Women in the Ministry
#5
THERE ARE SO MANY CAUSES that people
are working for today—“Save the whales!”, “Get
back to the earth!”, “Stop pollution!”—but FEW
are working for the cause of Christ. We need to
get back to God. We need to get back to the
way God intended for us to be. And one
problem we are addressing in these messages
is the struggle we have going on between the
men and women in the Church. According to the
men, the women can’t do anything in the ministry
of Christ; and to support their view, the men use
certain Scriptures, some of which we have
already gone over. Many women are restricted
from really fulfilling a part of God that they are
supposed to. Yet we must realize that God puts
callings on people, male and female, both, and
just because a woman happens to be a woman
does not mean that she can’t fulfill the calling
that God has for her life.
Women are a special species, not because
they came out of man, but because they came
out of the heart of God. Although they came
from the side of man in the beginning, they really
came out of the heart of God, because it was the
desire of His heart to make a male and female
side to represent His image and likeness. If we
look at the male-female relationship in that
light—that we’re looking at the image and
likeness of God in the flesh, man and
woman—then we don’t have to veer off and get
into twisted points of view about our rights and
roles in regards to each other.
This is why we are taking so much time to
cover this subject of women in the ministry. It is
a tough subject and it needs a forceful approach
in order to break through the centuries of
ignorance and bondage which have built up.
What we have today is a widespread reversal
of roles. Women, for the most part, have
become sick and tired of male oppression, and
there has been plenty of male oppression in all
societies, America too. In some third-world
countries the male oppression is total, and the
women will remain in that bondage until the
people receive the clear light.
There are roles for women in the home, such
as raising children, but that’s not all that women
should be limited to. They have just as much
right to Christ and the ministry of Christ as a man
does. Let’s not forget that. They have just as
much right because God is not a respecter of
persons. That means God does not care what
sex, color, or nationality you are. And for men
to think that they’re the only ones who can bring
forth the Word, that they’re the only ones that
can be behind the pulpit, that they’re the only
ones that can be spiritual, they’re wrong.
We have seen in many instances, because of
the male oppression, women have rebelled and
gone overboard, opposing it to such a degree
that they went off and presented their bodies in
unnatural ways to other women and started
hating the male sex. And even the women that
don’t turn lesbian have a tendency to develop a
hatred towards men. We have churches full of
women who are very oppressed and very
abused and used and pushed down, and yet
they struggle and hang on just so they can be
used in the small capacity which they are
allowed. How much better would it be if they
could be used in bigger and better capacities of
which they are capable! But first we need to
educate the leaders so they will recognize and
understand what Paul was really saying in
certain Scriptures where he mentions the role of
women in the Church.
Now I want to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
11 verse 3. It says, “But I would have you
know, that the head of every man is Christ;
and the head of the woman is the man; and
the head of Christ is God.” We’ve studied out
this subject of headship before and we’ve seen
that the headship Paul is talking about here has
nothing to do with superiority or superior rank at
all. Then it says in verse 4, “Every man
praying or prophesying, having his head
covered, dishonoreth his head.” I wanted to
read this Scripture because I want to bring out a
point dealing with Jewish traditions in the early
Church. It is vital that we understand what
part the traditions of the Jews played in the
early Church.
Now just to cut through a lot of confusion, the
best way I can explain this verse is to say that
the Christians at Corinth were carrying over
Jewish traditions into the Church. The
Corinthian church was a Gentile church and not
so much a Jewish church. It had more Gentile
members than Jewish members, but there were
Jewish ideas creeping in.
One way to look at these issues we are
talking about is to ask yourself, “Why would Paul
be pushing Jewish traditions regarding head
coverings and male supremacy onto Gentile
converts to Christianity?” He would not! Don’t
forget that Paul was a converted Pharisee, and
if anybody knew the traditions and customs of
the Jews and how they were not part of the New
and Living Way, Paul did. And it is because of
this very reason that he took so much time in
dealing with the new Christians, helping them to
keep from being ensnared in the Jewish
traditions of men.
The situation Paul was facing involved
Judaizers who were trying to push off Jewish
traditions onto the Gentile Christian converts.
