Ps Ron Phillips, SBC Ministry
Devotional - Week of 8/29/05
Breaking Down The Walls
In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal.
Galatians 3:28
In these days when people pride themselves on equality and freedom, there are still three major walls in the church that need to be broken down. Those walls are gender, race and denomination. This week I want to focus on the gender wall.
This is a very controversial subject, especially in Southern Baptist circles. We have been taught for years that women have a lesser place in the body of Christ. Women can teach Sunday School, but can’t preach in the pulpit. That’s not the way God intended for it to be.
In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted the prophet Joel, saying, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.” (emphasis added).
Even back as far as the creation of the world, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-2 God made no distinction between the man and the woman. He told them both to have dominion over the earth. After the fall, God did place the man in authority, but that still didn’t negate the woman’s role. Social order has nothing to do with equality.
To put it in practical terms, President Bush has more authority than I do as a man, but he’s not better than me as a man, and has no more rights than I do as a man.
Now I know some of you are already pulling out scriptures to refute this. I can hear 1 Corinthians 14:34, which says, “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.” Or maybe 1 Timothy 2:11, “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.” The problem with those verses is that they are often taken out of context. In the Greek culture in the synagogues, the women sat in the balcony while the men sat down front. Since they had no microphones, the women couldn’t hear. This is a fact of history. During the teaching time, the women would call out, “What did he say?” Paul was telling them not to disrupt, but to wait until they got home and ask their husbands if they didn’t hear or understand something.
We know that Paul wasn’t telling them they couldn’t say anything, because he tells them in 1 Corinthians how their hair has to be when they preach, prophecy, or pray in public. Paul was simply dealing with a cultural issue, much like we would deal with smoking or something cultural like that today.
Let’s look at a few women in the Bible. Take Sarah, the wife of Abraham. She had enough authority in the home that she ran out the handmaid Hagar and her son, Ishmael. Miriam, the sister of Moses was considered to be third in authority in the whole nation under Moses and Aaron (Exodus 15, Micah 6). She was also a prophet. Deborah judged Israel for 40 years. Psalm 68:11 says, “The Lord gave the word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it.” The word for company is feminine. It actually means a large army of women.
Elizabeth prophesied and Mary sang in the Spirit in Luke 1. Anna, the prophetess, was the first woman to publicly preach Christ. Joanna, Susanna, and Mary Magdalene ministered to Jesus from their possessions. Luke 8:1-3 says, “Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.” The women helped fund Jesus’ ministry. We know Jesus wasn’t poor. He had enough that he needed a treasurer to keep up with finances. The woman had an important and ongoing role in the ministry of Jesus.
Lydia assisted Paul, and Phoebe is called Paul’s manager. He entrusted his greatest writings to her. He said, “I commend to you my sister Phoebe, treat her like you would me.” He didn’t say, “Now here’s a woman coming. Don’t let her stand in the pulpit or let what she does be called preaching.” How ridiculous we’ve gotten today.
In Romans 16:7, Junia (Junius in the King James Version) is feminine in the Greek. Paul said she’s of note among the apostles. That means she was considered one who had apostolic leadership.
Women are spiritually-gifted equals with men, and if revival is to come, we must set our wives, daughters and sisters free to exercise their spiritual graces.
PRAYER:
Lord, I know You created both man and woman in Your image. I admit that I’ve let tradition dictate my views of woman rather than what Your Word says about them. Forgive me for my prejudices. Help me to walk in freedom and truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.
http://www.ronphillips.org/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=20&file=latest
Devotional - Week of 8/29/05
Breaking Down The Walls
In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal.
Galatians 3:28
In these days when people pride themselves on equality and freedom, there are still three major walls in the church that need to be broken down. Those walls are gender, race and denomination. This week I want to focus on the gender wall.
This is a very controversial subject, especially in Southern Baptist circles. We have been taught for years that women have a lesser place in the body of Christ. Women can teach Sunday School, but can’t preach in the pulpit. That’s not the way God intended for it to be.
In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted the prophet Joel, saying, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.” (emphasis added).
Even back as far as the creation of the world, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-2 God made no distinction between the man and the woman. He told them both to have dominion over the earth. After the fall, God did place the man in authority, but that still didn’t negate the woman’s role. Social order has nothing to do with equality.
To put it in practical terms, President Bush has more authority than I do as a man, but he’s not better than me as a man, and has no more rights than I do as a man.
Now I know some of you are already pulling out scriptures to refute this. I can hear 1 Corinthians 14:34, which says, “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.” Or maybe 1 Timothy 2:11, “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.” The problem with those verses is that they are often taken out of context. In the Greek culture in the synagogues, the women sat in the balcony while the men sat down front. Since they had no microphones, the women couldn’t hear. This is a fact of history. During the teaching time, the women would call out, “What did he say?” Paul was telling them not to disrupt, but to wait until they got home and ask their husbands if they didn’t hear or understand something.
We know that Paul wasn’t telling them they couldn’t say anything, because he tells them in 1 Corinthians how their hair has to be when they preach, prophecy, or pray in public. Paul was simply dealing with a cultural issue, much like we would deal with smoking or something cultural like that today.
Let’s look at a few women in the Bible. Take Sarah, the wife of Abraham. She had enough authority in the home that she ran out the handmaid Hagar and her son, Ishmael. Miriam, the sister of Moses was considered to be third in authority in the whole nation under Moses and Aaron (Exodus 15, Micah 6). She was also a prophet. Deborah judged Israel for 40 years. Psalm 68:11 says, “The Lord gave the word; Great was the company of those who proclaimed it.” The word for company is feminine. It actually means a large army of women.
Elizabeth prophesied and Mary sang in the Spirit in Luke 1. Anna, the prophetess, was the first woman to publicly preach Christ. Joanna, Susanna, and Mary Magdalene ministered to Jesus from their possessions. Luke 8:1-3 says, “Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities--Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.” The women helped fund Jesus’ ministry. We know Jesus wasn’t poor. He had enough that he needed a treasurer to keep up with finances. The woman had an important and ongoing role in the ministry of Jesus.
Lydia assisted Paul, and Phoebe is called Paul’s manager. He entrusted his greatest writings to her. He said, “I commend to you my sister Phoebe, treat her like you would me.” He didn’t say, “Now here’s a woman coming. Don’t let her stand in the pulpit or let what she does be called preaching.” How ridiculous we’ve gotten today.
In Romans 16:7, Junia (Junius in the King James Version) is feminine in the Greek. Paul said she’s of note among the apostles. That means she was considered one who had apostolic leadership.
Women are spiritually-gifted equals with men, and if revival is to come, we must set our wives, daughters and sisters free to exercise their spiritual graces.
PRAYER:
Lord, I know You created both man and woman in Your image. I admit that I’ve let tradition dictate my views of woman rather than what Your Word says about them. Forgive me for my prejudices. Help me to walk in freedom and truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.
http://www.ronphillips.org/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=20&file=latest
