Stop Skipping Over the Tough Stuff

So over the years I have encountered a good number of people who question certain areas of scripture. There are people who argue one interpretation over another. People who believe in application of all scripture regardless of culture and those who interpret it based on culture today. Of course it’s always the controversial verses, the ones whose application is up for a good portion of debate.

Personally, I have always sort of just shut down, so to speak, when such areas come up in conversation. My mind aches even in beginning to think through the issue at hand. Trying to actually get to the bottom of it and figure out the “truth” of the Truth is just too much. I know it is True. Areas such as these have never caused me to doubt the Truth or application of scripture in my life. Despite my overwhelming lack of pursuing such knowledge in the past, the Lord ahs begun to birth a hunger in me for the answers…or maybe not even the answers perse, rather a hunger for more. He has placed in me a desire to submit to the process…to learn from the process…to be content in the process…to love the process!

So as I share some of what I have been searching out the past few days, my desire is not to claim to have all the answers or even the right answers. My intention in sharing is simply to encourage submission to the process…to feed this new found hunger the Lord has placed in me to learn from His Word, to really know His word. I don’t want to gloss over the tough stuff in scripture; it wouldn’t be tough if it wasn’t important to our lives as believers. When I look at my life, it is always in the tough seasons, the difficult conversations, the confusion that God does the most transforming work in my heart. Similarly, I think addressing these tough issues, having the hard conversations, pushing through the confusion actually engrains these precious Words from scripture upon our hearts all the more, enabling our minds to be renewed and the heart to be changed.

First off I learned that there are thee ways to interpret and view scripture:
1.) Literalism: hold to the principle and the practice outlined in scripture.
2.) Liberalism: because culture doesn’t correlate, we will reject the principle as well.
3.) Cultural transposition: principles are timeless and cultural expressions are timely.

Let’s look at 1 Timothy 2: 8-15.
I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. 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 to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, the 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.

So out of this passage, there are really three root issues being addressed: prayer, modesty, and authority.
Principle:
• Prayer
• Modesty
• Authority

Each of these principles are expressed certain ways in this passage. The ways they are expressed are obviously relative to culture at the time. So then, we must look at each cultural expression and determine if such an expression is still appropriate within culture today. Or maybe not even whether or not it is appropriate, but whether or not it is relevant and pertains to us.

Here are the ways prayer, modesty, and authority are expressed in this passage.

Cultural Expression:
• Lift up holy hands
• No braids, pearls, gold, or expensive clothes
• Silence, teaching

So then we must sit down and ask ourselves some questions. First off, when you pray, do you lift up holy hands? If I were to answer that, I would say sometimes, but not always. Thus, I would say that this cultural expression of prayer is optional. Second, I would ask myself if I wear braids, pearls, gold or expensive clothing? Well, yes I have worn all of those, but I still dress modestly. Thus, perhaps the definition of modesty as it pertained to Timothy’s culture has changed in modern-day. As a result, I would say once again the cultural expression of modesty in this passage is optional.

Now for the big one. Third, are women in the church silent? Well, I know I’m not! In fact, I always feel like what I contribute to a discussion or study is valued by men, not looked down upon. Thus, authority is no longer expressed by women’s silence. Speaking in the church is, once again, an option. I also think that the context of the text is incredibly important. If you know anything about Ephesus (which is where Timothy is at when he gets this letter from Paul) then you would know that at the time, there was widespread worshipping of a goddess named Artimus going on and there was a lot of bickering and arguing among the people at this time. Perhaps Paul makes this statement about women being quiet simply because there are already so many voices arguing back and forth, the last thing that was needed to add to the noise are the voices of women amidst the arguing. All of this to say, the cultural expression of authority today is not in the direct silence of women, rather we expect females to have a voice.

The other aspect of this third cultural expression is teaching and the role women should or should not play in terms of this authority. I am not going to lie, out of all of these issues, this one has always been a tough one for me to even consider coming to terms with and wrestling through because I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like the conclusion I came to. Thus, this is a BIG step for me in the process! Thus far, every cultural expression we have discussed has been optional in its modern-day application. Is this aspect of women teaching optional as well?

What is it that bothers us so much about this statement in scripture? Is it the “teach” that bothers us? Or is it the “authority” that bothers us? Personally I have no desire to stand before a group as a teacher of anything, so I guess it really isn’t the teaching aspect of this verse that is so troublesome for me. Rather, it strikes me as a battle of authority…or a lack there of in my case (as a woman). I mean even I don't have a burning desire to stand before a crowd and teach or share, I want to have the right to! After listening to a pastor a couple nights ago preach regarding this very issue, my heart has not only begun to soften to this concept, but more importantly I understand why God inspired Paul to write regarding such an issue and why He orchestrated it this way from day one.

First off, in rearguards to the issue of women teaching, I do NOT believe this one is optional in contrast to the issues previously discussed. If you keep reading a few more verses, it says in chapter 3 verse 2, “Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife…” Thus, one qualification of being in a teaching role within the church is to be a husband of one wife…in order to be a husband (at least when the text was written) it was assumed you were also a man.

So then, if we do not believe women should teach in the body, then how exactly does that play out in the real world? I mean, just sitting here I can name countless women I know who teach. This bothers me because I know that some of these women are solid believers and I learn so much from the Truth they teach. This pastor who taught on this scripture a few nights ago talked about the importance of a woman’s role in ministry. Take a youth ministry for example...it would not be very effective if there was no women in some form of leadership to minister to and encourage the girls within the ministry. This particular church body reconciled this issue by taking away the titles of men and women and simply calling everyone who works within the youth ministry “staff,” so as not to demean one sex over the other. Also, in the youth groups, usually most of the high schoolers (and even some college students) are yet to really act as “men” thus a woman in leadership over them is not an issue. Also, I think it is beneficial for women to get up and share testimony or talk about an issue before the body at times. In this situation, I think if the elders of the church introduced the woman to the body and expressed their support of her sharing then ultimately the authority still lies with the elders as it should. The issue becomes then how often can this woman share? When does it become too much in the sense that her doctrine is being imposed on the body and the authority is now inappropriate? I don’t claim to have all the answers with any of this…still wrestling through it in my own life but these are just some of the thoughts occupying my mind today.

Anyhow, even though I don't understand all of the ins and outs of how this statement applies modern day, I do know that the Lord did not create women to be in authority over one another or over men...we need godly men desperately! It is really interesting that this particular verse came up because I have really been challenged by one of my roomates to study this role of a "spiritual authority" or a fatherly figure in a young woman's life over the past week or so and I have heard lots of differing thoughts on the matter, but one thing I do know is that girls need daddys!!!! Espcially in the society we live in today where over half of marriages are ending in divorce causing the way God intended for daddy's to father thier children and mom's to mother their children to drift far from the way he designed it to be. So at this point even as I struggle to really come to terms with the punch this statement packs so to speak, I hold firm to the truth that girls need dads...why? Well, becuase girls simply can't go at it alone, or even just with other girls...we need to be led and loved!