What Is the Role of Women in Ministry?.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here, [0:04] I just want to take the opportunity to thank you so much for being here.

[0:09] My name is Steve. I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:13] And if this is your first time here, you haven’t been here in a couple weeks, we’re [0:17] on the second half of a series called Cow Tipping. And what this is, is that a few months ago, [0:22] we opened up a section of our website for people to ask questions, really any questions that they [0:27] wanted us to really tackle, whether it be about the Bible, whether it be about religion or God [0:33] or lifestyle choices or is this specific thing a sin or what have you. And we took the top six

[0:40] topics or issues that were brought up and we formed some questions to kind of cover all of [0:45] the angles by which they were asked. And this week we’re going to be dealing with the question [0:50] of what is the role of women in ministry. Now during today’s sermon, throughout there will be [0:56] a phone number up on the screen that if anything I say piques your interest or causes another [1:02] question to rise up, what I’m going to ask you to do is text that question into that number [1:08] throughout the service. And then at the end of the sermon, we’re going to have a Q&A time

[1:12] where those questions are kind of compiled and they’re going to ask me those questions and I’ll [1:17] do my best to answer them. But what I don’t want you to do is wait until the end of the sermon to [1:23] see if I handle that. Because if you wait to the end, there’s a great possibility that it won’t get [1:28] asked. So even if I answer it, that’s okay. They know what I’m going to deal with. They know what [1:34] the sermon is all about today so they’ll know that I’m handling that later. Just go ahead and send it [1:38] in when the question comes to your mind, even if it’s at the very beginning. If you wait like

[1:43] somebody always, like five or six people, wait until we’re up here doing the Q&A. If you wait [1:49] long, it’s probably not going to get asked because we’re done compiling at that point. So throughout [1:54] the sermon, please send those questions in. And in dealing with this, it’s going to be kind of [1:59] multifaceted because this is such a huge issue and it’s going to be a really personal issue [2:03] to both men and women. This is something that’s asked a lot, especially in our changing culture. [2:09] And the way it was asked wasn’t just about women and men in ministry. Can a woman be a pastor? That

[2:17] was asked. But also questions were asked as to what is the role of women and men in the household, [2:25] of husbands and wives? What are the gender-specific roles or are there any? Is it just a free for all? [2:31] And there is no distinction whatsoever. So I’m going to do my best to clear some things up, [2:37] maybe, hopefully, if you’re lucky, or maybe confuse you even more. We’ll see how it goes. [2:42] But I’m going to do my best to answer those. But what I’m going to do is, [2:44] for the first half of the sermon, I’m going to lay some guardrails. I’m going to lay a foundation

[2:49] for how to handle that issue inside of the church. But I want to start really with creation [2:54] because what we have to realize is that figuring out the roles of men and women isn’t something [3:01] that starts here in our culture. And that’s really about as far as our memories go. History [3:06] for a lot of us starts when we’re born. And so that’s kind of how we view life. That’s how we [3:14] begin with us. It began a long time ago. And really, you have to look at the original created [3:19] order to make any sense as to what our vision should be informed with today. So if you have

[3:24] your Bibles, open them up to Genesis chapter 1. Hold your finger there and then scoot over and [3:29] hold another finger in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Because those are going to be the two texts that I’m [3:37] going to refer to a lot. But I want to just let the cat out of the bag and basically say that there’s [3:42] two different ways that people handle this issue. Two predominant views. And there’s some that are [3:47] in between, some that are really extreme. But I want to deal with the two that are most commonly [3:53] held. And the first one in the way you deal with men and women and their roles is called egalitarianism.

[3:58] And that’s a big word that simply means that there’s no distinction. That any role or office [4:05] or leadership that a man can have, a woman may also have. That men and women are not simply equal [4:12] in worth, they are. But there are also no distinction necessarily in gender roles whereas [4:19] leadership is concerned, whereas office in the pastorate is concerned, and whereas leading out [4:26] where the church and even in the home is concerned. The second position is called complementarianism. [4:33] And it means what it sounds like. That men and women complement one another. But what that means

[4:38] is that first and foremost men and women are equal in worth, equal in value, equal in dignity, [4:46] that one is not superior to the other, they’re equal in the eyes of God. But they are different [4:54] and distinct in role. And there are some roles that men and women have that the other gender [5:03] simply cannot have. And I’ll be frank and I won’t make you wait till the end to figure out [5:09] what it is that we at Village Church believe. We believe in a complementarian view of men and women. [5:14] And so what I want to do throughout the next 45ish minutes is unpack what that means. All right? And

[5:21] I hope it’s helpful for you. But the first and foremost thing that I want us to see is that in [5:27] modern culture, the lines of equality have somewhat been blurred. And what I mean by that is when I say [5:34] men and women are equal, in modern culture in the first week we dealt with the fact that sexuality [5:40] is broken and has been redefined from creation. God has a vision from the beginning of creation [5:45] of what sexuality is to look like. And we have redefined that. Last week we talked about the fact [5:51] that we have seen that truth at one time was seen as an objective reality that’s outside of us.

[5:58] And once we figure out what is objectively true, we know truth. But rather in our culture that has [6:04] been kind of shifted to where experience determines what is true and has made it subjective [6:10] to what you experience in your life. The roles of equality have also been redefined in our culture. [6:17] Equality does not just mean that we’re equal in worth but we can be different. Equality means no [6:23] distinctions in our culture. Equality means sameness. It means that anything you can do, I can do, [6:31] anything you can have, I can have, that’s the only way for equality to have any justice whatsoever.

[6:36] But the question that is begged through this is not how we define equality but does God define [6:42] equality in a different way than we will. And I believe that scripture does say that God deals [6:48] with equality in a different way than our culture and our day and age deals with equality. And I [6:53] want to first take a look at Genesis chapter 1 starting in verse 26 to deal with that.

