1 Corinthians 14:33b-35, CEB - Like in all the
churches of God’s people, the women
should be quiet during the meeting. They are not allowed to talk. Instead, they
need to get under control, just as the Law says. If they want to learn something, they should
ask their husbands at home. It is disgraceful for a woman to talk during the
meeting.
As I said a couple of reflections
ago, we would return Paul’s guidance/attitude with respect to women. Today is the day. Biblical interpreters tend to have two
different approaches to talking about Paul’s comments concerning women. One
approach is to simply label Paul as a “man of his time” who was revolutionary
in some respects to his teachings on social norms, but on other issues, did not
rock the boat. They observe that Paul’s
attitudes toward women seem to reflect the attitudes toward women prevalent in
the cultural waters in which he swam.
Other interpreters work to “stick
up” for Paul, arguing that while Paul did often sound like his traditional contemporaries,
he was in practice quite progressive in his approach to women. He commended and encouraged women in
leadership in the congregations in which he was in relationship. They cite Paul as the author of the words, “In
Christ. . .there is no male or female.” (Galatians 3:28). These interpreters also work to contextualize
his specific comments about women, pointing out that sometimes Paul sounds like
he is more chauvinistic than he actually is because we don’t realize the specific
situation that about which he is writing.
Take the example for today. In
the passage above, Paul was responding to a specific problem in the Corinthian
church where women, who up until this time, never spoke in worship settings. Now, they were and it was causing disorder
and mixed feelings in the worship gatherings.
Paul was attempting to restore orderliness to these gatherings by
restricting women from speaking publicly.
The interpreter sticking up for Paul would also point out that Paul
makes a provision for women to learn and speak about spiritual issues later in
the context of the home. This is a
revolutionary concept in itself for the prevailing thought in Paul’s time is
that there was no need for women to be educated in anything other than running
a household and raising children.
Here’s the thing about both approaches
to interpreting Paul. They’re both appropriate
and right. We are all always products of
our cultural education and norms and Paul is no exception. Paul does indeed have chauvinistic tendencies
and attitudes that can’t be completely defended by explaining specific contexts. But it is also true that we see flashes of
radical transformation taking place in Paul’s thought with respect to
women. These revolutionary statements
and practices got Paul into hot water with his contemporaries. Paul gives us a good portrait of a human
being that, after making the decision to follow Christ, begins to be changed in
ways that he would have never predicted. But some of those changes are not instantaneous,
but gradual over time.
My journey has been similar as I suspect
is the case for most who have decided to follow Jesus’s way of life. I am much less racist than I used to be, but
every once in a while, I am surprised by an old thought or attitude that creeps
into my head and heart. Furthermore, I’ve
only over the last several years realized that my faith in Christ doesn’t just
condemn any vestiges of racism within me, but it also calls me to be an actively
anti-racist presence and influence in the cultural waters that I swim.
We are always works-in-progress
when it comes to Christian faith. The
theological word for this is sanctification.
Here’s the thing about sanctification though. It’s messy.
We sometimes contradict ourselves in the midst of it. We can even feel a bit schizophrenic at
times, finding ourselves saying and doing one thing in one situation and then
saying and doing the opposite in another situation. Transformation is like
that. Paul was a man in the midst of
that kind of sanctification until the day he left this earth. My prayer is that it is the same for me and
you.
Questions: What
progress can you point to with respect to old thoughts, feelings, actions,
and/or attitudes that have changed since the time you decided to take following
Jesus seriously? What might be in the
process of changing in you right now?
Prayer: God, we
submit our wills to Your own. Have your
way with any attitude, habit, or pattern of thought that does not honor
you. Help us be aware of the ways you
are sanctifying us and give us the trust to cooperate with that transformation.
Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for
the awareness of something in yourself that God is in the process of transforming.
Song: Refiner’s Fire –
Brian Doerksen
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