The Gospel of Self-Determination: A Critical Look at Women in Ministry

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Good morning church!
[00:00:51] How many of you are so glad you're in God's house today?
[00:00:59] I'm thankful for those of you who are joining us online.
[00:01:02] We've got so many different places.
[00:01:04] Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Vermont, New Hampshire, D.C., New York, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
[00:01:16] Welcome, welcome to Freedom House.
[00:01:20] We have been in a summer series called, What Does the Bible Say About, and then it's fill in the blank.
[00:01:28] And I've been loving this because we get to talk about all different one-off topics all summer long.
[00:01:36] And today, we get to answer the question, what does the Bible say about women in ministry?
[00:01:45] And I love this because I had already decided I wanted to talk about this before the SBC and Rick Warren started fighting.
[00:01:54] How many of you have been watching that go on?
[00:01:57] Yeah, so Rick Warren is like, we've had women pastor for years, and all of a sudden you're gonna say that you're gonna kick us out of the SBC if we can't have women pastors?
[00:02:07] So there's been all this warring and fighting and all of these, and I know certain denominations believe, there's different ranges.
[00:02:17] Some believe that women can come up here as long as they share and not preach.
[00:02:25] because there's a difference I'm guessing then a woman can she can't be called a pastor but we're going to call her a minister she's going to do everything that the men are doing but we're just going to call her a minister and there then there's the okay well we'll let her preach as long as she only preaches to women
[00:02:50] and then there's the we can't even let her on the platform because the Bible says she is to be silent.
[00:02:59] There are also those that would say women can't sing or lead worship because that's just talking and stringing words together and women are supposed to be silent in the church.
[00:03:12] So there's all different stances and different denominations on what they believe that the Bible is saying about women and their role in ministry.
[00:03:23] And I just decided that we're gonna tackle this head on.
[00:03:28] and I'm gonna look at this as almost like a Bible school class where you're gonna have a lot of scripture that you can write down, you can take this message, you can forward it to friends or whoever else you feel like may need to hear this message.
[00:03:44] But I thought what I would do is tell you something, first of all, that happened a few weeks ago.
[00:03:51] I was going to cook dinner and I went to our freezer, our outside freezer, and I pulled in a package of hamburger that was wrapped in white butcher paper.
[00:04:03] And I brought it in the house and I laid it on the counter to thaw out.
[00:04:08] And when I went to cook the meat, I noticed it didn't look like it normally looks.
[00:04:16] And I was staring at it.
[00:04:18] And it just looked like a really deep, dark red.
[00:04:23] And I thought, well, maybe it just doesn't have a whole lot of fat in it.
[00:04:26] Maybe this, you know, Troy got some really lean meat.
[00:04:29] And then I'm looking at it and I'm like, it just doesn't look
[00:04:34] Like my hamburger normally looks.
[00:04:36] And so, you know, I did what I know you guys would do.
[00:04:39] You kind of pick it up and you're sniffing it just to see if it's okay.
[00:04:43] Well, it didn't smell bad, but it just looked unfamiliar to me.
[00:04:48] And so I tried to call my husband, because it's not something that I had purchased.
[00:04:52] I tried to call him and say, hey, what's up with the hamburger that's in the butcher paper that I got from the freezer?
[00:04:59] But how many of you know, he didn't answer the phone?
[00:05:03] Why is it when we need you for really important things to decipher our hamburger meat, you don't pick the phone up?
[00:05:12] So needless to say, I didn't want it just laying there on the counter, and I decided I was just gonna throw it away.
[00:05:21] because it just didn't, to me, it was just unfamiliar, the way that it looked, and it was a lot, it was bleeding a lot more than it normally, so I'm just like, something's, I just can't figure it out.
[00:05:34] Well, my husband eventually calls me back later and lets me know that it actually wasn't
[00:05:42] And I started thinking as I began to teach this message today, how easy it could be for us today to throw away something
[00:06:11] Because we were unfamiliar with it, because it didn't look the way we thought it should look, so we end up throwing something that's perfectly great in the trash can.
