|
"Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification." These fifty one words have caused a mighty furor in America today. These are the words of the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. The Equal Rights Amendment was written in 1921 by Alice Paul. It has been introduced in Congress every session since 1923. It passed Congress in 1972, but failed to be ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states by the July 1982 deadline. It was ratified by thirty-five states.
This amendment has caused radical changes in the American way of life. Women have pushed through liberated divorce laws which allow husbands to collect alimony from their wives, and allow adulterers and perverts to retain custody of children. Women's rights groups are working to abolish the traditional family, to legitimize infanticide, homosexuality, and adultery. They have already succeeded in making abortion legal. It has affected homes, the military, the procedure of divorce, and the custody of children.
The effects of this amendment have spilled over into the church. Almost all liberal denominations ordain women to the ministry. Even within the evangelical church the revolution has succeeded in toppling male-dominated leadership in thousands of churches. It has created a flood of new literature and generated fierce debate. It has even spawned a new de-sexed version of the Bible. Virginia Mollenkott writes, "If a woman has been called and gifted by God to be a pastor or priest, it is a fearful thing for the organized church to block her from that ministry." Does God call women to be pastors of churches? What do the Scriptures say? Let's look at our text and see if we can get an answer to this question.
We are studying chapter 14 which deals with the proper use of gifts in the church. The first 25 verses of this chapter can be summed up in these words: the gift of prophecy is superior to the gift of tongues. Paul's explanation of prophecy's superiority over tongues was this: prophecy is superior over tongues because prophecy edifies the believer. It builds up the believer. Edification is a major concern in this chapter. In verses 26-40, Paul gives instructions for the proper use of these gifts in the church meeting. Let's begin our study this morning with the last half of verse 33.
1 Cor 14:33b NKJV as in all the churches of the saints. 34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.
That is a strong statement. What it says is clear, but what does it mean by what it says? Is it saying that when a woman comes to a meeting of the church that she must not utter a word? Is she to quit speaking when she walks in the door, or can she talk until the service starts? These verses must be interpreted in their context, and their context is that of giving direction to the use of the gifts of speaking in tongues and prophesying. The whole of chapter 14 deals with these gifts, notice:
1 Corinthians 14:1 NKJV Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:39-40 KJV Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
The chapter is bracketed by these verses. This chapter deals with spiritual gifts and their proper use in the church. In giving us rules for the use of tongues and prophecy Paul adds another rule, women are not to speak in tongues or prophecy in the church.
This verse is avoided or distorted by those who advocate oral ministry for women. They say that the verb that is translated "to speak" here means "to chatter." They imagine in the church a situation similar to the synagogue where the men sat on one side and the women sat on the other, and the women were whispering and chattering among themselves. It is this that they say Paul is forbidding. That is an unacceptable translation because on 18 occasions the same verb occurs throughout chapter 14. In every other case the verb means "to speak." It is used of tongues , their interpretation, prophecy, or its evaluation. In every case the verb means to speak.
Others say that what Paul is really forbidding here is their interrupting the service to ask questions. He does bring that up in verse 35 but verse 34 is a continuation of verse 29. Paul is dealing in this section with rules for the exercise of gifts in the church. In verse 35 he is saying in relation to the exercise of spiritual gifts, prophecy, tongues, discerning of spirits, let the women keep silent in the churches. A popular view in more liberal circles today is that Paul did not write these words; rather, they were added later by some scribe who was far more conservative than Paul himself. But there is not one existing manuscript in which these verses are lacking.
These verses clearly say that women are not to speak in the church meeting. Now this is not an absolute rule that says that women are not allowed to speak at all when the church is meeting. If this were true women couldn't sing, they couldn't say "amen", they couldn't say "hello" to a visitor or friend. It does forbid them from prophesying or speaking in tongues. They are not to take the lead in the church meeting.
Some say that Paul was not forbidding women to prophecy because he had already given them instructions in chapter 11 on how they were to prophecy. Do you remember our study of chapter 11?