These Judaizers were the Jewish converts who
were still heavily influenced by their Jewish
tradition. It wasn’t the unsaved Jews who were
causing the internal problems. The orthodox
Jews considered all Christians heretics and had
nothing to do with them, except to persecute
them. It was the Jewish converts who were still
full of their past traditions who were trying to
push them off onto the others. They thought that
the old Jewish traditions and the new Spirit of
Christ made a pretty good balance. Well, Paul
knew better, and he took on the difficult task of
educating the new Christians about the danger
of Jewish traditions and the doctrines of men.
So, if you don’t know this background
information, then you’ll never understand the
points I’m going to bring out when I get further
into this study. You’ll be lost like a ball in high
weeds, and many are. That’s the reason so
many don’t understand the subject of women in
the ministry. They fail to go back and study the
historical facts, they neglect to study the customs
and traditions that were influencing society at the
time when this was written. Instead they just
believe what someone has told them and take
that for the truth, even though it has kept
generations of women in bondage of fear and
ignorance, preventing them from fulfilling the
purposes that God has for them in the ministry.
“If we look at the male-female
relationship in that light—that
we’re looking at the image and
likeness of God in the flesh, man
and woman—then we don’t have
to veer off and get into twisted
points of view about our rights
and roles in regards to each
other.”
Another important point of historical
background in the letters of Paul to the
Corinthians, which we have already addressed
to a degree, was that Paul was answering
questions that were written to him via letters
from the Corinthians. For instance, in verses
5-6 of chapter 11 Paul is answering their
questions regarding the subject of head
coverings. We need to understand that he was
responding to letters, not laying out doctrine.
And if you don’t believe what I’m saying, you can
go back all the way to chapter 7 and all the way
through chapter 14 and you can find times where
Paul refers to something in the letter that
someone had written him. He says, “Concerning
such and such...”, then it goes on to talk about
that subject. And people without this
understanding just assume that Paul was laying
down laws like the Ten Commandments, when
in reality all he was doing was restating their
questions and then answering them. But people
want to twist these Scriptures around and make
laws out of them because it pleases their
religious flesh, or because they just don’t know
any better.
As we begin to add up all these points we
can start to make sense out of what Paul was
actually saying. You might wonder why I am
taking so much time to deal with these topics.
The reason is that there are still many church
people that are deceived and believe that
women have no place in the ministry. And
another point of contention is the subject of head
coverings: whether or not people should pray or
prophesy with their head covered or uncovered.
These type of things were a big deal back in
Paul’s day, and he had to answer their questions
concerning these matters. And all the
controversy was stirred up when the Judaizers
would bring in their traditions and try to get the
rest of the Body to follow them. Inevitably
someone would say to themselves, “This just
doesn’t sound quite right to me. I’m going to
write Paul and see what he has to say about the
matter.” So it was Paul’s job to straighten out all
these difficulties, and God chose the right man
for the job. The fact that Paul was a converted
Pharisee gave him an advantage against the
Judaizers because he could recognize their
traditions quickly, and he was well acquainted
with the subtlety of religious demons. So Paul
was dealing with Jewish traditions which had
nothing to do with what God actually has to say
about these subjects.
Something else that we should look at is
where Paul talks about women praying or
prophesying in verse 5 of chapter 11, and then in
verse 34 of chapter 14 he seemingly contradicts
himself by saying that women should remain
silent in the Church. The latter text reads, “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.” Now I mentioned in the
first broadcast and I want to say it again, I
challenge anyone to show me one place in the
law of the Old Testament where it says women
are to be silent. Don’t bother to look because
there isn’t one. Then what “law” was Paul
referring to? He was referring to the Jewish
rabbinical traditions that had come into being
and were later collected in the Talmud. These
manmade laws were considered “law” by many
Jews, and obviously the Jewish converts were
using them to back up their claim that women
should remain silent.
Back to the point I was making. Here we
have a contrast. If Paul was saying over here in
chapter 11 that it was alright for women to pray
and prophesy, which obviously entailed speaking
out in the congregation and letting the Lord move
through them, and then he comes over here in
chapter 14 and contradicts himself by saying that
women must remain silent in the church, what is
going on? Is Paul contradicting himself? NO!
