Men And Women In Public Worship Series

Scripture

In 1 Timothy 2, Paul wrote on the subject of public worship. In verses 1-7, which we studied last week, Paul emphasized the need for a global concern in public worship. Today we are going to study verses 8-15, and see how Paul addressed the respective roles of men and women in public worship.

Let us read about men and women in public worship in 1 Timothy 2:8-15:

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness – with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. (1 Timothy 2:8-15)

Introduction

Today we are going to examine a text that has caused a great deal of debate. However, that was not always the case. I was surprised to learn that it has only been hotly debated in the last fifty years or so. Kent Hughes writes the following:

It is also crucial that we understand that the historic interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11–15 has been the majority view of the church at large for most of the last 2,000 years. Bob Yarbrough, Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, surveyed the scholarly articles in the standard bibliographical reference tool New Testament Abstracts and noted that it was only in 1969 that the progressive, revisionist view began to appear in the literature of the academy. But then in the period between 1969 and now a flood of articles appeared. He concludes that the rise in the progressive interpretation’s promotion following the women’s movement of the 1960s is “indebted significantly, and at times probably culpably, to the prevailing social climate rather than to the Biblical text.”

But the women’s movement of the 1960s pales in comparison to the modern transgender movement. If male/female differences were challenged by the women’s movement in the 1960s, the current transgender movement is seeking to eradicate those differences completely today. Philip Ryken writes:

Lorna Smedman believes that gender is a fiction. Each year she teaches a course called “Reimagining Gender” at Hunter College in New York City and begins her first class session with the following words: “My working assumption in this course is that gender is already imaginary in the first place, meaning that it’s a construction – a fiction that we all live and work with in our daily lives.”

If Smedman is right, then the line between the masculine and the feminine can be erased. There is no inherent reason why women should not behave like men, and vice versa. This view seems to be becoming more dominant in Western culture, with the result that some women no longer want to be women, and many men no longer know what it means to be men.

There is no doubt that we live in challenging times with respect to gender roles. Our culture is increasingly embracing an understanding of gender that is contrary to Scripture.

But for the Christian, our authority – indeed, our sole authority in matters of faith and practice – is in the inerrant, infallible, authoritative, and sufficient word of God. We do not – indeed, we dare not – take our cues from culture. We must take our direction from God and his word.

That is not to say that we do not face difficulties. Today’s text is in places not easy to interpret. Moreover, one of the challenges when interpreting Scripture is determining what has a cultural application to the time in which the text was written and what has a universal application to all people in all times.

So we approach today’s text in humility and yet also with confidence because God’s word is always a sure guide.

Paul wrote his First Letter to Timothy to correct some of the problems in the churches around Ephesus. Timothy was pastoring the churches around Ephesus and problems had arisen due to false teaching. Paul told Timothy to charge the false teachers not to teach their errors. Paul also wanted to correct some problems in the public worship services.

Lesson

1 Timothy 2:8-15 teaches us about the behavior of men and women in public worship.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. Appropriate Behavior of Men in Public Worship (2:8)