1 Corinthians 11:5 NKJV But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.
Paul is talking here about a woman prophesying outside of the church meeting. Women had a prophetic ministry as is clear from:
Acts 2:17 NKJV 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
Acts 21:9 NKJV Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
Women had a prophetic ministry and they also spoke in tongues but they were not to exercise these gifts in the meeting of the church. In chapter 14 Paul is telling them not to use these gifts in the church meeting.
Why is it that women must not speak in church? Ruth Shmidtz says "Paul writes these verses because he is conditioned by the society around him. Paul expresses only a personal wish here." William Barclay says, "No man ever rose completely above the background of the age in which he lived and the society in which he grew up; and Paul, in his conception of the place of women within the Church, was unable to rise above the ideas which he had known all his life." What does that tell you about Shmidtz & Barclay? They have a low view of the inspiration of Scripture! Paul is not some male chauvinistic bachelor, he is speaking as an apostle of God.
Paul gives three arguments in these verses for a woman being silent in the church. The first argument is because of the custom of the churches. We see this in the last phrase of verse 33.
33b "as in all the churches of the saints. 34 Let your women keep silent in the churches"
In general, translators consider verse 33b to be the introductory part of the first sentence in verse 34. The Greek manuscripts had no punctuation so the context must determine where these verses go. His appeal is that in all the churches women are silent. They are not permitted to speak, this is customary in the Christian church. Paul is emphasizing the fact that the principle of women not speaking in church services was not local, geographical, or cultural, but universal. Because it is customary in the Christian church it suggests that women participating publically in the church meeting would somehow be inconsistent with Christianity. So Paul calls upon them to conform to the custom of the Christian church.
Is it coincidental that the churches today that stress tongues and prophecies the most give women preachers a very prominent place? Many charismatic groups, in fact were begun by women, just as were many cults.
His second reason is his own apostolic authority. He says, "it is not permitted for them to speak." That is what Paul is saying, and he is speaking as an apostle. Notice what he says in verse 37
1 Corinthians 14:37 NKJV If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
This is not Paul's personal preference, it is not a bias that he has, this is the commandment of the Lord. When Paul spoke for God his views were not tainted by cultural or personal bias. He did not, for instance, teach the submission of women in the church because of his Jewish background or in order to conform to any personal male chauvinism. He taught that truth because he had been taught it by the Lord. Since the apostles were infallible organs of the Holy Spirit, to disobey them in any matter of faith or practice is to refuse to obey God.
His third argument comes at the end of verse 34, it is his scriptural argument. He says, "for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says." Paul reaches back into the O.T. to support his argument. He probably has in mind the account of Genesis 2:18-24 that teaches the creation order in which Adam was created first and then Eve as Adams helper. Paul consistently appeals to the creation account of Genesis 2 throughout this epistle. All through the O.T. the position of the women was to be in subordination to the men when it came to leadership in the things of God and in the worship of the tabernacle. Therefore, for these three reasons Paul says in the church meeting the women should be quiet.
Now he extends his basic thesis in verse 35:
1 Corinthians 14:35 NKJV And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.
Pau extends his basic thesis of verse 34 to a particular problem. This was most likely a problem particular to Corinth: women were interrupting the service by asking questions. If the women have a question they are to ask their husband at home. There is great wisdom in this. As the wife asks her husband she gently forces him into his role as the head of the home, as the spiritual head. Every time a woman goes to her husband and asks him a question she shows him respect in his position as head. Your husband is the spiritual head of your home, so if you have a biblical question, ask him. Sad to say, in too many Christian homes the husband is not very well versed in the Word. But if he doesn't know the answer he is forced to study and find the answer. What if you do not have a husband? The word that Paul uses here for husband is a word that simply means a male. This includes children, teenagers, or young unmarried adults asking their father. Where this can apply we need to apply it.
The issue here could also be that of the women questioning what the men were saying. They might have questioned a prophecy or a tongue. For a woman to question her husband in the meeting about what he has said would dishonor him in the presence of the congregation. Therefore, if the women have questions they need to ask them when they get home.
