(This question is a follow-up to “Charles In Charge?”)

What is the role of the woman in the church?  Is she supposed to just sit and give tithes and offerings, or is she supposed to be active in ministries of the church?  The church is Christ's body, so the church is the people, right?

Sincerely,
Want To Be A Worker

Dear Want To Be A Worker,

Just because women don’t lead in the public assembly, doesn’t mean that they just take up pew space and write checks!  The Bible is chock-full of examples of active and vibrant godly women.  Lydia was a christian who took Paul and gave him lodging, food, and financial support (Acts 16:14-15).  Priscilla and Aquila were a married couple that taught the gospel to Apollos (Acts 18:24-26).  That same Apollos went on to become a mighty preacher… something that would have never happened without Priscilla.  John Mark’s mother opened her home for a prayer meeting that saved Peter’s life (Acts 12:11-12).

Older women are supposed to be teachers and train the younger women to be faithful wives and mothers (Tit 2:3-5).  Younger women have the immensely important task of raising godly children… the next generation of christians (Tit 2:4).  Women have children’s classes to teach, women’s classes to teach, hospitality to provide, others to encourage, and evangelism to do.

On top of all those very important and pivotal roles within the church, during the worship services, women have the task of singing and praising God (just like the men – Col 3:16) and joining in the public prayer… just because one man leads the prayer doesn’t mean we aren’t all praying together.  When the church assembles, we all are worshipping God, edifying each other, and studying His Word (Heb 10:24-25).

And yes, the church is the people – not the building.  The word ‘church’ actually means ‘the called out’.  The church is composed of those who have heard the call of Christ and have come out of the world to serve Him.

What is the purpose of elders in the church today?

Sincerely,
Office Assessor

Dear Office Assessor,

Elders are the overseers of the church; they have the oversight of the local congregation (1 Tim 3:1 – ‘bishop’ means ‘one that oversees’).  Elders also go by the name ‘pastor’ or ‘shepherd’ because they take care of the flock of God (1 Pet 5:2).  Every church has its own elders (Acts 14:23), and every congregation must have more than one elder.  Any church that only has one pastor isn’t following the pattern found in the New Testament.  Pastors never govern alone.

Elders keep watch over the souls of those in the church, watching out for those who are wavering, strengthening the weak, etc.  They will give account to God for how they watched over the local church (Heb 13:17).  Not just anyone can be an elder.  1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9 give the qualifications for elders.  Elders are older men who have proven themselves qualified to guide the church in a faithful manner.

The eldership of a church protects it from division, false teachers, and other various trials.  They are in charge of the church’s finances, class programs, preaching, and anything else that pertains to the local church.  Their job is to make sure that the church is faithfully adhering to the Bible and nothing else.

      I have thought of suicide.  People are just so mean to me, and I don't know what to do.  I am scared.  I am hurt.  I try to ignore all the mean comments, but I can't.  What should I do?

Sincerely,
Down

Dear Down,

Suicide isn’t the answer; the answer is to surround yourself with better people.  We remember the days of feeling alone, neglected, and unwanted – but all that changed when we turned to the Bible.  Christians are never alone because we have the Lord as our strength and other Christians to encourage us.  God designed local congregations to build us up (Heb 10:24-25) because He knows that there are many bad influences in the world that try to corrupt us (1 Cor 15:33).  You need a faithful congregation, and we would love to help you find one full of sincere, honest people that love the Lord and love each other.  Please e-mail us at askyourpreacher@mvchurchofchrist.org, so we can help you find the godly people you need in life.

Why do people when they are saved still become sad or angry even when there is no apparent reason?

Sincerely,
Stiff Upper Lip

Dear Stiff Upper Lip,

Becoming a christian doesn’t remove our humanity, and it doesn’t make us automatically perfect.  It isn’t a sin to be angry or sad – Jesus felt both emotions (Jhn 11:35, Jhn 2:14-16).  Also, christians aren’t immediately cured of every immaturity and sinful habit just because they are baptized.  Every christian starts out as a babe in Christ and then spends the rest of their life growing and improving (1 Pet 2:2).  Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven (Eph 2:8).

I have a question about 1 Cor 5:1-13; when would you apply it to a member?  And if leaders of a church ignore what Paul said about handing this brother over to Satan, could they then be responsible if that sinful member loses eternal life at the Day of Judgment?

Sincerely,
Tough Love

Dear Tough Love,

1^st Corinthians chapter five discusses the process of a church withdrawing from a christian who is living a sinful life.  It is important to note that the man who Paul said needed to be disciplined was living a life that was actively and unrepentantly sinful (he had his father’s wife – 1 Cor 5:1).  That is the type of person that a church should withdraw from.  If someone is caught doing something sinful, and they continue to do that behavior without any remorse or attempt to change, the church must act.  So how do you know someone has reached that point?  Matt 18:15-17 tells us that if we know a christian is sinning, we should attempt to talk to them one-on-one.  If that doesn’t work, we should bring one or two others to attempt to further persuade the person, and lastly, if that doesn’t work, the church should rebuke the individual and withdraw from them.  The principle is that the person should be given ample opportunity to repent because you don’t want to discipline too early, but if it becomes clear that they aren’t interested in obeying God’s Word, the church must stand firm.

If the church doesn’t act, it will have to answer to God because it didn’t stand up for the truth.  Paul told the Corinthians that they were arrogant for not addressing their errant member (1 Cor 5:2), and he warned them that if they didn’t act, the church would eventually be rotted away by sin (1 Cor 5:6-7).  A church that won’t stand by the truth is bound to fall away from the Lord and cease to be a faithful church.  When someone sins, they are responsible for their own behavior, but if the church doesn’t warn them, they have sinned as well (Ezek 3:18-19).