[7:00] Then God said in verse 26, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them [7:10] have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, [7:15] and over the earth, excuse me, of all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the [7:20] earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. [7:26] Male and female, he created them. So the first point this morning is that men and women are equal [7:35] in value. Okay? If God is the definer of life and God determines how we should view ourselves in

[7:44] life, we understand from the get-go in Genesis chapter 1, which is a summary of everything that [7:51] is fleshed out more fully in Genesis chapter 2, that God views men and women as having equal [7:59] dignity and worth where being a bearer of his image is concerned. Because the text does not [8:07] say men are created in the image of God and then women are created in the image of men. [8:13] It says men and women are created fully in the image of God. But then what we also see is this [8:22] profound reality must determine how we feel about our gender. Because one great agent that

[8:31] happens in our world today is the reality of self-esteem or feeling that you are not who you [8:36] should be. And in order to become who you should be, you have to change the role into which you [8:42] were born. Therefore, if in either case you feel that you would be better off or more valuable [8:49] if you were in a different gender, then this is a denial of the original created order. [8:55] If you are a woman, all right, which I am not, so I don’t know what that’s like, but if you are a [9:00] woman, you were created in the image and likeness of God. Therefore, you are an image bearer of God

[9:10] and you have great dignity, great value, and great purpose. Not because you feel that you have great [9:17] value and purpose, but because God says that you have great value and great purpose because you [9:22] were created in his image. More so, he says that man without the woman is not sufficient [9:31] to bear the image of God. Therefore, understand that without the dignity of womanhood, the world [9:37] would not be capable of seeing the fleshed out image of God in humanity because God declared [9:44] that women needed to exist in order to declare that. We go further into the gospel of Jesus

[9:51] Christ. Look in Galatians chapter 3 verse 28. It will be on the screen. [9:56] There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female. [10:02] For you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3 28 gives a message of the equality inside of [10:09] gospel. We quickly look at the ethnic equality, which is vital in the context of Galatians. [10:15] Galatians is a text, the entire book, that looks at racial and ethnic equality, which is true. But [10:21] we cannot pass over that Paul thought it necessary to also talk about the equality of gender roles.

[10:29] When he says that there is neither male nor female in Christ, he’s not disqualifying gender roles, [10:35] but he’s really lifting both genders up and saying that there is not one that’s more valued [10:41] by Jesus than the other because the question and statement here is not about you, but it’s about [10:47] Jesus. That’s what’s vital about the gospel of Jesus Christ, is understanding that the [10:53] distinctions about us are not what’s supreme in dealing with the gospel. Instead, who Jesus is [11:01] and what Jesus has done is supreme in the gospel. Therefore, you do not simply find your identity

[11:08] in your manhood or your womanhood. You are called to find your identity in Jesus and in Jesus alone. [11:15] He has actually come to redeem what we have caused to be broken and restore us as both women and men, [11:23] but the distinction is clear here that one is not more important than the other in Jesus. [11:28] What’s important here is Jesus. It’s all about Jesus before it can ever be about us, because [11:38] without Jesus nothing really matters, because without Jesus there’s no hope. Without Jesus, [11:47] we’re condemned already. Therefore, to have any hope of finding wholeness and restoration

[11:53] to God’s vision for your life is first and foremost found in Jesus, and he gives great [12:00] equality to both men and women saying they’re both to find their equality in Jesus and in Jesus alone. [12:09] These two instances alone, it’s revelation that scripture does not elevate the dignity, worth, [12:14] or value of one gender over the other. Therefore, in any culture or situation to act or create an [12:22] environment that would lend to their being one more important or one gender more dominant than [12:28] the other would be against scripture, God, and therefore sin. Scripture does not contradict

[12:36] scripture. Therefore, if we believe in the creation by God, which we do here at Village Church, [12:43] if we believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, if we believe that on his cross he bore our sin [12:49] and that he rose to give us new life, redemption, and ultimately restoration through following him [12:54] through this life, then we must believe in the equal value, dignity, and worth of both men and [13:02] women. Secondly, this morning, to believe in redemption and restoration and to trust the [13:09] gospel according to scripture, we must also understand that men and women are different

[13:14] in their roles as a witness of who God is. See, our distinctions as a gender, they are not simply there

[13:26] purposeless. They’re there for a reason, and the reason is to be a testimony so that the world [13:32] could more fully see who God is through us. I mentioned Genesis chapter 2 and they speak [13:38] clear to those distinctions. Look in Genesis chapter 2 verse 18, [13:41] Then the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. [13:48] But then down in verse 23, Then the man said, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. [13:55] She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of me. Understand that first we see equality.

[14:03] We see Adam on his own not fit to display the image of God. So God creates woman, he creates [14:11] Eve. But even in this first instance, we see a clear distinction in roles. We see that Adam is [14:19] given a privilege in leadership that sets him apart from Eve. What do we see? Well, first we see that [14:26] Eve is not created like everything else is created. She’s neither created ex nihilo, out of nothing, [14:33] by the spoken word of God, nor is she created out of the dust of the ground and formed out of the dust [14:37] of the ground as Adam is. What happens? Between verses 18 and 23, a rib is taken out of out of Adam

[14:45] and Eve is created. So we see a unity between Adam and Eve. But also we see a headship that is given [14:54] to Adam through the naming of Eve. Throughout the creation account, we see that everything in creation [15:00] is brought before Adam and he is given the authority and leadership role to name everything. [15:06] This is also true of Eve. God brings Eve before Adam and he’s pretty excited because that’s awesome. [15:16] But Adam says, this is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones, out of me woman. [15:22] And so here we see a clear distinction between the gender roles where Adam in naming is given

[15:29] headship over Eve. And Eve is referred to as a helper that is fit for him. You may be saying, [15:39] doesn’t that kind of discriminate? Doesn’t that belittle Eve? Only outside of the gospel could [15:47] we have that attitude. Because what we see in Adam’s headship, in his leadership, in his authority, [15:53] and in the submission of Eve, because as you can see she doesn’t throw off the name Adam gives her. [15:59] She doesn’t look back and say, that’s not good. Next.

