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Men have been commanded to lead in the home and the church.

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1 Timothy 2:12 and Eldership

We have come to the time of year where you are putting forth Elder and Deacon nominations. This tied in well to our series, because the Scripture we are covering addresses Eldership in the church. The passage we are going to be exegeting today is 1 Timothy 2:8-14 but to read it in its context we need to read through chapter 2. So before we read it, why is this verse so controversial? Why will this verse rub some of us the wrong way? In one word, feminism, more accurately, third-wave feminism. This is the feminism my generation grew up with and we are seeing the fruits of that now in our society. That men and women are no different. That anything a man can do a woman can do. Now we might hear that and think, yea sure. But it is simply not true going both directions. A man cannot be pregnant. A woman cannot give a “Y” chromosome. Genetically men and women are drastically different. Men have this thing called testosterone. To put it in context, a woman would have to be doped up out of her mind on steroids, she would have to quadruple her natural testosterone levels to be at the very bottom level of a man’s natural testosterone level. Quadruple to be on the low end. This is significant, testosterone helps burn fat while increasing muscle. Testosterone increases bone density. Our culture has tried to blur the lines between men and women. That a man and a woman are interchangeable. Can we just drop the facade, men and women are different. That’s why there is the NBA and WNBA. That is why there is a PGA Tour and and LPGA tour. But that is not my biggest problem, theologically, when we blur these lines we not only accept a heresy that God made a mistake making you a man or a woman, but we remove what makes us unique altogether. Instead of addressing what makes us unique as men and women our culture would rather do without it, and do you know who gets hurt by this? Ironically, women. This is the kind of baggage we bring to the table and when we read 1 Timothy 2 we get offended. But, instead of exegeting the text, speakers have twisted it and rejected it all together. So enough of the anticipation lets read it, 1 Timothy 2
1 Timothy 2 (ESV)
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Before we get into this text as a whole let’s address some verses which may have jumped out. Verses 9-10 and verse 15. We need to clear this debris so we can get to the text at hand. Verses 9-10, First, what is Paul NOT saying? Paul is not rejecting women’s fashion and saying be bland and hideous. To go out of your way to look glib. This would not be consistent with Scripture as a whole. The Proverbs 31 woman dresses her and her family in fine purple linen, and the church is revelation is described as a bride awaiting her groom. What bride slums it? James Hurley hits the nail on the head, ‘[Paul] refers … to the elaborate hair-styles which were then fashionable among the wealthy, and also to the styles worn by courtesans. The sculpture and literature of the period make it clear that women often wore their hair in enormously elaborate arrangements with braids and curls interwoven, or piled high like towers and decorated with gems and/or gold and/or pearls. The courtesans wore their hair in numerous small pendant braids with gold droplets or pearls or gems every inch or so, making a shimmering screen of their locks.” We know that by the culture, specifically Ephesus, which is where Timothy is an Elder, women wanted to flaunt their wealth and social status. Not only that the temple for the goddess Diana had temple prostitutes who would dress a particular way. Simply put, whether regarding your social standing or your beauty, women are not to come to church to flaunt either. We can agree with that. We are here to worship the LORD, we do not want to draw any attention away from Him, amen? The next verse is verse 15, 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” We do not have the time to get into some of the interpretations of this verse. Ill just give you the answer. Paul uses the singular form, woman in the verses prior to 15 and here is uses the plural form, women. Before he was speaking of Eve, singular, but now he is speaking to all women. Why? Verse 15 points back to Genesis 3 and God’s curse upon the serpent, Genesis 3:15 “15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” This curse is prophesying when Christ would be born of a woman and Paul is speaking of this again. Of course we know that none of us are saved by the birth of Jesus, we are saved by the Death of Jesus. But we cannot overlook that the death would not be possible without the birth and birth not possible with a woman and now all women have the opportunity to be saved as well as all mankind. Paul makes the same point.
