Sermon Transcript
Well, the past couple of weeks I’ve had some great conversations with a number of women that are a part of our church. We’ve talked a lot about roles in ministry, women’s roles in ministry. And in case you haven’t heard, that’s a very hot topic in the church, and it’s a topic that we come to this morning. We’re in 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 Timothy chapter 2, and I invite you to take out your Bible and turn there with me to chapter 2, verse 9. And we’re going to look through verse 15 this morning.
So, this is the second hot topic that we have come to so far in our series in 1 Timothy. The first hot topic was in chapter 1 where we talked about the whole matter of homosexuality, and Dan helped us look into that. I think we all benefited from what we studied there, what we heard. Hopefully, what we heard will continue to benefit our lives and others’ lives in years to come. And my hope this morning is as we look at this topic, the second hot topic, the matter of a woman and her ministry in the church, I hope that we’re going to benefit as well.
But right at the front of this, I want to just assure you of something. I just want to personally say to you that I believe women have a significant place in the church. I believe that they need to be in places of leadership. They need to be in places of teaching in the body of Christ and the local church. And when I say that, I don’t mean just in children’s ministries or other women’s ministries.
I mean in other ministries. Let me take you back a few years ago when Bernice and I went to Phoenix, Arizona. God took us there and He put us at a church called Bethany Bible Church. They wanted us to start a contemporary worship service because they needed to bring younger people back into the church. The church was graying, like, you know, me.
But anyway, back then I didn’t have as much gray hair. There were other people that had more. There were about 1,000 people in the church, and about 90% of the church was gray, you know? So, after a lot of prayer, they asked us to come. We prayed about it.
We came, and they said, now, we want you to do some things to help bring young people back into the church. So, one of the tasks was the responsibility of starting a contemporary service, a contemporary ministry, and the 2 people that were most gifted and qualified, we felt, to take on that task were Cathy Morgan and Bernice Gudgel. Now, that was something that this church had never really considered before. Cathy Morgan was just the piano player. That’s how she called and referred to herself, I’m just the piano player.
And Bernice, well, she had had years of ministry experience in planning worship services and special events. And these 2 women, as we could see in the church, were gifted leaders in the church, 2 women who, except for being women, met all of the qualifications that the Bible gives for elders or pastors. 2 women who were actually more qualified at that point in time than Bethany Bible Church pastor of worship, but he wasn’t qualified to lead the contemporary worship service. So, the elders agreed, and we, as a team, worked with them, and Cathy and Bernice led the chapel service, an amazing contemporary worship service that became a reality under their leadership. They recruited, and they trained, and led the teams that were needed.
They remodeled a building for the service. They planned the services. They led the services technically. I was also part of the leadership team, but basically all I did was just show up and I preached. That was about it.
They used their leadership gifts and the opportunity, and the church was better for it. So the reason I bring that up is because I want you to know just at the outset of what we’re going to look at that I believe a woman or women should be in leadership or teaching roles in the church. I believe they should have significant leadership and teaching roles within the body of Christ, the local church. Now, the hard part comes when you come face to face with the Scriptures and certain limits that are put on God’s family, His church. And so, let’s be honest about the limit deal, okay?
Any mom or dad will testify that their toddlers don’t like limits. They don’t like them. They don’t, you know, the kids, you tell your kid, don’t touch that, they want to touch it. Don’t eat that, they want to eat it. 10-year-olds don’t like being told that their hour of video game opportunity, it’s over now, okay?
They don’t like that limit. Teens don’t like being told, You got to be home by 10:00 PM tonight, otherwise there are going to be consequences. They don’t like that. But of course, adults don’t like limits either. We’re not big on limits.
We hate speed limits. You know why I know that? I drive on the freeways. Are you kidding? What are people driving out there?
They’re not driving the limits. In my lifetime, I’ve only come across 3 people that actually drive the speed limit. 3. Bernice, Bernice, Anita, and Steve. And this Steve has a last name that begins with D. There are probably more people that drive the speed limits.
I just don’t know. I’ve never been in the car with them. But basically, we tend to ignore limits when we can because we just don’t like limits. It’s part of human nature. You could say we love to be liberated from limits, especially man-made limits that have kept people, but specifically women, from doing what they’re qualified to do.