[16:05] Now there’s a submission. We must first look to the gospel. Excuse me, first look. I’ll look [16:11] at the gospel second. First, Trinity. All right. In the Trinity, we see that God creates Eve because [16:18] he says that Adam by himself as an individual does not reflect my image. He creates Eve, [16:25] flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone, to reflect the community that exists in the Trinity. The three [16:31] in one. The Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Three persons in one God. [16:38] How can that make any sense? Well, number one, it’s one of those mysteries that will ultimately

[16:42] be revealed in glory. But secondly, we can see it in the relationship between man and woman. [16:48] They’re of the same essence with Adam and Eve as God is. But God the Father, God the Son, [16:54] and God the Holy Spirit is seen in roles of submission. And you say, how do you get that? [17:01] In John 6 38, as well as many other places in the gospel, Jesus makes the statement, [17:05] For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. [17:13] So what is Jesus forecasting here? And he does this many times throughout the gospel accounts.

[17:18] And in Philippians chapter two, verses five through eight, he actually says that he emptied [17:22] himself. And even though in the form of God, he did not count equality with God as something [17:28] to be grasped. So we see Jesus, God the Son, in submission and in a subordinate role to God the [17:37] Father. He falls under the authority of God the Father in submission. But would you say Jesus is [17:46] any less glorious than the Father? No. Scripture teaches us that Jesus is fully God. Jesus is [17:54] co-eternal. There was nothing created that Jesus did not create. So Jesus is just as much God.

[18:01] His godness is not less than. His worth is not less than. And actually in the end of the gospel, [18:06] we see Jesus look to the Father and say, Restore to me glory. And the Father elevates the Son above [18:11] all things because of his willingness to submit to the will of the Father. So in the glorious [18:19] position of Jesus as the suffering servant for the sins of humanity, you see submission to a will [18:26] of a Father whom he shares the same dignity, value, worth, and for lack of better terminology, [18:33] godness that he has. Friends, so it is with the roles of men and women in this life.

[18:43] We also see this in the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 23, and I only have time [18:50] for one verse in this great chapter, it says, For the husband is the head of the wife, [18:55] even as Christ is the head of the church, his body and is himself its savior. Now, [19:04] women, just hold on. I’m going to get to the men in a minute. All right, so don’t get too offended. [19:08] Friends, here’s the reality. What God has done is not only is a relationship between men and women [19:17] a proclamation of how God exists in Trinity, but it’s also a proclamation of the very gospel that

[19:23] Jesus came to give us, redemption. What we see in the relationship between men and women [19:31] is a metaphor, a living metaphor, of the relationship between Jesus and the church. [19:38] So the authority and revelatory responsibility of who Jesus is belongs in this specific [19:46] relationship, which is the largest relationship that men and women share, the glory of marriage. [19:52] We see the man, the husband, is the representative earthly of Jesus Christ himself, [19:58] and the wife is the representative earthly of the church. So who in this position and in this

[20:07] revelation of the gospel is the authoritative figure, is the leader? Jesus. We would all say [20:13] that, right? We follow Jesus. That’s what it means to be a Christian. But let me ask you another [20:18] question. Does Jesus lead in a dictatorial role, domineering role, as a general barking orders at [20:27] his subordinates? Is he a harsh man? No. See, in our culture, not only have we at oftentimes [20:36] gotten equality wrong, but we also get wrong what it means to actually be a leader according to God [20:41] himself. How does Jesus define leadership? Servanthood. First and foremost, we see in the

[20:49] gospel accounts that he gets down on his hands and knees to clean the feet of his disciples and says, [20:53] if you do not let me do this to you, and basically follow suit, then you have no part of me. [21:00] But we also see Jesus as the one who sacrifices, as the one who gives his life for the church, [21:07] as the one who always makes the sacrifice to lift up the church, to redeem the church, [21:13] to restore the church. So what is the focus of male headship in the home? The focus of male [21:19] headship in the home is one of sacrifice and leadership. And in that position, it is not one

[21:24] where submission is something that is sought out and commanded, but rather submission is something [21:30] that is inspired and entrusted by a willing wife, watching her husband live and exist as Jesus Christ [21:39] for her. The reality of male headship is one of servanthood, is one that must be carried out by [21:48] men willing to lead well in our relational roles as we seek the salvation of our families. [21:56] And so it is quite different than many of us would see. It is quite different than many of us would [22:01] even go after. See, oftentimes men are so stupid that we think that being a man and being a husband,

[22:06] well, that is the glory. Everybody is going to follow after me. That is the best thing ever. [22:10] The reality of the gospel is that the commands on Jesus are the commands on us. When he says, [22:15] not my will, but thine be done, he is making a great testimony of what it means to be a man. [22:20] It means that when there is a moment where servanthood is a possibility, that is a moment [22:25] you jump on, that is a moment you take, you do not wait to be served. You are the server.

[22:32] David Platt gives a great example of male headship and really gender roles when he says that even in [22:38] our society, if an attacker comes out, say there are two married couples walking down the street [22:44] mugger comes out from behind the shadows and tries to physically accost them and mug them, [22:49] the men, if they hide behind the dumpster and say, women, you take care of this for us, [22:54] we would all laugh at those men. We would all say, that is not a man. There is something wrong with [23:00] the way that they view themselves and the way that they view their wives and that is true.

[23:05] Now I am not saying you are not going to get beaten up, guys. Part of the revelation of Jesus [23:10] is you have to take the blows. But the reality is there is something about masculinity and there [23:16] is something about manhood where you are willing to sacrifice your very existence for your wife. [23:26] You are willing to take the bullets. You are willing to take the harm. [23:30] Quite frankly, not just my wife, but if I see anyone being abused, would I not step in? [23:40] Of course I would. Of course I would. It is part of God’s calling on my life.

