Twenty years ago in May of 2003 my wife and I began to date. We had known each other for a year or so up to that point, but neither of us had any romantic interest in the other (at least that’s how she tells the story). All that summer we spent time together, seeing each other at least every day until she left for school in mid-August. There’s a lot I could say about those weeks, but one word that comes to mind is distracted.
It can be hard to focus on other things once you become romantically involved. Even church gatherings are different when you expect to see your significant other in the building. This is nothing new. Paul says, “He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife….The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, how she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction” (1 Corinthians 7:32-35).
This passage isn’t really about the roles of women in the church, but it does offer at least a bit of insight into God’s view of women’s ministry. Singleness provides a unique opportunity for men and women to engage in ministry without being distracted by romantic entanglements. At the very least, this affirms that it is good for women to serve in the church, and to do so with single-mindedness, at least if they are unmarried. So any view that we take on women’s roles in the church must include respect for those women who are able to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the Lord.
That is not to say that wives cannot serve Christ in the church, only that they will necessarily be distracted by the need to care for their husbands. And based on the example of couples like Priscilla and Aquila, we must say that a married woman should find ample opportunity to serve the body, especially in partnership with her believing husband.1
All believers, whether male or female, are under authority, and it is only as we embrace God’s design that we may properly utilize our gifts in the congregation.
Now if we continue on in the letter of 1 Corinthians we find some direct instruction on the roles of women in the church. In chapter 11 Paul talks about headship or authority in the church. He says, first of all, that “the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” (v.3). In other words, there is a definable authority structure in the local church (top to bottom): the Father, the Son, man, woman.
We observe that even Christ has a source of authority, yet the Son is eternally equal with the Father. This means that women are not robbed of essential equality with men by being placed under male authority in the local church. All believers, whether male or female, are under authority, and it is only as we embrace God’s design that we may properly utilize our gifts in the congregation. For women, Paul says, this includes both praying and prophesying in the public gathering.
The whole discussion in 1 Corinthians 11 about head coverings is quite controversial, and I don’t want to get caught up in the precise details. But I agree with F. F. Bruce’s observation “That there was liberty in the church (for it is church order, not private or domestic devotion, that is in view here) for women to pray or prophesy is necessarily implied by Paul’s argument: he does not suggest that there is anything undesirable about their doing so…., but requires them to do so with their heads covered.”
Does Paul mean that women may lead the congregation in public prayer or simply that they may pray along while someone else leads in prayer? It is hard to imagine how a woman praying silently as a man prays out loud could ever be construed as a denial of his authority, if she should do so without her head covering. Instead, it seems to make more sense that Paul is referring to a woman praying out loud in the assembly, and so in some sense leading the rest of the congregation. This, he says, she may do, so long as she remains in submission to the God-ordained authority structure in the church.
What about prophecy? Bruce notes that “prophesying was an individual charismatic exercise” and that the church saw Joel 2:28 fulfilled in that “in the new age not only ‘your sons’ but also ‘your daughters shall prophesy’.” In the 1st century church, and especially in Paul’s earliest letters when little to none of the NT was yet written or widely available, the gift of prophecy was vitally important. This is why Paul said, “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). We will discuss this issue more in the next post, but for now let it be said that women also received the gift of prophecy and were used by God to reveal truth to the church, as believers waited for the canon of Scripture to be completed.
What about today? Since we understand that the gift of prophecy is no longer operating in the church2, the most likely analog in the modern church is reading Scripture. If this is true, it means that women may both pray and read the Bible in the church gathering as long as they remain in submission to the male leadership of the congregation.3
But what about preaching and teaching? And doesn’t Paul say something about women being silent in the church? These are questions we still need to address, and they will be the subjects of the next post.
11 Peter 3:1-6 would suggest that the primary ministry of a woman married to an unbeliever is to be a godly testimony, so that her husband may be won to Christ “without a word.”
2A defense of cessationism is beyond the scope of this series, but it is assumed that the gift of prophecy diminished as the NT books were written and ceased altogether once the canon was closed.
3If someone interprets Paul as commanding wearing head scarves, then the application would be the same. As long as she is covering her head properly, she would be able to read and pray freely as a member of the body.