So, for instance, there was a time when I was really young, not too long ago. I know what some of you are thinking right now. Not too long. I’m not that old, okay? But there was a time when men went to work and they brought home the paychecks while women stayed home and they cooked and they cleaned and they took care of the kids.
And only men during this time were news anchors and astronauts and soldiers and police officers. And firemen and CEOs and chefs and pro basketball players and sports commentators and race car drivers and building contractors, lawyers, doctors, and more. That was just like— that was the list of what men did. Well, now women work in all of those occupations I just mentioned. Women work in all of them.
They aren’t off-limits to women any longer. And personally, I’m thankful to live in a time in history where women are allowed to, you know, break through the limits. There are Those kind of limits are removed, and women are making greater impact on our world now, I believe, than ever before. They have the freedom to use their gifts and their talents and their skills and their passions and their knowledge and understanding, wisdom, love, sensitivity, perspectives, and more. And I just want to say I hope that those opportunities continue to expand for women everywhere, that they widen so that women and girls like my 6 granddaughters We have 6 granddaughters from the age of 1 all the way through 16.
I hope that they are able to do everything that God created them to do out there and in the church, too. Wouldn’t that be great? As far as the church is concerned, wouldn’t it be great that women could serve in roles of leadership and teaching in the church, making an impact? And there are women doing that right now, but wouldn’t it be great if there were more? But I also believe that the church, the body of Christ, needs to be okay with whatever God-given limits the Lord places on His church, such as the ones found here in 1 Timothy 2:9-15.
So, that said, let’s read this. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. Now you know why this is a hot button. You need to look at that. And at first glance, it kind of seems like Paul is at odds with the value that Jesus placed on women when he came along and he showed them honor and he showed them respect and elevated status in a world that devalued women.
You may know that, that in the ancient Greek world, along with the other known world at that time, women were considered inferior to men. Wives led lives of seclusion and slavery. In Rome, wives were second-class citizens. More honor was shown to a man’s mistress than to his wife. In the time of Christ, a Jewish man’s morning prayer expressed thanks to God that he was neither a Gentile, a slave, or a woman.
And those attitudes were really not the result of Christ and His ministry and what the Lord wanted. They were a result of heathen influences that were impacting the culture, they were certainly contrary to Christ and what He taught and how He lived and how He loved, how Jesus loved and how He elevated women, women like the adulterous woman who was caught in sin, or women like the shunned woman, the woman at the well, or the woman who gave out of her poverty, a widow’s mite, or the immoral woman who anointed Jesus with oil, or other women who ministered with Jesus and to Jesus like Mary Magdalene and Joanne and others that were among, listen, the band of women that followed Jesus. In Jesus’ eyes, women weren’t inferior in any way to men. They shared the same value. They were equal.
What Jesus believed and taught and practiced, you see actually in Paul’s writings as well. In fact, the Apostle Paul who wrote that little section we just read in 1 Timothy chapter 2, He said this in Galatians 3:28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. What’s he saying? He’s saying women are equal with men. God loves women as much as he loves men.
God created men and women with equal dignity. God values women as much as he values men. And since the day God created the first woman, God intended for women to be in significant and indispensable places in the world that he created and in the church. So, that said then, the instruction that Paul gives in 1 Timothy 2:9-15 is in no way meant to demean women, but it’s really meant to help men and women work together in the church and play out the parts that God has for them in the church. So, what does exactly that mean?
Well, that’s actually what Timothy is trying to go after, or what Paul wants to go after for Timothy. You see, actually, in 1 Timothy 3:14-15, Paul writes this to Timothy, although I hope to come to you soon, I’m writing you these instructions so that if I I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the foundation of the truth. So, what that is to say to us when we read chapter 2 is that we need to see chapter 2 in light of Paul’s overall intention. And Paul’s overall intention with Timothy was to help him pastor this church that was at Ephesus. And this church at Ephesus is basically a relatively young church, like any other church of that day.
In fact, the big C church had only been around for about 25 years at that time. And so, the church itself locally was sorting out a number of ministry matters, and some of those ministry matters included women’s ministry in the church. They didn’t have it all together. Fact is, guess what? We still don’t have this thing all together even today.
