The past several Bible studies that I’ve led at Ironworks have had to do with this whole notion of what roles women play in the Christian church. This has certainly been the biggest challenge for me as a teacher and a small-group leader in that it involves tactfully navigating highly contentious issues.
On the one hand, I’m flirting with an idea of equality that would instantly label me as a flaming liberal and considered theologically weak in some circles. For, indeed, the churches that have most quickly espoused complete equality of the sexes, it would seem, have just as quickly unburdened themselves of a meaningful Christology. Gender equality, one would surmise, is a slippery slope that leads inevitably to a flimsy, humanistic theology.
On the other hand, though, I risk being labeled a raging fundamentalist. To even imply that women might not be “equals” with men (whatever that means) will, in the best of situations, raise the eyebrows of some, and, in the worst, raise the ire of others. To espouse such notions would be to take seriously the scribblings of a dead religion that has only sought to dehumanize the race in an effort to maintain patriarchal power structures.
And so it goes. I exaggerate a bit only to bring out the difficulty in trying to find a true, Biblical solution to the question of how men and women function together in the church. Forget social norms for a moment. This is an issue that has been debated for hundreds of years, and I’ve yet to see a compelling argument that summarizes a cut-and-dry solution. Even in my own experience, I’ve seen several different answers to the question of equality: InterVarsity believes in complete equality of the sexes, but they’re a parachurch organization that might not be strictly bound to church dictates laid out by the Scriptures; our old church stratified men and women, determining that women were not fit to teach over men; The Village Church seems to compromise the two by allowing women to participate in every aspect of church leading, short of ordination (becoming a pastor/shepherd). In passing, I’ve also been to a funeral where a woman preached and to a wedding that was conducted by both a woman and man.
Through much prayer and study of the Scriptures in the last two months, I’ve been having a great time uncovering some of the issues and mysteries surrounding this question. It’s also made for exciting opportunities in Ironworks to engage our minds and have great conversation around the issue. I’ve also learned quite a bit about taking risks in leadership. Here are the passages we’ve looked at in the past four studies:
* Acts 18:18-28
* Galatians 3:15-29
* 1 Timothy 2
* 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
Throughout the passages, I’ve tried to maintain an overarching focus on the context of what is being said. Each of those passages have verses that, when taken out of their context, could lead to confusing or heavy-handed beliefs about what women and men should be doing in the church. However, believing that the Scriptures are consistent, our goal at Ironworks has been to read the passages in both the context of the book (i.e. What is Paul saying to Timothy? What are Priscilla and Acquilla trying to accomplish? What other instruction has Paul given to the Galatian and Corinthian churches at this point?) as well as the context of other books (i.e. Do Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 14 contradict what he said in Galatians 3?). In striving for this level of intellectual integrity, I think we’ve made some great gains in grappling with the question of how gender plays into the Kingdom.
Our most recent study was on 1 Corinthians 11, which, as it turns out, is one of the most bizarre and challenging passages on this topic. I had originally intended to give an inductive study of the passage, but, over the course of my study, found myself drowning in meanings for the passage. I didn’t get it and couldn’t understand how Paul’s words here seemed to negate everything we’d studied up to this point. I had put my fair share of preparation in (about 3-4 hours by Friday afternoon) and still had very little to show for it–it was depressing.
I did remember running across a study online that not only seemed to be a balanced study of the texts we were looking at, but also purported to resolve the dissonance of 1 Corinithians 11. When I went back and found the study (which, in and of itself, was a miracle), it was like a lifesaver had been thrown to me. I was so enthralled with it that I decided to share it with the group in its entirety. My study plan was this: spend 15 minutes doing objective group observations to effectively present the problem of the passage, spend about 30 minutes reading the lesson, and the remainder of the time in discussion.
I told everyone that I would link over to the study that was read for further reflection. As promised, it’s here: The Writings of Paul – 1 Corinthians 11 & 14. It was part of a series entitled “Women: A Biblical Perspective,” which can be found towards the bottom of this page. As far as I can tell, this study was given by a woman named Nancy Giessler, who serves on the elder board at Valley View Community Church, in Audubon, PA. I invite everyone to check out the study that we read and continue the discussion.
