One of the most highly debated ethical issues in the Christian church is the question of what restrictions, if any, God places on women in relation to teaching and preaching. What roles can and/or should women play? What is the proper placement of women in the Christian church? My intention is to trace this theme through Paul’s first letter to Timothy in reference to the church in Ephesus. Timothy was converted in Lystra during Paul’s first missionary tour. His apparent progress in his Christian walk caught Paul’s attention and he eventually decided to invite Timothy to travel with him. I Timothy is a letter written to Timothy from Paul during the later part of his life. Timothy had been instructed by Paul to stay in Ephesus to command “certain†men not to teach false doctrines or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, instead of God’s work, which is spurred only by faith (1 Tim. 1:3-4). Paul’s letter advises Timothy on worship procedures, control of unruly women, leadership standards, and policies regarding widows, slaves, and rich people.
Over the years, Paul’s writing has been the basis for argument against women holding leadership roles within the church. Paul’s writing does not discount the gifts that God has placed within us. Nowhere in his writing does he rule out women exercising the gifts God has given them for ministry. Paul mentions to Timothy that it was Eve who first sinned, eating the forbidden fruit. However; he also makes mention of a woman being saved through childbirth, which could infer that she is protected despite the declaration of suffering in childbirth, or could infer that in the same way that evil came to afflict mankind through a woman, it was also through a woman (childbirth) that the savior was born.
The relation of Paul’s letter to Timothy to the placement and restriction of women in the church comes from the following excerpt:
“I want women to show their beauty by dressing in appropriate clothes that are modest and respectable. Their beauty will be shown by what they do, not by their hair styles or the gold jewelry, pearls, or expensive clothes they wear. This is what is proper for women who claim to have reverence for God. A woman must learn in silence, in keeping with her position. I don’t allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. Instead, she should be quiet. After all, Adam was formed first, then Eve. Besides that, Adam was not deceived. It was the woman who was deceived and sinned. However, she and all women will be saved through the birth of the child, if they lead respectable lives in faith, love, and holiness.†(1 Timothy 2:9-15 GW)
Paul stated very clearly, “I don’t allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.†There is a very drastic difference in what Paul says and what Jesus taught. If we study Jesus’ life, we find that women met with disciples in prayer (Acts 1:14), were regarded as fellow-ministers, even by Paul (Rom. 16:3,6,12), held positions of leadership in ministries of hospitality (Lydia- Acts 16:13-15) and charity (Dorcas- Acts 9:36,39,41), were considered prophetesses (Philip’s daughters- Acts 21:9), teachers (Priscilla- Acts 18:2,18,26) and deaconesses (Phoebe- Rom. 16:1), and perhaps even apostles (Junia- Rom. 16:7). This is not to say that what Paul preached and advised was against what Jesus instructed. On the contrary, what Paul advised was in line with Jesus’ teachings; his counsel supported the vision Jesus had for the church; his guidance was for the purpose of protecting that vision and perfecting the understanding of the Gospel without it being corrupted and mishandled. The difference in Jesus’ instruction and Paul’s instruction was that Paul’s instruction had more specific focus in that his concentration was directly related to particular situations and individual churches.
Paul’s statement of exception to Timothy seems to be directly related to the situation Timothy was facing in Ephesus; perhaps to this specific church, or perhaps in a more general sense to this type of circumstance. His prohibition was closely related to the women who acted as mediators when performing sex acts with men in representation of the goddess being worshipped (idolatry – the Greek goddess Artemis), as well as women who were uninformed and did not understand spiritual matters. Like 1 Corinthians 14:33-36, the passage of 1 Timothy 2:11-12 has often been construed as forbidding a woman to speak in the public gatherings of the church. However, taken strictly, it would also prevent women from sharing in the congregational singing which makes a different interpretation imperative.
Studying the first letter to Timothy from Paul allows us to develop a proper understanding of what type of woman is expected to be silent and not exercise any authority over a man. Paul refers to Eve being created for and after Adam; and also refers to her being deceived first, then persuading Adam into evil and disobedience. Unruly women; women with little spiritual knowledge and/or understanding, these were to keep silent. One inference that may be pulled out of his directive communication with Timothy is that women do possess a power of persuasion over men; therefore, we may go a step further to say that in these instances he writes to Timothy about, that it was safer to not allow these women to have a voice in the church because of the chance that the men would likely be persuaded in the wrong direction by women whose understanding of the Gospel was not an accurate depiction of what Christ taught, or even worse that their belief was in the idols that were so popular during the time of Paul.
