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Why Men Believe Women Shouldn’t Preach! · Heaven & Healing Podcast

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So if you ask Google the question, can
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women preach? You will almost
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immediately be taken to this verse. I do
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not permit a woman to teach or to
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exercise authority over a man. She must
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remain quiet. For Adam was formed first,
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then Eve. And Adam was not the one
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deceived. It was the woman who was
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deceived and became a transgressor.
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That's 1 Timothy 2 11-14. And then for a
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lot of people, you know, that's just the
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end of the discussion. No, women cannot
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preach. They cannot teach. They cannot
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pastor. They cannot operate in
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leadership ministry. Case closed. The
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end. Period. But what if we reframed it
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from the can women do XYZ thing to did
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God pour out his spirit on sons and
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daughters like he said he would only to
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silence half of the people that he
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himself filled? Or could it be that we
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have misread a corrective passage and
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then turned it into a doctrine that
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benches half of the church? Like, could
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we be the ones at fault instead of God?
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Now look, I do understand that at face
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value that verse, that passage does
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sound very straightforward, like it does
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appear to be a universal prohibition
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sort of thing, which you know, that's
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how many Christians read it and conclude
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it to be that women are permanently
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disqualified from preaching, teaching,
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functioning in any sort of position of
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spiritual leadership within the church
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structure. And I do get it because I
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actually used to do the same because
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honestly it seemed like the proper and
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submissive thing to do. Especially
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because I came out of new age where
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everything was about goddess energy and
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feminism and being a boss babe and being
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above the man. So I was like, "Okay,
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cool. Yeah, I'll be quiet." But you
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know, here's the thing. Here's what
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challenged me too is that if Paul, who
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wrote that verse, that passage, if Paul
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intended to establish a universal rule
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that women must truly never speak
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authoritatively to men in the church in
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any context, then I mean, we would
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obviously expect that rule to be
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consistent
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with the rest of scripture, right? And
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yet, it's not. Like when we surveyed the
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Bible in its totality, we encountered
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literally tons of moments where women
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clearly did speak on behalf of God.
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Sometimes even addressing men in
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positions of authority, by the way. And
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so it's like, well, okay, so either
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scripture contradicts itself or this
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passage is being read in a way that
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ignores its context.
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Because when all these different sort of
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elements are considered, all of these
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things that we're going to dive into
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throughout this video, what we see is
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that the text simply cannot be treated
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as just some simple universal ban on on
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women speaking in the church. Instead,
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it would actually appear to be
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correction aimed at restoring order and
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protecting sound doctrine in a
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congregation that had become unstable.
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So, what does that mean? The first thing
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that we want to remember is that first
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Timothy is a pastoral letter that is
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written to a young church leader dealing
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with issues in this specific
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congregation.
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First Timothy is addressed to Timothy
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and so specifically Paul is writing to
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Timothy to address problems that were
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emerging in the Ephesus church. And when
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we do read the immediate context
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surrounding verses 11 to 14, it's
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actually clear that Paul is correcting
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behavior not just among the women but
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among the men as well. Why? because it's
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about the whole Ephesians church. Okay.
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So just a few verses earlier he's
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instructing men to pray without anger or
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disputing which you know that
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instruction tells us what oh that
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arguments and quarrels were disrupting
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the spiritual life of the community and
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then yes he turns to address certain
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women who were drawing attention to
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themselves through these like outward
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displays of improper conduct. Okay. So
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basically what you see is that overall
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the men and women both alike in this
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particular church were kind of unruly.
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And so the whole section itself reads as
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this pastoral effort to restore order in
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an overall congregation that had become
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chaotic. Okay. So he's responding to a
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particular situation within this
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particular church. Right? not
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necessarily making this sweeping
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doctrine across all of time in history.
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Which begs the question then of okay
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well sure, right? If Paul was addressing
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a specific problem in Ephesus, how do we
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determine that by and large, right? Like
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how do we determine what parts of his
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instructions, not just here, but
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throughout the all of the epistles? How
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do we determine which of his
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instructions are therefore situational
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like you're claiming this to be versus
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what parts are meant to guide the church
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in a broad sense throughout time in
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history. So this is where we step back
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and we recognize how we see the New
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Testament function as a whole which
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comes down to the difference between
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descriptive
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and prescriptive scripture. See, because
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what you do see is that the epistles
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were not written as timeless manuals
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where every sentence operates as a
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universal command for every Christian in
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every culture until the end. Like they
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are correspondents. They are pastoral
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communications sent to specific people
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in churches addressing specific
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circumstances. And now I'm not saying
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that makes them any less authoritative.
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Of course, they're all fully inspired
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scripture, but it does mean that the
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instructions inside of them should be
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read with an awareness of the situation
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that is particularly being addressed.