Now the verses we need to really get into are verse 11-14 because this pertains to Christian leadership. 1 Timothy 2:11-14
1 Timothy 2:11–14 ESV
11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
What happens with this verse? Teachers will not perform the 3 rules of Biblical Interpretation, which are? Instead this text is ripped out of its context and held up over the lens of culture. That seems smart right? Take the Bible and read it through the lens of a culture who has no clue what a man and a woman is anymore. That will end well. So they will read this text and proclaim Paul a sexist and reject what Paul says. Here in lies the problem, Paul is an Apostle, and speaks the oracles of God, and Paul’s specific calling was to establish churches and their leadership. Which means Paul established churches and taught them how they were to conduct themselves according to God’s revelation. Paul is not some sexist who hated women. If we have even a hint of that here, then we are hearing what Paul is not saying. First, Paul is not saying that women have no place in the ministries of the church. Second Paul is not saying that women are not equipped with strong leadership gifting’s. Third, Paul is not saying that Men are superior to women. That is off the table, Paul is not saying that. So what is Paul saying? Paul is establishing the role of men, the call of men by God. There are only two places where God has commanded men to lead and that is the home and the church. God makes no such command that are men to lead everything, why? Because God has gifted some women with the ability to lead and lead well. But in our culture this bumps up against Scripture, which is why this passage is pulled from is context and discarded. Instead, we would rather hear what Paul did not say, rather than what God inspired Paul to say. Why? Because God will not bend His knee to our culture, it is our culture that is to bend the knee to Him. So we ask again, what is Paul saying? I made the statement that God has called men to lead in the home and the church. How do we land there?
First we see that Paul defends verses 11-12 with verse 13. Here is what makes verse 13 so interesting to me, Paul makes the clear statement that God created Adam first. Fair enough, but it is the second statement that I find to interesting and I believe makes the point. Paul says it was Eve who was deceived. Here is why I find it interesting, Romans 5:12-13
Romans 5:12–13 ESV
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Who does Paul attribute the fall of mankind? Adam, one man. He doesn’t even mention Eve. This is where we begin to understand what Paul is saying in 1 Timothy. Why does Paul not even mention Eve and blame Adam? Because of headship. We see this in marriage, Ephesians 5:22-33
Ephesians 5:22–33 ESV
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
There is a response that I have to men and women who read verse 22 and get offended. This word submit, is seen as weakness in our culture. I want to say three things to that: First, that is a shallow line of reasoning. Jesus submitted to the Father, became flesh, died for our sins, bore the wrath of God on our behalf. he submitted. Was He weak? Second, submission is a sign of maturity not weakness. Submission is not cowardice. My wife submits to me but do you honestly think she will not speak up for the truth when I am in error? Submission is not cowardice. Third, and this applies to the church and its Eldership, the woman who reads verse 22 and is not offended is because she has a husband who lives verses 22-25. The husband who loves his wife as Christ loves the church, has no problem submitting to that kind of leadership. Now I would love to go off on a tangent on the weakness of manhood today but we do not have time. But the same is true for the church. The church that Has Elders who live up to their call do not have a issue with their leadership. So what is the call of an Elder, I am so glad you asked.
In Paul’s letter to Titus he writes Titus 1:5-9
Titus 1:5–9 (ESV)
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
if anyone is above reproach
One commentator explained it this way, “They have received the gospel message, it is transforming them, and this work of God’s word confers a status of blamelessness upon them in God’s sight.” We know that no person can be without sin. So Paul is not saying an Elder is sinless. But he is saying there is a conduct which is evident that God is transforming them.
the husband of one wife
Simply put, if one has been divorced apart from the Biblical justifications, which are an affair by the other spouse, abuse by the other spouse, or abandonment by the other spouse) this person is disqualified to be a Pastor, Elder, Shepherd, Bishop, this is also a qualification for Deacons in 1 Timothy 3:12
his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.
This qualification is for dependent children, not adult children. It is yet another level to the man who is above reproach. It shows that they disciple their family, they are active in their faith at home teaching their children in LORD as well. Kids who move out and go astray do not disqualify a man for Eldership.
He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.
This does not need explanation but these traits are self-evident and essential to Godly Christian Leadership.
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
This qualification does not seem to be so pressing in the church today. Yes there are Elder’s who teach and care about sound Doctrine but they will not rebuke those who contradict it. Why are both so important, a man cannot lead if he is a coward. To know sound Doctrine is outstanding and needed desperately in the church but to then refuse to rebuke false Doctrine, it leaves a church vulnerable to heresy. That’s why modalism is on the rise. That’s why the prosperity name it and claim it gospel is on the rise. There is not room for cowardice in leadership, and I am not going to give any ground on that. To not rebuke false teaching as an Elder of the church is cowardice. We need strong men leading the church. Not men who can lift a house, though Jim can do that, we need men who are strong in the Word of God and strong in their will to defend it.
