Speak Out - Day 234 Month 8-21 Week 34-3
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
1 Kings 8:1-53, Proverbs 22:1-16, Ezekiel 31:10-32:8, 1 Corinthians 14:20-40
Speak Out
Sylvia will occasionally tell a story about one of the churches we attended because I was an employee. Some of the theological stands that I have now, have been realized because of our time at that church. What I would have considered as a conservative church in those days I now recognize as Complementarian. Women were thought of as equal to men but that they had different spiritual roles. What was claimed as different roles did not seem very much about equality. Very simply, the men were in charge.
Sylvia boldly asked a woman early on in our time there, “if you have what you feel is a valid spiritual point that you would like to make, how can you communicate it?” The woman said that she would wait until she was alone with her husband and then make the point so that he can relay it to the others. That made things very difficult because I was not in agreement with that. Neither was Syl.
I find it interesting that even in staff meetings, women staff were welcome to give opinions on things and the woman Sylvia had talked with was more extreme than how the church actually functioned.
Sylvia is highly knowledgeable about spiritual things and understands the Bible better than many of the men who were part of that church. We were required, because I was staff, to be part of a small group. A small group is a group of people who meet once a week to discuss the previous weekend sermon. Most of the men who were present at the small group lacked biblical knowledge and probably the most talkative people in the group were Sylvia and I. One thing you can say is that Sylvia and I are not afraid to present opinions. Once again, Sylvia was bold. When no one had a response, Sylvia would be right in there with her opinions and spiritual insights. The men who were present were not used to this and became even quieter because Sylvia could explain scripture better than any of them. Yes, even better than I.
We were never reprimanded for Sylvia speaking out because that was acceptable. The men were simply not used to it. The church was complementarian but women were allowed to speak. It’s only spiritual leadership and decisions that were led by men and the leadership of the church was void of women.
As we are reading 1 Corinthians, there are several places where I have looked at Paul’s writing and suggested it’s not exactly as it appears to be written and some of the things Paul says may be of cultural origin rather than universal spiritual truth. We read one of those questionable scriptures today.
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is talking about spiritual order. For most of it, he’s talking about spiritual gifts. I believe there should be spiritual order. As an example, when speaking in tongues (one of the spiritual gifts that is speaking in a spiritual language), he states that an interpreter should be present. I don’t speak in tongues but know several who do. If an outsider walks in on people who are speaking in tongues they may appear mad. On the other hand, if a person has the gift of prophecy, the visitor will understand and maybe turn to God when hearing the prophecy.
It’s Sylvia story day. Sylvia, a Jesus follower, also walked into a church in one of the areas we have lived in and from the moment she arrived until well into the service, there were people constantly speaking in tongues without an interpreter. Even Sylvia, knowing what it was, felt alienated and left shortly after the service started because it had no benefit to her. It seemed like madness because, to Syl, it was not understood.
To have order in the church and ensure that the church is not alienating a stranger makes sense. So then, what about 1 Corinthians 14:34 & 35?
“The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church” (1 Corinthians 14:34, 35).
If we take these verses as an absolute prohibition against women speaking in church, something doesn't seem to fit. Earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul has already described women praying and prophesying in the gathered church! So I don't think Paul can simply mean that women must never speak in a church gathering.
I also struggle with the idea that these verses establish a permanent rule that women cannot participate in spiritual leadership. In the culture of the early church, women generally had far less access to education and were often expected to occupy a much more restricted social role than men. Paul's instruction to women to ask their husbands at home may have been addressing that particular situation.
That matters because culture and God's design are not always the same thing. Much of the social structure restricting women was created by the culture of the time rather than being a command from God. I don't believe we should automatically turn a cultural instruction addressing a particular situation into a universal rule for every woman in every church throughout history.
So in the church I attend, women are educated, and some very highly educated. Women and men speak and both can participate in every function of the church. Verse 34 and 35 could have applied to anyone in the Corinthian churches that may not be able to contribute to the spiritual life of the church due to education or false understanding of faith.
That brings me back to something Paul said in the previous chapter. The church is a body with many different parts, and each part has a purpose. If God gives someone a gift, I struggle to understand why we would prevent that person from using the gift simply because she is a woman.
I don't believe women are better than men, and I don't believe men are better than women. I believe God has gifted both women and men to serve Him and to serve His church.
If God gives a woman the gift to lead, why would we tell her that she cannot use it?
Have a great day!
Steve
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