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Otherwise, we we risk taking a moment of
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guidance of pastoral guidance that is
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meant for a particular context and then
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turning it into a permanent rule that
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honestly the Holy Spirit never intended
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to establish. Does that make sense? And
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so this this whole thing with
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descriptive versus prescriptive, it
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helped me a lot. Okay, basically what
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you see is that a descriptive passage
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tells us what happened or what was said
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in response to XYZ circumstance. And so
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it records an event or a piece of advice
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without necessarily presenting it as the
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sweeping command for the entire church
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throughout the remaining of history. But
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the prescriptive passage on the other
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hand would communicate a directive that
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does clearly apply beyond the immediate
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situation. And these are the kind of
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instructions that are meant to guide
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church life, Christianity in a more
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broad sense. And so you see both types
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of these appear throughout the New
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Testament letters. and recognizing the
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difference between them is essential if
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we want to handle scripture accurately
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and rightly divide the word of God.
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Right? There's a reason it says that to
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rightly divide the word to be as a
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workman, a diligent workman. That means
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that we have to do some digging. We have
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to do some work. So let's do some
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examples. Then you have later in the
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same letter here in the first Timothy
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letter where Paul gives Timothy a very
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practical instruction about his health,
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right? So Timothy apparently struggled
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with like stomach problems and so Paul
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advises him to stop drinking water and
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to use a little wine for the sake of his
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stomach. There's also something there
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about the water quality within the
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Ephesus region that wouldn't have made
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it safe for him to consume. on top of
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the stomach thing. So anyway, the point
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is that statement is part of scripture,
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right? Like drink this wine for your
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stomach. Don't drink the water. But like
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no one reads that in 2026 and assumes
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that we are required to follow that
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medical recommendation, right? Like it
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is quite obviously pastoral advice given
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to a particular individual dealing with
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a particular issue. Okay, so there's
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just one example. Another well-known
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example would appear in Corinthians,
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Paul's letter to the Corinthians, where
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in that church, questions were rising
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about cultural practices around modesty
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and around uh public worship and what
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that looked like. So Paul addresses the
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matter by discussing head coverings,
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right? About how women should conduct
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themselves while they pray and they
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prophesy. The point is, okay, across the
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global church today, believers see that
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about head coverings, about the thing
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with the wine and and and they do not
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universally treat these particular
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instructions as like binding in every
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cultural setting, especially in
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modernity. Why? Because they're not.
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They're not. And what this shows us in
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it of itself, just these two small
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examples, is that we as faithful readers
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of the Bible are in fact able to
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acknowledge that certain apostolic
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instructions were connected to
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circumstances of a particular church
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that would not apply to us later, right?
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Why can't we do that with this one? Now,
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of course, there's the caveat. Not
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saying that this applies to everything
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in the epistles because obviously not
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everything in the epistles is
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situational guidance. Okay? Many
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passages are clearly prescriptive
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meaning that they do communicate
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commands that would apply across time
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and across culture throughout every era
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of the church. And so an example of that
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would be where Paul tells believers to
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flee from sexual immorality, right? He's
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not he's not addressing a temporary
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cultural issue in Corinth that only
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applied to that congregation. This
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command
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reflects a moral standard that is rooted
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in God's design for holiness. And that's
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the key here. And that's something that
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the New Testament consistently affirms
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across multiple letters. You know,
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likewise, scripture commands Christians
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to love one another, right? Forgive one
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another, live lives of humidity, of
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humility, rather, humidity. So those
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instructions, those things are obviously
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not tied to one historical setting,
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right? like they reflect the enduring
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principles that define the character of
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Christian life because they define the
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character of God which is unchanging.
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And so we as Christians, we would
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therefore continue to reflect the
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character of God through obedience
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across time and culture. Does that make
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sense? So that's what I would say the
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difference is between descriptive and
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prescriptive. So you know don't hear
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what I'm not saying. You know the goal
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of careful interpretation like this is
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to not just dismiss all the epistles as
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simply contextual
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but it's also not to flatten everything
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into universal law either. So instead,
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it is to discern which instructions
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address timeless principles for the
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whole church and which ones represent
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specific applications of those
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principles within a particular
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situation. I'll bring it right back to
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the second Timothy 2:15 verse. Be
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diligent workmen and rightly divide the
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word of God to present ourselves
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approved by God. And the way we make
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that distinction, it's not by guessing
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or by choosing the interpretation that
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feels most convenient to us. like that's
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not what I'm suggesting either. But we
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do have to look at the broader teaching
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of scripture to make these applications.
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Okay? We have to examine the historical
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setting of the letters and we have to
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pay attention to how the same topic is
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being handled elsewhere in the Bible.
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Which means that with the first Timothy
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passage in question here, what we really
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need to understand is that it is the
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region of Ephesus itself is the church
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of Ephesus itself. Which means that we
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have to understand that it was not a
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quiet religious town with stable
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theological culture by any means. It was
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actually one of the most spiritually
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turbulent cities in the Roman world.