[00:06:23] So what I would encourage you today is take notes, write things down that I'm saying, and if you have further questions, we are more than happy to talk and answer those questions for you.
[00:06:37] But I want to just start off by saying that women
[00:06:44] are in all different roles in the Bible, and I'm gonna show you that, but what you predominantly see, you see mostly men in these roles because if we go back to the book of beginnings, Genesis, and we go through the Bible, you understand and you see that during this time,
[00:07:05] One of the commands from God is to repopulate the earth.
[00:07:10] Now that happened multiple times.
[00:07:12] It was also when the earth was wiped out and Noah was getting off the ark, that was another command, repopulate.
[00:07:19] You also see this with Nehemiah when he's trying to build a great nation that serves God because it had gotten torn down.
[00:07:29] You see the command to repopulate.
[00:07:32] Let me just explain something to you that when we as women are involved in the repopulating, it doesn't mean that we don't have other roles that we can't do, but if you're gonna take me back to biblical times and I've got 20 children, there's probably not a whole lot else I can do.
[00:07:52] Right?
[00:07:56] I'm not still trying to repopulate the earth.
[00:07:59] This body was done at three many years ago.
[00:08:04] I'm not trying to have 20 children so they can help tend the flocks so we can eat or go out and man all of our acreage and all of the gardens so we can make sure that we have food in the house.
[00:08:17] It is a different culture and a different time, but I can assure you if I did have 20 children, I would not probably have the time to be up here because I would be dealing with 20 children.
[00:08:32] So let's understand also culturally we have played different roles because we are adaptable and we can do what is needed when it is needed.
[00:08:44] But we're not necessarily trying to repopulate the earth right now.
[00:08:50] Can I get an amen from somebody's womb that is really happy about that?
[00:08:57] I'll tell ya.
[00:08:58] Three about did me in.
[00:09:00] I don't see how they had 20.
[00:09:02] I'm telling you what, I remember at one point wanting to adopt and my husband's like, dear Lord, you're complaining about the three we got and then you want another one.
[00:09:12] But that one I didn't have to birth.
[00:09:14] That's a different story.
[00:09:16] Well, let's just say that all the different roles we're going to go through and talk about that women, you'll see everything from prophet, pastor, evangelist, teacher, you'll see all of that.
[00:09:30] I do wanna say that one of the things that is pushed
[00:09:34] Well, if you understand, and I'm going to show you many that were in the Bible, but if you understand the word pastor, literally in the Greek it translates shepherd.
[00:09:49] And not only were women pastors in the Bible, but they were also shepherds.
[00:09:55] As a matter of fact, Rachel in Genesis 29, 6-9 says,
[00:09:59] She was a shepherd that tended the flocks.
[00:10:04] And Zephora, who is Moses' wife, she was a shepherd in Exodus 2.16.
[00:10:13] And I think it's also important to remember Mary who had the little lamb.
[00:10:22] I'm just kidding, y'all.
[00:10:24] Some people were like, is she for real?
[00:10:26] No, that was a joke.
[00:10:27] But understand that as we go through and we talk about these different roles and we talk about the different places as women, understand that culture in this particular time laid a lot of weight and heaviness on a woman's ability to be able to conceive and have a child.
[00:10:48] And not just a child, but a male child.
[00:10:52] Because the way the law was written is that only the male could inherit
[00:10:57] So it was incredibly important in this society, the value of a woman was not from God, this value was placed on women by society that unless you produced a male offspring and your womb was open, you were no good.
[00:11:21] You see, many times through the Bible when women were barren or had trouble having children where their identity, they felt they were worthless.
[00:11:30] Let me just tell you, women, your value is not in what you can produce, your value is in whose child you are.
[00:11:39] Not if you can birth a child.
[00:11:43] It's because you are a child of God.
[00:11:47] Now, clearly, as we go through, you're going to hear lots of different examples of women, but I want you to understand, women are busy with their families, and it's not because we are penalized.
[00:12:01] but because we prioritize.
[00:12:04] So there may only be 15 Fortune 500 company CEOs that are women.