Paul says, "it is shameful for a woman to speak in church." A woman's femininity must not be disgraced by her trying to take the man's role in the church. Paul expands this instruction in 1 Timothy 2. Turn there with me if you would.
1 Timothy 2:11 NKJV Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.
Verse 11 is a repetition of what we saw in 1 Corinthians 14:34. Now he expands that to two specifics.
12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.
She was not allowed to teach, use a speaking gift, or exercise authority over the man. A woman is not to take the leadership, to rule over men in the church. If we take this passage with what we have learned in 1 Corinthians we can conclude that in the church meetings a woman should not speak or question what is being said. And she should not rule over a man (the issue is doctrine and authority). Someone might ask the question "Aren't men and women equal?" Yes! They are.
Galatians 3:28 (NKJV) "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."
Spiritually speaking men and women are equal in terms of their relationship before God; both are responsible to love and serve God. In terms of personal worth, intellect, or spirituality men and women are equal. But in terms of authority and function men and women are different. An employer is not necessarily superior in intelligence, wisdom, spirituality, moral character, talent or any other ability over an employee. The employer however has authority over the employee. A position of authority does not mean a person is a better person. It simply means that his function is different, he has a different role. And the Bible clearly teaches that men and women have different roles.
To support the fact that women are not to be teachers or lead in worship we can look at the Bible as a whole. For example in the O.T. there are no women kings listed in the kings of Israel or Judah, none! There are no women Priests in the O.T. There are no women who wrote a book or a portion of an O.T. book. And there are no women who had an ongoing prophetic ministry. The same is true in the NT, there are no women elders or evangelists, none wrote any of the NT books. There are no sermons or teachings given by women in the NT and all of Jesus' twelve disciples were men.
Men and women share equality of spiritual life but have different roles. You might ask why? Why are these limitations placed on women? One liberal theologian rejects this passage in Timothy by saying, "Paul was an arrogant bachelor with a bios against women. What he said was not the Word of God." I know that you know better than that. Paul is speaking as an apostle and giving us God's Word. Paul gives us two reasons why there is this distinction of roles. 1. Because of the priority of man in creation.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
The order of creation was God's way of telling all of his creation that the man was to be in the role of headship, with the responsibility of that headship. The second reason is given in verse 14. 2. The woman had the priority in the transgression.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
The woman was the one who was deceived in the garden of Eden. The woman was the first to sin, she was the leader, she had the priority in the transgression. In taking that lead she usurped the authority of her husband. She was to be following her husband. But she usurped the authority, exercised the leadership and sinned, and Adam followed her. She stepped out of the place that was hers by creation. It was an act of rebellion against God's order. Paul says that this is an illustration and it ought to be always kept in mind. The position of the man and the woman by creation is the headship of man. Because of the priority of the woman in the transgression she has a governmental role of silence in the church meeting. The woman is to be a silent learner in the church demonstrating to all her recognition of her proper place, that place that was violated by Eve when she usurped her husband's authority.
What then is the woman's role? Is she a second class citizen in the kingdom of God? No, she is not. In the Scriptures there is not only this negative dimension to the ministry of women but there is the positive dimension. God has entrusted to women many vital ministries. Let's look at a few of them. First of all, in the home she is to be a godly mother. She is not to teach men or exercise leadership in the church but she is to be a godly mother raising up a godly seed.
15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
She shall be "saved" through the raising of children. Saved from what? Saved from the feeling that she makes no significant contribution in life. Woman are to influence society from the bottom up. Her congregation is her children. In the kingdom of God the woman's position has been saved by her role of childbearing. The Greek word for childbearing is teknogonia (tek-nog-on-ee) it means parentage, the performance of maternal duties. It's not just having children, it's raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. A woman can preach in the church through her sons. That is what Timothy was doing. You don't know the name of Timothy's father but we have the names of his mother and grandmother. They influenced Timothy, and what he became was a result of his mother and grandmother. Paul is telling us that if a woman learns her rightful role in the church she will be saved by it. She is to be a godly mother thus influencing her children.