We’re still trying to figure out the same 3 matters we’re going to look at this morning. The same 3 matters that he addresses in this text that could be summarized with 3 questions, 3 questions that, yes, even in the last year, I’ve been asked in this church, 3 questions that essentially summarize what Paul says about women in ministry in the church. Let me just stop there just for a second, pause, and say, now, we’re only going to get at these 3 areas, and there’s a lot more that we can get at, so we’re going to start here today And we’re going to give you an opportunity to interact with this, and if you’d like to talk about this further, you can see in the bulletin this morning, we’re going to have a conversation Wednesday night, a question and answer conversation with Pastors Steve and Dan, and go deeper into this. You can even send them some questions before that conversation because there’s so much you can talk about when you talk about this subject. But let’s look at 3 questions together, really summarize, help us understand the passage and what Paul was trying to get at with with Timothy.
First question, how should a woman dress in church? That’s the first question. You’re saying, really? We’re going to talk about dress in church? Are you kidding me?
Well, that’s what he gets after here first, verses 9 and 10. He says, I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God. The deal is, just like today, in that world, women dressed up and they wore, you know, certain hairstyles, put on jewelry. That was really a big deal in Ephesus. And, you know, having the right hairstyle braided and wearing the best clothes and wearing expensive jewelry and all the rest of this gold and pearls and all the rest of that.
So women spent a lot of time having just the right dress, for instance, verse 9. And the word, by the way, dress that’s found in verse 9 is the word kosmeo, which we actually get the English word cosmetic from, which literally means to arrange, to put in order, or to make ready. So, women in that day gave a lot of time to putting things together, you know, getting ready, gave attention to braiding the hair, wearing eye-catching jewelry, picking just the right dress. Now, that could be a good thing, right? Yeah, I think that’s a good thing.
Hey, please keep doing it, you know, we’re grateful for that. But how a woman dressed when she came to church could also become a bad thing if her adornment was immodest, indecent, or inappropriate, and especially if she was a woman, verse 10, who worshiped God.
And so, Paul says that she ought to be thinking about godly attire, godly attire. He says it should be modest, modest, in contrast to seductive clothing that would women wore at Ephesus. Modest clothing would not draw sexual attention to your body. It should be decent in the eyes of God, not suggestive. Decent attire thinks about things like length of dress or the location of a neckline, the tightness of clothing.
And it should be appropriate. Propriety is this word you see there. Or to say it another way, it should be what’s proper. What’s proper here is you’re dressing for church, for the church that’s gathered What’s inappropriate when you’re gathered as a church is to wear clothes or jewelry or your hair in such a way that it draws attention to you instead of to God. In this worship gathering, you don’t want people looking at you, you want people looking at God.
So wear clothes that will instead focus people’s attention on God. So what’s Paul saying? He’s saying your external adornment, your address, should be congruent with your internal adornment. It should reflect the qualities that are true of you and your relationship with God. It should be a demonstration of your love for God and your love for others and your desire to help others worship God.
So appropriate dress is an important matter to think about in the church. In fact, it’s an important matter for men to think about also. It just all comes down to what’s appropriate to the occasion. And the people that I’m going to be with, and in this case, in the church, so that it ultimately draws people’s attention wholly to the Lord and I don’t become a distraction. By the way, this is not an admonition that, you know, legitimizes sloppy clothes, you know, when you come to church, right?
Don’t give any thought to that. You know, come to church dressed in, like, my orange sweatpant shorts, you know, those kind of things. Bernice would never let me go out of the house in the orange sweatpants shorts. She would certainly never let me come to church dressed in the orange. I don’t want to come to church dressed in the orange sweatpants shorts, but she said I can go to Home Depot in those shorts because it doesn’t matter there.
But anyway, so this isn’t about, you know, don’t dress nice or something like that. Proverbs 31, talking about this godly woman who’s described there, she wore fine linen and purple, verse 22, but her external adornment did not contradict the adornment of her heart. That’s what he’s getting at. So, that said, then Paul brings up another matter related to the church. He said this in verse 11, a woman should learn in quietness and full submission.
I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. She must be silent. Okay, now we’re getting to the controversial part of the passage, right? The part that could make you right now say, I’m done with this. I think I’m going home right now.
