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The Fallacy of the Firstborn Right of Leadership

There is a long time popular fallacy and misinterpretation of Scripture that declares only males can be public leaders because the male was created first in the record of Genesis.

Recently, one of our Bible Study groups had the privilege of reading through the book of Genesis.  One of several things that stood out was that God never choose the first born to be leaders.  God always choose the one whose heart and intent was righteous.  Put these very clear facts of history together with the other glaring omission of God ever stating that the first born had leadership rights, and we see that this concept is man made and inserted into the interpretation of what is said in Genesis.  It is also inserted into the interpretation of what Paul said in 1 Timothy 2. 

What God did say in Genesis is that it was not good for the human to be alone.  This had nothing to do with authority or leadership, but aloneness. AFTER the man discovered what God already knew, that there was no one LIKE him (not different than), God proceeded to take of the man’s own essence and reform and refine it into the only one who was like the human enough to allay his aloneness — another human, but female. All of this had nothing whatsoever to do with the females fitness for leadership because God gave humanity, not male humans, the responsibility of leadership over the creation. The ability to compassionately lead, guide, protect and direct to promote life is part of the image of God that all humans share. Some are more gifted than others. But it is not imparted by being born first. It was imparted to all humans by the supernatural hand of our Creator. 

 

 

Kevin Giles review of a recent Equal and Complementary seminar

The following link is to a google article by well known scholar Kevin Giles who calls himself a non-hierarchical complementarian (I consider myself the same).  In this article Giles is critiquing the teachings of some hierarchical complementarians who claim an interpretation of Scripture that is gender biased toward male dominance in church and home.  I find Giles review of their seminar very informative.

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B58yzgL3ovUUZmFiNTMyMjktOTg2MS00YWRlLTljOTktYjE4YjgxM2M5YTFm&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

I will be interested in any questions and comments regarding what Giles has to say on this.

Be Willing to Be Persuaded

Hebrews Chapter 13 is an interesting chapter. It reminds the reader to look, observe, remember, and apply good proper behavior to ones life. Verses 7-9 and 17-18 are the tied together perhaps book-ending what is in-between, somewhat defining how we approach and apply what we are observing and remembering.

Verse 7 tells us to remember those who lead us in teaching the Scriptures. Remembering has already been admonished in verse 3 as part of letting brotherly love continue, which is closed with verse 5’s admonition to let our conduct by without covetousness. So, remembering has already been tied with observing so as to adjust our own behavior towards godliness.

OK, so the implications are that we are to remember and observe our leaders, but we are not to following their teachings (further defined in verse 9) until we consider the outcome of their conduct. In other words we must observe how they live out their teachings, consider its ramifications before wholeheartedly taking it into our own behavior. This carefulness in following what our leaders teach is emphasized by mentioning that Christ (who is Truth embodied) is the same and does not change, AND that we must not be carried away by strange teachings. Our hearts must be established on grace, we must eat the spiritual foods that profit our soul. One way to see that is by observing how teachings (and we must agree that the body of Christ has many diverse teachings) flesh out in the lives of those who teach and believe them.

Then in verse 17 we have an interesting word that had it been translated better (difficult word though) I believe it would read: “be willing to be persuaded by your leaders and be submissive …..”. The Greek word for “obey” (upakouo) is not there. Instead we have peithomai or a derivative.

The Greek word (3982) "peitho" means:

1) persuade
a) to persuade, that is, to induce one by words to believe
b) to make friends of, to win one's favor, to gain one's good will, or to seek to win one, to strive to please one
c) to tranquilize
d) to persuade unto, that is, to move or induce one to persuasion to do something
2) be persuaded
a) to be persuaded, to suffer oneself to be persuaded; to be induced to believe: to have faith (in a thing)
1) to believe
2) to be persuaded of a thing concerning a person
b) to listen to, to obey, to yield to, to comply with
3) to trust, to have confidence, to be confident

In Classical Greek students were taught that the fundamental meaning of the word pietho was to persuade (in the active voice), or be persuaded (in the passive, or middle voice).This is not claiming that this verb can never be translated obey, but is saying that even in those cases, the word likely has overtones of doing such and such BECAUSE one is persuaded. In the New Testament the idea of persuasion and related ideas are frequently present when the verb is used, as in the very next verse, Hebrews 13:18, with the idea of confidence (because one is persuaded).