The point I want to make, going back to women is this, Paul is not only excluding women from leadership he is excluding a lot of men. Paul, under the inspiration of God, commands the church to appoint men who meet every single one of these criteria. Not some. Not one. All of them. Paul is excluding a lot of men from Eldership as well.
Some will say but look at Deborah on the OT, she was a leader. This kind of argumentation is one that I have used in debates with my wife. If someone says, “You always do that.” Then to refute their claim you simply have to find the one time you did not due that. It means their line of argument from that moment forward is in question because of their error here. I cannot say this has won me any arguments in our house but, it is a legitimate debate tactic. And so this is used for Deborah. if male headship and leadership is so important to God then why have Deborah. I feel that is reasonable but it does not make the case that one might hope, rather it emphasizes God’s call to men. Exceptional cases in the Bible are not necessarily normative. Two examples of this is found in Isiah and Hosea. Isaiah walked around for 3 years naked. This does not undermine the Scriptural injunctions against nakedness. Why did God tell Him to do this? Judah lived between two powers and they could not trust either of them, When the Assyrians lead the Egyptians away as slaves they stripped them down to bring about their shame. Israel was trusting in other nations and not in the LORD their God from protection. Isaiah became a walking example of what would be to come for them in trusting in other nations and not the LORD, they would be lead away naked and enslaved. Another example is Hosea. God calls a prophet to marry a prostitute. This does not undermine the Scriptural injunction against marrying harlots. God gave Israel a living example of their harlotry to other God’s. As she was unfaithful to Hosea so was Israel to God. So when we look at these exceptions we have to ask, what was the purpose? We know the purpose of these two examples, God has his prophets to intentional violate injunctions to provoke shame to Israel and to draw them to repentance. But of male headship, what about Deborah? If this is not normative, then what is the purpose for this exception? One might say Deborah did a good job, she was a good leader. But this does not undermine male leadership, rather like Isaiah, it is to bring shame to the men. Deborah was not the one being shamed it was the men. Deborah did not approach this role as a judge in the way that many would have hoped. It would appear she recognized what God was doing. Deborah did not take authority over everything She did not teach the people nor did she lead them militarily. When Deborah is cited her husband is also cited. Why would the text cite her husband when she is the leader? It is to bring shame to Barak her husband as well as the men of Israel. Deborah spoke of herself in Judges 5:7 as a mother in Israel. In Judges 4 she insisted that a man take the army into battle. It does not appear that Deborah stepped completely into this leadership role. As you read you see Deborah wanting her reluctant husband to step up. I believe the nail in the coffin are two separate texts which Deborah is absent from the catalogue of judges. 1 Samuel 12:9-11 Barak is mentioned and not Deborah. The same occurs in the NT in Hebrews 11:32. When we read Isaiah 3:11-12
Isaiah 3:11–12 (ESV)
11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him. 12 My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.
Why would being lead by a woman bring shame to Israel or to the church today? I grew up with a sister and she possessed this ability to make a room clean. Boys growing up we go with the principle, out of sight out of mind. We will just throw everything in the closet and call the room clean. Girls seem to know what clean means. So this is the illustration I use when addressing Male Headship in the home and the church. Men, If your father told you to clean your room, and instead of cleaning your room you had your sister do it while you went out to do whatever you wanted. When your father comes home he see’s the room is clean. A job well done. But He knows your sister cleaned it. Will he be happy that the room is cleaned or angry that you disobeyed him? We do not even have to have siblings to know the answer.
Do not hear what God is not saying. he is not saying women are incompetent and lack to capacity to lead. Some might argue Deborah did a good job. You compare that to Samson and you have a good point. Even Deborah seemed to recognize what God was doing. This is not a mocking of women, it is a call to men to be who God has commanded them to be. Men, God has called you to lead your family and the church. To step back from that and hand it over is shameful. Not because you are handing it off to a woman, but because you are handing it off at all. When men refuse to lead, when men refuse to obey their role, when men punt on their responsibility the church suffers. Doctrine is changed, the Word of God is undermined, and the Spirit is quenched.
I take this very serious. I answer to the Elder’s of this church. I serve under them. I have served under Elder’s who did not meet the qualifications. It was a popularity contest. It was whoever wanted to be an Elder. I will not serve under men who do not qualify. I love our Elder’s and I am thankful for them. But as you pray and consider who you will nominate as an Elder a Deacon, go to the Word of God and do not compromise on the qualifications for an Elder and Deacon. There will be our leaders, these will be the servants of the church. They MUST meet the qualifications.
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