[23:46] We live too much in a culture where women are forced to do what men will not because we are weak, [23:52] lazy, disobedient and rebellious against the role that God has called us to live in.

[23:58] Now, that is part one. Part two. Let’s deal with the issue at hand because I wanted to lay those [24:07] guardrails down as to the revelation of Scripture, as to what it means for biblical manhood, [24:13] what it kind of means for biblical womanhood and what the roles are. How does it translate [24:18] into the church? How does it translate into what we do here at Village Church? What does that mean [24:24] about what roles we can have? Does that mean women have to sit on the sidelines and menages out there [24:29] doing everything? By God, I hope not. I am too tired. But the reality that we have to deal with

[24:34] is what is the role of women inside of the church? The reality is that men and women [24:39] serve different roles within the work of the church. They do. There are distinctions. There [24:45] are different roles inside of the church for both men and women. What I want to look at, really, [24:51] and I don’t turn there because I don’t have time to really exegete this text for you, but in 1st [24:55] Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 through 7, as well as Titus chapter 1, what we see in those texts are [25:01] qualifications for what it means to be a pastor of a local church. One of those qualifications

[25:07] lends to the reality that, and I’ll just let this cat out of the bag right now, that men, [25:12] qualified men rather, are to serve in the position as an elder or what we would call now as a pastor. [25:21] This is the office of leadership within the church of those men who are entrusted to guide the church [25:26] through vision of the gospel and are responsible for authoritative teaching of scripture and [25:31] biblical living through doctrinal truth and biblical obedience. It is presented in this [25:37] passage as being reserved for qualified men. This is also the vision of the original created order

[25:43] as well as the Old Testament priesthood and apostles. So I want us to see, I do not believe [25:49] it’s just something I look at and I’m like, I have no idea why God calls men to be pastors. [25:55] I believe it is because of the original created order. I believe that inside of the church we are [26:01] to be a reflection of the vision that God has for biblical manhood and biblical womanhood. So I do [26:06] not believe it’s an arbitrary thing that God says men, or rather qualified men, I like to use the [26:13] word qualified because trust me, not all men should be pastors. Qualified men should be pastors.

[26:20] All right, so that’s really the gauge of where scripture leads us in these two passages, [26:27] but as I mentioned also if we look at the Old Testament order of priesthood and the biblical [26:32] role of apostles throughout following Jesus as his disciples and then in acts as witnesses of the [26:37] resurrection and witnesses of the earthly Jesus, we see only men in those roles. So what does that [26:45] mean for women? What can women do? And I think this is something that we often overlook to the [26:52] detriment of both men and women. I think that we don’t deal with this so oftentimes we sit and we

[26:59] have no idea how to handle it. So I have no idea. Well, let’s put them out there in children’s [27:04] church. No, no. You should be offended by that because there’s more glory than that available. [27:13] And now I’m looking at 1 Timothy chapter 2. I’m going to talk about 1 Timothy chapter 2, [27:18] then I’m going to talk about 1 Corinthians chapter 14, two very controversial passages, [27:22] two seemingly offensive passages. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 2 starting in verse 11. [27:28] Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise

[27:34] authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. Now men, let me give you a piece of advice. [27:41] If you’re having an argument with your wife, do not bring this passage into it. [27:46] It’s not going to go well. That discussion will not end well. You’ll at best be on the couch for a [27:54] while and you should be. So on your way home today, don’t take that as a strategy that I’m giving. [28:01] I’m not. Because I think this is one of the most misunderstood passages in Scripture. The second, [28:07] one of the most misunderstood passages of Scripture is 1 Corinthians chapter 14.

[28:10] Let’s look at that one because it’s worse. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. [28:17] As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches, [28:22] for they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission. As the law also says, [28:28] if there’s anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. [28:33] For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. Alright. Just remember, I didn’t write that. [28:41] First and foremost, that was Paul. So what does that mean? Does it mean that husbands,

[28:49] you have a responsibility that as soon as you hit this parking lot and get into the foyer [28:53] and your wife dares to talk to someone, you shh, silence in the church. Is that what that means? [29:01] Must women be silent? No. Not at all. You’re like, well that’s what it says. [29:07] Well that’s why you can’t form your whole theology on one verse. Alright. So what I want to do for [29:13] the rest of our time is I want to take a look at these two passages that are hard passages. Most [29:17] people skip over and don’t deal with them and say, what do they mean in the culture they were first

[29:22] written? What do they mean in the chapter? What do they mean in the whole book and then what do [29:27] they mean in the Bible and the message of the gospel as a whole? So I want to deal first and [29:32] say that there are parts in scripture that are a little bit cloudy and when we see a verse that’s [29:39] a little cloudy, what we have to do is we have to go to other texts that deal with the same thing [29:42] but are clearer. And I would say 1 Corinthians 14 is pretty cloudy. 1 Timothy chapter 2 is a little [29:49] clearer and then we get clearer when we deal with even more of the scripture. So let’s do that.

[29:53] When we’re talking about the office of elder and pastor, sometimes we can let chauvinism [30:00] enter into the discussion and we can take these verses and we can be abusive with them and we can [30:04] be domineering with them. That’s not what they’re meant for. So what’s the cultural context? Well [30:09] in 1 Timothy, the apostle Paul is writing to a pastor named Timothy who is someone that he [30:14] discipled, led his whole family to the Lord. Actually in some places the scriptures call [30:19] Timothy his son. That’s how loving these guys are. And Paul went to Ephesus and when Paul went

[30:26] to Ephesus, so many people came to Christ that an economic revolution took place and their whole [30:34] economy was changed. What was their economy based on? Paganism. It was literally based on the making [30:40] of false idols and the writing of books of magic, I guess you could say. And one pagan religion that [30:47] was very big in Ephesus was the worship of the goddess Diana. And so what was happening in the [30:56] church at Ephesus is they were having a revolution economically, culturally, but also where gender [31:04] roles were concerned. Because of goddess worship in this day and age, much like in some pagan

