GUEST POST from Don: Women in Church Leadership (pt 3 of 3)

WOMEN in CHURCH LEADERSHIP?  (Part 3 of 3)

BE SILENT

“Women should remain silent…”  Strangely, the same word is used in the paragraphs just before and after this one.  This isn’t the only reference to “be silent” in 1 Corinthians 14.  In verse 28 he is referring to the speaking in tongues.  He says “If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet (be silent) in the church…”  Then when referring to prophesying he says in verse 30 “And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop (be silent).”  

What is the purpose of the silence in all 3 cases?  To promote Order in worship.  Yes.  Is that is all?  No.  Respect and Submission are implied as well.  Worship is not worship if it is disorderly, random, or when one believer will not yield to others.

DISGRACEFUL?  

“…for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”  Wow!  That would pack a punch for male leadership only … if the purpose of Paul’s writing at this point was not about Order, Respect, and Submission among ALL believers.

He actually states several things in this letter that are disgraceful in the church.  The church at Corinth was infected by their heathen society.  There was much change needed.  Here are just a few:
1. Prophets not yielding the floor to other prophets.
2. “Pigs” at communion.  He tells the church to wait for others to show up and not get drunk on the wine (1 Cor 11:20-22).
3. Women interrupting worship to ask questions they could ask later.  (Maybe men, too).
4. Speaking in tongues when there is no one to interpret.
5. Divisions in the church (chapter 3).

THE CHURCH AT CORINTH.

The New Testament does not give us everything we need to know about the church at Corinth; however, Clement of Rome wrote a letter to them, probably near the end of the first century (almost 50 years after Paul’s time ministering there), dealing with some of the same issues.

ORDINATION OF WOMEN?

This passage is NOT about the ordination of women, but about ORDERLY WORSHIP.  I believe women can be ordained and lead in spiritual areas because I have heard wise, thoughtful, and sound exposition from women.  However, I don’t think a church which believes otherwise is condemned by God.  

I have also listened to men (and women) who should never have been ordained.  They weren’t cut from spiritual leadership cloth.  However, I have received a word from God under some of both genders.  (Read my post on preaching.  One issue I did not go into in that post was when a preacher has an “agenda.”  Heaven forbid!  The pulpit is not a place for politics or anything else which cheapens a word from the Lord.)

In any case, these few verses in I Corinthians, although they seem absolutely crystal clear … are not when used to prohibit women in church leadership.  It was not written for that purpose.

If you really want to know what God abhors, look it up.  God doesn’t hide those things he hates.  Here are just a few: Worshiping idols.  Sexual sins.  Pride.  Dishonoring parents … nowhere in this list is women asking questions in church or women in spiritual leadership.

God calls whom He wills.  I can’t tell Him “No” based upon this letter from Paul.  He also saves whom He wills.  I can’t insist that a weak believer be excluded if God has accepted him.  God can use whomever He wishes, even if he or she is not faithfully following God (referring to Samson here, who, even though he was a Nazirite [see Numbers 6] from birth, purposely touched dead bodies and associated with foreign women).  So, if a woman feels the call of God upon her to preach, teach, prophesy, heal, do miraculous works, or even cook a marvelous meal … she should.  Should the church leadership ordain a woman?  Only if God’s Spirit has come upon her for that purpose.  

Please remember, women were seldom formally educated in the ancient world.  With that in mind, I could wish Paul had spoken more to education than gender.  I have heard preachers who had little formal education and, let’s say, I’d rather I had not!!!  Formal education seems to help most do a better job, at least in organizing their thoughts.  Alternately, I have heard some preaching which was so elevated it served no earthly purpose.

Each Bible translation is created with a different education level in mind.  Before COVID, most 10 year olds could understand the NIV, few would understand the KJV.  Some Bible experts suggest the NIV oversimplifies.  If you want a translation closer to a mature reading comprehension choose the ESV. 

CONCLUSIONS

First, there are places in the Scriptures where things were added that weren’t in the original.  It is pretty likely, for example, that the ending for the Lord’s prayer in Matthew wasn’t in the original writing (Matthew 6:9-13)  [for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.] .  For one, the same prayer in Luke 11:1-4 doesn’t include it.  Additionally, it isn’t in the earliest manuscripts (that’s an entire area of study which could take months, but suffice it to say that most who study such things agree).  Therefore, I never repeat those words when joining in a congregational prayer.  Good words, but not clear if they were Jesus’ words.

The proof for this paragraph of Paul’s letter NOT being original is far less strong.  I vote for keeping it in.

Second, I’m not the smartest cookie on the cookie jar tree.  I know stuff, but not enough stuff.  In this particular case, I am uncertain as how to fully explain Paul’s words.  They seem obvious, but somewhat out of character.  For instance, I can’t understand why Paul referred to the Law here but did not when referring to prophets taking turns prophesying.  In my mind it makes more sense to bring that up much earlier in the conversation if he is referring to order in worship.  It certainly has nothing to do with women being silent in worship (as I said earlier, I think the only thing which makes sense here has to do with women being submissive).  God spoke to both men and women.  God sent his Spirit on both.  Women sometimes held high spiritual office (prophetesses and judges, for example).  Most of the time Paul follows a logic which cannot be disputed,  yet here he doesn’t seem to follow a logical progression.

Third, I hold myself to be a Scripturalist.  That is, I don’t trust theology for anything other than general direction.  Scripture always trumps theology in my mind.  However, whenever I find a passage as confusing as this I am forced to realize that sometimes it is not possible to know the mind of God fully.  In those cases, I believe Scripture is correct even when I do not understand it.  

We should never abandon Scripture merely because it seems unfair or offends us.  God’s ways are not our ways.  Here’s my caveat:  This pronouncement by Paul is not a first-tier one.  If we disobey THIS one passage only, it is unlikely that we have lost our salvation, is it!  Thus, just like eating meat offered to idols, this may be a matter of conscience.  One believer can eat such meat without harming his relationship with God, while another cannot.

Thus, I should never go to war against anyone who believes differently than I do about this.  What does God think about this?  I don’t know.  Paul seems to be the only writer concerned about this issue and he seems conflicted when you read everything he has to say about women.

Finally, we should never allow our “modern” views to sway our Scriptural views.  God isn’t like us.  He doesn’t change.  On the other hand, “modern” views change constantly.  In 1900 an honorable woman hid her ankles in public.  In 1990 an honorable woman would not wear practically nothing in public.  Now our culture can’t even define “woman,” let alone one who is honorable.  Has God’s opinion ever changed?  Not ever.  Never let “modern” thought determine how Scripture is interpreted.

So, if you were hoping that I would tell you to ignore 1 Cor 14, you can forget that!  If you were hoping I was going to jump on the “down with women” bandwagon, you can forget that, too!  Some things we will never understand.  Some things we may not want to understand.  And some people, in their self-pride, imagine that they know better than God.  Hopefully, you and I will decide to allow God to have the authority even on those things we do not fully understand.

God uses whom he wills to accomplish his purposes.  He uses the foolish, the weak, and women (not belittling them) to accomplish his will.  I don’t know why Paul wrote this, other than to get the Corinthians to move beyond the stupid things they were permitting to interfere with their worship.

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]

See more GUEST POSTS from Don!