"As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church."
What does it mean that “women . . . are not permitted to speak in church”? If we take these two and a half verses in isolation, they seem to indicate that women are not permitted to say anything at all in church services. But that cannot be true because chapter eleven, when dealing with head coverings, puts guidelines on how women are to pray and prophecy in church. So in what sense should women “keep silent in the churches”?
I believe that the key to understanding the prohibition lies in the immediately preceding verses. The previous verses addressed how to keep prophets accountable. If there was a prophecy that contradicted revealed truth, the others were to call the contradictory prophecy and prophet into question. I submit that the restriction forbidding women to speak applies specifically to this necessary challenging of contradictory prophecy.
If a woman believed that what was being asserted as truth was really false, she was not to publicly call it into question. Instead she was to ask her husband at home. Notice how the prohibition is linked with the need to be in submission: "they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission." It is possible to converse, pray, or explain submissively. But challenging an assertion is not usually an act of submission.
This fits perfectly with the likelihood that the prohibition was a prohibition from publicly challenging men. Perhaps this was due to the cultural realization that it would have shamed a man to be corrected by a woman. Whatever the motivation, it frees women to participate in church while clarifying that everything should be done in a way that recognizes and respects authority.
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
1 Corinthians 14:13-15
"Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also."
The Corinthian believers who were blessed with the gift of tongues could not use the gift however they pleased. If they were going to speak in tongues, they needed to have an interpreter. It wasn’t enough to be blessed by God. They needed to let God’s gift to them keep on blessing others by using it in the right way so others could understand what they were saying.
We need to do the right things, the right way, for the right reasons. We cannot put our brains on autopilot during prayer. We need to engage our minds and emotions when addressing the King of the Universe. When we pray and when we sing (which Luther referred to as type of prayer), we need to worship in a self-aware, God-aware understanding thankfulness. This will bring us and others closer to God.
The Corinthian believers who were blessed with the gift of tongues could not use the gift however they pleased. If they were going to speak in tongues, they needed to have an interpreter. It wasn’t enough to be blessed by God. They needed to let God’s gift to them keep on blessing others by using it in the right way so others could understand what they were saying.
We need to do the right things, the right way, for the right reasons. We cannot put our brains on autopilot during prayer. We need to engage our minds and emotions when addressing the King of the Universe. When we pray and when we sing (which Luther referred to as type of prayer), we need to worship in a self-aware, God-aware understanding thankfulness. This will bring us and others closer to God.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Christ's Prayer for His Hardened Disciples
The following is from Pastor Stewart's series on the prayer life of Christ. The passage this week was Mark 6:45-52. The first paragraph contains some of my notes from the message.
"The Devil wants the Christian to look at the circumstances, even if they are good. He wants us to look at the circumstances and not at Christ. Right after the feeding of the thousands, Jesus takes His disciples to get in a boat without Him and tells them to leave. He then gets alone to pray. It is likely that He went to pray about the disciples' hardness concerning the working of Christ."
After the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus walks on water. The disciples reacted to Jesus' walking on water with fear and amazement. Mark 6:52 says that this was because "they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." At the reading of this verse my heart was pricked, knowing how I respond with fear, doubt, and even disbelief because the hardness of my own heart.
"The Devil wants the Christian to look at the circumstances, even if they are good. He wants us to look at the circumstances and not at Christ. Right after the feeding of the thousands, Jesus takes His disciples to get in a boat without Him and tells them to leave. He then gets alone to pray. It is likely that He went to pray about the disciples' hardness concerning the working of Christ."
After the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus walks on water. The disciples reacted to Jesus' walking on water with fear and amazement. Mark 6:52 says that this was because "they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." At the reading of this verse my heart was pricked, knowing how I respond with fear, doubt, and even disbelief because the hardness of my own heart.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
1 Peter 4:7-8
“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
Both our time and time as a whole has limits. The end and our end will come. Knowing this, we should “be self-controlled and sober-minded.” Self-control--it seems so illusive at times. Often the things I desire to change in my life take years of failure before I see any success. Sober-mindedness would seem to be more easily attained. But perhaps our lack of self-control betrays the true lack of sobriety. If I would sober up to reality, I would live a controlled life. We should not be controlled by other people; we should be controlled by ourselves, behaving a certain way because of our perspective on life. Of course this is only accomplishable with the Spirit’s empowering.