I’m closing my Bible, my message notes. I’m done with this. Is this really saying what I think it’s saying? That’s probably what you’re saying, and my answer to you would be, probably not. Probably not.
What’s Paul’s focus here in verse 11? Paul’s focus is, first of all, on a woman learning, that the church should be a place where women learn. Now, that’s obvious today, but it wasn’t obvious in that world. The fact is, in Paul’s world, a place for women to learn in church was just something brand new. In the 1st-century culture there, women were not allowed to study the sacred text.
So, when it came to this whole Christ thing and Christianity and all of this and learning, becoming a learner, this was something new for them, becoming a mathanos, which is the word that we get disciple from. So, becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, a learner of Jesus Christ, this was a brand-new thing. And what this is saying here is that women and men alike, regardless of their gender, they should be people who are learning, but specifically here in this passage, It’s focused on a woman’s spirit of quietness and full submission in her learning. Now, quietness also is not what you think it is. It does not mean silence.
Okay? Write it down. It does not mean silence. It does not mean that. It is not saying for a woman to be silent.
That’s not what it’s saying here. The word that’s used here does not describe that. This is a word, the same word that’s used, by the way, in verse 11 for quietness, and silent in verse 12. It’s the same word. This is the same word that’s used to describe the beauty of a godly wife whose heart is adorned, as Peter writes, with a gentle and quiet spirit.
1 Peter 3:4. It’s that word. Her heart should be gentle and quiet. She should have a quiet spirit. So, she has, hopefully, an eagerness in her heart to be open to learning to sitting under the teaching of God’s Word.
Hopefully, that’s your heart’s desire right now for all of us, that we wanna learn the Word of God and allow it to transform our lives. But also, a fully submissive heart. What’s that? Ready to do whatever it is God wants whenever he wants it. That’s what that is.
It’s like the heart of a woman in our church who told me as she was working through today’s message focus that she was taken back to our Daring Faith message series when she heard Faith is obeying God when you don’t understand and trusting God when you don’t get it. She said, I remember that. Faith is obeying God when you don’t understand and trusting God when you don’t get it. And she said, that’s how I come to this passage. It’s really the kind of attitude that God wants from men and women alike, a quiet spirit that’s seeking to be fully submissive to God.
Or it’s also used elsewhere, this idea, call it a spirit of humility. A spirit of humility.
Now, if you want to know whether or not you have a spirit of humility, check how you’re thinking right now about verse 12. That’ll tell you, because verse 12 is enough to make your blood boil. And what I would suggest is that in your spirit, Stop, take a deep breath, shoot off a prayer. God, you’re going to have to help me right now. This verse 12 doesn’t look good to me.
Help me know what it is that you want me to learn from your Word.
And by the way, that is the relationship that’s the priority in this verse. It’s a woman’s relationship to the Word of God. Not to the person teaching, her relationship to the Word of God, that she comes to the Word of God as a learner with a humble, submissive spirit. To learn from a man in the church who is in a teaching and authority role, verse 12, a man in the church who is in a teaching and authority role. Now, who might that be?
Well, what’s the immediate context? What is the book context? It really gives us a big clue if you look at the immediate— in the book context, because what immediately follows this passage, chapter 3, is a list of qualifications for elders, a list of qualifications for elders. And then you get to chapter 5, and in chapter 5, 1 Timothy 5:17, it says, let the elders who rule well Who rule, authority, who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. Authority and teaching.
You see, those are the 2 primary responsibilities of an elder, to rule, which is to oversee, to pastor, to shepherd, and to teach or to preach, which makes sense because, as we’ll see next week, one of the qualifications of an elder is apt to teach. Well, those 2 roles or those 2 responsibilities are the exact 2 roles that Paul says a woman should not be in. Paul says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. But when he says that, he’s not making— listen, he’s not making a blanket statement. He’s not saying women should never, ever, ever, ever, ever teach men or lead men.
He’s not saying that. The specific context is— get this— the specific context is Conduct in the house of God. And secondly, the roles of elders. And thirdly, the gender of elders. And fourth, the qualification of elders.
