How The Church Should Function - 1 Timothy 2:1-15

This morning we turn our attention to one of the most difficult texts in the Bible. The last part of 1 Timothy 2 has been debated by Christians for a very long time. It’s hard to be sure what Paul is saying, and many modern hearers find it offensive. With that said, we have a conviction that the Bible is authoritative even when it’s difficult, so today we will tackle those verses head-on and do our best to apply them in today’s culture.

Fortunately, the first part of chapter 2 is much more straightforward. It is also immensely practical and valuable. We would be foolish to skip over these important instructions in order to tackle the controversial verses. So let’s take a look at the first part of chapter 2.

Pray

Paul’s first command to the church is to pray for all people.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. 7And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-7, NLT)

Paul tells the church to pray for all people. This means everyone, not just some people. We find it much easier to pray for people we like than we do for those we don’t. We find it much easier to pray for people like us than we do for people who are different than us. But Paul turns that on its head. He tells us that we are to pray for everyone, whether we like them or not, asking for God’s help on their behalf and thanking God for them.

He then makes his point even clearer by telling us to pray for kings and all who are in authority. I humbly suggest that this is not the approach many in the church take today. Our society has become very angry; we quickly move toward outrage over decisions by elected officials or other leaders in our lives. We immediately move to attack and vilify those who disagree with us. Sadly, this attitude often infects the church as well. But Paul’s instruction is to pray for our leaders, not to attack them.

You may argue, however, that Paul didn’t anticipate the kind of treachery and selfishness we experience from our leaders today. You would be wrong, however. Most likely, the Roman emperor at this time was Nero. Nero persecuted and executed Christians. He was corrupt and selfish. And the other leaders in power weren’t much better. And yet, it is in this context Paul says to pray for those in positions of power.

Why should we pray for all people, even leaders with whom we disagree? Paul says it is because God sent Jesus into the world to die for such people. Every person matters to God, so they ought to matter to us. We ought to pray for everyone: our friends, families, leaders, enemies, everyone! When we do this, a couple things will happen. First, we will find our outrage calmed. Rather than lashing out in anger, we will be able to respond in a way that honors God. Second, we’ll remember God can change things we cannot. As Christians, we should be people whose first response is prayer. We should pray for and value all people, and especially those in power.

With Holy Hands

Paul continues this thought and addresses the next exhortation to men specifically.

8In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy. (2 Timothy 1:8, NLT)

He says that he wants men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God. In the early church, the common posture of prayer was to pray standing up with hands lifted toward heaven. Paul was not emphasizing that we pray with hands lifted up (though there’s nothing wrong with doing so), he is emphasizing that we pray with holy hands lifted up. In other words, Paul is not concerned with our physical posture, but with our spiritual posture.

Specifically, he tells the church that they should be free of anger and controversy when they pray. There was certainly much anger and controversy in the Ephesian church. False teachers had infiltrated the church and it seems that all was not well in Ephesus. It’s possible that people in the church were simply going through the motions of worship, though their hearts were far from the Lord. We face the same danger today.

When we come to worship, we may be harboring anger, resentment, or other sin in our hearts. We can pretend those things aren’t there, but they are. Paul tells us that before we come to lift our hands before the Lord, we must deal with what is in our hearts. We need to confess our sin, deal with unhealthy attitudes, and be made right with people. If we don’t do these things, our prayers will be hindered. Paul’s command (which he gives to men, but it certainly applies to us all) is that when we pray, we must do so with clean hands and hearts, so that we are open to all the Lord has for us.

Dress Modestly

After addressing the men, Paul now gives a command to the women.

9And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. (1 Timothy 2:9-10, NLT)

Paul tells women to be modest in their appearance. Specifically, he says not to wear things that are inappropriate or to try to draw attention to themselves by the way they wear their hair or accessorize their outfits. Instead, he says they should be more focused on what is inside (their spiritual condition) than their physical appearance. In many ways, this is similar to the previous command to the men, as in both cases we are being told to work on what’s inside rather than pretending to be something else outside.

Most likely, there were women who had come out of the pagan religions in that area, where the way you dressed would help identify (or secure) your status within the religious order. Women would dress in exceptionally ornate outfits in order to identify themselves with particular positions while others dressed provocatively because they worked as temple prostitutes. It’s possible that these women were still overly concerned with their appearance and how it might affect their status within the church.