But our mortality is not the only motivation to live self-controlled lives. If we fail to live with self-controlled sober-mindedness, it will interfere with our prayers. Earlier in the book we were warned that a husband’s failure to be understanding with his wife hinders his prayers. Here we are told that we should have these characteristics “for the sake of [our] prayers.” Perhaps this is a parallel idea, lacking these characteristics produces a hindered prayer life. But perhaps the hindrance is that you will not pray. If you are not sober-minded about what’s going on around you, why pray?
But as important as self-control and sober-mindedness are, there is something put in a position of importance above them. Love is more important. Love will certainly result in self-control and sober-mindedness. Because I love my wife, I seek to control my selfish impulses, live with the knowledge that I have the responsibility of providing for her at all times, and be careful to never hurt her. But in addition to love’s resulting in self-control and sobriety, the text states that love is important because it covers a multitude of sins. When people wrong or upset you, love takes care of it.
Both our time and time as a whole has limits. The end and our end will come. Knowing this, we should “be self-controlled and sober-minded.” Self-control--it seems so illusive at times. Often the things I desire to change in my life take years of failure before I see any success. Sober-mindedness would seem to be more easily attained. But perhaps our lack of self-control betrays the true lack of sobriety. If I would sober up to reality, I would live a controlled life. We should not be controlled by other people; we should be controlled by ourselves, behaving a certain way because of our perspective on life. Of course this is only accomplishable with the Spirit’s empowering.
But our mortality is not the only motivation to live self-controlled lives. If we fail to live with self-controlled sober-mindedness, it will interfere with our prayers. Earlier in the book we were warned that a husband’s failure to be understanding with his wife hinders his prayers. Here we are told that we should have these characteristics “for the sake of [our] prayers.” Perhaps this is a parallel idea, lacking these characteristics produces a hindered prayer life. But perhaps the hindrance is that you will not pray. If you are not sober-minded about what’s going on around you, why pray?
But as important as self-control and sober-mindedness are, there is something put in a position of importance above them. Love is more important. Love will certainly result in self-control and sober-mindedness. Because I love my wife, I seek to control my selfish impulses, live with the knowledge that I have the responsibility of providing for her at all times, and be careful to never hurt her. But in addition to love’s resulting in self-control and sobriety, the text states that love is important because it covers a multitude of sins. When people wrong or upset you, love takes care of it.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Prayer and the Calling of the Disciples
Pastor Stewart continued his Wednesday night series on the prayer-life of Jesus last night. Here are some of my notes for the message
Sermon notes on Luke 6:12-13
"Before the Lord called the disciples, He spent the whole night in prayer. It doesn't seem likely that He was praying to know who to pick. If that was the case, what was He praying about? He was communing with the Father. Perhaps He was praying about the details of how he would minister to His disciples. In any case prayer is necessary to have God's approval on our decisions. You will question decisions not made with prayer. You don't need to question those things decided in prayer."
Sermon notes on Matthew 9:36-38
"It's interesting that we are sent into God's harvest. It doesn't say into the field. A good soul-winner is simply yielded to the Spirit, knowing that He does the work. The prayer life is a necessity in the work of the Lord. You may object and say that God doesn't have to use you or your prayers. But if He doesn't use you to do something, He is going to use someone else to do it because that is the way that He chooses to work."
Sermon notes on James 5:17
"Prayer causes things to happen that would not otherwise happen."
Personal thoughts
I have always objected to referring to prayer as a force by which we move God. It just seemed like it looked at prayer as a form of manipulating the all-powerful. I don't like that kind of thinking. I still don't like to refer to prayer as a force. However, it's hard to object to the last quotation, defended by James 5:17. God can do it without me, but I want to have a part in it.
Sermon notes on Luke 6:12-13
"Before the Lord called the disciples, He spent the whole night in prayer. It doesn't seem likely that He was praying to know who to pick. If that was the case, what was He praying about? He was communing with the Father. Perhaps He was praying about the details of how he would minister to His disciples. In any case prayer is necessary to have God's approval on our decisions. You will question decisions not made with prayer. You don't need to question those things decided in prayer."
Sermon notes on Matthew 9:36-38
"It's interesting that we are sent into God's harvest. It doesn't say into the field. A good soul-winner is simply yielded to the Spirit, knowing that He does the work. The prayer life is a necessity in the work of the Lord. You may object and say that God doesn't have to use you or your prayers. But if He doesn't use you to do something, He is going to use someone else to do it because that is the way that He chooses to work."
