A Biblical Glance into the Roles of Women in the Church

August, 2003

by: Shelbi Cullen

In my generation, as the women's liberation movement ushered in; there was a well–known saying; “A woman's place is in the workplace.” Today, there is a different adage that might best describe society's view of women, “A woman's place is behind every successful man waiting for his job.” It is this very mindset that has crept into the church and has had a great influence in the roles of women. For this article, I thought it would be helpful to glance at 1 Timothy 2:9-15; there is no passage that is more direct and clear in addressing the role of women in the church.

Paul's exhortation can be broken down into three Categories: First, The Role of Women Pertaining To Worship in the Church. “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garment but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness” (v.9-10). The word in the Greek for clothing does not only refer to the clothes you wear but it can also mean demeanor or attitude. This is referring to total preparation for worship which involves the attitudes of our hearts as well as how we dress.

The Second Category is: The Role of Women Pertaining to Authority in the Church. “A Woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” ( vv.11-12). Before Paul deals with women usurping authority, he makes it clear that women have a right to learn in the church and should not be excluded. 1 Timothy 2:11-12 echoes that of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, which tells us that when the church comes together, the appointed men are to do the teaching.

The Third and Final Category is The Role of Women Pertaining to God's Design. “…It was Adam who was first created, and then Eve, and it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman… But women will be preserved through the bearing of their children.” (vv.13-15). Simply put, we need to affirm the leadership of men. Why? Because it was established by creation. Understand that when we act independently of that not only are we disobeying God's command but we are violating his divinely appointed roles of men and women. Paul also continues on by stating that women will be preserved through having children. In other words, bearing and rearing godly children delivers women from the stigma of that sin.

In conclusion, we need to be very careful about compromising Biblical teaching and standards because we feel under pressure from the feminist movement. The question that we all need to ask is this, “What is the ultimate authority in our life?” Is it the contemporary ideas of society or God's Word? May our very lives reflect a new adage, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 30:31).