Women In The Church.

Introduction:

The text before us today is one that is full of controversy and is one that is hotly debated in recent days. Sadly, that debate is often full of emotion and rhetoric and has left the pages of scripture almost entirely. The historic evangelical interpretation of this text is being abandoned in the name of radical feminism and pragmatism. The biblical passage on the role of women in the church has been radically reinterpreted and outright ignored because liberal theological claims that they possess an anti-female bias. Some have even gone as far to label the Bible as sexist. I want to just make it clear right from the start this morning that I stand upon what has been the historical evangelical understanding of this text and so does the doctrinal statement of our church. It is also important for us to understand that the historic interpretation of this text has been the majority view of the church at large for most of the last 2,000+ years. In fact, the liberal view of this text didn't even begin popping up until the late 1960’s and is rooted in western culture and not in the pages of scripture. We have to allow the biblical text to define church order and not the whims of an ever changing secular culture. Our secular culture is a tyrant to be resisted, not a friend to be embraced. Why would we want a culture that can’t even properly define gender telling God’s people what Gender roles ought to be anyway!

I want to be very clear, the Bible is not anti-woman. God is not anti-woman. The church was never supposed to be anti-woman (the exact opposite is true). God is a God of order and there is a divinely appointed order given to us in scripture as it relates to gender roles in the church.

The church at Ephesus, where Timothy was thrust into being the pastor was a church, that had become plagued with false doctrine. So it’s not surprising to see that they were struggling with gender roles. So Paul, under inspiration writes Timothy in order to give direction and correct the issues the church was having as it related to the behavior of women and the function of women in the Lord’s church in public worship. That is where the emphasis of this passage lies, behavior in the local church.

1.) Her adornment. (v.9-10)

Adorn- refers to the dress, ornaments and arrangement of clothing upon the body but also stretches beyond clothing and encompasses behavior and demeanor. The way in which a person carries themselves and behaves in the public.

These two verses are referring to the way in which christian women are to bring honor to God through what they wear and how they behave. These verses are a call to dignity and propriety in the way in which the christian woman dresses and conducts herself in the public arena and in the church.

A.) She is to dress modestly and behave soberly.

I know that for many women who grew up under legalistic systems when you hear the word modesty you think of frumpy dresses, denim skirts and culottes.

But, that is not what Paul is saying here.

Modest- decent and orderly. It simply means that a Christian woman is to dress in a way that is decent, orderly and in good taste.

Propriety- means that she is to avoid extremes.

Moderation- sensibleness and awareness.

The exhortation is that women are to come to worship ready to meet with the Lord so they should avoid dressing in a way that attracts attention. That can mean many things, flashy or gaudy, revealing, or even sloppy or in disarray.

When Paul mentions “braided hair, pearls and costly clothing he’s actually hinting at some of the practices of the day. He’s not forbidding having nice hair, or wearing jewelry, he’s confronting gaudy and ostentatious hairdos. Women in that culture often wove gold, pearls, and other things into their hair to attract attention and show of their wealth and beauty.

The idea here is that the way in which the godly woman dresses and behaves should be an extension of her heart. A woman who is focused on worshipping and bringing glory to God will allow the position of her heart to dictate the way in which she adorns herself.

B.) She is to dress herself in good works.

Paul is not saying that good works are a substitute for proper clothing, he is saying that the godly woman is defined by her reverence for the Lord and not the material. She is committed on bringing attention to Christ and not herself.

This admonition actually extends beyond just woman and goes for men too. Are whole demeanor should be pointing people to Jesus not drawing attention to ourselves.

2.) Her role. ( v.11-14)

Having discussed a christians women's deportment in the church, Paul now moves on to discuss her role as it relates to teaching and authority in the church.

Verses 11-12 are where the controversy is fixed at in our world. Allow me to say before we begin to break down these verses, that they are referring to church order. These instructions do not extend to the marketplace, classroom, or anywhere in the public arena. These directives also do not allow any man within the church, by virtue of his gender, to exercise authority over women in the church. That kind of authority only exists in the covenant of marriage and only as God prescribed it to be in marriage.

These verses also have nothing to do with male and female equality. Both have been created in the imago Dei and in christ one is not better than the other. We are equal in the eyes of God.

Genesis 1:27 NKJV

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Galatians 3:28 NKJV

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

So what exactly is being said here.

A.) Quiet learner. (v.11-12)

v.11 the phrase “learn in silence” is a poor word choice chosen by the NKJV translators, and gives the impression that women were to never open their mouths in the gathered body. “Quietly”. Essentially Paul is saying that a woman is to “quietly receive instruction.” (NASB95)

Paul is saying two things at the same time.

