A Woman’s Role in the Church

A Woman’s Role in the Church

This was the title of an article Johan O. Smith wrote for Skjulte Skatter in October 1916. It was a thought-provoking article and an admonition to those who wanted to restrict the role of the woman in the church beyond that which is written in the Scriptures. Johan O. Smith wrote, among other things, “If a man feels judged when a woman speaks prophetically, he needs to judge himself. He cannot jus­tify his flesh by using such a pathetic excuse as; ‘You are a woman so you must not speak in a way that makes me feel judged.’” Unlike many others of that time, Johan O. Smith had a wholesome, down-to-earth view of a woman’s role in the home and in the church. Unfortunately, we have to say that in 2002, there are still many be­lieving men who need the exhortation Johan O. Smith gave in 1916.

“But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head . . . .” 1 Cor. 11:5. Women can and should participate in the meetings. On the other hand, Paul clearly states in 1 Tim. 2:12 that women are not permitted to teach men. “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.” He also writes in 1 Cor. 14:34: “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.” There is a difference be­tween speaking prophetically, which everybody is permitted to do, and teaching in a church meeting. Speak­ing prophetically means that we speak “for the edification and exhor­tation and comfort to men.” 1 Cor. 14:3. Paul clearly gives the ministry of teaching to men, so this would exclude (for example) a woman from being the leader of a church assembly.

The lines of authority and sub­mission in the church are laid out very clearly: Christ is the head of the church, and the man is the head of the woman. Women are to display a symbol of this order by covering their heads—for the sake of the an-gels—and this symbol serves to re­mind all of us of God’s order. Paul gave the Corinthians instructions regarding this order. We believe that these commandments were given not only for the sake of the church in Corinth, but that they are timeless and promote harmony in the church when they are followed.

Other Areas of Life

In other circumstances a woman’s role will vary. Paul exhorts wives to submit to their own husbands. He also exhorts young people to submit to their elders, children to their par­ents, and servants to their masters according to the flesh—with fear and trembling. Eph. 6:5. Naturally, all of these relationships will be influenced by the time we are living in. Today’s employers are much more interested in promoting a co-operative relation­ship with their employees (because it contributes to the success of the busi­ness) than blind, mindless obedience. You might claim, as some do, that this interest in cultivating a culture of co­operation at work is because we are living in an “ungodly time.” If that were the case, maybe we should try to identify a time that was “godly.” It certainly was not in Jesus’ time. If it was, it would not have been neces­sary for James to write so strongly against the employers of that time re­garding the way they treated their employees. Jas. 5:4-6.

Clearly, a godly relationship, one in which there is both leadership and submission, always creates har­mony, but this relationship changes somewhat according to the time in which we live. To insist on a rela­tionship of submission that be­longed to a former time will not have a good effect. On the contrary! Sub­mission is not a goal in itself but rather a means of promoting fellow­ship and harmony. The essence of the word “submission” is order—and order creates peace, fellowship and harmony. 1 Cor. 14:31-33.

The primary rule regarding sub­mission is that we all submit to one another in the fear of God! Eph. 5:21. There has been a strong tendency over the years for people to minimize the fact that there should be mutual submission. Rather than taking such exhortations to heart personally, peo­ple demand that others must obey them, and in this way, they promote oppression. Men have oppressed women, many parents have op­pressed their children, and employ­ers have oppressed their employees, etc. All oppression is evil, and the history of mankind is full of it. It is not without reason that people have reacted to this oppression through workers’ uprisings and women’s lib­eration movements, etc. In many in­stances their actions were justified.

“Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it.” Eph. 5:24-25. Which wife has been married to a husband that fulfills this verse? The relationship between Christ and the church is the picture of perfection. If the husband is not fulfilling his part of this picture, how can he insist that his wife fulfill her part, without op­pressing her?

Godfearing people can devote themselves to fulfilling the part of these exhortations that apply to them, and they will thus experience the promises in the Scriptures. How­ever, it is an entirely different matter when someone exploits this relation­ship to oppress them. In such cases, often the only right thing to do is to refuse to be oppressed.

On page 74 in his Commentary on the Letter to the Ephesians (written in 1919), Johan O. Smith writes about the relationship between servants and their masters: “A servant that has been enlightened by God will rec­ognize the fine line between serving and being oppressed . . . Servants are obliged to serve as unto Christ as long as their masters’ demands are within reason. But if a master goes beyond these limits, his servant must confront him there and ‘take up the battle.’” For Johan O. Smith, there are invis­ible limits as to how a servant is to submit. These limitations are indi­vidual, and each of us must person­ally search out how to apply these laws of life in our own circumstances.

Marriage

Marriage is an earthly relation­ship in which a man and a woman agree to work to support one another. Each marriage relationship is unique because each man and woman is unique. In some cases, the woman has more ability to lead and give direc­tion, and in these instances, it is natu­ral for her to do so. It could be that the marriage would not function any other way. It is difficult—or even impossible—to fulfill the letter of all the examples that the Scriptures give. The Holy Spirit, however, enables us to get a sense for the “spirit” of the scrip­tures and for what will promote har­mony and fellowship in each indi­vidual situation. We are called “to be as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Cor. 3:6. Disdain for, and oppression of women has occurred throughout the ages, both in society as a whole and in individual homes. Unfortu­nately, this is not unknown in our time either. Sometimes people even misconstrue God’s Word to support their oppression. This is, among other things, the result of not under­standing what it means to be a serv­ant of the new covenant in the Spirit that gives life and creates fellowship.

If the wife is a physician and the husband is an electrician, it would be quite natural and appropriate for the husband to submit in areas where the wife is more competent. The im­portant thing must always be to love one another. However, where submis­sion is necessary to maintain har­mony, a godfearing woman should take a subordinate position. She does this not because as a woman she is wrong or exercises bad judgment; she does it because by taking such a po­sition she can resolve a difficult situ­ation. Sooner or later, every marriage will encounter something like this. If a woman will not take a subordinate position, then the husband must be the first one to yield. He should sub­mit for the sake of the relationship and in order to increase love. The goal of marriage is not submission, but fel­lowship, harmony, and love.

In some circumstances, I would say that a woman would be unfaithful to her calling as a woman if she were to yield to a man’s demand for submission—a demand that, in actual fact, is an attempt to oppress her. This applies particularly when the relationship has a negative effect on their children. In such cases, it is her obligation as a mother to look at what is happening from a broader perspective. She may discover that wisdom would be some­thing far different than submitting. The exact opposite might be necessary.

Johan O. Smith said on his 70th birthday: “Mothers build the home while brothers build the church.” Usually, marriages lead to children. Then you have new tasks and respon­sibilities. It is natural for a godfearing woman to want to stay home with her children when they are young, if at all possible. We have seen that men and women have different tasks and responsibilities in the church, but a woman’s responsibility for building the home is at least as important as the responsibility for building the church. Here, as in every other cir­cumstance, a woman has complete freedom to listen to the voice of the Spirit quite independently. In mar­riage, in child rearing, etc., a woman, if she presses into God in this way, can well be the man’s “teacher.” It is obvious that the husband shares in the responsibility of building a home, and it is just as obvious that the woman also shares in the responsi­bility of building the church. The po­tential God has created within women is indisputable. In my view, God has entrusted her with a task that in many ways is greater than that of a man. Therefore, the work of a man and the work of a woman comple­ment one another. They should not— indeed they cannot—be compared to each other.

On the other hand many men out of pure laziness have a tendency to turn over the responsibilities of the home and child rearing to their wives. Often they deceptively claim to be busy with more important things. They have to go to the meet­ings, work parties, and so on, and they give the impression that they are “building the church.” It can be that they are actually avoiding their re­sponsibilities as husbands and fa­thers in their own families. Children are a joint responsibility, and the husband should in no way neglect this task and this responsibility.

Peter exhorts husbands to dwell with their wives with understanding, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel. We know that histori­cally women have been in a weaker position socially than men have. We also know that in certain areas women are, or can be, weaker than men. It is just as certain, however, that we husbands are also weak vessels. By living with understanding and honoring our marriage partner we will make up for their weaknesses in love instead of magnifying their weak­nesses. “Two are better than one be­cause they have good reward for their labor, for if they fall, one will lift his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” Eccles. 4:9-10. For that matter, you certainly do not “honor” a woman by denying her the rights as an equal with the same rights in Christ. 1 Cor. 11:11-12.

For most of us, our marriage part­ner is our greatest gift. They give us fabulous possibilities for increased insight and growth in everything that is good. If a husband is so stupid that he does not give his wife complete lib­erty and opportunity to develop and function independently and in her own right, he loses out on unique possibilities. He will thereby inflict tremendous damage on himself. “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife, loves himself.” Eph. 5:28. For many years I have person-ally had a hard time understanding why many brothers have discovered so few of these laws regarding a woman’s role. As a result they have se­verely limited themselves in their per­sonal lives and in their ministries, both in their homes and in the church. Paul, who was single, observed the same thing.

The woman’s role in society in general

Obviously women have a tremen­dous amount to contribute to society. We believe it is important for women—and men—to pursue an education and find employment in areas that match their interests and abilities. If the time comes that a woman has children, we believe that while the children are young she should first and foremost concentrate her energy on “building her home.” Her education, career experience, and community involvement will be of great benefit to her in this task.

In the context of the church, Paul has given some guidelines regarding areas of responsibility. We cannot see that there are any comparable guide­lines when it concerns a woman’s area of responsibility in the community. When we begin to speak about things that the Scriptures do not specifically address, we need to be extremely care­ful. Paul and Apollos were examples in this: “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other”. 1 Cor. 4:6. When we go beyond what is written discussions and arguments will arise over (for ex­ample) what a woman’s place is in society, in the home, and in church life, which is precisely the reason why very few articles have been written about this issue.

Through all the years that Skjulte Skatter has been published, there have been very few articles written that give specific directions regarding various outward issues. Where the Scriptures are silent, the servants of the law want to give commandments, but in those things that the Scriptures do not ad­dress directly, each one must learn to receive personal exhortations from the Holy Spirit. We need to hold fast to 1 John 2:27 in such cases. We have no need that anyone should teach us or manage our life down to the last de­tail. The anointing (the Holy Spirit) will teach us when we encounter these practical situations. Then it is up to each believer through his own per­sonal relationship to Christ to decide what he should do. The most impor­tant thing is that we never come out of love, but rather that we are able to over­come the evil with good.

“Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. For as the woman was from the man, even so the man also is through woman; but all things are from God.” 1 Cor. 11:11-12.

Let us con­tinue in that which is of God!