I thought long and hard about what my first "official" post should be on this blog, and I figured I would start with a topic that I talk about A LOT with other women. This topic is mainly about gender roles, specifically, for a woman.
In a society that preaches for equality between men and women in ALL areas, what the Bible truly says about gender roles is very much ignored not only in the world, but even in Christian circles. Looking around society today you see women who rule over their husbands, boss over other men at work, women preachers/pastors in church, fighting for equality to be in the military, etc. But what does the Bible truly say about this?
There are soooo many passages that refer to gender roles in the Bible, but, for this post, I’m just going to focus on the one I deal with most – 1 Timothy 2 (note: all references to Scripture will be KJV). Below, I have just listed two of the most common arguments that I hear regarding this passage. Let’s take a look…
Argument #1 This passage was written only to the church at that time. It doesn’t have anything to do with this culture.
False. If this passage only referred to the church at the time, then women do not need to dress modestly anymore as it talks about in vs. 9. Also, in vs. 13-14 it specifically says WHY women should not have authority over man, and that’s because we women were deceived back in the Garden of Eden, not the man (and let’s face it we’re STILL easy to deceive). Again, that’s a historical fact and no amount of time or changes in culture is going to erase that.
Argument #2 Women not being teachers/preachers only refers to the church. It’s ok for women to be in authority over men outside of church.
Incorrect, again. If we take a closer look at the ENTIRE chapter, we’re able to see in context of where this behavior is to take place. First of all, church is never even mentioned in the entire chapter; vs. 2 talks about “kings, and for all that are in authority…” Also, vs. 8 talks about men praying EVERY WHERE…then proceeding with (vs. 9) “in like manner also…” meaning when Paul starts talking about a woman’s behavior, he’s also talking about this being the case everywhere we go whether it’s church or in the world. As I stated this before, if this passage were only referring to women’s behavior and demeanor in church, then I guess it’s ok for us to be loud, boisterous, and immodestly dressed outside of church. If you really want to dig deeper, start researching exactly what God made women for and you’ll find that we were created to be keepers at home, not working alongside men in the outside world as equals.
So Ladies, let’s remember that we should just take the Word of God on its own. No matter what culture may say, no matter what other Christians may say, do what God says. In conclusion, it is NOT right for us to be in a position of authority over a man no matter if it’s at church, home, or at the workplace if you work. No matter where we go, we should also maintain that meek and quiet spirit the Bible refers to (1 Peter 3:3-4). Let us be different from the world. Let’s remind them that there IS a wonderful and beautiful difference between a man and a woman. God created us to have different roles, and when we serve those roles faithfully the way God intended it to be, you’ll feel more fulfilled. I know I do!