I don’t think Paul is saying that braided hair, or wearing gold, pearls, or nice clothes is inherently sinful. I don’t think there is a list of what is ok to wear and what isn’t. This command is about something much deeper. Paul was trying to get the women in the church to ask the question, “Why am I presenting myself this way?” Paul was trying to get them to examine their real motivation for their dress. Were they trying to attract attention to themselves? Were they trying to make people think more highly of them? Was their choice in dress more about themselves or about the Lord?

Similarly, I think Paul wanted them to consider how their appearance affected the people around them. Were they going to distract others from worshiping because of how they were dressed? What message did their dress send to the other people in the church? The world around them? Paul was, I think, really challenging them to think honestly and deeply about why they chose to present themselves the way they did.

Though he gave this command to women, the same principle applies to men, and it’s about more than just clothing. What image are we trying to project to others? Take stock of the things you say, do, and wear, and ask why you do them. We should be very honest with ourselves about our motivations. If you have selfish reasons, maybe you should stop doing it. Paul’s point is that we would be far better served to focus on becoming the kind of people we should be than focusing on presenting a particular image based on outward appearances. Take stock of how you present yourself, examine your motives, and make changes if necessary.

The Role of Women

So far we have seen some very direct commands, but they are fairly straightforward and easy to understand. Now we turn to the really challenging section. Paul says,

11Women should learn quietly and submissively. 12I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. 13For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. 14And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. 15But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty. (1 Timothy 2:11-15, NLT)

Before we dig into what this text means, let’s talk about the right ways and wrong ways to handle a difficult portion of scripture. The wrong way is to base our interpretation of scripture on our personal preferences or presuppositions. It is tempting to look at a passage that says something we don’t like and decide that it must mean something different. But when we do that, we are no longer listening to God, we are trying to play God. Sometimes the Bible says things that challenge our presuppositions and force us to see things differently. That is good for us! We must not base our interpretation of scripture on our own preconceived notions. The general rule is this: if you think the Bible is wrong, you’re mistaken!

What is the right way to handle a difficult passage? It starts by reading the text itself closely and in context. We should ask several questions about it. What does the text actually say? What do the words mean? To whom was this passage written and why? What does the rest of the Bible say about the subject? (because the Bible doesn’t contradict itself, we can use clear passages to help us understand unclear passages) After that, we can begin to ask how we should apply this teaching today.

I’ve wrestled greatly with this passage and have read many other people’s opinions of the right way to understand it. Among Christians who are genuinely trying to understand what Paul was saying, there are two basic ideas. One is that Paul’s instructions to women in these verses were based on the culture in Ephesus, and so the application of Paul’s teaching might look different today than it did in that time. The other is that Paul’s command was universal in nature, and the command he was giving to the Ephesian women still applies to women in the church today.

Let’s begin by making a few observations from the scriptures about women in general. First, we are told that men and women are both created in the image of God. Second, the Bible views men and women as equal before the Lord, and throughout scripture women were treated with far greater respect and dignity than they were in the general culture. Third, Paul lists many women in his letters whom he considered to be trusted co-laborers. Paul was not a misogynist (woman-hater). On the contrary, he valued women and saw their role as essential. Any attempt by Christians to use these verses to malign or oppress women is improper. Scripture does not view or treat women as second-class citizens, and neither should we.

Let’s examine the competing interpretations. The view that says this was a cultural command supposes that the women in Ephesus were being granted equality in the church in a way they hadn’t been in society. The problem was that these women had not been educated. Some of them may have become disruptive to the church because they were attempting to teach, even though they really were not qualified. This view says that Paul was telling women to learn quietly and to sit under good teaching until they were adequately trained. This is good advice for everyone, not only women.

The application of this view would be that Paul was talking about the importance of making sure people are qualified before they are put in a position of leadership or allowed to teach others. This makes sense, and it dovetails with what he will say in chapter 3 regarding the qualifications of leaders. So in this view the command is not really about men and women, but about fitness for leadership.

