Pastor, Promote God’s Design for Men and Women in the Church

1 Timothy 2:8-15

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Lifting Holy Hands

Paul’s instruction to Timothy in this passage evokes strong feelings in a 21st-century context, which is plagued by constant debate both from inside and outside the church. The first portion of the passage is not too controversial. Paul’s admonition that men pray in every place with holy hands lifted without anger or argument. The idea here is that men are to be known for their constant, holy prayer instead of rage and argumentation. Instead of being known for physical toughness, Paul’s envisions men who are quicker to pray for their wife, their children, and their enemies than they are to raise their voices at them. What a counter-cultural understanding of manhood! Instead of a hostile man that shows little humility, Paul’s ideal of masculinity is marked by holiness and peacemaking. Surely biblical manhood is most clearly seen in a praying man.

Only “Quietness and Submissiveness?”

Paul couples his exhortation regarding men leading spiritually with an admonishment for women to pursue biblical womanhood through spiritual adornment. Just as the essence of biblical manhood is submissive prayer and leadership under Christ, the essence of biblical womanhood is submissive spiritual adornment that reflects the worth and beauty of their being in good works instead of fine clothing. As men lead out spiritually in the context of the local church, the women in the church are not to be neglecting. Though Paul teaches that women should learn in “quietness and submissiveness,” he still intends for them to learn, which was a radical prospect in the first century.

Oppression

Read from the standpoint of the 21st-century, this passage may appear to be oppressive to women, but it is the opposite. Christianity elevates the value and significance of women while understanding the different roles that God gave men and women in the context of the local church and the family. Do some abuse this differentiation of roles? Sadly, yes, but such abuse does not undermine the benefit or the truthfulness of Paul’s principle, which is about the proper functioning of male and female in the context of the church and the home. In the case of this passage, the women in Ephesus were gossiping busybodies (1 Tim. 5:13). Paul’s point is not to suggest that women have no voice in the church or the home (1 Cor. 11:5), but instead, these Ephesian women, in particular, needed to speak less and listen more for the sake of the church and their family. Could this be true of women in the modern church today? Of course, but it would be wrongheaded on the part of the interpreter to assume that Paul’s correction in this passage represents an accurate picture of all women in the church at all times.

Promote the Good Design

Pastor, it would be easy to read this passage and harp on Paul’s admonish for women to learn in quietness and submission in the context of the church while not exercising any authority over men, but I believe this would miss his more significant point. In principle, Paul is as concerned with men bearing the mantle of prayerful leadership in the church as he is with women usurping it. Therefore, while you seek to sort out how it is that Paul would permit a woman to prophecy in the context of the local church (1 Cor. 11:5) while not exercising a teaching authority over a man in the church (1 Tim. 2:12), make sure that you are doing your part to disciple men to be spiritual leaders in their home and the household of God. Make it a point to celebrate the roles that God has assigned to male and female. Promote God’s design of humble, servant leader manhood and submissive, righteous womanhood in the church!

CBH