So, what is Paul saying? He’s saying, I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. What that means is, I don’t permit a woman— she should not be permitted to serve in the office of the role of an elder. He’s basically answering a question that often comes up in the church, and that’s this question: Should women serve as elders? Evidently, there were some women in that church at Ephesus that wanted to teach and lead the church.
And Paul’s answer was, I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over men. In other words, no, women should not be in a position as an elder. So, what he is forbidding is women serving in, listen, the authoritative ongoing teaching role connected to the office of a teaching or ruling elder. Which would include, by the way, the office or role of a pastor-teacher. He’s saying that that is a responsibility only for men.
Now, one of the matters that you could look into if you’re still struggling with the interpretation on this is you could also just look at the verse itself and the grammar that’s used in the verse, in verse 12. Because the words teach and have authority over are both present infinitives. And so, now you go back to these Greek scholars on this kind of thing, and a present infinitive, points to an ongoing office or an ongoing role. So, it is not, you know, a teaching opportunity or a leading opportunity. That’s not what he’s talking about.
He is describing an office, a role where a woman is forbidden to be in this office or role of a teaching pastor or of an elder. They should not be in that group, listen, who are over who are over the entire church. He is saying that elders should be men who are qualified or called out to be elders or pastor-teachers. 20 years ago, I and the elders that were serving in a church in Southern California spent a year looking through these kind of passages. And at the end of the whole study, our conclusion was simply this: a woman may serve in any role in the church except in the office of elder or pastor-teacher.
That, I believe, is what this passage is teaching, which means there are many, many, many opportunities within the church for women to use their leadership gifts and for women to use their teaching gifts. But even still, some of us this morning, we look at this and we say, I don’t get it, you know. I don’t think this is right. I don’t think it’s fair men to only be a pastor, teacher, or elder, and women— why can’t women do that? I just, I don’t I don’t like the limitation.
I don’t like this at all. I mean, this just doesn’t seem right, especially in our culture. Past few weeks as I’ve been processing this, thinking this thing through from a bunch of different angles that I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about before, but just thinking it through, I went back in my mind to the Jewish people. And I recalled how in Deuteronomy 7:6-7 we’re told this, you are a people holy Moses speaking to the nation of Israel. You are a people holy to the Lord your God.
The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other people, for you were the fewest of all people. I mean, why did God choose you? Are you kidding? Come on, you’re not the, you know, you’re not like the cream of the crop or something.
Why did he choose you? He just chose you. He chose you to use you so that through you as a nation, the Messiah Savior would come into the world. But even in choosing this nation, he actually, among the 12 tribes, picked one tribe, one tribe to be worship leaders. Remember this?
It was the tribe of Levi. And even in the tribe of Levi, he picked one family to be the priests. That was the family of Aaron. Remember that? So not anybody could just be the worship leader, so to speak, and not anybody was to lead in the sacrificial system.
No, there were some selected, specific people that the Lord called out. Why did God do that? I mean, why didn’t He just leave it open to everybody? The best answer? Because God’s God.
And because it’s His people.
And because He wants us to be His people. And so, He decided that He was going to use a nation to save people. I’m glad for that, aren’t you? That He put a plan together. He said, I’m going to work through Israel, and I’m going to work through these tribes.
Did you ever, as a kid, ask your parents the why question? That’s part of what we ask when we come to passages like this, the why question. Did you ever get in your answer from your parents a because answer? Because, you know, that because answer. Or maybe if that wasn’t enough, they’d say, just because, you know, the little emphasis then, the just because.
Did that ever happen to you? I used to hate that answer. It just seemed so unfair, like, you know, what do they think they are, my parents or something? You know, I’m supposed to do this just because? Because you’re my parent or whatever?
Well, what comes next in this text, and you can’t miss this, you can’t miss this, is what I call the best because. The best because for why God chose to use men and not women in church eldership roles.
Verses 13 and 14 give us a reason. They give us a because. They give us a for, actually, too. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one who was deceived, was not the one deceived.
It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. And note the conjunction. The conjunction there is for. It could be translated because. And what we have that comes out of that are 2 reasons, 2 reasons why God has ordained for men to serve as elders.
These 2 reasons are still relevant in our culture today because they go all the way back to creation, all the way back to creation. They answer the question, why should only men serve as elders? Why should only men serve as elders? Well, here’s the because. I call it the best because, because it’s from God.
