Women Can't Do What

 A basic question must be answered: “What is the overall teaching of the New Testament on a woman’s role in the church?” . . . “What is the big picture about women in ministry?”

You will find that it is perfectly consistent with the broad principles of the New Covenant.

Here is a chronological survey of women in ministry as they appear in the Bible….

Elizabeth and Mary (not Zachariah and Joseph) are the first to receive the message of Christ’s coming. They are honored and blessed by angels. And they are the first to sing and prophesy about the Christ child.

The prophetess Anna receives honorable mention as one who spoke of the Messiah to those who waited for Him. (Luke 2:36-38)

  During the Lord’s earthly ministry, a group that the Gospel writers call the Women was just as well known as the Twelve (Luke 8:1-3; 23:49, 55; 24:24). In fact, the twelve male disciples were a rather pitiful bunch when compared to the Lord’s female disciples. It was the Women who stayed with the Lord in His last hours. It was the Women who watched Him be crucified. It was the Women who were the first to meet Him at His resurrection. And it was to the Women that He first entrusted the privilege of carrying the news of His resurrection.

Both the Twelve and the Women were among the 120 who waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:14). The women, along with the men, spoke in tongues, declaring the “great things of God” (Acts 2:1-11).

Holy Spirit has been poured out upon women and men alike . . . the result being that “your daughters shall prophesy”. (Acts 2:17-18)

Both the Hebrew (Nebrah), and Greek (Proph) used for prophetess means (female preacher). (See Young’s Concordance, Pg. 780.)

The word “Prophet” means a public expounder (preacher).

The word “Prophesy” means to speak forth, or flow forth. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:3, “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto MEN to edification, and exhortation and comfort.”

In Christ, all earthly barriers are destroyed. Galatians 3:28 boldly declares, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Women, therefore, are not second-class citizens in the church of God.

  Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, taught Apollos the way of the Lord more fully (Acts 18:26). It is noteworthy that four out of the six times that Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned in the NT, Priscilla’s name appears first (Acts 18:18, 26; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19). This is ancient shorthand signifying that Priscilla was more spiritually prominent. Also, the fact that her name appears first when she and her husband instructed Apollos indicates that she led in that exchange (Acts 18:26, NASB and NIV).

  Philip the evangelist had four daughters who were prophetesses (Acts 21:9). This means they prophesied. (Note that first-century prophecy was always done in and among the church. Think about it: If a woman is prophesying by God’s Spirit and revealing Jesus Christ, why on earth would a man be barred from hearing it?)

  In 1 Corinthians 11:4-5, Paul states that women may both pray and prophesy when the church comes together (1 Corinthians 11:1-34). The context makes clear that Paul is referring to public meetings where both men and women are present.

When Paul wrote his letter to the Roman Christians, he honored the following women for their service in the church: Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, Julia, and the sister of Nereus (Romans 16). In this chapter, Paul lists about twice as many men as women. But he commends more than twice as many women as men!

  Paul mentions Junia as a fellow-apostle (Romans16). This is the most natural way to construe the statement “notable among the apostles.” (“Junia” is clearly a feminine name.)

  In Philippians 4:2-3, Paul makes special mention of Euodias and Syntyche who helped him in the work. Significantly, the church in Philippi began with women and met in a woman’s home (Acts 16:13). Point: Women were rather prominent in the Philippian church.

  Paul reminds Titus that the older women should be “teachers of good things.” They ought also to teach the younger women (Titus 2:3-5).

  Paul commends Timothy’s mother and grandmother. There is good reason to infer that these two women taught Timothy the Holy Scriptures since he was a child (2 Timothy 1:5 with 3:15).

  Clearly, women were active in ministry in the first-century church. Because they were recipients of the Spirit, they were just as much a part of the believing priesthood as were the men. We find them prophesying publicly. Praying publicly. Teaching publicly. We also find them “contending side by side” with Paul in the Lord’s work. What is more, Paul calls these women “co-workers,” a term he applies to his male associates!

  Some have interpreted the “limiting passages” to mean that women must be excluded from sharing in a meeting when men are present. But this conclusion runs totally against the grain of the broad principles of the New Testament. For this reason, advocates of the “women-must-not-speak” position are forced into completely non-Scriptural dances distinguishing between “sharing” (when only sisters are present) and “teaching” (when men are present). But this is pure invention. And it is off key with Paul’s actual practice.

  There is no evidence anywhere that Paul or his followers ever excluded anyone from ministry on the basis of gender. Paul happily worked alongside women like Priscilla, Euodias, and Syntyche without a lot of “holier than thou” nonsense about divinely ordained female inferiority. Further, there is no example of the “women-cannot-speak-with-men-present” idea in any of Paul’s other letters. In short, both Paul’s life and letters are consistent with the idea that he voiced in Galatians 3:28.

The truth of the matter is that the “limiting passages” are very dim. Anyone who asserts that they are clear and direct is living in a fog of arrogance and uneducated naivety. For one, such a belief reflects a pitiful dismissal of texts like Acts 2:17; Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 11:5; and 1 Corinthians 14:26, 31.

  Pick up any decent commentary. Look up the “limiting passages,” and you will discover the various ways these texts can be interpreted due to the uncertainty of the language. The fact that competent evangelical scholars disagree on the meaning of Paul’s word-usage in these verses attests to their unimportance.