Sermon notes on James 5:17
"Prayer causes things to happen that would not otherwise happen."
Personal thoughts
I have always objected to referring to prayer as a force by which we move God. It just seemed like it looked at prayer as a form of manipulating the all-powerful. I don't like that kind of thinking. I still don't like to refer to prayer as a force. However, it's hard to object to the last quotation, defended by James 5:17. God can do it without me, but I want to have a part in it.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
learning to pray
Last night at church, my pastor preached a message from Luke 11. When we read the word's "Lord, teach us to pray." My mind became occupied for some time with a desire to learn to pray. The disciples observed Jesus praying, and they asked Him to teach them how. I have need of learning to pray. Jesus taught His disciples, and I can learn from that lesson. I must learn to pray.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
James 5:16-18
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit."
God heals, so confess and pray. God has great power--greater than I realize. Here it is said that our prayers can also have great power. Of course this power is not our own; it is God's power. But we can play a part in it. For a demonstration of the power of God seen in prayer, we are directed to Elijah. He was no different from people today, and his prayer held off the rain for three and a half years. The idea that my prayers could yield that kind of power is mentally accepted by me, but practically speaking. it is a foreign concept. Yet this passage asserts that it is so. Prayer is powerful not only in theory but in reality. The power of prayer should indicate to me that it is important. Why would I neglect such a thing?
God heals, so confess and pray. God has great power--greater than I realize. Here it is said that our prayers can also have great power. Of course this power is not our own; it is God's power. But we can play a part in it. For a demonstration of the power of God seen in prayer, we are directed to Elijah. He was no different from people today, and his prayer held off the rain for three and a half years. The idea that my prayers could yield that kind of power is mentally accepted by me, but practically speaking. it is a foreign concept. Yet this passage asserts that it is so. Prayer is powerful not only in theory but in reality. The power of prayer should indicate to me that it is important. Why would I neglect such a thing?
James 4:3-4
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
The objection in many people's heart (and in mine) to the end of verse two is answered here in verse three. The objection goes like this: "Wait a second! I have desires, perhaps even passionate ones, and I've asked God for them, but I've not received what I've asked for." Verse three clarifies that it's not enough to just perform the act of asking. I have to ask the right way. Christ is concerned with my motives not just my actions. Christ wants heart obedience, not just external conformity. When I pray, it should not be motivated by selfish indulgence. Such requests reflect spiritual adultery in our hearts. We are elevating our desires over God's will.
The passage takes a surprising turn here. It's easy to see how spiritual adultery relates to how we asked for things. But how does worldliness fit into what was being talked about here. The end of chapter three, where worldly wisdom is discussed taught that "jealousy and selfish ambition" display a worldly wisdom. Therefore, self-indulgent prayer is worldly in nature. And yet the phrase "friendship with the world" is still somewhat puzzling. Why is it said that way? Perhaps to get us thinking relationally, knowing that worldliness puts us in a position of enmity with God.
It makes sense then, that those kind of prayers wouldn't be answered either. If the way we ask someone for something puts us at odds with him, it's unlikely that we will get what we want. But here it's not just that we rub God the wrong way. We actually are making ourselves His enemy. Of course, those kinds of requests will not be granted.
The objection in many people's heart (and in mine) to the end of verse two is answered here in verse three. The objection goes like this: "Wait a second! I have desires, perhaps even passionate ones, and I've asked God for them, but I've not received what I've asked for." Verse three clarifies that it's not enough to just perform the act of asking. I have to ask the right way. Christ is concerned with my motives not just my actions. Christ wants heart obedience, not just external conformity. When I pray, it should not be motivated by selfish indulgence. Such requests reflect spiritual adultery in our hearts. We are elevating our desires over God's will.
The passage takes a surprising turn here. It's easy to see how spiritual adultery relates to how we asked for things. But how does worldliness fit into what was being talked about here. The end of chapter three, where worldly wisdom is discussed taught that "jealousy and selfish ambition" display a worldly wisdom. Therefore, self-indulgent prayer is worldly in nature. And yet the phrase "friendship with the world" is still somewhat puzzling. Why is it said that way? Perhaps to get us thinking relationally, knowing that worldliness puts us in a position of enmity with God.
It makes sense then, that those kind of prayers wouldn't be answered either. If the way we ask someone for something puts us at odds with him, it's unlikely that we will get what we want. But here it's not just that we rub God the wrong way. We actually are making ourselves His enemy. Of course, those kinds of requests will not be granted.
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