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like literally. Okay, the city was
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actually famous for housing massive
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temples of Aremis. Okay, matter of fact,
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one in which is one of the seven wonders
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of the ancient world. And so the
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surrounding regions, the surrounding
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religious life was just saturated with
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this pagan worship, mystical practices,
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all these competing spiritual teachings
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that were antithetical to the gospel. So
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in modernity, you know, that would look
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like new age now, what was pagan goddess
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worship then. And so this cult of
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Artemis, it played a really significant
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role in the overall culture of Ephesus.
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Okay, the system of worship literally
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elevated a female deity, a female deity,
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a goddess that was associated with
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fertility and power and protection. And
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so in other words, the church in Ephesus
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existed in a city where spiritual
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authority and religious instruction
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were already being tangled up with
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cultural confusion. Okay? So nasticism
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and goddess worship, they were huge
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problems in Ephesus, like huge problems.
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And you have to understand that that
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when the gospel was introduced into
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these pagan regions, the gospel really
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infiltrated these these pagan regions.
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What happened as a retaliation response
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to that is that the paganism of the
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culture then in a sense infiltrated the
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gospel message itself. And so that's how
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you getnosticism.
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That's how you get gnostic Christians.
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And that's how you get the later invalid
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gospels of Thomas and Gospels of Mary
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and all those sorts of things that came
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out later to disqualify the true gospels
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and and that's how you get by the way
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women acting out of order within the
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congregation. See now this background it
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becomes important doesn't it? It becomes
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important when we read the broader
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concerns that Paul raises throughout the
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letter. Right? From the very beginning
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of first Timothy, he he warns that
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certain individuals in the church were
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spreading speculative ideas and
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distorting sound doctrine. Right? So he
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describes people who had literally
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wandered away from truth into
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meaningless discussions. Okay? people
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who desired to be teachers but did not
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understand the things that they were
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asserting. And then as the letter
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continues, the warnings just continue.
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The warnings multiply and Paul cautions
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Timothy about deceptive teachings that
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were influencing believers, about myths
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and distractions that were pulling
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people away from the gospel, and about
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individuals who were promoting ideas
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that undermined the faith. I mean, the
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recurring theme throughout the entire
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epistle here is protection from
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deception. Okay, that was not an
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intentional rhyme, but it's it's just
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what it is. Like, Timothy is being urged
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to guard the truth and to preserve
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healthy teaching and to restore order
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within a community that was drifting
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into confusion because of everything
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affformentioned that it was infiltrated
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with already. And so, I mean, it just
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makes so much sense. Like, when we read
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the instructions in chapter 2, against
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that backdrop, it's like, duh. You know,
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Paul's not speaking into a vacuum. The
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entire section for men and women, it
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reads as this attempt to just restore
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dignity and to restore humility and to
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restore order within a congregation
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where those qualities were eroding,
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right? Like, you know, if a church was
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already struggling with misinformation
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and with disorder and with narcissism,
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with all these things, the last thing a
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pastor wants is for untrained or for
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misinformed voices to take the platform
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and thus amplify the confusion. So, what
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Paul is doing is he's simply limiting
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who is permitted to teach in a church
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where teaching had already become
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compromised. Okay? Like the goal is not
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to suppress the spiritual gifts or to
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permanently exclude half the church that
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would be women from ministry. No, the
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goal is to ensure that truth is simply
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communicated responsibly
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while this community regains stability
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and comes out from under the deception
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of the goddess worship andnosticism. And
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you know what else is interesting is
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that the phrase the very phrase in this
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scripture you know most English
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translations would render exercise
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authority in first Timothy here that
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comes from a Greek word where it only
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appears in this passage in the entire
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New Testament only here exercise
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authority translated from authentine and
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honestly like this fact alone this
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should slow us found before we rush to
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build an entire doctrine from one
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sentence, right? Like when a biblical
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author uses a word that quite literally
18:13
does not appear anywhere else, it kind
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of becomes important to consider the
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range of meaning that word carried in
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the Greek language, right? Because the
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truth is most of the time when the New
18:24
Testament and Paul himself talks about
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legitimate leadership and authority, it
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uses other Greek words for it that
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clearly describe authority in the
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context of healthy governance and
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guidance and oversight of the church. I
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mean like those are the terms that Paul
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even uses when he's discussing elders
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and overseers and shepherds in other
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letters. But here in first Timothy, he
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uses a different word altogether. He
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uses this different word that only
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appears here this one time, which by the
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way, that word authentine, I don't even
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know if I'm pronouncing that correctly.
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I never pronounce things correctly.
