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Ms. Lesley is back from her blog hiatus and quickly returns to parsing 1 Timothy 2:12, creating yet another micro doctrine about things women cannot do in church.
Here's the verse:
1Ti. 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
We note that Ms. Lesley never quotes this verse or any Bible verse. Her presentation is simply another speculation based on a mistaken understanding of this verse. There is nothing here or anywhere in the Bible about a woman giving a "brief, personal testimony" and there is nothing about forbidding a woman from replacing the sermon.
We extensively discuss the role of women in church here.
Further, the Bible does not tell us "pastors, preach the word." Let's quote the verse:
2Ti. 4:2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction.
This was Paul's instruction to Timothy, not to pastors. And Timothy wasn't a pastor, which we discuss here. And, the verse does not tell us anything about preaching in a church service, but rather preaching in season and out of season (i.e., the proclamation of the Gospel in every place at every opportunity).
There is a difference between preaching and teaching. They are two different things:
Mt. 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Here we find that Jesus was doing three different things, teaching, preaching and healing.
"Teaching" is didaskó, 1. absolutely, a. to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them...
"Preaching" is kérussó, b. specifically used of the public proclamation of the gospel...
Therefore, Paul's instruction to Timothy in 2Ti. 4:2 was to preach (kérussó) the word, i.e., proclaim the Gospel. We can easily confirm this assertion because only three verses later Paul instructed Timothy:
2Ti. 4:5 ...do the work of an evangelist...
Evangelists preach the Gospel.
Now, we should be clear that Paul did command Timothy to teach (1Ti. 1:3, 1Ti. 4:11, 1Ti. 4:13, 1Ti. 6:2, etc.). But that doesn't make him the pastor because the Bible does not tell us that pastors teach. Pastors care for the flock, and teachers teach (Ep. 4:11). Elders lead the church, not pastors (1Pe. 5:2).
Paul agrees with Peter about elders leading the church:
1Ti. 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
Timothy was being instructed about leadership structure in the church. Therefore, Timothy was not the pastor.
Ms. Lesley's answer, then, is wrong from beginning to end. We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.
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Q. Is it against 1 Timothy 2 for a woman to speak, not teach, during a Sunday morning worship service? She is not speaking as to teach or preach or pastor, but simply speaking on a topic to a congregation of men and women about her experiences as the head of a pregnancy resource center on Sanctity of Life Sunday. You say that this is unbiblical?
A. If she’s just giving a brief, personal testimony as a small part of the worship service, and the pastor will go on to preach his full sermon later in the service, that’s probably OK. (I’ve addressed women giving personal testimonies during the worship service here, #14.)
If her “testimony” is taking the place of the sermon, yes, it’s unbiblical, but not in the way you’re thinking. Someone giving a talk on an informational topic or her personal experiences that takes the place of the sermon is not so much a 1 Timothy 2:12, “women preaching/teaching to men” issue as it is a 2 Timothy 4:1-2 “pastors, preach the Word” issue.
Personal testimonies, speeches on non-biblical topics, panel discussions, interviews, etc. (from anyone, male or female), should not take the place of the preaching of the Word in the worship gathering. Additionally, due to the ignorance of the world and the majority of professing Christians who fail to distinguish between personal testimonies, TED talks, and preaching, a woman giving a personal testimony that takes the place of the sermon appears to most people as though she is preaching the sermon. We’re to avoid even the appearance of evil, so that’s another biblical reason not to do it.
May I make a suggestion? If your church is in need of someone to teach about the wickedness of abortion, contact an abolitionist organization such as Abolitionists Rising or Free the States. Because the abolition movement is church-based, they can put you in touch with a biblically qualified, doctrinally sound man (usually a pastor or elder) to come to your church and preach on the biblical reasons we should fight for the total eradication of abortion. We need to be convicted by Scripture on this issue, not swayed by an emotional response to someone’s subjective personal experiences.
Q. Is it against 1 Timothy 2 for a woman to speak, not teach, during a Sunday morning worship service? She is not speaking as to teach or preach or pastor, but simply speaking on a topic to a congregation of men and women about her experiences as the head of a pregnancy resource center on Sanctity of Life Sunday. You say that this is unbiblical?
A. If she’s just giving a brief, personal testimony as a small part of the worship service, and the pastor will go on to preach his full sermon later in the service, that’s probably OK. (I’ve addressed women giving personal testimonies during the worship service here, #14.)
If her “testimony” is taking the place of the sermon, yes, it’s unbiblical, but not in the way you’re thinking. Someone giving a talk on an informational topic or her personal experiences that takes the place of the sermon is not so much a 1 Timothy 2:12, “women preaching/teaching to men” issue as it is a 2 Timothy 4:1-2 “pastors, preach the Word” issue.
Personal testimonies, speeches on non-biblical topics, panel discussions, interviews, etc. (from anyone, male or female), should not take the place of the preaching of the Word in the worship gathering. Additionally, due to the ignorance of the world and the majority of professing Christians who fail to distinguish between personal testimonies, TED talks, and preaching, a woman giving a personal testimony that takes the place of the sermon appears to most people as though she is preaching the sermon. We’re to avoid even the appearance of evil, so that’s another biblical reason not to do it.
May I make a suggestion? If your church is in need of someone to teach about the wickedness of abortion, contact an abolitionist organization such as Abolitionists Rising or Free the States. Because the abolition movement is church-based, they can put you in touch with a biblically qualified, doctrinally sound man (usually a pastor or elder) to come to your church and preach on the biblical reasons we should fight for the total eradication of abortion. We need to be convicted by Scripture on this issue, not swayed by an emotional response to someone’s subjective personal experiences.
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