It’s his because. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. So the first part of this is it’s by order of creation. Man came first and then woman. Adam was given the leadership responsibility not because he was superior.
He was given the leadership responsibility by divine design. That’s called headship. It’s not a matter of inequality. It’s functional design. Just like in the Godhead, you got God the Father and you got God the Son.
And God the Son isn’t— He’s not, you know, less than God. He is God. It’s not due to inequality. It’s due to function. And secondly, verse 14, and Adam was not the one deceived, but it was the woman who was deceived.
And she became a sinner. Now, what Paul is saying there when he brings up the deception matter and how women fell into sin or Eve fell into sin is not for the purpose— please get this— it’s not for the purpose of saying, well, you see, that shows you a woman is gullible. Okay? A woman is gullible or she’s duped or something like that. That’s not at all what he’s saying here.
He’s saying the consequences of the subversion of God’s ordained order is the problem. The consequences of the subversion of God’s ordained order. Satan intentionally bypassed Adam and he went directly to Eve, which subverted God’s leadership and protection plan. The outcome was disastrous so that, in part, not only did Eve end up falling into sin, but she led Adam into sin. Adam, by the way, didn’t intervene as a leader when Eve was being tempted.
He followed Eve into sin. So, Paul’s point is this: when God’s order of leadership is repudiated or when God’s order of leadership is abandoned, it can bring damage or it can bring ruin. Will it always? No, of course not, but it can.
So, what you have in verses 13 and 14 are the best because it goes back to thousands and thousands of years ago. It isn’t talking about the culture at the time of Ephesus. It goes all the way back to creation, all the way back to even before sin entered the world, to God’s divine design. And when that is applied to the church, God calls men to bear the responsibility for eldership or leadership over the flock, His church, like God called out Israel, or God called out the tribe of Levi, or God said, I’m going to work through Aaron and his family to serve God’s purposes before Christ. Well, after Christ, He’s calling out elders to serve in leadership and teaching, ongoing roles, not because, listen, Not because men are stronger and women are weaker, not because men are better teachers and women are not as good at teaching, not because women are not as good at leading as men.
The fact is men and women both have strengths and weaknesses. I like what John Piper says about this. He says when people ask him, you know, if he thinks women are weaker than men or women are smarter than men or men are more easily— or women are more easily frightened than men, He said, you know, what I usually say is I think women are weaker in some ways, and I think men are weaker in some ways. And he said, and I think women are smarter in some ways, and I think men are smarter in some ways. And I think women are more easily frightened in some circumstances, and I think men are more easily frightened in other kinds of circumstances.
In other words, what he is saying is both women and men have their strengths and their weaknesses, and that’s not the issue. This isn’t about competition. This isn’t about who’s better. Men and women working together with distinct roles and dependent upon one another is just simply by God’s design and His purpose. And that’s why Paul goes all the way back to creation to show that men serving in an elder role is just simply God’s plan by design.
And if God wants His church to be led by elders who are men, then shouldn’t we embrace that?
Shouldn’t we say, thank you, Lord? Shouldn’t we align our wills to God’s plan? And shouldn’t we work hard to raise up godly men who will lead and teach well and be willing to trust God even when we don’t understand? In fact, here’s what I know and believe. It’s always better to live at the center of God’s revealed will Always better to live at the center of His will than it is to substitute my will based upon what I think is right or based upon what culture says is right.
In fact, if you want an illustration of that, go back to King Saul. Remember how King Saul ignored God’s specific plan for offering sacrifices? That God said it’s only going to be done through the Aaronic priesthood, but King Saul came along, he was impatient, he presumptuously did his own will above God’s will when he sacrificed a lamb thinking that it would give him favor with God. Well, guess what? It didn’t happen.
And the entire Old Testament is a long record that testifies to the best because. The best because is always found in doing God’s will. I like what Tim Keller said. He said this about the best because: Sometimes we need to do things just because God says so. Do God’s will, not because it’s exciting, though it eventually be an adventure, Not because it will meet your needs, though it will eventually be a joy.