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That's not why you watch me. That word
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itself, its definition in the Greek, it
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conveys the idea of domination, of
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control, and of seizing power in a way
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that disrupts proper order. So in other
19:11
words, it's described as a form of
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authority that is forceful or
19:16
self-assumed rather than rightly
19:18
established. Now it's giving Jezebel
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spirit. It's giving Jezebel spirit and
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there's really no surprise there given
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that the predominant goddess worship of
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the culture and the Artemis principality
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was ruling over the region, right? Like
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it makes sense. It actually makes so
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much sense that it's sort of ignorant to
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ignore once you have all the context.
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And you know, it makes even more sense
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in that case to step back and therefore
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be like, "Huh, wow. Okay, so maybe Paul
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actually isn't forbidding women to
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preach and teach altogether, but rather
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maybe he's trying to shut down Jezi.
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like maybe he's trying to prevent a
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particular kind of behavior from a
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particular kind of woman. That being of
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course a woman stepping forward to
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assert authority and teach in a way that
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intensified
20:12
the affforementioned doctrinal chaos
20:15
that was already present in the
20:17
congregation. Right? Like like I'm not
20:19
making this up. This is this is what
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this is what it is. You know, matter of
20:24
fact, this interpretation, it also
20:25
explains why the sentence pairs these
20:28
two ideas together here, right? Teaching
20:31
and exercising authority. Because Paul's
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not isolating teaching itself as the
20:35
problem, you know, he's describing a
20:38
scenario in which teaching is connected
20:42
to
20:43
this specific type of authority dynamic
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which again is only used here, which is
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giving Jezebel. So the issue then is not
20:53
merely who is speaking but how the
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authority is being assumed and how
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instruction is being delivered within a
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church that is already struggling to
21:02
maintain sound doctrine in the gnostic
21:05
and goddess worship realm. Okay. Well,
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okay. So, sure, Angela, but what about
21:09
the reference to Eve? What about the
21:11
reference to Eve being the one deceived
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in the garden? It's okay to admit that
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women are more prevy to deception. It's
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okay to admit that. I mean it's obvious
21:18
again given the context of the region
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goddess worship. It's what the Jezebel
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spirit does. It deceives. It controls.
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It manipulates. It disrupts order.
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That's what the whole plea in the garden
21:30
was an invitation to. You can be like
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God. You can rule over the men. You can
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blah blah blah like you know. But
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admitting that women are more privy to
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deception that that doesn't conflate to
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women being unequipped to do the work of
21:44
God. That's not what Paul's saying,
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right? It just means that we need to be
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protected. That's all. Which evidently
21:53
those angry men that he addresses before
21:56
the unruly women were doing a very bad
21:59
job at doing the same way Adam did a
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very bad job at protecting Eve from the
22:05
deception. So like the problem is that
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we just conflate things and give them
22:09
our own meaning, right? Like the
22:10
offering in the garden was literally
22:12
narcissicism. This was a gnostic town.
22:14
To me, it's only further validating the
22:16
point. Okay. And so, once we recognize
22:19
the linguistic nuance and the historical
22:22
setting, I really don't see how we can
22:25
just read this passage like a universal
22:26
prohibition on women communicating
22:28
biblical truth. I don't. Now, it appears
22:31
to address a particular form of teaching
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specifically tied to an unhealthy
22:36
assertion of authority within a church
22:38
that was already battling doctrinal
22:40
instability. And basically, as I said,
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an infiltration of what we would know
22:44
modernly as new age mysticism and
22:46
goddess worship. Okay? Like that's
22:47
that's all. Plus, you know, you take all
22:49
of this aside. Another reason that we
22:52
can just start to see through a clear
22:55
framework that this verse cannot be
22:57
interpreted as an absolute ban on women
23:00
speaking and teaching and preaching in
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the church. Although, in Paul's own
23:04
writings, he acknowledges women speaking
23:08
in the gathered assembly of believers.
23:10
In fact, back to the Corinthians letter
23:12
that I addressed about head coverings
23:14
like he's addressing another another set
23:17
of issues in the worship gatherings that
23:20
they were praying and that they were
23:22
prophesying. You know, people get so
23:24
caught up in the head covering thing
23:26
that they miss the praying and the
23:27
prophesying part. And not only that, but
23:30
in Corinthian and in in the beginning
23:32
section of Corinthians as well, he's
23:34
talking about order and spiritual gifts
23:38
and how believers should conduct
23:40
themselves. And in the middle of that,
23:42
there's the women, right? So he's
23:45
clearly acknowledging a reality within
23:47
the Corinthian church at least where
23:49
women are participating audibly in the
23:52
spiritual life of the gathered assembly,
23:54
which by the way, men would have been a
23:57
part of as well. and listening to and
23:59
underneath of in that sense, right? Like
24:01
prayer for one was not just this silent
24:04
internal practice. They were speaking
24:08
they were speaking aloud as the
24:09
community sought God together. And
24:11
obviously prophecy includes verbal vocal
24:16
communication
24:17
like this is the the experience of
24:19
corporal worship in the early church at
24:21
least. So what Paul addresses in that
24:24
passage in the first Corinthians letter
24:27
is not whether the women should be
24:29
participating in these moments but how
24:31
they should do so in a way that reflects
24:34
honor and order within the community.