Paul is answering their questions, and the way it
was translated makes it seem like he was
instituting laws.
Well, Paul was not making a law in chapter
14 that women couldn’t speak in the Church. In
fact, he admonishes the Christians, male and
female, all through the book of Corinthians to
pray and prophesy and speak in tongues. All
these things are done in the congregation, and
he never once mentions any restrictions on the
women. This issue of “silence” only arises in
chapter 14 where it is obviously just a case of
Paul stating their question which had been
written to him, and then answering it. As we
have shown before, the proof of this is in verse
36 where Paul says, “WHAT! came the Word of
God out from you? or came it unto you
only?” He is referring back to the statements
which he quoted from them in verses 34 and 35
about women being silent. In other words, Paul
is asking them, “Are you Corinthians now
receiving commandments from God?”,
implying that they had fallen into error and
thought themselves more spiritual than they
really were, particularly since these
“commandments” they were receiving were in
direct contradiction to what he, as a true Apostle
of God, had always taught.
Here are some of the questions we must ask:
—Who said women must be silent?
—Why can’t they speak and why is it
shameful?
—Must they be silent only in church and if so,
why?
—Should they be silent at all times or only on
special occasions?
—Does this restriction include praying,
singing, praising and prophesying?
—Is this restriction binding upon all women
for all time or was it a local thing?
—Where and what is the law that
underscores this restriction?
—What if the Christian woman’s husband
was a practicing pagan?
—What does subjection have to do with
silence?
—Did Paul assume all women to be married,
and if not, what about the unmarried women?
These are some very pointed, valid questions
that need to be answered before we make a law
out of two verses in chapter 14, condemning
women to silence in the Church.
Now I’ve heard people who believe these two
Scriptures (I Cor. 14:34-35) to be a cardinal
doctrine argue that, “God said it because it’s in
the Word of God and I believe it, and that settles
it.” All I have to say is go ahead and be stupid!
And usually when you run across men that are
so pig-headed and so belligerent and so
anti-woman, you see they carry an aura of
hatred for women, which tells me that they have
a lot of problems in their lives that need to be
resolved. They are hating a part of God. If you
hate the opposite sex to such a degree that you
won’t allow women to open their mouths in the
assembly, then you’re hating a part of God. And
I’ve actually seen whole congregations ruled by
this spirit, and I’ve met men who preached this
type of mixed-up doctrine about women keeping
silent.
“If you hate the opposite sex to
such a degree that you won’t
allow women to open their
mouths in the assembly, then
you’re hating a part of God.”
These Scriptures in I Corinthians chapter 14
bother a lot of people. They bothered me for
years, and I’ve studied these Scriptures
extensively because my wife certainly has a
calling. She has a calling, she prays and
prophesies and teaches and preaches. And
men get upset with her because she has a
greater anointing than most men I’ve ever met.
Too many men get jealous and they would like it
if she never had anything to say. And I always
ask them, “If you are so bothered by a woman
ministering, why don’t you get involved in the
ministry and preach?” I ask lots of men, “If you
think that you’re so big and hot in God, and you
have so much in the Lord, then why don’t you
have something to say?” Why does God use
women in the ministry? It’s because men don’t
have too much to say. They do a lot of huffing
and puffing, and a lot of boasting and bragging
and beating on their chest, but they really don’t
have too much to say.
Now I’m not belittling men or saying that God
doesn’t use men under the anointing, because
He does. But I’m trying to break through some
traditions that plague our churches in America,
and plague the Body of Christ around the world.
We’re dealing with women on a worldwide basis.
Whether they’re saved or unsaved, we’re dealing
with women who are oppressed by these
Scriptures men have twisted or misunderstood.
Even the unsaved pagans use the Bible when
they want to oppress their women. How many
men use these Scriptures when they want their
women to “Shut up, stay home, have babies,
cook my food, feed my belly and give me sex
whenever I want it!”? That’s the prevailing
mentality among men around the world and it’s
regurgitating! It’s nauseating to think that men
are such dogs and so carnal that they only look
at women as a hunk of meat and a servant. And
it makes God sick too, because He didn’t create
women to be used and abused by men, He
created them to be actively used in His work
just like everyone else.