Not because you understand why this is the path of wisdom, though it will eventually become clearer. Do it because he’s your Lord and he’s your Savior and you are not. Do it because it’s the law of God, and if you do it, if you obey him, even in the little things, you will know God, know yourself, find God’s grace, love your neighbor, and simply honor him as God. Not a bad deal.
So, let me say it again. When it comes to leading the church, I think this passage is teaching us that God wants the church to be led by elders, men, qualified and called men. Now, that does not mean that women can’t serve in teaching or leadership roles. They can, and they have. Take, for instance, Phoebe.
You know Phoebe’s story? Romans 16:1-2. Paul is writing the same guy that wrote the words in 1 Timothy 2. He’s writing about Phoebe, and he says, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many people, including me.
So, that’s high commendation. She’s in an elevated leadership role. She was a helper of many, including the Apostle Paul. She played an important, significant part of leading in the church at Corinth and what they were doing there. In fact, she even delivered the letter of Romans to the church in Rome, which means when she made that delivery, there was a good chance that she probably read the entire letter to the church.
She was a woman of immense value and worth. And you see the same thing played out in other women that are mentioned in the New Testament, like Priscilla and Mary and Trophimus and Trophimus. And the Lord’s workers, Euodia and Syntyche and Junia, the daughters of Philip who are said to have prophesied, all women in vital roles of ministry in the church. And quite frankly, one of the ways to just look at a woman’s role in the church is just to look at the general commands of Scripture, such as the Great Commission, go and make disciples, teach them to do all that I’ve commanded you. He’s not talking to just men on this one.
He’s talking to the entire body of Christ, and Lord help us, we need to go way beyond the men if we’re ever going to do the work of making disciples that God has called us to do. In Colossians 3:16, another general command, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another. This is all genders. With all wisdom, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. That is a responsibility of both men and women alike.
And I just love seeing and hearing about how that plays itself out in the church and even outside the church where God is doing incredible work through women, women like Beth Moore and Kay Arthur and Audrey Johnson, Amy Carmichael in the past, Elisabeth Elliot, all before they died, women who’ve embraced the Scripture commands and yet thrived in serving God faithfully in leadership and teaching roles. Think about the significant impact even to this day in Kay Arthur Ministries, Precept Ministries, that are reaching 75 million households every day in more than 30 countries. Thank God for Kay Arthur. And Beth Moore, whose studies are reaching people all around the world. And God only knows how many people are being impacted by Bible Study Fellowship, BSF, a ministry that was started by Mrs. Johnson, a ministry that is in 34 countries today and reaching men and women of all ages all around the world.
Thank God! See, the point is, women can and should excel in ministry, which includes areas of leadership and areas of teaching. In the church. So, when Bernice and Cathy led the worship ministries in Bethany, Phoenix, Arizona, for them and me, actually, it was one of the best seasons of ministry that I’ve shared in 35 years of leading as a lead pastor. And what I want to say is this.
Here at Bridges, I believe there are a number of untapped opportunities for women to lead and to teach. I really believe that. If that is how God has gifted you, then we’d love to add our support. We’d love to add our training. We love to release you into ministry.
There’s just so much more that can be done. I mean, the latest example of this is how Darrell Winslow has stepped into a leadership role with Divorce Care. She’s just felt burdened by this. She felt she needed to be doing this, and she stepped in this leadership role. She pulled a team together.
She’s the leader of this ministry, and it’s already begun to impact people. Well, that said, there’s one final matter here that we’ve got to at least touch on, even if we don’t understand. It’s verse 15, a final matter. And I think Paul brings this up because he wants to lift the spirits of women so that they see the incredible impact opportunities that they have. He says, verse 15, but women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety.
That’s one of those verses, you know, you come across in the Bible, you want to say, I’m going to sit down with the guy that wrote that verse. I’d like to have a conversation with him about that verse. So, let’s just talk together about what in the world were you saying here? Because quite frankly, nobody knows. I mean, you can look at the biblical scholars, you can look at the biblical teachers on this, and it’s like, I don’t have any clue what this means.
Everybody’s got an opinion. That’s why there’s so many opinions about what it could mean. I actually think David Platt’s opinion is the best, that we should just summarize this passage with 3 words: God only knows. I think those are great. We could be sure about a few things.
