“Helping Hands”

Friday, May 10, 2013

I would like to thank you for this service.  Please be patient while I ask three questions.

When Paul encourages those "yoke fellows" in Philippians 4:3 to "help those women which labored with me in the gospel", how were the women laboring with Paul?  I have read Wesleyan and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentaries, and both allude to the women mentioned as "laborers"… but in a limited scope based on 1 Tim 2:11-12.  JF-Brown states that they were limited and alluded to them being in a less prominent sphere; which brings me to my next question:

Is there Scriptural support for women being in a prominent sphere in ministry (i.e. teaching, preaching, apostleship, etc.)?

My last question is: does 1 Tim 2:12 refer to women in a ministerial role at a church?  I anxiously await your reply.

Sincerely,
What About The Ladies?

Dear What About The Ladies,

The church is full of women that are faithful, zealous, and needed servants.  Paul mentions women ministering to others’ needs in Php 4:3, Rom 16:1, and Rom 16:3 – just to name a few.  We have the example of Lydia being a servant to the church (Acts 16:14).  We also have the example of Priscilla teaching and converting (Acts 18:24-26).  We don’t know exactly what the women of Php. 4:2-3 were doing to help Paul, but we know they were working hard.  They are many ways to help the cause of Christ, and it never specifies what specific things Euodia and Syntyche were doing to help the church.

Having said that, we do know what they weren’t doing.  Paul specifically mentions that women are to keep silent in the church assembly (1 Cor 14:34-35).  Women are not supposed to serve as public teachers in the worship service because men have the responsibility to lead the church in public teaching.  Elders (Tit 1:5-6), deacons (1 Tim 3:12), and preachers (2 Tim 2:2) are all required to be men.  1 Tim 2:12 specifically prohibits christian women from teaching christian men in a congregational forum.

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