MY Call? Shouldn't it be GOD'S Call?

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Bros. Jerry and Steven:

Good to here from you on this topic. I stayed out of it the last time as I felt 
that I wasn't up to discussing it, but now I feel I'm going to throw my hat in 
the ring. My point in this post is to agree with what you said and then tell 
you why you are wrong. If that makes sense to you then you probably don't need 
to read further :-)

The New Testament does place limitations on the role of women in church 
leadership. It also grants them certain rights and privileges. Without looking 
at the two parts of this issue, we'll keep going around in circles.

First of all we need to learn to spell. Paul wrote "I suffer not a woman to 
TEACH." This topic goes on and on about women preaching. These are two 
different things. In the Great commission Jesus tells the disciples twice to 
teach (Matt 28:19 & 20), the 5-fold ministry listing in Ephesians includes a 
teacher, but no preacher, Jesus was often called "teacher" but not preacher.

Preaching in the New Testament is the presentation of a collection of facts to 
an individual or group, so that upon reception of these facts, they can make a 
decision, preferably the one desired by the "preacher."John preached repentance 
unto the house of Israel, Paul preached the Gospel to the Gentiles. Preaching 
is always directed at those who have not heard or are not part of the group. 
This is different from what we usually consider "preaching" today, where an 
individual speaks to a group who are already aware of the information and have 
made a response. This is not New Testament preaching. The difference between 
New Testament preaching and testifying is that preaching involves the 
recitation of a certain body of facts while testimony describes one's personal 
experience. If you look at Peter's first two sermons in Acts we have an example 
of preaching, the facts are almost identical and there is a drive for a 
decision, while if we look at his sermon to Cornelius there is a mixture of 
preaching and testimony.

Teaching involves the study and interpretation of the body of Scripture to meet 
the needs of a community of faith In the Great commision he told the apostles 
to make disciples then teach them. Jesus in the sermon on the mount used his 
authority to redefine what God expected of the Jews. Paul dealt with church 
issues such as spiritual gifts and church order through teaching, setting into 
place conventions and regulations which were not there before through 
interpreting Old Testament scripture. To teach requires authority on the part 
of the teacher,since frequently they are going beyond what was previously in 
place.

So now that we have distinguished between these two activities, let us look at 
Scripture and see what women can do.

First women can pray and prophesy (1COR 11). How this relates to Paul's 
admonition for women to keep silent in the church is unclear and different 
views have been raised. What is clear is that they are permitted this activity 
as members of the body of Christ. We read numerically of more female prophets 
in the New Testament than male. Also the ministry of prayer is open to 
them.Women may also function as deacons. The word used of Phoebe in Romans is 
the female form of the Greek word for deacon. I believe this ties in with 
Paul's discussion of the widows' order in the Patorals, but more about that 
later.

The big question is can women preach. As I said, preaching in New Testament 
times carried a different connotation than today. The two examples we will 
consider are the woman at the well and Priscilla. The woman at the well came 
face to face with Jesus and had His Messiahship revealed to her. She then 
""testified" to those of her city and "many...believed" because of that 
testimony (John 4:39-42). There were others who chose not to accept her report 
and waited until the heard Jesus himself, with the implication being that they 
found the testimony of a woman untrustworthy.

Priscilla "expounded" (ektithemi, one of the wors used for "to declare") unto 
him the way of God along with Aquila her husband. We must keep in mind that at 
this point Apollos was not in the church, and after his coming into the church 
we do notread of such an "expounding" going on again.

What I draw from this is that the rules are different depending on the 
audience. Paul in 1Timothy 2:12, binds teaching to usurping authority, in the 
context of church government. It was acceptable for the Samaitan woman to 
testify to the lost Samaritans of her experience with Christ and move them to 
belief. We do not read that she became their teacher, nor do we read that she 
pastored them. Priscilla took the already established facts about Christ and as 
part of a team with her husband, opened them up to Apollos. We do not read that 
she taught in any of the churches she was a part of, or that this relationship 
continued after Apollos came into truth.

A woman may testify to those who are lost or share the facts of Christ or 
salvation with the lost, regardless of gender. There is no usurpation of 
authority here since these are not members of the church. However, Scripture 
speaks plainly about those who would have women as teachers of the entire 
church body, or those who would function in the role of pastors. It is wrong. 
What of the examples of Pentecostal women who "preached" with success? Well, if 
we consider the history of many of them, we see that the majority of their 
ministry consisted of teaching sisters or sharing with the lost, both of which 
are approved activities. As far as when they went beyond the biblical 
boundries, I feel that we as the church must accept some of the blame for that 
by reason of having left unrestored the vehivle for women's ministry.

Paul, i 1Timothy 5:3-16 and Titus 2:3-5, outlines God's plan for women's 
ministry inside the church. Those women who are elder, freed from the ministry 
to husband and family, and having gaciousness and hospitality as gifts are to 
become part of the church's ministry team in a salaried or stipended position. 
"Honour widows that are widows indeed", as many of us have heard in tithing and 
stewardship sermons the word honour used here refers to financial remuneration 
"let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour". SO the same 
passage which is used to teach the paid ministry also teaches that these widows 
are to be a paid ministry. Yet this is ignored in the Pentecostal church today, 
while the paying of pastors gets a fair bit of attention.

These widows are to be a round-the clock prayer team, praying for the church 
and its members, showing hospitality to visitors and teaching the younger women 
in the church. This is so contrary to what often happens today where the 
younger women end up in the roles of nursery workers, Sunday school teachers, 
etc, when they should still be learning and serving their own families.

In Titus we read about the curriculum that they are to teach: to be sober, to 
love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at 
home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God might not be 
blasphemed. These Godly women can share their experiences and wisdom (indeed 
the Greek word here rendered teach literally means "to share wisdom") with 
those who most need, who are just discovering the chalenges of marriage, 
parenthood, and what unique temptations and struggles lie in wiat for those who 
would desire to be Godly women. This ministry would relieve much of the 
counselling burden from the elders' shoulders in a church and reduce the need 
for preaching cetain topics (The "clothesline" passages in the New Testament 
are few and far between because the topic was being covered by those with more 
experience). I believe that by not restoring this branch of the ministry and 
thus permitting women to fulfill a called, godly ministry that is uniquelt 
theirs, we have caused discontent in the church and promoted the spread of such 
habits as gossip and backbiting.

We have denied women the opportunity to share their wisdom in a recognized 
setting, to be mentors and role models and to contibute to the spiritual growth 
of the body by producing Godly children and being at peace with their spouses.

It is organizational sin on the part of the modern Pentecostal church to allow 
this portion of New Testament truth to continue to fall by the wayside. Ladies 
groups do not meet this need. They are comprised of all ages and are not 
supported. The argument that we do not need to support widows because the 
governemtn does so doesn't cut it any more than the suggestion that we do not 
have to pay the ministry because welfare is available.

I'll stop here. I hope I've done more than just get both sides mad at me. I 
pray you'll consider what I've written and use it to make corrections to your 
position before the discussion continues. One other issue that hasn't been 
addressed by today's Pentecostal movement is the fact that the ability to 
communicate is not farther reaching than in Paul's day. How does his injunction 
against teaching apply to such iten\ms as books, tapes and Web sites? Just 
thouht I'd throw that in to try to move things forward.

In Christ,

Frank Vandenburg