We know Paul’s speaking to women. We know Paul does not have Eve in mind because the they is plural, so it’s not singular, and the will be saved is future, so it’s not Eve, which means Paul is talking about women plural after Eve and even after Christ, which tells us that this is— he’s not thinking about Jesus’ mom, Mary. We also know that the word saved that’s used here means rescue or deliverance from sin, but Paul couldn’t have been thinking that women are saved from sin by childbearing or that they maintain their salvation by having more and more babies. That can’t be what it’s saying. That would contradict the gospel, right?
It would contradict the gospel that the Apostle Paul preached where he said that salvation is by faith through faith alone. Salvation is by faith, not by works. If Paul believed that a woman must bear a child to be saved, then he would have not encouraged single women to remain single in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. He would have said to them, hey, you better hurry up and get married and have kids because your eternity depends on it. That’s what he would have said.
So, what’s the point? I’m going to give you maybe this, okay? Maybe this. Even though, I think it could be said, even though a woman was a part of bringing sin into the world, women, through the bearing of children, have the opportunity and privilege to lead many out of sin and into godliness. Even though a woman was a part of bringing sin into the world, women have the privilege and opportunity to lead many out of sin and into godliness.
Women can do something men can’t do. They can bear children, impact their children with her— last part of verse 15— with her faith, with her love, with her holiness, with her modesty.
Wow! You know, our culture wants to move toward gender neutrality, gender neutrality. And it can try to minimize differences between males and females and moms and dads, but one distinction is going to remain. No guys are giving birth.
No guys are giving birth. Only women can do that. Only women will do that. Paul, in saying this though, is not saying that all women will have children. He’s not saying that any more than he’s saying all women will get married.
Paul is speaking in general terms, and in doing so, he’s elevating— listen— he’s elevating a key role that women have that men will never have.
Only women can birth children and then in a special way save the world through the bearing and the raising of children. So, if you ask me, there’s no greater privilege and responsibility than that, that women and moms in particular, birth or adoptive moms, have a unique God-given role and calling to impact the generation after generation in ways that men will never impact them. I actually think about the home that I grew up in and the impact that my mom had on our lives. I think about the impact that Bernice has had on the lives of our children. I think about the impact that Bernice is now having on the lives of our grandchildren.
Listen, I’m a pastor, which is well and good, and I thank God for the privilege to be in this role. But if you ask my kids, who’s had the greater impact on your life, your mom or your dad? If you ask my kids that question, you know what they’re going to say? They’re going to say the unpastor. That’s Bernice, the unpastor.
They’re not going to say Pastor Dave. See, I think what this is saying is, women, don’t minimize the role that God has given you in this world. Whether you have or don’t have children, whether you have a husband or don’t have a husband, don’t in any way minimize your God-given roles. Don’t in any way minimize your gifts and your talents that God has given you. They are of immense value, even though you should not serve in the office of pastor, teacher, or elder.
That’s what I think it’s saying. Now, when you come to a passage like this, you can dismiss it. You say, I don’t believe it. Go back to creation on this one, though. Or you could say, I’m going to struggle with this.
I’m going to pray over this. I’m going to ask God to show me. I’m going to ask God to direct my life, because ultimately, the important thing here is for us to hear from God, isn’t it? That’s the important thing, is to open our ears up and hear from God. What is God saying?
To set aside our bias and our desires and to sincerely seek out what God wants for my life, for his church that he can lead any way he wants, is to just put myself under his plan. Don’t insert your will above God’s. Allow God’s will to dictate what it is that he wants for your life and for the church. That’s where ministry impact’s found. That’s where joy is found for both men and women alike, complementing each other in the ministry, doing all that God wants us to do for his glory and for others’ good.
Let’s pray.
Lord, thanks for helping us work through a challenging text that reveals your plan. We may not understand it all, and Some ways we may be completely frustrated, but Lord, may we find in the midst of even that frustration or that relief a sense of joy in knowing that you have a plan and you have a place for each one of us. So help us find that place. May we live in the center of your will, doing what pleases you as men and women. In and outside the church, becoming the people that you want us to be, in loving relationships with each other, and most of all, in a loving relationship with your Son, Jesus Christ.
Lord, help us take what we’ve heard today, work it out. May it make a difference in our lives. May it cause us to honor you more. For we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