Thus, we have this whole section closing with the idea of being willing, allowing for the possibility of, being persuaded of what is being taught by our leaders. And how do we allow them to persuade us, by observing and remembering how they live out their beliefs. This is further drummed in by verse 18 which says that we are to pray for the author(s) of the epistle (implying leaders and teachers perhaps) because they are living honorably in a good conscience.

It is unfortunate that many have helicoptered verse 7 and 17 out of the context of this chapter and used it to demand that the laity give somewhat blind obedience to their clergy rather than properly separating honor and respect from blind obedience. We are to honor and respect those who have dedicated their lives to serve the body of Christ but we are to follow what proves to be truth, both by searching the Scriptures (Acts 17:10-12) and by observing how they live what they teach.

In Conclusion: the implication of verses 7-9 and 17-19 are to test what is being said against real life (the real life of the leaders living out their beliefs) , in order to not be led about by strange doctrines. Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell what our leaders really mean until we see how they apply it in their lives. This of course does not mean we ONLY follow our leaders, and do not read Scripture and through prayer and research figure things out for ourselves. We must keep our hearing tuned like donkeys ears swivel to grab the sound, so that we eagerly take in what is being said by our leaders respecting their sincere devotion to God and Scripture. Observing, how they live out their beliefs is another way to fine tune what they believe. But, it is imperative that we only trust Scripture as the final authority and like the Bereans search the Scriptures to see if what is being said is really in Scripture and as described by our leaders. 

I believe that when we do this, when we are diligent to hear, willing to be persuaded, diligent to research the Scriptures for ourselves like the Bereans, we will experience a deeper inner walk with God.

Spiritual Growth - A Word For The Body

Here is a simple thought:  We are meant to experience God more today and tomorrow than we have in the past.

Have you ever tried to describe a beautiful sunset to a man or woman born blind?  Words don’t do justice do they? It is exceedingly difficult to describe something that we have no information to compare it to.   It is with the same difficulty that Christians try to describe God to the unbeliever.  Every human is born spiritually blind outside of the Garden of Eden where humanity first walked with God the creator of sunsets and sunrises.  It is difficult to describe spiritual life to one who is living in spiritual death.

 

Every believer by some miracle steps out of spiritual death into spiritual life.  But it is a process that only God can accomplish in our lives one veil at a time, just like the process of the removal of sin from our lives.  It doesn’t all happen at once.

 

There are four general areas that promote spiritual growth and all the healing and deliverance it brings with it:  worship, prayer, Christian community, and Bible Study

 

Worship is adoration of God and should happen not only on Sunday mornings in our singing but frequently in our daily communication with God , for God is looking for those who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth.  (John 4:23).  We should praise Him for the intricate patterns of the spider’s web , the beauty of the tiger’s eyes, the sound of the rain falling…..  as well as so much more goodness He is responsible for in our lives.

 

Prayer is our intimate communication with our Creator, Lord and friend in whose image we were created.  It should be composed of many things.  We ask for the things we think we need with humble petitions and often forget to laugh and share our wonderments, confusions, pains and joys with God.  But He is always listening, never turning a closed ear, so why NOT pray without ceasing never NOT thinking about His presence.  1 Thess. 5:17

 

Fellowship and Community with the saints is about not only getting to know the people of God with whom we will be spending eternity, but also being of some support, encouragement, assistance, direction, and benefit to them.  Getting together with God’s people allows us to use our spiritual gifts and grow into the person of God we were meant to be.  We remind one another of the greatness of God by doing so.  Hebrews 10:25

 

Studying the Scriptures daily is the means by which God can admonish us and direct us in the other 3 areas. All that we need to know about God, salvation and how to grow and mature into the fullness of the person of Christ Jesus are contained within the 66 books of the books we know as The Holy Scriptures.  We desperately need our minds transformed so that we can prove by our lives what is that good and perfect will of God for humanity.  (Rom. 12:2/ Acts 17:11)

 

Every churches leadership is committed to providing opportunity for believers to participate in all of those things in various Bible studies, meetings, social events, retreats, seminars and the Sunday morning services.  But this is scarcely enough.  Each believer must take responsibility for their own life, for their own spiritual growth, hand in hand with Jesus.  If we do not, we limp along spiritually just like someone with a physical handicap.  And if we continue to slag spiritually, we don’t grow and we miss out on so much goodness that God would have for us.

 

Please brethren, don’t limp and don't continue to be spiritually blind. Experience God. Experience Scriptures.  Please make every effort to determine to grow spiritually into the man or woman of God that God wants you to be.

 

 

Husband of One Wife - heis gunE anEr

A common erroneous claim of hierarchalists is that 1 Tim. 3:2 teaches that elders have a requirement to be the husband of one wife.

I often get a slight chuckle when I hear that interpretation. It would be interesting to find out when that idea started.  It wasn’t in operation when the church was formalized as they required that bishops be single, which the Catholic church still holds to today. Of course they are wrong also.

That interpretation doesn’t even fit the flow of the context as all the other things listed were moral characteristics not physical requirements. There have been good scholars who have figured out that it must be representing a moral requirement without knowing it’s historical usage as an idiom for faithfulness.  My guess is that even then it was an old idiom.  Still today that idiom is used, of being a faithful type person in personal relationships.  We say, he or she is a ‘one woman (or man) type of person’ or a “one woman man”, etc.

heis gunE anEr means 'one woman man'. It is an idiom. If we take the idiom in context, it would be rather strange or lazy language for Paul to first say that anyone (tis) who desires the work of elder desires a good work and then go on in very unstraight forward words to possibly suggest that only husbands can be elders. That is totally not Paul’s style.

In addition, that erroneous interpretation misses the Hebrew style word play in the beginning that says “faithful is the word” and then goes on to say that the first requirement is a faithful type of person.

The Case for Subjection of women to men ....

The following is the case for subjection of women to men that I am disputing.  it is from:

biblestudyproject.org

III. "ITS ELDERSHIP IS OPEN TO MEN WHO FULFILL THE QUALIFICATIONS
FOR ELDER AS SET FORTH IN THE NEW COVENANT"

A. "THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR ELDER"

The formally ordained spiritual leaders of the local church or congregation are called its elders or presbyters, pastors or shepherds, or overseers or bishops, and they are one and the same. (Compare Acts 20:17 with 20:28; 1 Timothy 3:2 with 5:17; Titus 1 with 5 and 7; 1 Peter 5:1 with 5:2.) The common practice today is to have one pastor and a group of elders (often mistakenly called deacons) under his authority. This is not the biblical practice. A search of the Brit HaChadashah (New Testament) will reveal that all elders worked as a plurality, though they may have operated in different capacities.

Elders must minimally meet the qualifications for deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-12) as the deacons are the helpers of the elders. Above and beyond that, they must meet the qualifications laid out specifically for elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9). The qualifications noted in both passages are very similar. Titus 1:5-9 reads, 5. For this cause I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed you, 6. if anyone is blameless, husband of one wife, having believing children, not accused of loose behavior, or disobedient. 7. For an overseer must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not full of passion, not given to wine, not quarrelsome, not greedy for ill gain; 8. but hospitable, a lover of good, discreet, just, holy, temperate, 9. holding fast the faithful Word according to the doctrine, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convict those who contradict [sound doctrine].

B. "ELDERSHIP IS OPEN TO MEN"

1. Introduction
Scripture declares that the elders in a local congregation must be men. We will first look at those scriptures, then the underlying theological principles that are cited in these and related passages, and then consider whether the way the principles were applied in the early congregations must be applied the same way today.

2. The Scriptures
1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6 each states that an elder must be the husband of one wife. In addition, 1 Timothy 3:4-5 states that he must be 4. ruling his own house well, having children in subjection with all honor. 5. (For if a man does not know to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the congregation of God?) Consistent with these scriptures, whenever the gender of an elder is indicated, and there are many such passages, it is invariably male. Nevertheless, various interpretations based on linguistic, cultural, circumstantial and, perhaps, other considerations, have arisen that allow the eldership of women. I have therefore made every effort to deal with the issue as extensively, carefully, honestly, and fairly as I could.

3. The Underlying Theological Principles
The underlying principles that are given for the headship of the man in the home and the congregation are the same, and are all theological, meaning that they must apply in all homes and congregations everywhere throughout the Church Age. One's cultural orientation and circumstance must always bow to theological principles. This will become clearer as we proceed; and as we proceed, we will be careful to separate the theological principles from the manner in which they were applied to eldership in the early congregations, and how they are to be applied today. It must also be stated that, although other applications of the principles will be noted, the issue of men and/or women in eldership is the only application that we will pin to the ground in this study.

The key principle is that of subjection. The Greek words used are hupotage and hupotasso. According to Strong's Concordance, hupotage means:subordination. According to Young's Analytical Concordance, it means: subjection, submission. Hupotage appears in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 in the context of the need for women to refrain from teaching men, to refrain from exercising authority over them, and to maintain silence in the congregation. According to Strong, hupotasso means: be under obedience... be in subjection to, submit self unto. According to Young, it means: ... put in subjection unto, put under.... It is used in 1 Corinthians 14:34 in the context of the requirement of silence for women in the congregation. It is also used in Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, Titus 2:5 and 1 Peter 3:1, all in the context of the need for wives to submit to their husbands' leadership in the marriage. The principle of the subjection of women to the men in the local congregation may also be found in 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, which deals with the requirement of women, perhaps only married women (mbs 106, p. 42. See endnotes), to wear a headcovering in honor of male headship. The passages dealing directly with congregational eldership are consistent with these, and must logically be viewed as relevant to the general requirement of the subjection of the women to the men.

The specific fundamental underlying theological reasons that are given for the necessity of the subjection of the woman to the man are these, which I have listed in a logical order:
1. 1 Corinthians 11:8: For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. 
2. 1 Timothy 2:13: For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
3. 1 Corinthians 11:9: Nor was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.
4. 1 Timothy 2:14: And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
5. Ephesians 5:23: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Messiah is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. 
6. . 1 Corinthians 11:3: ...the head of every man is Messiah; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Messiah is God. Three levels of headship are mentioned here: God is the head of Messiah, Messiah is the head of the man, and the man is the head of the woman. The apostle's implication is that the principle of headship of the man over the woman begins with God the Father and cascades down the chain from God the Father to Messiah to the man to the woman. 
7. 1 Corinthians 11:7: For a man... is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man.
 
Six of the seven passages appear in the context of the subjection of women to men in the local congregation. The exception is Ephesians 5:23, which speaks of the subjection of wives to husbands; but even here Paul uses the relationship to illustrate the relationship of the universal body of Christ, the bride, to her heavenly Groom, the Chief Shepherd (Pastor) of the church (1 Peter 5:4). Paul explained, I speak concerning Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:32). In the context of the issue at hand, one must note that God ordained that our Chief Pastor, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) be born male, not female. 

4. How May the Theological Principles Be Applied Today?
In view of the timeless theological principles cited by Paul, one must conclude that the women are to be in subjection to the men in all congregations. That being the case, is it possible in any culture or circumstance for a woman to be in subjection to the men if she is an elder over them with the authority to sit on the decision making counsel and to exhort, admonish and discipline them? How can it be? It is a logical impossibility. An elder must be the husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6), a man (1 Timothy 3:5); and although Ephesians 5:21 exhorts both husband and wife to submit [hupotasso] to one another in love, the very next verse makes it plain that the primary way that a wife is to love her husband is to be in subjection [hupotasso] to his leadership.

All things considered, this writer cannot help but conclude that, in order to preserve the requirement for the subjection of women to men in the church or congregation throughout the Church Age no matter what the culture or circumstance, men must be in the positions of spiritual headship over the women, and no woman may be in spiritual headship over a man.

5. Pastors' Wives as Pastors and Women Assistant Pastors
Some say that, if a man is a pastor, and his wife is in subjection to him, then the requirement for subjection has been met and she can therefore be a pastor. But this is not logical. She is still a pastor, and the men in the congregation would still need to be in subjection to her and, as we have seen, this must not be allowed. The principle applies to women as assistant pastors, as well. An assistant pastor is still a pastor.

An even stranger form of "logic" may be found today. In many churches, particularly charismatic churches, when a man becomes a pastor, his wife is automatically crowned pastor as well, and functions as one! Not only is she is not a man, but neither is she scrutinized as closely as her husband as to character, background, strategy and capability. Where in the Word is such a practice to be found?! It is an absurdity and an insult to the Word of God, treating it not with reverence, but frivolity.

6. An Afterword
Love must reign in the local congregation, but it will reign in proportion to the degree to which its leaders and members honor the guidelines of Scripture. As a wife must lovingly submit to her husband's leadership in the marriage, so must women lovingly submit to exclusive male eldership in the congregation. Those who would force the issue of female eldership face a wall of biblical evidence that resists them. Those pastors who would force the issue to prevent a mass exodus from their congregations, or for any other reason, have their priorities wrong. All who would force the issue are not trusting the Lord, will do spiritual damage to themselves and all others affected, and will need to answer to the Lord. In regard to the judgment of the saints at the Judgment Seat of Messiah, Paul warned, I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. But let every man take heed how he builds upon it (1 Corinthians 3:10).