1 Corinthians 14
"women should remain silent in the churches."
This verse has had a powerful influence in shaping Christianity. Many denominations/churches do not allow women in leadership. Some allow women in leadership but only in dealing with children. As Methodist we take a different approach. We feel that Paul was addressing a specific situation in the Corinthian Church. In other letters Paul writes, he speaks of women in leadership. We believe that the passage must be taken in the broader context of all the scripture. When taken in the broader context where there is "no Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave or free" (Galatians 3:28). We believe that the Spirit has gifted male and female for leadership.
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I'm so pleased to be part of a church that takes this passage in a broader context - and does allow women to have leadership roles in churches. It's always interesting to find churches (and/or individuals) who use one small verse on which to base their belief system and then ignore countless other scriptures. What's most amazing is when there are major "fights" because of the one verse of scripture.
ReplyDeleteThis passage says so much about the purpose of speaking in tongues. As a child, I visited some of these denominations and it was seen almost as "entertainment" since no one seemed to know what was going on or said. Paul acknowledges speaking in tongues as a gift but says there must be an interpreter for it to be meaningful. If I remember correctly, the first incidence of this was at Pentecost when there were people there from many different areas and who spoke many languages. When the Holy Spirit came up on the crowd, many languages were spoken for the purpose of allowing all those present to understand the power of the Spirit and what was happening.
Maybe the meaning of this chapter has more to do with using any gifts that we have for meaningful purposes!