I have been trying to understand something for some time now and I truly hope I can get some help with this from others on this board.
I was raised in Central Oklahoma, in a fundamental Baptist Church. In this church and at home taught by my parents, I was told it is wrong for a woman to speak during the sermon. 1 Corinthians 14:34 In this church I was raised, from the time I was born until after I had graduated from high school, men would always say “Amen” in agreement with the pastor while he gave his sermons. There was one little old lady that attended church there and she would do this also, but I was told she wasn’t right mentally, and to just over look her. The time frame for this was in the 60’s and 70’s. And I had friends that attended other Baptist churches in the area, mostly southern Baptist, I would visit with them at their church sometimes and it seemed the same was true at their churches also.
This past Easter I visited my parents church, after services there is a large lunch for the members and their guests, so I was there to be with my parents. This is the same town I was raised in, just a different church. I assumed this church was an independent Baptist church, not fundamental. During the music specials before the sermon, there was a woman sitting in front of us, she started raising her hands in the air and, I assume, was praying. After the service I asked my Mother about this woman and, for a lack of other words, she corrected me. She said there was nothing wrong with this woman doing that, she was a very nice woman and had been visiting the church since she was in Oklahoma taking care of her Mother, and she actually lived in Tennessee. I told my Mother I just didn’t realize that independent Baptist churches was okay with this type of thing and she told me their church was fundamental not independent. Now I’m 43 years old and my mother is 75 years old, she still works full time, 40 hours a week. But I never argue with my mother or question whatever she says to me, it’s just fruitless to me. When my husband got home from work that evening I told him about this and he agreed with my mother that there was nothing wrong with what the woman had done. My husband was raised in the same town as I was, but went to a different church, a freewill Baptist church. I asked him if the church he was raised in had done this and he said he seemed to remember that some members of the church did. In the past few months I’ve thought and prayed about this because in all honesty, what this woman did made me feel uncomfortable. This is not the first time I’ve seen this type of thing in a Baptist church, this is just the one instance I’m referring to. Also in the past 10 to 15 years I’ve noticed that people will applaud after music special, this is something I had always thought was wrong too. You applaud at sports events or at the school auditorium but not at church. Even when it is done at my church, I don’t because it also makes me feel uncomfortable. I now live in a small town 30 miles from the town I was raised in, we attend church in this small town, it is a southern Baptist church but it is totally obvious that the Bible teachings and doctrines I was taught while growing up are still very much with me. Why is something that wouldn’t be okay 25 or 30 years ago, is it okay now? Have I misunderstood what 1 Corinthians 14:34 means? Is there something wrong with me that I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable when these types of instances happen around me? Please, don’t believe I’m putting down this woman or any other person for doing what she did. This is not what I’m writing about, I just feel I need some light shed on this, to help me understand.
Sue
I was raised in Central Oklahoma, in a fundamental Baptist Church. In this church and at home taught by my parents, I was told it is wrong for a woman to speak during the sermon. 1 Corinthians 14:34 In this church I was raised, from the time I was born until after I had graduated from high school, men would always say “Amen” in agreement with the pastor while he gave his sermons. There was one little old lady that attended church there and she would do this also, but I was told she wasn’t right mentally, and to just over look her. The time frame for this was in the 60’s and 70’s. And I had friends that attended other Baptist churches in the area, mostly southern Baptist, I would visit with them at their church sometimes and it seemed the same was true at their churches also.
This past Easter I visited my parents church, after services there is a large lunch for the members and their guests, so I was there to be with my parents. This is the same town I was raised in, just a different church. I assumed this church was an independent Baptist church, not fundamental. During the music specials before the sermon, there was a woman sitting in front of us, she started raising her hands in the air and, I assume, was praying. After the service I asked my Mother about this woman and, for a lack of other words, she corrected me. She said there was nothing wrong with this woman doing that, she was a very nice woman and had been visiting the church since she was in Oklahoma taking care of her Mother, and she actually lived in Tennessee. I told my Mother I just didn’t realize that independent Baptist churches was okay with this type of thing and she told me their church was fundamental not independent. Now I’m 43 years old and my mother is 75 years old, she still works full time, 40 hours a week. But I never argue with my mother or question whatever she says to me, it’s just fruitless to me. When my husband got home from work that evening I told him about this and he agreed with my mother that there was nothing wrong with what the woman had done. My husband was raised in the same town as I was, but went to a different church, a freewill Baptist church. I asked him if the church he was raised in had done this and he said he seemed to remember that some members of the church did. In the past few months I’ve thought and prayed about this because in all honesty, what this woman did made me feel uncomfortable. This is not the first time I’ve seen this type of thing in a Baptist church, this is just the one instance I’m referring to. Also in the past 10 to 15 years I’ve noticed that people will applaud after music special, this is something I had always thought was wrong too. You applaud at sports events or at the school auditorium but not at church. Even when it is done at my church, I don’t because it also makes me feel uncomfortable. I now live in a small town 30 miles from the town I was raised in, we attend church in this small town, it is a southern Baptist church but it is totally obvious that the Bible teachings and doctrines I was taught while growing up are still very much with me. Why is something that wouldn’t be okay 25 or 30 years ago, is it okay now? Have I misunderstood what 1 Corinthians 14:34 means? Is there something wrong with me that I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable when these types of instances happen around me? Please, don’t believe I’m putting down this woman or any other person for doing what she did. This is not what I’m writing about, I just feel I need some light shed on this, to help me understand.
Sue
