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We have created a chart that lists differences from the New Testament Church and today's more Traditional Church.

The Bottom Line

So where does this leave us? I can't speak for anyone else, but it leaves me here: The "zipper-position" which takes away a woman's right to speak in a church meeting reflects a very brittle approach to the New Testament. It's an unwarranted assumption that's based on a common, but obvious, culturally generated misinterpretation of Paul.

{mosimage}What Kind of "Teaching" Is this?

Let's now turn our attention to the other "limiting passage." Before we look at the text, it's important to understand that 1st and 2nd Timothy are unique letters. Paul is writing to his apostolic apprentice-a man he's known for about fifteen years.

Such communication-between two closely-tied individuals-is known as "low context." It simply means that the author can assume an intimate knowledge of the reader's understanding of any particular statement he makes.

Let me unpack that.

Attention to context-historical, social, local, and spiritual-is crucial when it comes to rightly interpreting a passage of Scripture. So let's look at the local context of the first "limiting passage"-1 Corinthians 14:29-35:

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, let the first one keep SILENT. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches. Let the women keep SILENT in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves, just as the Law also says. And if they desire to LEARN anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in the church (NASB).

Greetings,

We learned earlier this week that Neil Cole will not be able to attend the Organic Church Conference in Kiev. He ruptured his Achilles tendon and had to have surgery. This, however, will not change the plans for our conference.

Dear Sister,

Thank you for your gracious letter. You've asked an excellent question. You wanted to know my view on a woman's role in the church and how I understand the "limiting passages" that seem to restrict their functioning. I have been asked this question so many times I've lost count.

To be honest, I'm monumentally disinterested in adding more noise to the ill-fated gender brawl that rages in some Christian circles. It is for this reason that I've been loathe to write on the subject. Yet I keep meeting women who have been spiritually straight-jacketed by what I find to be a wooden interpretation of certain Biblical texts. Their stories have provoked me to tread on this hazardous minefield. And for their sake, as well as for the sake of all my beloved sisters in Christ, I regret not having done so sooner.

{mosimage}A friend of mine recounts the story of his son coming home from Sunday School. He asked the boy the most common questions asked at 12:15 every Sunday: "So how was your class? What did you learn?" The boy suddenly was overcome with a look of frustration and remarked: "With a book that big there's got to be more stories in there than the one's they're telling us! They're keeping something from us!"

That sent my friend into a pilgrimage that led to involvement in organic church planting.

As a missionary to China, Roland Allen asked the question, "Why do we choose to use methods that produce mediocre results rather than following the biblical example of the missionary methods of Paul which produced abundant fruit.  I believe he asked this question in both amazement and without comprehending the rationale behind using methods which were ineffective or marginal.  Why should we not just follow Paul's plain example.