24:36
Right? Like his concern is about
24:38
properly presenting
24:40
not about silencing their voices. You
24:44
see, if Paul had genuinely believed that
24:47
women must never speak in the assembled
24:48
church or exercise any sort of spiritual
24:52
whatever leadership over a man, this
24:55
would have been a place for him to say
24:56
that. But he doesn't. He doesn't. He
24:58
proceeds as though their participation,
25:01
the women's participation is already an
25:03
established part of congregational life
25:06
because guess what? It was you know his
25:09
focus is on ensuring what happens during
25:13
that time is just a reflection of
25:15
reverence and respect not about
25:17
silencing
25:19
half the congregation. Now, this
25:21
observation, it creates honestly an
25:24
interpretive anchor for the rest of the
25:26
discussion at hand here. Because when we
25:28
encounter passages that appear to limit
25:30
speech or authority in particular
25:32
situations, well, we have to interpret
25:34
them in a way that remains consistent
25:37
with the reality that Paul acknowledges
25:39
everywhere else, right? meaning that
25:41
whatever restrictions he introduces,
25:44
it cannot mean that women were
25:46
categorically forbidden from speaking in
25:48
the church because his own words
25:50
demonstrate that they were already doing
25:52
so. Does that make sense? That's why we
25:55
let scripture interpret scripture
25:57
instead of cherrypicking things and
25:59
treating them in isolation. Okay? We
26:02
allow clearer passages to inform how we
26:06
understand maybe what we would consider
26:08
these more complicated ones. And we read
26:11
each statement within the broader
26:13
framework of the overall teaching to
26:16
form a consensus. And once that approach
26:19
is applied here, again, it's pretty
26:21
obvious that Paul's instructions and not
26:24
represent a universal ban on women
26:26
speaking or exercising authority of men
26:29
in the church gathering because Paul
26:31
himself recognized that women were
26:33
participating vocally in the worship
26:35
life of another congregation. So,
26:37
there's that. Now, here's the thing,
26:40
right? Yes, women were participating in
26:44
the spiritual life of the early church,
26:46
whether you like it or not. Why? because
26:48
it was the fulfillment of promises that
26:49
had been spoken centuries earlier
26:52
through the prophets. Joel describes the
26:55
book of Joel a future moment where God
26:57
would pour out his spirit in a way that
26:59
the world had literally never seen
27:00
before. So under the old covenant, you
27:03
know, the spirit of God would come upon
27:05
particular individuals for particular
27:07
tasks. You have prophets, kings,
27:10
leaders, all those sorts of works that
27:12
were chosen for very specific mandates
27:15
and specific purposes. But Joel
27:17
prophesied that a day was coming when
27:19
God was going to pour out his spirit on
27:21
all flesh. And he says, "Sons and
27:23
daughters would prophesy and young men
27:25
would see visions and old men would
27:26
dream dreams and even servants, both
27:28
male and female, would receive the
27:30
spirit and speak." So this prophecy
27:33
describes a future in which the ability
27:36
to speak under the influence of God's
27:38
spirit would literally be distributed
27:41
across the community in a way that not
27:46
only transcended age and status and
27:49
social position but guess what also
27:51
gender. You know, the book of Acts
27:53
describes the birth of the church of
27:55
Pentecost, right? And Peter explicitly
27:58
announces that this same prophecy that
28:02
Joel declared was there coming to pass.
28:06
Like he's quoting Joel and declaring
28:10
that that moment that was foreseen had
28:13
now arrived. And Pentecost literally
28:15
marks the beginning of this era. the
28:18
beginning of this era in which people,
28:20
the people of God, namely, no longer Jew
28:23
nor Greek, nor male, nor female, nor
28:25
slave, nor master, by the way, hello,
28:27
the totality of the body, are
28:29
collectively empowered by the spirit of
28:32
God with the ability to bear witness and
28:35
to proclaim truth and to speak under the
28:37
inspiration of the spirit that is no
28:39
longer restricted to just like a handful
28:43
of chosen figures, right? And that's the
28:45
point. And when Peter quotes Joel's
28:47
prophecy, he's not omitting any portion
28:50
of it. Right? In other words, guys, this
28:51
this the very birth of the church, the
28:54
very birth of the church, Pentecost,
28:57
announces that the spirit's empowering
29:00
presence will be experienced and used by
29:04
both men and women. And this means the
29:08
spiritual gifts, including the ability
29:11
to speak messages inspired by God,
29:13
cannot and would not be limited to a
29:16
gender clause. Why? Because the new
29:18
covenant does not it doesn't narrow
29:20
participation in ministry. It only
29:22
expands it. Matter of fact, Paul even
29:25
reinforces this idea when he discusses
29:27
the spiritual gifts in his letters,
29:28
right? He explains that the spirit
29:31
distributes gifts among believers for
29:34
the building up of the body of Christ.
