1 Cor 11.2-16

I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings just as I passed them on to you.

³Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. ⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. ⁵And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is just as though her head were shaved. ⁶If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. ⁷A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. ⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; ⁹neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. ¹⁰For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.

¹¹In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. ¹²For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. ¹³Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, ¹⁵but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. ¹⁶If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.

We have a wonderful, but difficult subject this morning—the beauty of women in ministry. It’s a wonderful topic because we have the opportunity to celebrate the varied and beautiful ways that women contribute to a multitude of ministry. We desperately need all of these women, because in most churches, it is the women who are doing the majority of the ministry. It’s a wonderful topic, but it is also difficult because of passages like the one we just read from chapter eleven, and because of verses like this one from 14:34, “Women should remain silent in the churches.” Moreover, we have the similar verse from 1 Timothy. “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man;

This verse is as inspired as anything else in all of Scripture. We cannot conveniently cut out this verse, and others like it, simply because it makes us uncomfortable. But was this Paul’s intended meaning? Did he really mean that women are supposed to remain absolutely silent during a worship service? It is quite obvious that we do not forbid women from speaking in church, because we just had some young women leading us in singing! We all know this verse is in Scripture, but how many times have you heard a sermon about it? We all know it’s there, but we tend to avoid it like the plague!

I intentionally put these verses onto this picture to get your attention. Did it work? Are you paying attention? Good! Let me be perfectly clear from the beginning: it does not mean that women must practice absolute silence. But then, what does it mean? In our church, we apply these passages by reserving the office of elder for men alone. At Grace Church, women are not permitted to become elders. But why do we do this? Are we just a bunch of misogynists, woman-haters? Are we hopelessly archaic in our theology? Are we little more than a group of power-hungry men who want to squash women? Some non-believers would be convinced that we are all of these things. There are some evangelical Christians who would draw the same conclusion about our church. There might even be some listening to me right now who believe we are needlessly oppressing women and we are doing it all under the authoritative banner of the Christian faith. Can you see why it is such a difficult topic?

As we start, I want to make you three promises. Please listen carefully to these promises because not only do I want you to hold me accountable for fulfilling these promises, but also because you might otherwise tune me out. I can think of two reasons why you would be tempted to tune out and not listen to this message. The first is because I have already made you a little angry and you don’t want to listen to anything else I have to say. The second is because you think this will be a boring and irrelevant subject. Hold on, because these promises are for you.

1. amazed at the necessity of this topic, because it affirms and respects women much more than the opposing view. The opposing view claims that women should not be limited from any type of ministry in the church. At first glance, you might think that if we gave complete freedom to women with no prohibitions, we would be showing the greatest amount of respect. This view is called “evangelical feminism,” which ought to give you a clue as to its true motives. But I promise you that just the opposite is true, that when we practice the beauty of women in ministry in conjunction with the Biblical prohibitions, we will be demonstrating more respect and honor to women. This is a big promise, don’t you think? So I hope you will listen.

2. surprised at the relevancy of this topic, because it will touch nearly every area of your life. This subject will be relevant to your marriage, your parenting, your family and your faith. This subject is so important, that if we draw the wrong conclusion, we will be in serious danger of undermining the entire authority of Scripture and the precious gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me give you a quick glimpse into why this is true. One writer drew this conclusion. “The common denominator in all of this [discussion about evangelical feminism] is a persistent undermining of the authority of Scripture in our lives. My conclusion at the end of this study is that we must choose either evangelical feminism or Biblical truth. We cannot have both.”[1] This is another big promise, so don’t tune me out.

3. stunned at the Biblical proof for this belief, because it pierces the heart of the eternal Godhead. The fundamental proof for this belief is rooted in the Trinitarian relationships among the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is not a woman-hating, first century, culture-bound teaching that is no longer in force or no longer relevant to our lives. On the contrary, the Biblical proof is established within and through the very character of God. In other words, if you mess with this teaching, you mess with the very character and essence of God.

These are some big promises, and as I said, I want you to hold me accountable for fulfilling them. This also serves as the outline for these two messages. In case you didn’t notice, I am flipping these messages upside down. Usually I give the Scriptural explanation first, and then move toward application. But this time I felt it would be better if I started with the application first. Therefore, I am going to assume that the Bible is clear about these prohibitions as I work through the applications. We will cover point one this morning and the other two will have to wait until next Sunday.