[31:11] religions today, radical feminism started taking place. And the priestesses of Diana were that. [31:18] They were priestesses. They were all women. So this was a culture that had feminine leadership. [31:22] Men did not lead in these religions because they could not. So there in 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul [31:29] is actually being subversive to pagan goddess worship. And he’s trying to re-install proper [31:39] gender roles. And so in saying, never let a woman have authority in the church, make them keep quiet, [31:49] there was problems taking place with the goddess worship where they were coming in and saying,

[31:55] why would I follow a man? Why would I do that? And so Paul is trying to reinsert men into leadership [32:05] and explain that the gender roles are specific for male headship. So he’s not being chauvinistic. [32:12] He’s actually trying to get the gospel in play. Now in Corinth, what’s the deal there? Very similar [32:18] but worse. All right. And I think that’s why he takes an even harsher tone when he says make them [32:23] be silent. But you have to understand, first and foremost, Corinth was not a church that was [32:28] seeking redemption in the best. This was a church that was struggling with paganism. They were

[32:32] actually synchronizing pagan worship with the worship of Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul has to [32:38] explain to them how to do communion because they had let pagan worship come into the practice of [32:43] the Lord’s Supper. I mean everything’s going wrong in the church at Corinth. And Paul looks to them [32:47] and he says, no, this is not the way. And so when he says, let the women be silent, you have to [32:53] understand there’s a foundational aspect that’s not cultural here. The foundational aspect is [33:00] gender roles. But secondly, there’s a cultural aspect where in the services, it would get so

[33:06] chaotic because they were used to pagan idol worship, which is somewhat chaotic in that [33:11] culture we know from history, that they could not even come together for an organized worship [33:16] service. And when the unsaved people would come into their worship, they couldn’t even [33:22] understand the gospel because so much nonsense was taking place. So if you read 1 Corinthians, [33:28] especially between chapters 11 and chapter 14, what you see is not Paul dealing mainly with the [33:34] issue of gender roles. He’s dealing mainly with how they’re worshiping together. And he’s saying,

[33:41] your worship needs to be organized so that when the lost come in, they can understand the message [33:48] of the gospel because what you’re doing right now is confusing. That’s why he says that first first, [33:54] God is not the author of confusion. So neither should when you assemble together, should it be [34:00] confusing. And what was undoubtedly happening there is that the priestesses would come into the church [34:05] and seek to overthrow the service and insert their worship. And so Paul is saying, gotta shut them down. [34:13] Gotta shut them down. Silence them. Because in certain societies and certain cultures, there will

[34:22] need to be some more extreme measures taken. That’s why he gives us pronouncements. They need to learn [34:27] from their husbands. Basically, I think what Paul is saying in that text is, where are the men?

[34:35] They need to step up. And so Paul is reorienting a redeemed people to begin the process of restoration [34:46] to a biblical ethic of gender roles. Now, in dealing with understanding that if men are to be [34:56] the pastors and men are to lead the church, what is then the role of women? Okay, they don’t have [35:02] to be silent. That’s good. You’re allowed to talk. But what else can you do? Well, men and women, [35:09] number next, men and women serve equal roles as ministers in discipleship. [35:17] This is where equality comes back in. You can’t have equality without being able to do something,

[35:23] am I right? So men and women do serve equal roles as ministers, and I don’t want to use that word [35:29] specifically, ministers of discipleship. God is not a chauvinist. He’s not. Neither is Paul. What we [35:38] do and how we treat people or mistreat people makes a statement about what we believe about God. [35:44] Therefore, if God values the role of both men and women, then we must as well. These two texts can [35:50] give us baggage in a culture that fights for equality and fairness in experience above objective [35:56] truth. But are these texts that we dealt with chauvinistic? No. 1 Corinthians 14 is really a

[36:04] statement about the roles, as I said, of gender. But women don’t have to remain silent. You say, [36:10] well, how do you know that? Let’s go a little further out in Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 11, [36:16] Paul says both men and women prophesy. So if both men and women prophesy, then that takes place in [36:25] the life of the church. But too often, we dwindle the life of the church down to one hour on Sunday [36:31] morning. That’s not what he’s talking about. He’s talking about in life as a whole. In 1 Corinthians [36:36] chapter 12 through 14, he doesn’t give women a position of silent subservience, but this reveals

[36:42] that the spiritual gifts are for both men and women. He talks about women and men having the gift of [36:48] tongues, women and men having the gift of prophecy, women and men having the gift of teaching. [36:53] Women and men are alike in the spiritual gifts. They simply play different roles in some sense of [37:00] how they minister with those gifts. But does God use women in ministry? Absolutely. He has a huge [37:06] history of it throughout the gospel of Jesus, as well as throughout the whole scripture as a whole. [37:11] Let’s take a look at a few instances in the Old Testament. By no way an exhaustive list. In Genesis

[37:17] chapter 1, he creates Eve and gives her full dignity of Adam. In Genesis chapter 12 through 23, [37:22] we see Sarah, who is given the privilege of beginning the nation of Israel through childbearing, [37:28] but also given the dignity of helping Abraham through all of his sin. In Joshua chapter 2, [37:34] Rahab, a woman, saves the entire nation of Israel by having the faith to hide the two spies. [37:39] In 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2, Hannah’s faith redeems the prophetic priesthood in Israel. [37:47] In Ruth chapter 1 through 4, Ruth is used to show the gospel through her relationship with

[37:53] kinsman, redeemer, Boaz. In 1 Samuel chapter 25, Abigail corrects David when he’s being a doofus. [38:00] In the book of Esther, Esther saves the entire nation of Israel in a culture that was chauvinistic [38:07] by risking her very life and going against the norms of wrong gender roles in that society, [38:15] saving the entire nation of Israel. In John chapter 4, fast forward a little bit, [38:20] we see Jesus go against cultural norms of oppression in Samaria when he goes and witnesses [38:27] and gives his own gospel to the woman at the well. This was against their culture and Jesus just