29:36
And some are given the ability to teach,
29:38
others given the gifts of prophecy,
29:40
encouragement, leadership, service. And
29:42
the emphasis throughout these passages
29:44
is not on restricting who may receive
29:47
the gift, but rather on recognizing that
29:50
every member of the body contributes to
29:52
the health of the whole of it. Again,
29:54
neither male nor female, nor Jew, nor
29:57
Greek, nor slave, nor master, one body.
30:00
And you see this framework, it's crucial
30:02
for interpreting the role of women in
30:04
the church. Because if the spirits,
30:06
right, the spirit of God is the one who
30:08
distributes the gifts and if those gifts
30:11
are given for the strengthening of the
30:13
community and given freely, then the
30:15
church's responsibility is not to
30:17
suppress those gifts, but to steward
30:20
them faithfully. Amen. So I mean once we
30:24
understand the theological environment
30:26
literally created by Pentecost that was
30:30
prophesied in days of old, you know, the
30:32
presence of women speaking and praying
30:34
and prophesying and teaching and
30:36
participating in ministry throughout the
30:38
New Testament, it should actually be
30:39
exactly what we expect in a community
30:42
where the spirit has been poured out
30:43
without regard to social hierarchy. But
30:45
honestly, what's interesting even to
30:47
observe with that being said is that the
30:51
role of women isn't just some new
30:53
covenant phenomenon. Like it didn't
30:55
start in the new covenant. It expanded
30:57
in the new covenant. But the truth is
30:58
God has been using women to communicate
31:00
his truth and advance his purposes long
31:02
before the church as we know it was ever
31:05
established in Pentecost. Like literally
31:06
from the earliest chapters of the Old
31:08
Testament all the way through the
31:10
ministry of the early church, God
31:12
repeatedly uses women to communicate
31:14
truth and to guide his people and to
31:16
advance his purposes. And one of the
31:18
earliest examples we see appears in the
31:21
in the book of Exodus with Miriam the
31:23
prophetus. And then again the book of
31:25
Judges with Deborah. Deborah is too by
31:29
the way described not only as a
31:30
prophetist but as a judge over Israel
31:33
which by the way judges functioned as
31:36
leaders who provided guidance and
31:39
resolve disputes and help direct people
31:41
according to God's will including men
31:45
like [clears throat] the Israelites
31:46
literally came to her for judgment.
31:48
Okay, take the commander Barack. He
31:51
prepared to confront an enemy army and
31:55
it was Deborah who delivered the
31:57
prophetic word that would guide the
31:59
battle over a man. And then later, okay,
32:02
Holda, she she's she's during the reign
32:05
of Josiah and she delivered a prophetic
32:07
message that was confirming God's
32:09
judgment and calling people to
32:10
repentance. And you know what is
32:12
especially remarkable about this moment
32:15
is that the king's court did not
32:17
hesitate her counsel. No. When they
32:20
needed an authoritative interpretation
32:22
of God's word, they turned to a woman.
32:25
They turned to a prophetus. Period. And
32:28
of course, you move into the New
32:29
Testament. This is still preceding
32:32
Pentecost, by the way. The Gospel of
32:34
Luke, we meet Anna. She's a prophetist.
32:36
Spent years in the temple worshiping and
32:39
praying. And when the infant Jesus was
32:41
brought into the temple, she immediately
32:43
recognized the significance of what God
32:44
was doing. And she spoke about the child
32:46
to those who were waiting for redemption
32:48
in Jerusalem, publicly bearing witness
32:50
to the Messiah as a woman over men. Or
32:54
how about hello book of Acts, Philip's
32:57
daughter described as prophets,
32:59
Priscilla. Okay, she helped instruct
33:03
Apollos more accurately in the message
33:06
of the gospel. Like she literally
33:07
strengthened Apollo's understanding of
33:09
Christian teaching as a natural part of
33:12
their ministry partnership. And then
33:14
Phoebe, like there's so many women.
33:16
Phoebe, who by the way, Paul commends in
33:20
his letter to the Romans as a servant, a
33:23
servant in the church and as a
33:25
benefactor of many believers. Matter of
33:27
fact, the same chapter, Paul greets a
33:29
number of his fellow laborers, including
33:31
a woman, his fellow laborers. And Junia
33:35
here, she's described in a way that
33:36
places her within the circle of those
33:39
recognized
33:41
for their overall work in the body in
33:44
the apostolic mission. Like there are
33:47
countless of examples, not even to
33:48
mention Mary Magdalene as the first
33:50
apostle. Apostle just means one who was
33:52
sent. Jesus literally sent her, "Go tell
33:55
them you saw me." The first one to
33:57
proclaim the risen Christ. A woman. It's
33:59
like obvious. Women are not portrayed
34:01
ever as passive spectators in the
34:04
unfolding story of God's people. No,
34:06
they are prophets. They are witnesses.
