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Just for Women?
(Continued from page 21)
spoke openly of spiritual matters to
the woman at the well (John 4:7) .
Of itself, this event takes on no
special significance to people of our
age. But when you realize that reli–
gious teachers in that day did not
normally teach women or even
speak to women in public, Jesus'
action takes on great significance.
Even his disciples marveled that he
talked with the woman (John
4:27).
In a similar instance in the home
of two women disciples, Jesus
encouraged Mary to listen to his
teaching. When Martha complained
to Jesus that Mar y was not playing
the traditional feminine role of pre–
paring and serving food, he indicated
that she should be listening to his
teaching too (Luke 10:41-42) .
Clearly, women were just as fre–
quently the recipient of his teach–
ings as were men, both in individu–
al encounters and in large meetings
(Matt. 15:38). As the numbers of
Jesus' d isciples grew, it was natural
that it would include large numbers
of both men
and
women.
Glimpse into ·the Early Church
After the death and resur rection of
Jesus Christ, the Church of God
slowly began to grow in size and
numbers. In the original Jerusalem
congregation, even befare the day
of Pente<.ost, there were both men
and women (Acts 1:14). A little
Jater, describing events in Samaria,
we are told: " But when they
bel ieved Philip pr eaching the
things concerning the kingdom of
God, and the name of J esus Christ,
they were baptized,
both men and
women"
(Acts 8:12).
In this context we learn that the
original gospel message dealt with
the kingdom of God: the restoring
of the government of God to this
earth at the time of the Second
Coming of J esus Christ (Acts 3:19-
21).
This strong, dynamic, concrete
and practica! message inspired and
encouraged both men and women.
There is absolutely no indication
anywhere in the book of Acts or the
epistles of Pau l that men were
harder to convert or women predis–
posed to piety. The Scripture sim-
28
ply says: " ... they were baptized,
both
men and women."
God does not give special consid–
eration to one sex or the other, as far
as access to salvation is concerned.
Paul said clearly, describing those
already baptized: "There is neither
Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave
nor free, there is
neither male nor
female;
for you are all one in Christ
Jesus" (Gal. 3:28, Revised Autho–
rized Version).
Both men and women have equal
access to God. Repentance of sin,
faith in the shed blood of Jesus
Christ fo r forgiveness, and bap–
tism-immersion- in a symbolic
watery grave, are required of al!.
"Foral/
have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).
True Church Has Structure
In stating that in Christ there is
"neither maJe nor female, " Paul,
however, is not teaching that there
are no longer any natural or desir–
able differences between men and
women. There
are
indeed many
differences. Even after conversion,
women can still bear c.hildren–
men, no matter how converted they
might be, cannot!
Many clearly defined differences
exist between men and women,
physically and in our God-ordained
assignments within the family and
in marriage. In God-plane mar–
riage, the husband is assigned by
God the responsibility of overall
leadership (note Ephesians 5:23).
He is, however, commanded by
God to exercise
hi~
leadership with
!ove (Eph. 5:25, 28) , without
harshness (Col. 3: 19) and to treat
his wife with dignity
(1
Pet. 3:7,
last part of verse) .
Note again that husband and wife
are
equal
heirs: "heirs together of
the grace of life." Once our minds
have been opened, we have equal
access to God, equal access to for–
giveness of sin, equal access to the
Holy Spirit. Yet each has his or her
own assigned natural responsibility
within the family unit.
In the early Church , female
members were to develop their per–
sonalities and characters, acquiring
abilities and talents that would bet–
ter enable them to fulfill the high
calling of wife, mother and home–
maker. In 1 Timothy 5:14 and Ti tus
2:3-5 we read that women are to be
moral and spiritu al teachers of
their chi ldren and grandchi ldren.
Because of the extreme impor–
tance placed by God on the rearing
of children and the special place
given to them in the building of
homelife, women were not ordained
to administrative or ministerial
offices in the Church. They were
instructed not to be involved in the
public preaching or teaching minis–
try (1 Tim. 2:12).
It was nota matter of any innate
inferiority or sexist tendencies in
Paul or the early Church leaders.
God has simply reserved to himself
the right to assign to men and
women different but equally
impor tant responsibilities in life,
and he has so designed us in conse–
quence.
It
should be noted, however , that
women were from the beginning a
part of the active larger group of
disciples who accompanied Jesus
when he traveled. They assisted
with various jobs as well as provid–
ing sorne financia! aid.
"And it carne to pass ... that he
went throughout every city and vil–
lage, preaching and shewing the
glad tidings of the
kingdom of
God:
and the twelve were with him,
and certain women ... Mary called
Magdalene ... and Joanna the wife
of Chuza Herod 's steward, and
Susanna, and many others, whioh
ministered unto him of their sub–
stance" (Luke 8: l-3) .
Women also played a vital role in
all of the early congr egations .
Although they were not ordained to
ministerial offices of leadership,
the Scripture indicates that sorne
faithful women were assigned the
office of
deaconess,
the counterpar t
of the maJe office of deacon.
This office was given to those
members of the C h u rch who,
through deep conversion, expressed
a desire to serve other brethren in
Jargely physical responsibi li ties.
The first deacons were assigned the
job of serving and organizing meals
for groups of indigent, elderly
widows in Jerusalem who needed
special assistance (Acts 6: 1-5).
I n the Greek text of Romans
16:1 and I Timothy 3: JI we learn
that women were also ordained to
that office of service. They served
the elderly, helped the sick, opened
their own homes and showed hospi -
The
PLAIN TRUTH