He is commanding that woman are to be taught the Word of God in the church just like their male counterparts. - That may seem obvious to us, but it wasn’t obvious to those who came from a jewish background. Judaism in the first century did not regard or lift women up at all. They were allowed to attend the synagogue, but they were not required to learn. Most rabbi’s would actually refuse to teach women. Greek society was just as bad.

William Barclay writes,

The respectable Greek woman led a very confined life. She lived in her own quarters into which no one but her husband came. She did not even appear at meals. She never at any time appeared on the street alone; she never went to any public assembly. (The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975], 67)

It is likely that these mindsets were in Ephesus and in their new found freedom, the christian women there were over correcting from their oppression and were seeking dominance.

2. But, she is to learn in a submissive way

Submission- literally mens to rank under. It is a military term. It has nothing to do with value or ability, but with order and authority.

A colonel is higher in rank than a private, but that does not necessarily mean that the colonel is a better man than the private. It only means that the colonel has a higher rank and, therefore, more authority.

1 Corinthians 14:40 NKJV

40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

This is a matter of order, not subjugation. Submission is recognizing Gods order and obeying it.

Just as an army would be in confusion if there were no levels of authority, so society would be in chaos without submission.

Children should submit to their parents because God has given parents the authority to train their children and discipline them in love.

Employees should submit to employers and obey them.

Citizens should submit to government authorities, even if the authorities are not Christians.

The wife submits to the leadership of her own husband and to the Lord.

Husbands submit to the Lord.

v.12- Does not say that women are not supposed to ever teach in the church. Remember this is a matter of order.

Older women are to teach younger women.

Titus 2:3–4 NKJV

3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

They are to instruct children.

2 Timothy 1:5 NKJV

5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

2 Timothy 3:15 NKJV

15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

There is even nothing wrong with a godly women instructing a man in private.

Acts 18:24–28 NKJV

24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

However, in her teaching ministry she is prohibited from exercising authority over a man.

The words “to teach”, or its noun forms “teaching” or “teacher” are only used in the New Testament to describe the careful and authoritative transmission of biblical truth. In the pastoral Epistles 1&2 Timothy and Titus it always has the sense of authoritative public doctrinal teaching.” In other words “Preaching.”

Women are no permitted to preach or exercise an elder like responsibility over men in the church order.

B.) Biblical Reasoning (v.13-14)

God created in an organized and orderly fashion.- Everything was created with its own order and function. As it relates to humanity, God created the man and then he created the woman.

Man was created to be the leader, the initiator, to oversee the family and its welfare. The woman was created to be his counterpart (not competition).

Her function on the earth is every bit as important as the mans, but it is not the same as the mans.

She was created to compliment or work alongside the man in a supportive role. Adam and Eve were created to be pictures of Christs relationship with the church.

Ephesians 5:31–33 NKJV

31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

So in the church the the teaching and administrative leadership of the church is headed up by the man.

1 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV

3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

3.) Her contribution. (v.15)

If you just read that verse and went “Whaaaaaat?” You are not alone, because it is sort of unclear. I’ll admit that I spent a ton of time this week dwelling upon what Paul is saying here.

He is not saying that through child birth that women will be saved from the wages of their sin. That would be another Gospel.Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone.

He is also not saying that women will be physically saved when they have children. Countless godly christian mothers have certainly died in child birth.

Some have connected this to the birth of Christ, but that is an obscure interpretation and not consistent with the way in which Paul communicated.

Most likely, this is once again meant to be an example of the God given differences in roles of men and women. (Men do not give birth to children, only women can do that.)

Paul is laying down a general principle for the church as it relates to her contribution to the local church. Her role is not to “run” the church, but to care for the home and bear and raise children to the glory of God.

1 Timothy 5:14 NKJV

14 Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

Her congregation is her home and through it the Lord gives her abundant opportunities to both teach the word of God and equip the saints. Perhaps even train up the next generation of Pastors and leaders. What a tremendous opportunity!

Conclusion:

Our passage before us today is not at all about male or female superiority and they are not about suitability for leadership either. It is not about a power dynamic. Leadership in the church according to the Bible isn't about power it’s about service and dying to self.

This passage is all about living out God’s creative order within the local church.

We must remain in fidelity to scripture even when it may offend our society. We must allow God’s word to shape and form us and not the whims of an ever changing society.

Godly women have an important ministry within the local church, it is not the same ministry God has given to men, but it is no less important. Are you living up to the ministry to which God has called you!