34:09
They are teachers. They are supporters
34:11
of ministry. They are participants in
34:14
the spread of the gospel. Okay. So the
34:18
idea of women being completely silent or
34:20
absent from the work of ministry does
34:23
not reflect the broad testimony of
34:26
scripture at all because the Bible
34:28
consistently shows God using both men
34:30
and women to communicate truth and to
34:32
strengthen his people. Amen. And then
34:33
the fact is in New Covenant after
34:35
Pentecost, the New Testament
34:37
consistently presents the church as a
34:39
body that functions with diversity and
34:41
order. As we mentioned, diversity and
34:43
order. Okay. It also explains that
34:46
Christ gives specific ministry gifts to
34:50
the church for the purposes of equipping
34:52
believers and building up the body.
34:54
Right? So Paul describes the apostles
34:55
and the prophets and the evangelists and
34:57
the pastors and the teachers, what you
35:00
would refer to as the five-fold
35:01
ministry. And these roles exist
35:04
fundamentally so that the church can
35:05
grow in maturity and stability and unity
35:10
as it carries the message of the gospel
35:13
into the world and spreads it into the
35:14
nations as we have been commissioned to
35:16
do. And guess what? The passage
35:17
describing these ministry functions
35:19
never places gender restrictions on who
35:23
may receive them ever. The emphasis is
35:26
entirely on the purpose of the gifts and
35:28
the work that they accomplish within the
35:30
body of Christ. Okay, these roles are
35:32
presented as expressions of Christ's
35:34
provision for his church, not as
35:36
positions limited to a single
35:39
demographic within it. Now, look, even
35:41
with all that said, I want to address
35:43
this, too, because none of this is a
35:45
call to feminism in the church. Like,
35:47
that's not what I'm advocating for.
35:51
Okay? As I said, the Bible consistently
35:53
shows this pattern for diversity and
35:56
order. So, I'm not here to say that
35:59
order doesn't matter. You know,
36:00
acknowledging women within the life of
36:02
ministry does not erase the biblical
36:04
concept of order at all. Like from the
36:06
beginning, scripture describes men and
36:09
women as created with distinction and
36:12
complimentary roles. I'm not suggesting
36:14
that goes away, right? The language of a
36:17
helpmate. We see that in Genesis. The
36:19
language of a helpmate, it reflects
36:21
partnership with God's design, not
36:23
inferiority or exclusion of God's
36:26
design. Not that women should be
36:28
sidelined, but that women are helpmates,
36:30
which means, you know, the presence of
36:32
women operating in the spiritual gifts,
36:34
including forms of ministry that do
36:36
involve speaking and teaching. It does
36:38
not require us to reject this idea that
36:41
men and women do not relate with to one
36:44
another within an ordered structure.
36:45
They do. It just simply recognizes that
36:47
spiritual giftings and participation in
36:49
ministry are not identical to the
36:52
question of governance within a
36:54
community. Does that make sense? So what
36:56
I'm saying is that yes, a woman can
36:58
still faithfully serve within the work
37:01
of the gospel while honoring this broad
37:04
framework of order that scripture does
37:06
describe as us being helpmates. So our
37:09
calling, her calling, it does not
37:11
require rebellion against men, nor does
37:14
it demand independence from them. And I
37:16
think this is an important distinction
37:17
to bring up because one of the most
37:19
common accusations when you advocate for
37:22
women preaching and teaching in any
37:23
capacity is, "Oh, that's feminism. Oh,
37:26
that's Jezebel." But listen, the
37:28
biblical description of Jezebel has
37:30
nothing to do with women communicating
37:32
truth or serving within the kingdom of
37:34
God ever. As I said already, Jezebel
37:37
represents manipulation and domination
37:39
and the pursuit of power through control
37:41
and deception. That spirit is not about
37:44
women using their voice. It is about
37:47
individuals, which by the way can be
37:48
male as well. It is about using
37:50
individuals attempting to seize
37:52
authority in ways that do distort God's
37:56
order, which brings you back to the
37:57
Greek terminology of authority within
37:59
the specific context of the first
38:00
Timothy passage. But a woman who
38:02
preaches Christ faithfully and who
38:05
teaches scripture with humility and who
38:08
serves the church for the sake of the
38:09
gospel is not embodying the spirit of
38:11
Jezebel. No, she is participating in the
38:15
very mission of the church that has been
38:18
entrusted for men and women to carry out
38:22
in order. So do I think you know she
38:25
would necessarily be the lead pastor?