  Attention to context . . . historical, social, local, and spiritual . . . is crucial when it comes to rightly interpreting a passage of scripture. So let us look at the local context of the first “limiting passage” 1 Corinthians 14:29-35:

  Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, let the first one keep SILENT. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches. Let the women keep SILENT in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the law also says. And if they desire to LEARN anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in the church (NASV).

  There are several things to consider here.

  First, Paul has already encouraged the women to pray and prophesy earlier in the letter (1 Corinthians 11:5).

  Second, Paul encourages the whole church to function in Chapter 14 he writes, “for you can all prophesy one by one” (v. 31) and “when you assemble, every one of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation . . .” (v. 26). (To assert that these exhortations do not include women is insane. It is to suggest that the church does not include women, and the New Testament is only written to men! For shame.)

  Therefore, for Paul to suddenly say that women must never say a word in the church meeting is to completely contradict himself in the space of a few words.

  Attention to context, however, resolves the apparent discrepancy.

  If we laid these two scriptures side by side… 1 Corinthians 14, the following picture emerges: The meetings in Corinth were in utter chaos. Many of the saints were speaking in tongues at the same time, and no one was interpreting what was being spoken. Some were prophesying jointly. And what some of the prophets were saying was in dire need of evaluation. Sadly, few were doing this.

  Keep in mind that some in the church doubted the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). Others were under the impression that visiting prostitutes and committing incest were acceptable. To their minds, since these things were done with the body and not the spirit, they were innocent activities (1 Corinthians 5-6).

In the face of this, the women were interrupting those speaking with questions. Their motivation was to learn. But they were adding a further distraction to an already disruptive meeting.

It was common in the ancient world for hearers to interrupt someone who was teaching with questions. But it was considered rude if the questions reflected ignorance of the subject. It must be noted that women in the first century, whether Jew or Gentile, tended to be uneducated. Any exceptions were rare.

Women were essentially trained to be home-keepers. Thus for a woman to ask or challenge a man in public was an embarrassing thing in the Greco-Roman world. For when women interrupted the men with questions, the men were being interrogated by their social inferiors. Hence, it was considered shameful. Also the women were on one side and the men on the other so when these women wanted to ask a question of their husband they had to holler across the room thus causing more disruption.

  In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul deals with this entire mess. First, he handles the abuse and misuse of tongues and prescribes guidelines for their proper use. (1 Corinthians 14:1-2 He then switches to the subject of giving and evaluating prophetic words (1 Corinthians 14:29-34).

  So beginning with Chapter 14:29, Paul shifts his attention to the prophets and their role in the church. He tells the Corinthians that when the saints prophesy, they should not do so jointly. Instead, they should prophesy two or three at a time. Then they are to pause so the church may “pass judgment” on what has been prophesied.

  Passing judgment (discriminating) involved asking the prophets questions. It involved quizzing and probing them so as to learn what it was they meant and whether or not it was valid. (This was the common way that both Jews and Gentiles learned in the tutorial settings of that era.)

  It is within this very context that Paul shifts to the sisters and says that they are not to participate in this kind of quizzing, questioning exchange. That if they do not understand a prophetic word or have a question about what is said, they should ask their husbands at home. Their tutoring is to occur at home, not in the meeting. The meeting is not a question-answer session.

  Look at the passage again with this thought in mind:

  And if they desire to LEARN anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to SPEAK in the church.

  Notice the undeniable connection between “learning” and “speaking.” Thus the only kind of speaking that Paul is restricting in this passage is that of asking questions. Both leading-questions and ignorance-based questions.

  Therefore, Paul’s refrain for women to “keep silent” does not possess an absolute sense.

  All the saints, including the sisters, are to teach and admonish one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Col. 3:16).

  The manifestation of the Holy Spirit, which includes prophecy, words of knowledge, and words of wisdom, is given to the whole church for the common good (1 Corinthians 12:1-12). And these gifts are to function in the church meetings (1 Corinthians 14). Experience shows us that God bestows all spiritual gifts with undistinguishing regard on men and women alike. There is no such thing as a gender-specific spiritual gift!

The author of Hebrews tells the whole church, including the sisters, that given their relative spiritual age, they all should be teachers (Hebrews 5:14).

The author of Hebrews also encourages the whole assembly, brothers and sisters, to exhort one another when the church gathers (Hebrews 10:24-25).

  So 1 Timothy 2:12 should not be taken as a blanket statement that women may never minister in the church when men are present. To believe this would contradict the New Testament.

  In summary, Paul of Tarsus was called by God to liberate men and women from the bondage of the Law. Ironically, he is treated by some as a new law-giver!

  Paul’s message is one that promotes radical freedom rather than suppression. And that freedom liberally extends to women. Therefore, if our interpretation of Paul contradicts his message of freedom, then we are not connecting the dots.

  Ponder this…….”As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:20-25) To make up the body of Christ, we need each other, men and women. 

  In the words of J. Lee Grady, “Why am I so passionate about women in ministry? When our spiritual enemies are attacking and the hour is late, both Deborah and Barak are needed on the battlefield. This is an issue that is on the Lord’s heart. I pray we will affirm and celebrate all women who sense a call from God to lead.” 

In His love,
Elizabeth