A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee. The husband said, “You do all the cooking around here so you should do it.” The wife replied, “No you should do it, and besides it is in the Bible that the man should brew the coffee.” The husband replied, “Yeah, right!” So, she showed him in the Bible where it says: “HEBREWS.”
The battle of the sexes is as old as mankind itself. Men and women have battled over gender roles in the home, workplace, and politics for centuries, and the war rages on today. Some people champion what we might call traditional roles, while others push for more progressive roles. This debate is lived out in the quips and gaffes of famous people all the time. For instance, in recent years, actor and author Michael Caine has said, “American girls are like horses, very independent. They have never been controlled by anyone. But if you can break them in, they are very grateful.” On the other hand, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.” Sexist comments go both ways!
Perhaps, the debate over gender roles has been nowhere more divisive than in the church. The passage that I just read to you, I Timothy 2:8-15, is one of the most difficult and controversial portions of the whole Bible. These eight verses have been the subject of an inordinate amount of books and scholarly debates. The interpretation of this passage has divided the Christian church right down the middle. Should women serve as pastors and elders in the church? The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and most Baptist churches do not ordain women. The Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church, and most Congregational churches do ordain women. As for Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Pentecostal churches, some ordain women and some do not.
Before we jump into this text, I want to preface the whole sermon by saying that there good people and good reasons on both sides of this debate. Even the best New Testament scholars in the world disagree over what is going on in this passage. Over the years, I have personally gone back and forth on the issue. This morning, I am going to present my current position, but I want you all to know that I hold it loosely. Some of you may agree with me and some of you may not, but I would ask that we all pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us as we think about this very difficult portion of God’s Word where the Apostle Paul addresses men and women in the church
1.) Men in the Church (8)
The Apostle Paul begins the section by addressing the men, and we need to remember that this whole address is given in the context of prayer in the public worship service. Paul expresses his desire that men throughout the house churches in Ephesus should pray without anger or quarreling, which was one of the problems that arose as a result of the false teachers.
Now the fact that Paul addresses only the men in the proper way to pray does not exclude women from praying in worship services. He is just addressing the reality of the day. Ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures were patriarchal and it was simply more common for men to pray in the worship service. There are clear references in the New Testament where women pray publically (Acts 1:14, 12:12, I Corinthians 11:5), it just wasn’t common in that culture.
The reference to “lifting holy hands” also comes from the culture of the day. This was the assumed posture of prayer in Judaism and carried over into early Christianity. The imagery is that of ritual purity from the Old Testament, where hands would be washed before praying as a symbol of coming before God with clean hands and a pure heart. In this context, Paul did not want their prayers to be soiled by anger and quarrels, which was one of the effects of the false teachers in Ephesus. Prayer is a “holy” activity, and Paul did not want it to be disrupted by anger or fighting.
Therefore, as we think about how this verse applies to our church today, Paul is not saying that only men can pray or that we have to lift our hands while we pray. We don’t even have to wash our hands before we pray, although hand washing is never a bad idea! What he is saying is that when we gather to worship and pray to God, we need to do it with attitudes of love, unity, and forgiveness. There is no place for anger, quarrels, resentment, or bitterness in the church. This verse is reminiscent of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
Are you angry with anyone today? Are you engaged in an argument or dispute with anyone? Are you harboring bitterness toward a fellow church member? If so, let it go! Forgive so that you might be able to pray again!
2.) Women in the Church (9-15)
Paul only uses one verse to address the men, but he uses seven verses to address the women. Was it because he was a male chauvinist jerk who thought women were like horses that needed to be broken? No, that is not the case at all. Paul actually had an extremely high regard for women, especially for the time. Paul uses more words to address the women in this church because they had been more susceptible to the false teachers and were causing more problems. So, Paul speaks to two specific problems: appearance and authority in the church.
Appearance in Church (9-10)
In verse 9, Paul says that women should adorn or dress themselves in respectable apparel, with an attitude of modesty and self-control. Apparently, some of the women in the Ephesian church were “getting all dolled up” for church in ways to “get noticed.” They were wearing elaborate and expensive clothing and jewelry to make a statement to the other women. They were dressing somewhat seductively to “get noticed” by the men. Either way, their attitudes were deplorable and their behaviors were unbecoming of women who claimed to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly in the context of the worship service.
The specific prohibition against “braided hair and gold or pearls and expensive attire” seems strange to us in the modern church. What does God have against braided hair and accessorizing? In this culture, braided hair was often adorned with precious metals and was a statement of wealth and status, and women were using these things with the wrong motives. The modern equivalent would be like a women showing up at church today wearing a slinky prom dress, a luxurious hair-doo, and enough BLING to make Mr. T jealous. This type of behavior would be inappropriate for a woman who professes godliness. Paul is essentially saying that Christian women ought to make a statement with their pure hearts and Christ-like deeds.
