A Woman’s Place in Christ

Suffer Not a Woman to Teach

If  you look
at verse 12 of 1 Timothy in the context of the whole Bible, you will
see that Paul couldn’t be prohibiting women from teaching, or even from
teaching men. If he were, why would he give rules in another epistle
for women to follow when they are prophesying? (See 1 Cor. 11:5.)

In that epistle, he is referring to prophetic utterances
given in the midst of an entire congregation—one that includes men. And
we know that prophecy can come by itself, or it can accompany either
preaching or teaching. Therefore, Paul allows for the possibility of
women speaking in church in the capacity of teacher.

The problem with this verse is similar to the one we
found in verse 11: The Greek word translated here as
“man”—anair—actually means “husband.” So what Paul is really saying is
that he doesn’t allow women to push their husbands around, to try to
seize their authority. He is addressing the natural tendency that women
have had, since the fall, to clutch for the rule, or authority, that
their husbands have been given over them (see Gen. 3:16).

You see, God did in fact give husbands authority over
their wives; He made them head over their wives as Christ is head of
the church (see Eph. 5:23). But this authority is not for the purpose
of quenching women into nothingness; rather, it is for husbands to act
as releasing agents, doing everything possible to maximize their wives’
potential and bring them into the highest possibilities of their
created beings.

God’s initial plan, of course, was for men and women to
be equal. That’s the way it can be in Christ, if men and women will
submit to the redemptive process God has ordained. The redemptive
process requires that the husband take leadership and the wife submit
(see Eph. 5:22-24).

This is not the frightening proposition some women make
it out to be. As I said before, submission is not subjugation; and it
is not destructive to your personhood. It is a summons to relate
properly to the different kinds of authority in your life, from the
civil government to church leadership to your spouse.

In the ancient world, the word “submission” was a
military term that referred to the ordering of soldiers in rank—the
strategic placement of soldiers not only for marching but for going
into battle. The soldiers were positioned in such a way that they were
able to protect one another so that the likelihood of success was
increased. It wasn’t an issue of titles, or who was more important, but
an issue of meeting the objective—victory.

That’s the way it is with the military today. Individuals
are positioned, both in practice maneuvers and in a real war, to best
serve the overall purpose of winning. Each one keeps his place because
he understands the need for order and the mutual benefit of the
soldiers’ covering one another.

A Woman’s Place

So being in submission really means knowing and keeping one’s place. But what is a woman’s place?

It is not the rigid, chauvinistic,
stay-in-the-background, keep-your-mouth-shut place sometimes offered
her by the church. It is not the liberal, insist-on-your-own-rights
place carved out by modern feminists. And it is not the rebellious,
do-your-own-thing place defined by her flesh. It is the place of being
obedient to the Word of God and allowing that Word to become incarnate
in her by the work of the Holy Spirit so that Jesus happens in her.

How does a woman reach this place? Not by falling prey to
the enticements of the culture around her. Not by seizing authority
from her husband. And not by getting out of order. She attains it by
relating rightly to all the authorities in her life, submitting in
serenity and allowing the gifts of God to make room for her—knowing
that as she obeys, God will cause the power of Jesus Christ to work in
her situation so she can fulfill her destiny.

Jack Hayford is the founding pastor of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California.