[38:33] flies in the face of it because it’s a chauvinistic culture and Jesus doesn’t have to follow rules [38:37] that he doesn’t make up. Aquila and Priscilla in Acts chapter 18, a married couple, find Apollo’s [38:44] preaching and they see doctrinal error in his preaching and they both take him to the side and [38:50] correct his doctrine. We do not see Aquila, which is a guy’s name by the way if you didn’t know that, [38:54] I’m glad it’s not anymore, but which Aquila doesn’t just say Priscilla you stay here, I’m going to go [39:00] correct this guy’s theology. No, Aquila and Priscilla, a married couple, the woman and the man,

[39:06] take him aside and say let me show you a better way and they correct him. There’s some thought [39:11] throughout history that Priscilla was actually even more learned than her husband Aquila in doctrine [39:16] and may have even taken the lead in that correction. Then go further into the church. First Timothy [39:23] chapter 3 describes the role of elders, it goes on to describe the role of deacons who assist the [39:31] pastors with serving within the church family. Chapter 3 verse 11 of 1st Timothy explains that [39:36] women play a role in the official role of deacon. Now before I read this text, keep it up there,

[39:41] I want to do a little correction linguistically with you. The ESV and many other translations [39:48] translate that term wives that you’re going to see. I do not believe that is a proper translation. [39:55] The New American Standard Bible actually does a better job in this one text, there’s a few others. [39:59] ESV is better in my opinion by and large, but right here that should be married women. [40:06] Why do I say that? The reason that I say that is when there’s a transition between talking [40:11] about elders and talking about deacons. The turn is on the term likewise. He says likewise deacons.

[40:21] In this text, they’re married women likewise must be dignified. So he’s either A talking about a [40:30] different office or B installing women as deacons. If you have an ESV study Bible there’s a whole [40:36] note at the bottom about the possible translation difference. But in this text I believe that he’s [40:42] talking about women in a role as deacons. For a little bit of further evidence in Romans Chapter [40:47] 16 verse 1, Paul refers to Phoebe as a deacon. When it says servant, that term is the term for [40:56] I believe he’s referring to her by her title. The term deacon is not a, excuse me, the office of

[41:05] deacon is not a position of authority and leadership. It is a position of serving and [41:11] engaging the church body on behalf of the elders in a servanthood role. But women can be deacons [41:19] just as men can be deacons. Now the reference here though is just as it is of qualified men, [41:28] it’s of qualified women. In teaching men and women are equal in Titus Chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 [41:34] which I won’t go by because of time. It reveals the need for women who have the gift of teaching. [41:39] This is different than authoritative teaching but teaching the truths of Scripture nonetheless.

[41:44] There’s a difference between public communication of information, exhortation and explanation [41:51] and teaching with authority which is the province of ordained elders. Let me be clear, [41:56] anything an unordained man can do, a woman can do in the life of the church. As in the case with [42:05] Priscilla and Apollos, women can help in doctrinal error just as a man can. If I teach something [42:11] that is doctrinally untrue, do not think that just because you are a woman you can’t ask me about it [42:16] or correct me if I’m wrong. We see in the New Testament that this happens. My wife corrects me

[42:21] all the time. All men and women must see themselves as having a whole identity in Jesus and seek to be [42:32] used in humility and boldness to make disciples of both men and women. Let me just go through [42:38] a few things. Women can lead village groups. I see no biblical reason why they can’t. [42:44] Women can lead Bible studies. Women can lead on serving teams. Women can lead in worship.

[42:52] Speaking of praise music, anything that an unordained man can do, a woman can do. We need [42:57] women. Genesis 1 teaches us that. Men aren’t any wiser and are often less wise and in need of [43:10] godly counsel from godly qualified women. You understand that? Husbands, you need your wives.

[43:21] You need them. Sometimes I need mine like every hour just for advice.

[43:28] We do not have the market cornered on wisdom. We don’t have the market cornered on knowledge. [43:33] God is not a chauvinist. Gender roles are not meant for abuse. I just want to deal with this [43:40] and one more thing and we’ll do Q&A. The reality is that we live in a culture where oftentimes [43:47] scripture is used to further personal agendas. Every time you see a chauvinistic pastor or [43:54] chauvinistic man crying for the submission of women, oftentimes what you’re seeing is a little [44:03] boy who’s just a chauvinist, who’s weak and cannot lead. You don’t have to bark for leadership. You

[44:15] are not meant for abuse. Men, if you find yourself in a place where you have to look at your wife [44:22] and say, woman submit. Number one, that’s funny sometimes. It can be funny as a joke. But if [44:31] you’re serious, if you’re serious, you need marriage counseling. You need counseling. Something’s [44:40] not right. Something’s not firing. Something’s off. But number two, if you say that with a desire [44:50] for her to be your servant, then you are not a man and you need counseling and I’d be glad to give [45:00] it to you. This is not a cry for chauvinism. This is a cry for sacrifice. Finally, the roles of men

[45:10] and women are to be a testimony of the gospel. Life is a theological issue first and your life [45:20] takes on meaning and matures when you conform to God’s will before you just get to do whatever you [45:30] want to do. Often we are guilty of begrudgingly submitting to God’s vision for all things, [45:36] especially gender roles. While this is better than no submission at all, it is not complete [45:43] repentance if we continue in that state. We must seek to also repent of our ungodly attitudes [45:49] and embrace the way that God has made us. In other words, if you are as a man, all right,

[45:57] I guess I’ll lead. I don’t want to. That’s okay for a minute. But then you need to repent of your [46:06] do not want to follow a godly man. Notice I said godly man.