The problem is that Paul’s justification for giving this command to women does not seem to be based on the culture of Ephesus, but on the Garden of Eden. Rather than using a contemporary example, Paul bases his argument on Adam and Eve, and the way they fell into sin. There is debate on what Paul meant. Those who believe Paul is talking about the importance being qualified believe Paul was pointing out that Eve was not qualified to make the decision about eating the fruit because she hadn’t received the instruction from God like Adam had. To be honest, I don’t find this view convincing.

The other view sees Paul’s reference to Adam and Eve as about design rather than about training. They believe Paul was saying that God had given Adam a responsibility for leading Eve, and when he failed to do so, Eve fell into sin. If you look at Paul’s instructions about marriage, he seems to be laying responsibility for leadership in families to husbands. It is reasonable to conclude that God may similarly give the responsibility for leadership in the Church to men. From this perspective, Paul’s command did not only apply in Ephesus, but continues to be in effect today.

Under this view the question is what roles are women supposed to fill in the church and what roles should only be filled by men? People answer this in lots of different ways. The most conservative view says women should never hold a position of leadership over men. They should only serve as leaders for children’s ministry or women’s programs and they shouldn’t teach classes that have men in them.

The problem with this view is that women had some measure of leadership responsibilities in the churches Paul planted. Priscilla taught Apollos (a grown man) about the things of God. Apollos later became a great teacher. Paul describes many women as trusted co-laborers, and his descriptions seem to indicate that others were leaders in the church. We are also told of women prophesying as well.

Because of this, I don’t think Paul is saying women should never serve in positions of leadership. I think he is saying that the position of primary leadership and teaching in a church is meant to be filled by a man, provided a qualified man is able and willing to take that responsibility. Practically, I think this is saying that the lead pastoral role in a church should ideally be undertaken by a man, while other positions can be filled by men or women.

Regardless of how we understand this passage, we must recognize that both men and women are vital to the healthy functioning of the church. Men and women are not the same, but we are equal, so we should seek and value the insight of both men and women, and we can learn from both male and female teachers. We must never use such verses as a way of somehow elevating one sex over the other. I don’t believe that saying God intends for men to take on this responsibility leads us to do that.

I should also be clear that while this is my understanding right now, I am still growing in faith. I recognize that sincere, Bible-believing Christians interpret this passage differently. As such, I hold this view with caution and humility. I would challenge you to do the same as you wrestle with the text as well.

As if all of this wasn’t confusing enough, Paul then tells us that women will be saved through childbearing, if they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty. This too, is confusing to most people. There are a few ways of understanding it,

Though women aren’t given the responsibility of leadership, they are given the responsibility of bringing children into the world. Both men and women are saved by Jesus Christ, who was brought into the world by a woman. This means women also play an important part in God’s plan.

Women should focus their energies on caring for and training up their families in the faith, and by not neglecting this role they will be honored.

Women used to worship the goddess Artemis (the pagan goddess whose temple was in Ephesus) for safety in childbearing (as the mortality rate was high for mothers), but he is pointing them instead to trust in Christ, and to focus their energies on serving the Lord and trusting in Him for safety and salvation, not in these false gods.

I’ve got to be honest, I’m not sure what the right understanding is, but this much is clear, Paul tells women (and I think the same applies for men) to persist in developing these traits of solid character in the Lord, as that is where our focus ought to lie.

Conclusion

Personally, I find this text exhausting. It is challenging and hard to understand. But there are some important principles we should take home with us.

We should view and treat all people with respect, including those who are different than we are, those with whom we disagree, and those we don’t like. We should be in prayer for all people because God values them, so we should too.

What is inside our hearts is far more important than what is visible from the outside. We can go through the motions of worship or present a certain image to the world around us, but what really matters is what’s inside. So we should be honest about our motivations, and focus on building character for ourselves.

Leadership of the church is a tremendous responsibility, and it is not one we should take or bestow lightly. We should be careful in selecting our leaders, trying to faithful to what we believe is the clear teaching of scripture, and doing our very best to select those who will be obedient to the Lord, no matter the cost.

These are the important takeaways from this passage—let’s not allow ourselves to miss these points and get mired in controversy. May we be diligent students of the Word, discussing difficult passages in love and a desire for understanding. And by this, may we reflect the love of Christ to the watching world.