The truth is that God created woman to fulfill
the parts that man was lacking and to be a
companion for him. When men and women get
married they become one flesh. They come into
oneness, they become as one, a union to
represent God on this earth. Too many men
don’t see that, or they refuse to recognize that
because they want to remain in the position of
authority. They don’t want to share any kind of
authority with the woman, because of pride and
arrogance and thinking that they are superior.
And they use these Scriptures we’ve mentioned
to keep the women in fear and bondage,
preventing them from fulfilling the purposes that
God has for them.
One of the most common explanations used
to account for these Scriptures in chapter 14 is
that Paul gave these commands concerning
women in order to keep order in the Church.
According to tradition, the women and men were
separated in the assembly, and when a woman
had a question she would disrupt the service by
asking her husband across the room. If this
were true then obviously something would have
to be done to maintain order, and many people
believe that Paul was addressing this problem in
the two Scriptures we have been studying in
chapter 14. However, there isn’t any historical or
Scriptural evidence to support this explanation.
In fact there is much evidence that totally
disqualifies this as a valid explanation.
Nevertheless, many people still think that Paul
mandated silence upon the women in the Body
of Christ, and they use these Scriptures like a
club to dominate over the women.
Now I want to go back over a point I
mentioned earlier and have mentioned before.
It should be noted that I Corinthians 14:34-35
silences only those women with husbands.
Did you notice that? Only the women with
husbands were to be silent, thereby excusing the
unmarried, the divorced, and the widows. It
says, “Let them ask THEIR HUSBANDS at
home.” If this injunction was meant for all
women, then why did Paul single out the wives?
Did he demand or expect all women to marry?
If so, why did he strongly recommend in I
Corinthians 7:7-8 that the unmarried and widows
remain as he was—unmarried. Or were the
wives the only ones talking during the service?
If so, are unmarried women allowed to speak
publicly? These are some difficult questions, yet
they are legitimate and need to be considered.
The problem lies in the fact that nearly
everyone assumes this passage on being “silent”
was Paul’s own statement. This is what I’m
trying to get at. So many people assume that
this is Paul’s own statement yet fail to see that if
this were true he would be directly contradicting
his earlier instructions in I Corinthians 11 where
we read that women can pray and prophesy.
Logically then, we need to ask the question,
“Was this silencing directive Paul’s, or was he
questioning someone else? Was this passage
a direct command of God through Paul to the
women of the Body of Christ, or was Paul
questioning Jewish traditions which were
troubling the Corinthians and of which they had
written to Paul for advice?” Once again, let me
repeat myself until we get this down: the answer
lies in verse 36. I know we’ve already gone over
this but I want to mention it again because our
understanding of this whole message hinges on
this point. Verse 36 of I Corinthians 15 says,
“WHAT! came the Word of God out from you?
or came it unto you only?”
Now, if Paul had just made an absolute
statement in verses 34 and 35, dictating silence
to the women in the assembly, then who is he
talking to when he asks the question, “What!
came the Word of God out from you?”? Was
he referring to himself or was he referring to the
men who had written him a letter asking him
about this question? The Amplified Bible says,
“WHAT! did the Word of the Lord originate
with you [Corinthians], or has it reached only
you?” In other words, Paul was asking them,
“Did you Corinthians make this up (about women
being silent) and are you trying to pass it off as
the Word of the Lord?”
“Verse 36 of I Corinthians 15
says, “WHAT! came the Word of
God out from you? or came it
unto you only?” ...In other
words, Paul was asking them,
“Did you Corinthians make this
up (about women being silent)
and are you trying to pass it off
as the Word of the Lord?” ...Paul
was actually refuting the
teaching that women should
remain silent in the Church...”
Too often we neglect to examine the entire
context surrounding a passage and we get all
mixed up with our doctrines. Paul was actually
refuting the teaching that women should
remain silent in the Church, which was one of
the Jewish traditions that was trying to
infiltrate the Body of Christ and destroy unity
among the brethren. As Christians we need to
study these passages methodically and with lots
of prayer, asking God’s direction so that we don’t
continue to abuse the women in the churches.
Amen.
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