1. First, let’s be clear about the precise prohibition in Scripture. Women, of course are allowed to speak in church. When Paul wrote the infamous verse, “Women must be silent in the churches,” he could not have meant an absolute silence, because in the passage we just read from chapter eleven, Paul explained the way in which women were to pray and prophesy in church. His explanation assumes that women are permitted to do at least these two things: pray and prophesy. This is by no means all they are permitted to do, but it proves our point, that Paul is not advocating that women be marginalized or silenced. It also raises an important question about the nature of prophecy. Many Christians assume that prophecy in the N.T. is the same thing as preaching. However, Paul does not permit a woman to preach to men but he does allow them to prophesy. Therefore, the preaching and prophecy cannot be the same thing.

2. Men and women are both created as completely equal in worth and essence. Men and women both bear the imago dei, the image of God indelibly stamped upon their whole being. In Gen 1 God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.” (Ge 1:26-27) In every possible manner, men and women are equal. There is no difference in person, in essence or in being. They are FULLY equal. Do most religions affirm this God-given equality? No they do not. Islam, and especially Hinduism, are often horribly oppressive to women. In distinction from all of the official and unofficial abuse of women by other religions, Christianity stands out in declaring full equality of being between a man and woman.

Even though the Scriptures are quite clear about the proper honoring of women, not everything done in the name of Christianity has been favorable to women. Women have been mistreated and abused under the guise of Christianity. As proponents of the Biblical view of women, we need to recognize and learn from these grave errors. For example, the wives have been and continue to be abused. Much of this abuse has been perpetrated by Christian husbands who think that wifely submission is brought about by abusing them. All Christians should strongly oppose this, especially if you hold to any kind of limitations on women’s ministry as we do. Some would like to lump us together with abusers when nothing could be further from the truth.

The leading parachurch ministry on this subject is called the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. They published a Statement on Abuse that speaks to this problem. Here are a few of their statements, which we strongly affirm as well.

· We understand abuse to mean the cruel use of power or authority to harm another person emotionally, physically, or sexually.

· We believe that the biblical teaching on relationships between men and women does not support, but condemns abuse (Prov. 12:18; Eph. 5:25-29; Col. 3:18; 1 Tim. 3:3; Titus 1:7-8; 1 Pet. 3:7; 5:3).

· We believe that abuse is sin. It is destructive and evil. Abuse is the hallmark of the devil and is in direct opposition to the purpose of God. Abuse ought not to be tolerated in the Christian community.

· We believe that the Christian community is responsible for the well-being of its members. It has a responsibility to lovingly confront abusers and to protect the abused.

· We believe that both abusers and the abused are in need of emotional and spiritual healing.[2]

3. Third affirmation of women in ministry is the recognition of spiritual gifts. Out of all of the spiritual gifts listed in Scripture, which gifts are not available to women? None of them! They are equally available to all women. The Holy Spirit sovereignly distributes the gifts. We don’t necessarily choose our gifts, but none of the gifts are closed to women. Where would the church be without the full expression of these gifts? Their ministry is indispensable to the church. As I said before, women do the majority of the ministry in the local churches. This is both good and bad because I think it is indicative of the fact that men have neglected their role in ministry. The women have filled the gap left by the men. This should not be the case. We’ll talk about this more later.

4. The fourth affirmation is to see that Jesus and Paul elevated women to a prominence beyond their cultural boundaries. There were no women apostles, but many women played a very prominent and vital role in Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is very obvious that Jesus wanted women with him in ministry and that he valued them highly. Moreover, it was women, not men, who were given the honor of being the first to see Jesus after his resurrection.

Many people can agree that Jesus treated women with respect, but they don’t like what Paul said about women. It is these very passages we are studying that cause people to believe that Paul had a low view of women. But this is simply not true. In a Greek gathering, women were not permitted to speak, but Paul clearly broke this cultural taboo by allowing women to pray and prophesy. As we have already said, Paul wanted women to learn, which went against the grain of his Jewish culture and upbringing. Jews did not want women to learn,[3] but Paul had a high value on women learning. One N.T. scholar did an exhaustive study on Paul’s view of women. He did a detail look at every single mention of women by Paul and noted their ministry and how Paul spoke about them. His conclusion: “Above all, both Jesus and Paul sought to integrate women fully in the community of believers, treating them with dignity and appreciation for their contribution. But they did so demonstrably and precisely without removing all parameters for women’s ministry.”[4]

On the back table I have several copies of an article titled, “Does Christianity Squash Women?”[5] This article was written by a woman for women. I would encourage all women to read this article.

