great job helping you understand the background of the texts.
- Phoebe by Paula Gooden.
- Who is Pheobe? Only a woman described in Romans as a deacon and someone who delivered Paul’s letters to the Romans and very likely read it out loud. This is a narrative book but one filled with cultural and critical scholarship.
- Priscilla by Ben Witherington the III.
- Those that know me well know that Ben Witherington is my scholarly soulmate. He’s a fantastic researcher with some 70 books to his name. I believe he did his doctrinal dissertation on Jesus’ view of women, too. This one is a narrative like Phoebe about the early church leader Priscilla but is backed by scholarly research. Go read all of Witherington’s books on the topic like Women in the Earliest Churches, Women and the Genesis of Christianity and Women in the Ministry of Jesus.