Since there were women who taught alongside Paul, I cannot believe that he would restrict all women from utilizing the gifts that God placed within them; instead, Paul’s warnings were against the deception that would possibly (and likely) occur as a result of women in these churches where he was already fighting false doctrine; where so much of the understanding was built upon untruths… where spiritual matters were already so confused and unclear. In fact, “Priscilla preached alongside Aquilla and Paul, and she preached to men. (Acts 18:26); Priscilla taught the way more accurately to Apollos. Apollos then became an outstanding worker in the faith alongside Paul and others. Females were clearly teaching in the Gospel effort, and their students were not only other women. (Acts 18:26-28).â€ÂÂ
Euodia and Syntyche were Paul’s “co-workers†in spreading the Gospel; he even addressed his desire for them to not bicker and to get along; surely his desire for this was because of the effectiveness of their gifts together being stronger than their separate witness. He says in his letter to the church at Philippi, “I beg Euodia and Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I also beg you, true yoke-fellow, help those women who labored in the gospel with me and with Clement, and others of my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the Book of Life.†(Philippians 4:2-3 MKJV) Apparently, Paul’s instruction could not be universal to all women if his own efforts were co-labored with women at his side, serving as a force for the spread of the Gospel.
After Jesus’ resurrection, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (Matt. 27:61), and sent them to be witnesses for Him to the people:
“And they quickly departed from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. But as they were going to report to His disciples, behold, Jesus also met them, saying, Hail! And they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid; go tell My brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see Me.†-Matthew 28:8-10 MKJV
Jesus took his instruction a step further, telling His disciples, “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.†(Matthew 28:19 GNB) Should we believe that Jesus would make everyone disciples, baptized in His name, the name of His father, and baptized in the Holy Spirit without distinguishing a difference for what He intended them to do as far as acting on the witness, teaching, sharing, and preaching of the Gospel unless He intended no significant difference in the way men and women exemplified leadership in the areas of their gifts? Jesus, more than once, sent a woman out to share Him with the men; how can it be interpreted that He had any intention for women to share the Gospel of Him any differently than men?
Even a woman who had been married five times, and was presently living with a man in sin, not married was called by Jesus to witness to others about who He was:
“Jesus said to her, I AM, the One speaking to you. And upon this His disciples came and marveled that He talked with the woman. However, no one said, What do You seek, or why do You talk with her? The woman then left her waterpot and went into the city and said to the men, Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did. Is this One not the Christ?†(John 4:26-29 MKJV)
Jesus’ desire seemed to be for all of God’s children to bear witness; for all of God’s children to be ministers in the area(s) in which God had gifted them. There was no exception, male or female! The church is Christ’s body, the completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere. (Ephesians 1:23 GNB) If, the church is the body of Christ, the spiritual body of which He is the head , and according to Paul’s own letter to the Roman church, “[God] is severe toward those who have fallen, but kind to you—if you continue in his kindness. But if you do not, you too will be broken off,†(Romans 11:22 GNB) then we understand that all who abide in Christ are a part of Him and only those who stop abiding in Him are cut off. Also, we understand that we are all called to function as a part of His body (as a part of the church of Christ), operating in whatever gift(s) have been placed within us; if we have the natural ability to be the eye, then we should function and operate as the eye. If we are the eye, we cannot function or operate as the foot or the heart; likewise, if we are called to preach or teach, we cannot (or, rather should not) separate ourselves from our purpose by falling into becoming a minister of music or serving as an usher or deacon simply because the world has confused us as to what we are allowed to do based on who we are or how we are upon Creation.
Furthermore, if we have the ability to be the eye and because of confusion, we attempt to serve as the foot or heart, we fail to perform the duties we were created to do; therefore, since the operation of the eye is not functioning properly, the rest of the body will be affected and possibly fail altogether. Some of the parts of the body, while seemingly essential, we can actually live without, such as the eye. However, if we are called to be the heart and we fail to operate in this capacity, then the rest of the body will fail because the heart is definitely essential to the success of the rest of the body. What this says is that each member of the body of Christ must operate in the abilities they are gifted with; if they do not, while the church may or may not fail altogether, it will not be as strong as it would be if each member functioned properly in its blessed place. The preceding paragraphs have demonstrated that the proper placement and/or roles that women can and/or should play in the Christian church, traced through Paul’s first letter to Timothy in reference to the church in Ephesus is not limited by the instruction of Paul, nor that of Jesus. Women are to operate in their gifts, just as men, so that the church may flourish and so that each member is obedient, abiding in Christ and functioning properly in each individual’s blessed, or anointed, place of personal calling purposed by God.
No related posts.