5. This leads to our fifth affirmation, that women are freed to teach other women and children. Not only are women permitted to learn, which flew in the face of huge first century cultural barriers, but the Bible also permits them to teach. We would be lost without the teaching ministry of women. They are gifted and called to teach. Remember—the only thing that is not permitted is for a woman to hold the office of elder. The two primary tasks of an elder are to teach and to govern the body. But 1 Timothy says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man.” It is clear that the two things that are not permitted are the two primary tasks of an elder. We need to value women teachers and I think every women ought to be a teacher in her sphere of influence.

6. Sixthly, we affirm that women are permitted to assume any role of leadership in the secular marketplace. As we seek to follow the Biblical parameters of women in ministry, please do not think that we do this out of a fear of women in positions of leadership. Women can hold positions of leadership in the corporate world, government agencies, or wherever. We have no problem with women serving as CEO’s of major corporations or even as president of the U.S.. (However, given our current political climate, I won’t comment any further on this point!) The Biblical prohibitions only apply to the church, not to the marketplace.

Whenever there are any limitations put on women in ministry, there is one word that is batted around to try to make Christians appear intolerant and hateful. That word is patriarchy. Patriarchy simply means “father-rule,” but it is spoken about by feminists and evangelical feminists as if it were a loathsome beast which swallows up harmless women in its belly. Please don’t be afraid of that word because, rightly understood, patriarchy is a good and Biblical concept. The problem is that there has been much abusive patriarchy that we would never support. Biblical patriarchy is far more honoring to women than its Christian counterpart—evangelical feminism. Biblical patriarchy is perhaps best explained from Ephesians five, where wives are to voluntarily submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ, and husbands are to voluntarily love their wives as Christ loved the church.

This is Biblical patriarchy, and rather than being used and abused, women are elevated in honor and respect. The husband does not wait for his wife to submit to him. He does not stand by and hope he receives his “due respect”. He does not sit on his hands until his wife deserves his sacrificial love. Instead, he actively seeks to honor her in every way. He consistently cherishes her by his words and his actions. He persistently denies his tendency toward self-fulfillment and chooses to give up his “rights” in preference for hers. He protects his wife from innumerable harms. He raises his daughters in a safe environment, and hopes she chooses such a man and he raises his sons to be such a man. This is not squashing women or hating women. It is honoring and valuing all women and all of their ministry,

And men, guess where this starts? You may have thought this message was only about women, but it’s as much about men. It all starts with you men—men who honor all women—your wives, your mothers, your sisters and your daughters. Men, each time you dishonor another woman, you are helping the radical feminists prove their premise, that all men are pigs. Every time you dishonor another woman, you help the evangelical feminists undermine the authority of Scripture. Every instance of dishonor towards a woman strikes at the foundation of the divinely created order. And this message is not just for grown men, but also for boys of all ages. Boys, when you show disrespect toward your mom, God is not pleased with your dishonor. When you yell at your sister, God is not pleased with your dishonor. Both men and boys—honor the women in your lives! Hold the door for them—every time! Speak gently to them, not harshly. Do not look at a woman lustfully in your heart. Protect them, respect them, be kind to them and honor them in all things. Do these sound like old-fashioned values I am talking about? You better believe they are. In fact, they are so old-fashioned that they go all the way back to the first chapters of the book of Genesis! Men, boys and women—this is the word of God.

[1] Wayne Grudem, Is Evangelical Feminism the New Path to Liberalism?, Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Spring 2004.

[2] Adopted by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood at its meeting in Lisle, Illinois in November, 1994.

[3] Douglas Moo, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, p. 179)

[4] Women in the Pauline Mission, taken from 'The Gospel to the Nations' edited by Peter Bolt and Mark Thompson. Copyright (c) Andreas J. Kostenberger 2000.

[5] Rebecca Jones, “Does Christianity Squash Women,?” available from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood website. Ms. Jones also has a book by the same title from B&H Publishing Group, c 2005.