38:28
No. Can she be a pastor serving under a
38:31
man submitted to her husband who is the
38:33
lead? Absolutely.
38:35
Absolutely.
38:37
Like that's kingdom order and kingdom
38:40
demonstration operating in unison,
38:44
right? In unison. And we just see
38:46
throughout the biblical narrative, we've
38:48
already explored women appear as
38:50
prophets and witnesses and laborers in
38:52
ministry and participants in the spread
38:53
of the good news. Their contributions do
38:56
not undermine the structure of their
38:57
community. Matter of fact, they
38:58
strengthen it. And so when the question
39:00
is framed this way, we can let that
39:04
tension dissolve because the issue is
39:05
not whether the church should have
39:07
order. It's it's not what this is like a
39:10
a plea against. Scripture clearly
39:12
affirms that the church should have
39:14
order. The issue is whether the presence
39:16
of that order requires silencing the
39:19
gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes
39:22
throughout the body of believers. And
39:23
the punchline here is it doesn't. The
39:26
fact is the church is its healthiests
39:28
when the gifts Christ has given are
39:32
allowed to function as they were
39:34
intended. Okay? Apostles pioneer the
39:37
work of the gospel. Prophets call the
39:39
community back to faithfulness.
39:42
Evangelists proclaim the message of
39:44
salvation. Pastors shepherd the people
39:47
of God. And teachers ground believers in
39:51
truth. And these roles exist for the
39:53
building up of the church and the spirit
39:55
distributes the gifts in a way that
39:56
serve the purpose and they include
39:59
women. So recognizing that reality, it
40:02
it allows us to hold together both
40:06
aspects of the biblical vision, which is
40:08
a church that operates with order and
40:09
accountability and a church that
40:12
welcomes the contributions of every
40:14
member whom God has equipped for
40:17
ministry which is not held to a gender
40:19
clause. So, you know, this is a hot
40:20
topic. I know it gets a lot of debate,
40:22
but I think it's pretty clear when we
40:25
divide the scripture as workmen by and
40:27
large. And it's pretty easy to therefore
40:30
come to the conclusion that the devil is
40:32
responsible for this doctrine. The devil
40:34
does not want women in positions of the
40:37
five-fold ministry because he literally
40:39
hates women. I mean, from the very
40:41
beginning of the biblical narrative in
40:42
Genesis 3, immediately after the fall of
40:44
humanity, God speaks a prophetic promise
40:48
to the serpent by declaring that the
40:50
offspring of the woman will ultimately
40:53
crush the serpent's head. Right? Like
40:56
that statement, basically the first
40:59
announcement of the gospel, it places a
41:01
woman at the center of the unfolding
41:03
story of her redemption. that through a
41:06
woman would come the lineage that
41:08
ultimately leads to Christ who was the
41:10
one that would defeat the power of sin
41:13
and death. And so from that moment
41:15
forward, the serpent's hostility toward
41:18
humanity has carried a particular
41:21
disdain, I believe, around the role that
41:23
women play within God's purposes. Okay?
41:26
Like, no wonder he's trying to convince
41:30
us and insecure men that we should be
41:33
benchmarked in the story of redemption.
41:36
Duh. Of course, you're trying to
41:38
convince us of that devil because God
41:41
said through her seed, you will be the
41:44
one that's benchmarked. And the fact is,
41:46
in the rest of the biblical narrative,
41:48
we do repeatedly see women standing at
41:50
pivotal moments in in the story of
41:52
redemption, far from being sidelined.
41:54
Okay? We as women are woven
41:57
intrinsically
41:58
into the tapestry of God's plan from
42:01
beginning to end. So this question of
42:04
women speaking, teaching or
42:05
participating in ministry actually
42:08
touches the broader story of how God
42:10
advances his purposes through his people
42:13
which consistently reveals that the work
42:16
of the kingdom moves forward through
42:18
both men and women serving faithfully
42:21
within the design that God has
42:23
established. Because in the end, the
42:25
mission of the church is not advanced by
42:28
limiting who may serve God faithfully.
42:30
It's by encouraging every believer,
42:32
including women, to walk in obedience to
42:35
the calling that God placed on their
42:36
life. See, because when the people of
42:38
God do that together, the promise spoken
42:41
in the earliest pages of scripture, it
42:44
continues to unfold, right? That the
42:45
kingdom of darkness is pushed back, that
42:47
the gates of hell will not prevail, and
42:49
that the victory is secured through
42:52
Christ, and it's visible in the life of
42:55
his church. Obviously, the devil wants
42:57
half of the kingdom to shut up and sit
42:59
that out. Which is why he uses First
43:01
Timothy against women the same way he
43:04
used scripture against Jesus in the
43:06
wilderness to steal, kill, and destroy
43:10
what God has ordained. Let me know in
43:12
the comments down below if this video
43:15
maybe changed your mind on this subject.
43:17
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43:18
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