More on women in ministry

So yesterday I talked about the passage in 1 Corinthians 11. But another seemingly less ambiguous passage occurs in 1 Timothy 2:9-15, specifically the part where Paul says, "I do not allow a woman to teach or have authority over a man, she must be silent." Now, there are those who use the same argument here - that it is really husband and wife, not man and woman. But there is an even more important thing we need to know here. Once again, we must go back to the original Greek. This passage can be translated either "I do not allow," or "I am not allowing." The difference is between a commandment meant for all times and places and a comment on a current practice that does not necessarily have any long-term or wide-spread application. The reason I believe that the latter is Paul's intention is twofold. First, there was a "new teaching" that was just becoming popular in the area around Ephesus that taught that rather than sinning, Eve, by eating the fruit, brought special knowledge into the world, which knowledge only women could communicate to men. I believe that this is the teaching Paul had in mind here and explains a temporary ban on women in the pulpit. The reason I believe this is that he justifies his statement by saying that Eve actually did sin, and was actually deceived by the evil one. And secondly, Paul himself, in Romans 16 greets and commends several women in ministry positions. Romans was written just before 1 Timothy and sheds light on Paul's normal attitude towards women in ministry, and it was positive. He had nothing negative to say to the Romans about these women in ministry; rather he commended them.

What is most interesting is the most Christian movements have been open to women in ministry in the early years when there was a lot of pioneering of churches going on, but when the movement becomes more stable and ministry positions pay better, it is common for women to be banned from those positions. But in Christ there is no male and female. It is a distinction without a difference in ministry.

Pastor Ken

Women Pastors

Just the other day I was sitting with a Pastor who, not knowing that I had been so outspoken on the subject, asked me what I thought about women having places of leadership in the church. When I told him that I had sponsored the original motion to invite women to serve on our Presbytery and Executive Presbytery in the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God, he proceeded to tell me that God intended for women to submit to men, and this was not consistent with women in leadership. I could not get a word in edge-wise in the ensuing conversation, but I eventually asked him to send my his scriptures that he thought forbade women from places of leadership in the church. His first was 1 Corinthians 11:3-10. The key verse is where Paul says that man is the head of woman, and that women needed to have their heads covered in church when they prophesied or prayed. I won't go into all the details, but as I pointed out to him, the Greek for man and woman in this passage can also be translated husband and wife. Which word is always determined by context. And in this context, the head covering is the key to understanding what Paul meant. Because the head covering was a sign of marriage in the ancient world. So, when Paul told women to wear head coverings in this passage, he was only addressing wives - since unmarried women would not wear a head covering. Since Paul is talking to wives and husbands in this part of the passage, it would be inconsistent for him to have been referring to the more general "women" in the same passage.

There were other things he brought up as well, but the point is that all of us want to think that there are others who are not as worthy as we are in some area. But that is not what God says. As Paul himself said, in Christ, "there is not slave or free, Greek or Barbarian, male and female." We are all equal in his sight! In fact, what we are actually called to do is serve each other as Christ served and died for us. So let's all go out and serve someone today!

Pastor Ken

Oh, my, it has been another five days. But during those five days I have been privileged to be a small part of some important things in the kingdom of God, including taking the next steps to plant two new churches in the Los Angeles area - one an outreach to Armenian-Iranians and the other an outreach to Assyrian-Iranians. Hopefully within about three months both of these groups will become full-fledged church plants and receive a gift of $40,000 each from the Assemblies of God. Praise the Lord! As well, we have begun the process of turning over a ministry that has been responsible for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to send Romanian missionaries to various parts of the world to a partnership between the National Pentecostal Union in Romania and a fellowship of North American Pentecostal churches here in the US and Canada. Though it is sad to see American churches beginning to pull back in the area of missions, God is not stymied. And, as other countries and peoples take up the challenge, they will get the blessing that previously belonged to us. "His Truth is marching on!"

Pastor Ken

Today I met with Pastors George and Shamuel, the pastors of our Armenian and Assyrian outreaches respectively, to begin the process of planting full-fledged churches out of their groups. To say it was exciting would be a vast understatement. On Pentecost Sunday we expect to launch both churches. We have been working with Pastor Shamuel and the Assyrian group for five years now and Pastor George and the Armenian group for about a year and a half. Both have made significant inroads in their communities and we expect both to be come full-fledged, vibrant churches in their own rights eventually. I count it a singular honor to have been allowed by God to have a small part in helping them, by providing oversight and counsel, along with bookkeeping and insurance in these extended periods of planning and start-up. Both of them are from Iran and came to the US as religious refugees, as have most of their core groups. Stay tuned for more about these two soon-to-be churches as they seek to transform first their communities here in the US and, through them, the nation of Iran itself.

Pastor Ken

A Week?

Wow, it has been a week since I posted. That is just plain embarrassing. So what have I been doing this past week? It was exactly a week ago that I received my dissertation back from my advisor with some requested changes. So, this past week I have been doing the changes while trying to juggle the rest of my responsibilities. But, as I sit here at 3:00 PM I can say that I have now finished all the changes, printed out two copies of my dissertation and taken them to Fuller Seminary for my advisor and my second reader to have - and hopefully pass. If so, then I have but one more reader to look at it, and I will be done! Hallelujah! In the meantime. life goes on. I guess the important thing is to not let the important things distract us from the everyday things - because we live our lives everyday. So, enjoy today, and everyday!

Pastor Ken

A Different Prespective

I noticed that Avatar has been nominated for 9 Academy Awards. And I know that many have expressed their concern about the movie for its "anti-human bias." I find that interesting for a couple of reasons. First, I find it interesting because, so far, we don't know of any other fully sentient species in the Universe except Homo Sapiens. We're it! So what does it mean to be "anti-human?" But even more importantly, it misses the point of Science Fiction anyway - to help us see ourselves from a different perspective. It is so hard to get outside of ourselves and see ourselves as others see us. By making the "aliens" the good guys, it allows us to see ourselves in a different light. And I have never thought that was a bad thing.

Pastor Ken

Discipline

Now there is a word that few of us like. In the past couple of weeks I have begun to try to learn to speak Persian (Farsi). I say "begun" because I have found that it is easy to decide not to work on it right now. I have every intention and desire to learn to speak the language. I know that I will enjoy having done so. I even look forward to working on it - later. But right now? That requires discipline. And, of course, the root of discipline is the same as that of disciple. Am I saying that learning Persian is a discipleship matter? Well, actually, for me, it might be. But that is not the point. The deeper question is whether we must be disciplined in order to be saved. Like how I jumped from one subject to another? But often that is exactly what we do. So let me set the record straight. The most disciplined person in the world can still be lost. And the least can still be saved. But that isn't the question either, is it? The question is whether discipline is necessary to my salvation. And the answer to that is, do I really want Christ as Lord or not? The truth is that I began this long walk with the Lord 39 years ago. Whether I learn Persian or not is not going to determine my eternal location. On the other hand, if I begin to systematically disobey my Lord, then how can I claim Him as my Lord? And obedience requires discipline. So, not disciplining myself to learn Persian will mean I am lost? No! But that really isn't the point. I never should have jumped to that question in the first place. Salvation is a daily walk with the Lord. And that means being disciplined right now, as I contemplate what to do with my time. I do not want to see how little I can obey the Lord and still make it to heaven. I want to see how close to heaven I can live right now. And that just might require some discipline. It isn't a one to one relationship - I am not saying that learning Persian is heaven! Of course, I am not saying it isn't. What I am saying is that I want to live every moment for the Lord and in His presence. For now, that means being disciplined enough to work on my Persian. Strange? Probably, but welcome to the Christian life!

Pastor Ken