[46:15] It’s okay for a while. All right. But after a while, that white knuckling is going to fade. [46:21] It’s going to wear off and you’re going to find yourself in disobedience again. [46:25] It’s not just our actions we need to repent of. It’s also our attitudes towards the actions that [46:31] we need to take. We need to find joy in how first God made us, but secondly, how God is [46:38] restoring us to his vision above our own. Men are not women and women are not men because God has [46:46] chosen to make us differently. I do not always understand the why behind everything, but I

[46:52] joyfully submit in the humble realization that God is wiser than I am. We simply do not have the [46:59] right to reassign roles or shift them since God has already done the assigning. In Genesis 3, [47:06] Adam and Eve sinned and shirked their need to obey God in all things, even their roles with each [47:11] other. We must seek to understand what Jesus came to redeem and restore where God’s vision for us [47:17] is concerned and that we are all on a journey of grace being transformed day by day to grow towards [47:24] God in submission to him and in his vision for all things. It is by the cross of Jesus and the

[47:29] hope of resurrection that we can repent of our ungodly desires to subvert God’s vision and [47:35] embrace who we are as men and women on both masculine and feminine journeys of trusting him [47:41] above ourselves. Where God has been silent so we must be too, but where God has been vocal, [47:48] we must submit in joy through faith and trust that he is wiser than we are.

[47:56] Friends, the gospel of Jesus means that even in places where we are weak, [48:04] we can find grace to help us in need. It means that the focus here isn’t you need to measure up,

[48:14] but the focus is you need to admit that you are weak and take the grace that Jesus offers us. [48:23] Friends, I am often not the husband I need to be, often not the man that I need to be, [48:32] but that is the beautiful reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [48:36] That there is more grace than I can ever exhaust and when I find his forgiveness I find hope [48:43] to get better, not through my toughness because there isn’t any, but through his power [48:50] because he is sufficient to make me the man that I need to be. Women,

[48:57] God is sufficient to make you the woman that he wants you to be. God is sufficient to use [49:04] you in the life of an ungodly man, an ungodly husband. God is sufficient single mother and [49:11] father to give you the strength to raise children, not just in spite of your situation, [49:20] but also in light of the fact that he is the better husband. He is the better father. He is [49:27] the one to whom we look to. At the end of the day, the reality of gender roles show me not [49:34] that we are sufficient, but rather shows my grave insufficiency and my constant need for him.

[49:45] Right now we enter a part of our service where we reflect on that.

[49:51] Redemption is not about me being forgiven of my sins and left where I am.

[49:59] Redemption is about me being redeemed from my sin and then I begin the long, sometimes hard process [50:04] through the power of the Holy Spirit of being restored.

[50:09] So what I am asking you to do this morning is I am asking you to join me on a [50:13] journey of restoration. I believe God has a vision for what he wants us to do with our lives. [50:20] Each and every one of us, men, women, children. I believe that it starts at the cross. You cannot [50:27] begin to be the woman you were called to be without the cross. You cannot begin to be the man [50:31] you were called to be without the cross. That is what this cup and this bread represents. [50:39] It represents the Son of God who came and took the penalty for everything that I am not

[50:46] so that I could be with him and go on a journey of becoming like he is through his grace. [50:53] So this morning, if you are a follower of Jesus this morning, I invite you to one of the six [51:00] things that I am going to be talking about. Don’t claim the greatness that is knowing God [51:04] and being who he has called you to be and the hope that will give you the strength to get there.

[51:12] Don’t depend on yourself. Depend on the hope of resurrection. If you don’t know him, [51:18] if you don’t know this Jesus, I would love to talk to you about him. I will be right over here. [51:23] I will pray with you. I will talk to you about the gospel. But when you are ready, come.

[51:31] As you are finishing up, we are going to transition into a time of Q&A. [51:36] Right now is the time where we are also going to take up our offering. If this is your first time [51:40] here or if this is a place that you are checking out, don’t feel obligated to give this morning. [51:44] This is another form of our worship as a church to Jesus where we not only give our time and our [51:49] talents but also our treasures to the Lord. If you call Village Home, please feel free to worship in [51:55] this way. Right now we want to quickly, as that guy that preached went too long,

[52:00] go into some time of Q&A. I don’t know what he was thinking, man. I needed to do Q&A.

[52:06] James is going to ask me a few questions that you sent in. [52:10] James Okay, we got quite a few. [52:12] And because of time, we can only ask so many. But you kind of already covered the specifics [52:16] about can a woman be a village group leader? And we kind of clarified that already that that’s [52:20] okay. But we did get quite a few questions about that. What would you tell a woman who [52:25] thinks she is called to preach? James I would say that number one, I think the word calling

[52:35] is thrown around too much. It’s like a subjective thing. You know, the Holy Spirit told it to you, [52:41] so trumps everything. The Holy Spirit never calls you to do anything. Scripture doesn’t back up, [52:46] number one. But then number two, I would simply say that if by that you’re meaning to preach with [52:54] authority of a pastor, then I would kindly and gently say, no, he hasn’t. Because it’s not [53:04] scriptural. And I would attempt to, and if it’s someone, if you’re like a gifted teacher, [53:12] understand that that’s something that I would steer you towards. But I can’t lovingly steer

[53:17] you anywhere that I don’t believe God would steer you. So that’s, that’s what, no.

[53:23] And isn’t this kind of an issue that’s similar to slavery in the New Testament? Hasn’t that [53:28] context and culture passed? So when the Bible talks about women not being teachers or having [53:33] authority, it was really just specific to that time. We have to be careful how we view cultural [53:42] context. Because this number one, the slavery dealt with in Scripture is not the slavery of [53:47] the 1860s or 1800s, I guess you could say. It was more of an indentured servitude where basically, [53:54] you know how you guys are slaves to Capital One with your credit cards? They just don’t lock you

[53:59] in a debtor’s prison anymore. All right, we’ve got a different culture now. Slavery in the Old [54:05] Testament as well as most of the New Testament was, I owe this person money, so I’m going to [54:10] work that debt off. It was not, I’m going to kidnap people and in an ungodly manner, [54:16] force them to work for me. All right, that’s to be rejected. And when people used Scripture to [54:22] defend that, they were ungodly men and women, subverting the Scriptures. But also, we have to [54:30] be very careful in the way that we say, well, culturally that was different because, you know,

[54:34] they talk about things like head coverings and stuff like that. I would say, yes, that part is [54:39] cultural, but you have to understand what’s the undergirding foundation that Paul is giving us [54:45] and at what point do you stop using the culture card? Okay, the Gospel isn’t true because that [54:53] was just a cultural thing in Jerusalem. I mean, at some point, you have to look beneath the culture [54:59] to what is actually being taught foundationally. And foundationally, Paul is teaching about gender [55:04] roles and that’s something for all time. Read Jesus, Justice, and Gender Roles by Kathy Keller.

