Ordination:
First, we need to take a serious look at the places in the bible where it discusses being ordained to office in the church. 1 Tim. 3: 1-13; Tit. 1:5-9; Acts 6:1-7. In all of these cases there are many qualifications that are given that one must possess in order to be ordained into church office and any of them can be a disqualifier. But one thing is clear in all is that the qualifications are directed to men, not women, but men exclusively. Acts 6:3, “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men…” 1 Tim. 3:1-13, “1 This is a faithful saying: if a man desires to be a bishop, he desires a good work…. 2 The husband of one wife… 4 who rules his own house well, having his children in submission… 5 for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God… 6 he fall… 7 he must have a good testimony… lest he fall into reproach… 11 their wives must be reverent… 12 the husbands of one wife…” Tit. 1:5-9, “6 if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife…9 holding fast the faithful word he has been taught, that he may be able…” So that there is no doubt about the fact that the issue of being ordained to church office is clearly set aside for men, for not even in one single instance does it refer to women or present itself in an ambiguous manner so that it might be up for debate.
Issues with Definitions:
There are undoubtedly those that have rewritten some passages to fit with their desire to ordain women. An example would be in 1 Tim. 3:8. Some have re-written it to say that, “Likewise the women must be…” rather than “Likewise the deacons must be…” The original word was ‘diakonos’ which means “a deacon, one who, by virtue of the office assigned to him by the church, cares for the poor and has charge of and distributes the money collected for their use; a minister or a servant; to run errands.” So that it becomes unclear how they can translate that into women. Furthermore, if it did say women we would have quite a contradiction with 1 Tim. 3:12 in discussing their wives. That, of course, unless it is to be believed that here the bible further contradicts itself and where it has banned homosexuality prior will now ok it. But as far as accuracy in translation and comparative study, the KJV, NKJV, 1599 GB, Amplified, NASB, NIV, RSV, ESV all agree that it is translated as deacons and not women. The only ones that seemed to take any exception at all with it were The Message (which changes it to servants but still keeps in the spirit of diakonos), The NLT which adds people in to the verse to make it more sexually ambiguous, and The Good News translation which calls them church helpers (once again not contrary to the word in question). That said, even where it doesn't stand opposed to the definition one has to ask why the last three versions mentioned would not just accurately translate the word as Deacons? Out of 25 versions of the bible I went to in study of this it seems highly unlikely that the actual translation would be women.
Prophetesses:
Then there are those that would cite the use of the prophetesses in the OT. While they were rare there were indeed women in that position. But why? In Isa. 3:12 the Lord speaks to the people on this matter and He says, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” The fact that women have been placed over them is an indictment, a judgment, of God upon them; not an endorsement that this is they way it should be. In Jud 4:8-9 Deborah rebukes Barak for not taking the lead and for his spineless character and lack of trust in what God had told him to do. She tells him he will have no glory, “for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” She does what he was intended to do but it is once again an indictment against the character of the men that it is so.
A Woman’s Role in the Church:
Then we come to the specific dictates of scripture in dealing with women in the church. 1 Cor. 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:9-9-15; 1 Tim. 5:2; Tit. 2:3-4; 1 Pet. 3:4. The command in 1 Cor. 14, 1 Tim. 2, and 1 Pet 3 is that they are to be silent in the churches with the specific verses saying exactly that. “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” So that once again this is not an ambiguous topic that the bible is unclear about. They are not to be ordained, they are not to preach, and they are not to pray on behalf of the church in organized services.
But what are they to do? Are they allowed to teach anyone at all? Of course they are and it spells that out too in 1 Tim. 2:15 (raising their children to the Lord); 1 Tim. 5:2 (teaching the younger women); Tit. 2:3-4 (teaching the younger women to behave properly and to act appropriately to their husbands and children). So that they have a function in the church as well but that function does not reach church office in any way.
A Woman’s Role in the Home:
Lastly, there is the ever present issue of a woman’s command to be submissive to her husband. Eph. 5:22-24; Col. 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:1, 5. The words used here are “submit” and “subjection”. In the original Greek it is one word and that word is ‘hupotasso’ which means:
1) to arrange under, to subordinate
2) to subject, put in subjection
3) to subject one’s self, obey
4) to submit to one’s control
5) to yield to one’s admonition or advice
6) to obey, be subject
++++
This is a Greek military term meaning "to arrange [troop divisions] in a military fashion under the command of a leader". In non-military use, it was "a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden".
It is apparent that this is a literal and voluntary submitting of the wife under the authority of her husband. In 1 Cor. 11:7-10 this idea is continued with man being the head of woman. But, since the bible is explicitly clear on this matter how can the husband be head of the wife in the home and the wife be head of the husband in the church? It creates a spiritual paradigm. For the two are not in unity with each other and thus problems will undoubtedly arise.
Conclusion:
All this said, it is clear that there is no biblical merit for ordaining women in the church and that to do so is actually a direct violation of the roles God has set up for men and women and their functions in the church. They are equally important to the vitality of the church and the home but they are different in application and purpose. We harm the growth and maturity of the home and the church when we buck God’s commands and try to use men and women for what they were not intended to be. As a result, doctrine goes to the wayside; the home is a mess; men become effeminate; women become ever more masculine in their personalities. Both become the antithesis of what they are to be biblically and the church suffers because we refuse to be obedient to the commands of God. This is not about women’s liberation and equality, it is not even about ability, it is about what God has prescribed in His word to be executed by man. Are we going to be obedient to that word or pay the price of disobedience at the hands of God? I leave you with Ecc. 12:13 which is my default verse anytime I am inclined to choose my own path against the obvious teaching of the word of God. It says, “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment