Q.
Lately I have been seeing posts on social media regarding the “treatment” of women in especially Independent Baptist Churches. In your estimation, have you experienced or seen the treatment of women as anything but Biblical in these settings? What is the role of women in Scripture?
A.
Quite an interesting question. I’m not sure if I’m aware of what you are referring to in Independent Baptist Churches or not. There have been churches that have so emphasized wives submitting to their husbands that it has allowed for psychological abuse, and, in some cases, worse. This has been totally contrary to true Spirit-filled living. Yet other churches are quite healthy.
In the spiritual realm, women and men are equal. Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” In Christ, there is neither male or female.
In the realm of the family, the Bible lays out a plan of headship. As Christ is the head of the church, so the husband is the head of the wife (Eph. 5). Headship is a matter of leadership and final decisions. It does not imply that the wife is in any way inferior, or that she cannot have valued input. In fact, as the helpmeet suitable for the man, a wife brings to the table what men often cannot see on their own. Husbands would be wise to factor their wives input into the equation. Submission is simply the right response to organizational headship.
In the realm of the church gathering, women can have much involvement (1 Cor. 11). They are not to usurp the authority of a man, and since the pastor is to be the husband of one wife, women are not pastors (1Tim. 3). In times of persecution women have had to be involved pastorally in settings where the men have been forced to work seven days a week. This is the exception, not the rule. God used Deborah in the times of the judges when a man was not available
Much more could be said, but this provides a basic framework. Christianity has always elevated the place of women from a role of servitude.
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Another part of the women’s involvement would be their part in corporate prayer meetings. I have seen where some pastors and churches will not permit women to pray in corporate meetings because of 1 Cor 14:34 where it says that the women are to keep silence in the churches and not permitted to speak. Yet, there were men and women in that group of 120 in the upper room praying and waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Cor 11:5 it mentions women praying and prophesying in the context of the local church. I see a difference… Read more »
Conversely, over the years I have seen different women occasionally called upon by a local pastor to pray aloud in a corporate setting, and in every case those women politely declined.
Per I Corinthians 11:3-16, women are indeed permitted to honorably pray (presumably corporately, since prophesy is also mentioned) with a requisite head covering (v.5), while men are permitted to honorably pray only uncovered (v.4). This should not be debated (v. 16). I have also wondered if dress factors into who is or is not permitted to pray corporately.
Thanks for these thoughts, Don. Acts 1 and 1 Corinthians 11 are clear about women praying in the assembly. Over the years I have observed that God uses women in prayer meetings often because they seem to be humble sooner.
Thank you for addressing this topic! I have been in some independent Baptist churches that do not permit women to vote at all or to lead in praying publicly with men, and teach that a wife is supposed to go to the IFB church where her husband wants. What are your thoughts?
Sounds like overreach. Priscilla and Aquila would likely be saddened by this. The voting and prayer exclusion misses the point of equality in Christ. The church choice appears like dictatorship, rather than leadership. Ultimately, whoever must answer to God for a decision should make it. But the wife’s perspective should be given careful and prayerful consideration.
Hi Brother John, I’ve always enjoyed special numbers from women in services and often have been blessed by them. Would this not be a woman proclaiming truth in song and if so how would that be any different from her reading a passage or even giving a challenge in the service?
Great common sense question! There really is very little difference.