This discussion reminds me of the preacher who came home one day and saw his wife in a brand new red dress. He looked at her and said, “Didn’t I say that you weren’t supposed to buy any more clothes?” Embarrassed the wife replied, “Yes, but Satan tempted me and told me it looked good from the front!” The preacher, a little startled by what just came out of his wife’s mouth, then replied, “Didn’t I tell you to say, “Satan get thee behind me?” She said “Yes, but when I said that, he said it looks good from back here too!!”
You all know how pastor’s wives can be! In all seriousness, how should this be applied today? I know some churches that interpret this passage without considering its cultural context, and they preach that women shouldn’t wear jewelry, makeup, shorts, or even long pants. But this completely misses the point. Does braided hair or any of these things connote extravagance or seductiveness today? Hardly! The real issue is matching our outward appearance and behavior with our profession of faith in Jesus Christ. If you really want “get noticed,” dress yourself with a Christ-like attitude and good deeds!
Authority in the Church (11-15)
After addressing the Ephesian women’s appearance in the church, Paul speaks to the issue of woman’s authority in the church in verses 11-14. When Paul says that should learn quietly and with all submissiveness and that he does not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man and that she is to remain silent, he means exactly what he says. Some Bible scholars have tried to rearrange Paul’s words to make them mean something else, but if you want to be honest and consistent, there is no way to change what is said here. But the big question is: Does Paul mean this for all churches at all times or was this meant specifically for the Ephesian church at this time? This is where scholars, pastors, and denominations disagree.
I have personally changed my mind on this issue three times, but for the past 12 years I have been convinced that Paul meant this prohibition specifically for the Ephesian church. I believe this for three main reasons. First, there were definitely problems with a number of women in the Ephesian church at this time. It appears that they had been heavily influenced by the false teachers and it was causing them to act in ways that were contrary to Christianity. Furthermore, it appears that one of the things they were doing was asserting authority over the male leaders and teachers (who were typically the leaders in this culture) in the churches and were being disruptive in the worship services. Therefore, Paul tries to remedy the whole situation by prohibiting women in Ephesus from teaching or having authority over a man. I don’t think that he would have said anything like this to a church that wasn’t experiencing these problems.
This is also why he points to the creation order of Adam before Eve and the fact that Eve was the first one to be deceived and fall into sin. He was simply using these examples to remind these women that they did not have any inherent authority over men. (He was not stating that men have inherent authority over women.)
Second, I believe that this understanding of the passage fits best into the broader biblical context as well. Even though most of Israel’s and the early churches leaders and teachers were men (because it was a vastly patriarchal culture), there are some clear biblical examples where it was clearly God’s will for a woman to have authority over a man and to teach men the Scriptures; we see this with Deborah in Judges 4-5 and Pricilla in the book of Acts 18.
Third, when we think about the lists of spiritual gifts that are recorded in Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4, there is no indication that they are gender specific. I have many female friends who possess the spiritual gifts of leadership, preaching, and teaching. The purpose of these gifts is to build up the body of Christ; it seems contrary to the nature of spiritual gifts if that were only meant to be used to benefit small parts of the church.
Well, if all of this wasn’t controversial enough, Paul ends the passage with a another doozy! Verse 15 seems to indicate that women’s souls will be saved from sin and judgment through the act of childbearing, but this would contradict everything that Paul has ever said about salvation: namely that justification is by faith in Jesus Christ; not by doing good works.
Part of the problem is that many Bible translations use the word “women” (plural) here. But in the Greek text the word is singular and is accompanied by the article “the”—“the woman.” This tells us that at the beginning of verse 15, Paul is still talking about Eve, not women in general. After Eve’s transgression of eating the forbidden fruit and bring sin into the human race, God would eventually use her to bring salvation into the world through childbearing (actually “the childbearing” in the Greek). She would produce the seed “the Messiah” who would one day crush Satan’s head and bring salvation to the world. This is exactly what happened when Jesus died on the cross!
In the second half of verse 15, Paul cleverly moves back to the plural “women” when he says that they will experience the salvation of the Messiah if they respond to the gospel in faith and persevere in the Christian life. I believe that Paul makes the change from the singular back to the plural because he wanted this verse to act as a word of grace to the women in Ephesus. He is essentially saying, “Just as God revealed his grace to Eve after she was deceived by the serpent, so God’s grace is still open to you even though you have been deceived by the false teachers. Just come back to a gospel-centered life, evidenced by faith, love, holiness, and self-control.
Now that you see how I see this passage, allow me to briefly apply it to the modern church. Can women be elders, pastors, teachers, and missionaries in the church? I say “Yes!” as long as they are genuine believers, live the kind of lifestyle that God requires, and possess the necessary qualifications.
This whole issue of men and women in the church is much more complex that what I have been able to present to you today, but I hope that I have been able to bring some clarity and cause you to think about it more!