[55:11] We had a few that kind of had more the context of the home rather than the church. And so these, [55:17] I’m just going to ask these all together and because they all kind of have to do with each [55:20] other. But can a woman take on the headship role in a home where the father is absent or an [55:24] unbeliever? And then what about a home where a husband’s acting against Scripture, not being a [55:29] spiritual leader? What can a wife do should she just remain silent? And I dealt a little bit with [55:36] the issue of absentee fathers and even absentee mothers where it’s an unideal situation where

[55:43] you teach Scripture and you’re faithful to Scripture. And that doesn’t mean that you just [55:49] ignore the fact that the father or mother is not there. It means you do it in light of the fact [55:54] that the mother and father is not there, but you teach your children what should be. All right, [55:59] my son’s not going to have a perfect dad, but I’m going to teach him what a dad should be. [56:05] He’s going to see me fail constantly, but I’m not going to be like, and you should fail like me.

[56:11] I’m going to say, son, where I fail, see the grace of God and see what should be done right.

[56:19] And in, what was the other one? It was talking about a home where a husband, [56:23] they’re both Christians, but the husband isn’t being a spiritual leader. If your husband isn’t [56:27] being a spiritual leader, the Scripture would tell you, number one, pray for him. Number two, [56:31] minister to him in silence. What that means is, I think Paul’s just wise. He’s saying brow [56:37] beating your husband is not going to see him be redeemed. He just needs to see you obey.

[56:44] And that’s going to be used by the Holy Spirit and trust the Holy Spirit. Do right, [56:48] no matter what anybody else is doing. That’s always good advice.

[56:54] It seems like sometimes the church links role and value together. Isn’t that unbiblical? [56:59] Yeah. Yeah.

[57:03] It’s pretty straightforward. [57:05] I mean, I can go on, but the reality is that sometimes because we’re so afraid, [57:15] number one, lazy number two, immature number three, that we want to relegate things that we [57:21] don’t understand like women in ministry. It’s easier to just relegate women and not do anything [57:27] except for behind the scenes stuff because then we don’t have to deal with the questions. [57:32] And sometimes as women, it’s easier to just relegate yourself as being unused because maybe

[57:38] you don’t want the responsibility or maybe it’s easier or maybe you just want to be a grump about [57:42] it. I don’t know. But the reality is that we need to take on the responsibilities and deal with what [57:51] God has told us to deal with. Women are not just village kids workers. Women are village kids [57:58] workers. We got dudes back there too. But women are village kids workers, but women are way more [58:04] than that. So you’re not less than anything. You’re not more than anything you shouldn’t be, [58:10] but you’re there. So whatever God has called you to do within the guard rails of the road that

[58:15] puts us on, do all of it. I’m not going to limit you. And what God’s not limiting, I’m not limiting.

[58:23] We had a few questions in this area of scripture, so I’ll just ask it here. What’s going on in 1 [58:29] Corinthians 11, 7 where it says that man is the image and glory of God and woman is the glory of [58:35] man? Peter said that if you read Paul, you can get frustrated because he’s so heady. [58:43] I mean, the apostle Peter is like, I don’t even understand what that guy’s talking about.

[58:49] Read 1 and 2 Peter. They’re good. But Paul is talking about gender roles, [58:55] and he’s talking about headship. And he’s saying that the man in his headship and his leadership [59:01] position as the representative of the dying King Jesus Christ and risen King Jesus Christ, [59:07] he’s the glory of God. And then woman as his helpmate is also the glory of him in doing that. [59:12] He’s actually speaking the responsibility of men to lead women down the right path.

[59:19] Okay, we’ve got time for just one more here. What about in countries where the church has [59:23] gone underground, Christianity’s illegal, or if no men are available because they’ve been arrested [59:29] or maybe killed, can women take on a pastoral role? And there are some really good books [59:35] about things like this. I can’t remember the author of The Heavenly Man, but it’s a great [59:41] biography about the persecuted church. But this does happen, and the reality is it’s the same way.

[59:49] Obey God, teach the Scriptures, but show what God’s desires are. Teach his desires. Like, [59:58] if you’re in a situation, like, I mean, you can just do hypotheticals all day long, but where all [60:03] the men have been arrested and only the women are left, well, the women have the responsibility [60:07] for the next generation and each other to raise up the church. And if you’re like the last dude,

[60:15] pastors, hey, Pastor Smith, how are you? You’re the last one, so you better get the Holy Spirit, brother.

[60:27] All right, well, that’s all we have time for, but we had some great questions. [60:30] If you didn’t get your question answered, please feel free to email info at villagemidlothian.org. [60:38] We do think about these things, and I think it’s great that we’re being challenged to actually [60:42] think through these things, and it honors God and it helps us. So, you can close us out in prayer [60:48] this morning. Father, I pray that you’d give us grace. We need so much, and you have more [60:59] than we’ll ever exhaust. Lord, you’ve put callings on our lives to obey you, and I pray that

[61:08] we would chase after your callings. And when we fail, I pray that we would not [61:15] spite you, but rather that we would just fall at your feet for your grace.

[61:21] Lord, humble us under your mighty hand that we would be and become children of God. [61:29] In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray.