Today’s Scripture Reading (March 14, 2018): 1 Timothy 1 & 2
On January 25, 1988, the “Star Trek: The Next
Generation” episode “Angel One” was aired for the first time. The episode intended to comment on Apartheid in
South Africa using gender instead of race. But the result was an episode that was widely seen as the most sexist of the
Television series. The episode postulated a world where women were both bigger
and stronger, and who ruled over “the weaker sex” – in this case, men. Men were
the ones who wore the sexy and revealing clothes. And men were dominated by
women. In a world dominated by men, the episode spoke directly to gender roles
in our culture, and the concept of the episode being a comment on Apartheid was almost completely lost.
We still struggle with gender roles. Part of
the problem is that, generally, men are
bigger and stronger. Gender equality is hard for us because we are different,
and this difference is something that we teach at a very young age. I got beat
up as a child on the school ground by a girl who lived down the street. She was
furious with me, I can’t remember why, and just started pummeling me with her
well-aimed fists, and all that went through my mind was “you don’t hit a girl.”
Gender differentiation is learned early. “You throw like a girl” is because of
a difference in bone structure. Often, priorities, for varied reasons, are also
different. But the one thing that “Angel One” got right is that culture also
has a huge influence on how we perceive gender expectations.
There are two possible reactions to Paul’s
comments on women and gender. One, and many churches follow this
interpretation, is to say that the inequality between men and women is God
ordained. I know of churches who refuse to allow women to hold positions of
leadership based on these comments of Paul. No women are allowed to preach unless it is at a women’s conference, or
possibly to children. Men must always do the instructing, and never be the ones
being instructed. This is the way that God intended the church to run because Paul
said so.
I grew up in a denomination that owed its
existence to some very capable women preachers during its earlier days,
although admittedly it had become much more of a male-dominated profession as time had passed, yet there was also a
healthy respect for women leaders. This denomination had made a conscious
decision that there was an equality between men and women. Unfortunately, the
by-product of that kind of thinking is that it appears to lead us to the
conclusion that somebody is wrong, in this case,
either Paul or the denominational leaders. But there is actually another interpretation that I think needs to be given
serious consideration. Paul was speaking from a cultural perspective as he
makes these remarks. If Paul were on the
fictitious planet “Angel One,” he would have spoken the reverse, that men
should be quiet and that no man should be given
authority over a woman. After all, if the faith were
to be given any importance by the society,
then some cultural mores would need to be followed. There is no doubt that Paul’s
words match perfectly the time in which he taught, even as much as they are out
of step in contemporary society. If this line of thought is followed, then it is our task to identify
the cultural elements – different from the spiritual, God-ordained ones – that cause
the Christian Church to be ridiculed in contemporary society, starting with the
concept of complete equality between the sexes.
And what bolsters this concept is that Paul
had women who were key in his ministry, women that included Timothy’s
grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, and a certain evangelist by the name of
Prisca or Priscilla. In many of his letters there are key women that he thanks
for their hospitality and leadership, women that I believe, if his culture were similar to ours, Paul would have welcomed into speaking and teaching positions
without a second thought.
But his times were not like ours, and if we
are going to judge Paul for his words, it is according the dictates of his own
time that he needs to be judged, just as we will be judged by the dictates of ours.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 3 & 4
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