She is also to be a gracious hostess. One of the reoccurring themes in the Scripture is the obligation of hospitality. In Acts 16 the Lord opened Lydia's heart and immediately she opened up her home. We are called to hospitality in:
Hebrews 13:2 NNAS Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
1 Peter 4:9 NNAS Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
Romans 12:13 NNAS contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
It is incumbent upon every believer to be hospitable. It is a requirement of elders according to 1 Timothy 3:2. But let me ask you in the area of hospitality, who bears the burden of carrying it out in the home? The women! They are the ones who make the home a place of hospitality. This is a tremendous ministry. Loving strangers, reaching out in love to those you don't really know in order to minister to them. There is a real need for that here at FBC. We have had an influx of young couples and singles lately and there is a need for us to reach out to them in love. What else is a woman to do?
She is also to be a teacher of younger women.
Titus 2:3-5 NNAS Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
This is one of the great ministries that God has intrusted to women. They are to teach younger women these seven things. The primary emphasis of a woman teaching a women's bible class ought to be on the type of things taught here. The role of the woman, the role of the wife, the role of the mother, the role of a housekeeper. God has entrusted to women the role of teaching the younger women how to be godly wives and mothers. This can be done in a class or one on one.
Women also have the ministry of laboring side by side in the ministry with men.
Philippians 4:2-3 NKJV I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
The verb he uses for fellow workers is sunergos, (soon-er-gos) a word used for gladiators who stood side by side when they fought against wild animals or the enemy. Paul said these two women stood side by side with him in the ministry. There are many needs in the ministry for women. Women, don't buy the lie of feminism, you have a valuable role in the ministry of the church. And the primary way you minster in the church is through the home.
Paul now concludes this section on spiritual gifts. In verse 36 he poses two rhetorical questions that anticipate a negative reply.
1 Corinthians 14:36 NKJV Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?
Paul is being sarcastic here. Did the church in Corinth originate the gospel message? Of course not! Was Corinth the only church in the world to whom Christ's gospel came? No! He said, in effect, "If you didn't write Scripture, then you had better obey it."
37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
One mark of the true prophet is obedience to apostolic teaching. No matter what their position, gifts, or talents, Christians who reject Paul's teaching reject God's teaching.
38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
This is a play on words. The tone is abrupt, the meaning is clear: anyone who disregards the Word should himself be disregarded.
39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
Paul first repeats verse 1 almost verbatim by saying, "Earnestly desire to prophecy." When Paul tells them to desire earnestly to prophecy I believe that he is addressing the church, not individuals. When he says desire prophecy he uses in the Greek text a second person plural, not second singular, but second plural. So he is not telling individuals that they should seek the gift of prophecy but that the church should covet that gift among all other gifts. I'm sure you can understand the importance of the gift of prophecy in the NT times when there was no written revelation. Prophecy was the great instructor and teacher of the faith.
Because we have the written Word of God we no longer need the gift of prophesy and I would say that the gift of teaching is to us what the gift of prophecy was to them in terms of importance. So Paul tells them to covet the gift of prophecy that they may know the mind of God. I believe that Paul would say to us today "covet the gift of teaching."
Then Paul says, "Do not forbid to speak with tongues." While the temporary sign gifts were still being given, the Corinthians were not to forbid their use. Today, however, this sign gift has ceased and forbidding the ecstatic speech that goes on today is permissible. One writer says, "These plain words are disobeyed by large section of the contemporary church. Many non Charismatics flatly forbid tongues." He is wrong! What is happening today is not tongues, which was a known human language, what's happening today is gibberish. And gibberish doesn't edify anybody.
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
Much of the teaching in this chapter is not relevant to us in the twentieth century, tongues and prophecy have ceased long ago. But two principles are emphasized throughout which have permanent and universal validity for Church life: 1. The use of spiritual gifts is to be for the purpose of edification, to build up believers. 2. All things should be done decently and in order. Let's make sure that we follow these two principles in all that we do in the church. Edification and orderliness.
|
|