[00:12:10] It's not because we lack skill or ability.
[00:12:15] It's that our attention is in other places and we don't necessarily deem that as something we want to do but it doesn't mean that we don't have leadership capabilities and potential.
[00:12:30] I can tell you in the last 31 years that I have been pastoring, there has not been one time where God has ever said, Penny, I am disappointed and you have dishonored me by preaching the gospel to people.
[00:12:47] There is nothing dishonoring about an empty vessel preaching the Word of God.
[00:12:53] So as we look through the Bible today, I'm gonna give you a lot of examples of women in different ministry roles, but I want you to understand that as I'm about to dive in, this particular scripture is 99% of the time the scripture that is used as to why they feel like women should not speak,
[00:13:13] Teach, Lead, or anything else in church or even in ministry.
[00:13:19] And I'm gonna be using, because I'm talking about a doctrinal issue that needs to be course corrected, I'm actually going to be preaching from the King James Version.
[00:13:30] Now I know you and I don't use thee and thouest in our normal language, but because it is the most accurate translation, I want to make sure that we are going with accuracy and you understand that a thou means you.
[00:13:47] Okay?
[00:13:48] Alright, we ready to dive into this?
[00:13:51] Here's the scripture that most denominations will use as why women can't speak and it's in 1 Timothy 2 and this is Paul writing a letter to Timothy who is a young pastor.
[00:14:05] Now the interesting thing about Timothy is his father was Greek and his mother was Jewish so he is what was considered a half-breed.
[00:14:16] In this day and time, if you were not 100% Jew, you were looked down upon.
[00:14:24] but here he's half Greek, half Jew.
[00:14:27] Now anything that's not Jew is considered Gentile.
[00:14:32] So in essence, he's half Jew, half Gentile and Paul is trying to teach him how to lead a Greek congregation in Ephesus as a young pastor.
[00:14:47] Let's start out.
[00:14:49] In chapter two, verse nine, it says, in like manner also that women, now is that word women, is that singular or plural?
[00:15:00] This isn't a trick question, you can say it.
[00:15:03] It's plural.
[00:15:04] That women adorn themselves in modest apparel,
[00:15:10] with shamefacedness, now again, this is the King James, so what that means is with modesty, and sobriety, which means awareness, not with broided hair, which means braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works.
[00:15:38] Let the woman, is that singular or plural?
[00:15:43] Singular.
[00:15:44] Learn in silence with all subjection.
[00:15:49] But I suffer not a woman, is that singular or plural?
[00:15:55] Singular, to teach nor to usurp, which means domineer, authority over the man.
[00:16:02] Is the man singular or plural?
[00:16:06] Singular, but to be in silence.
[00:16:10] Now, let's break this verse down because this is the one that trips up a lot of people.
[00:16:18] The first thing I wanna ask you, I wanna ask the women is, is it a sin to braid your hair?
[00:16:26] How many women in here have ever in your lifetime braided your hair?
[00:16:31] Well, according to this scripture, you're in sin.
[00:16:38] So maybe there's something that we need to understand in this scripture.
[00:16:43] Is it a sin to wear gold?
[00:16:46] How many of you women have ever worn gold?
[00:16:50] Sinners.
[00:16:53] Is it a sin to wear pearls?
[00:16:56] How many of you have ever worn pearls before?
[00:16:58] All right, I'm thinking we got a church full of sinners here today.
[00:17:03] What about to wear something expensive?
[00:17:06] Anybody worn something expensive before?
[00:17:08] All right, kick your Louie under the seat so nobody can see it.
[00:17:12] Go ahead.
[00:17:15] Let's keep breaking this scripture down.
[00:17:19] In the same regard, is it a sin for a woman to teach or to even speak?
[00:17:26] What does this specifically mean?
[00:17:30] Well, first we have to understand what's happening.
[00:17:32] In first century Roman culture, women would braid or twist their hair very high on their heads, and they would often decorate it with jewels or little gold trinkets, or if you were extremely wealthy, you would adorn those high braids with pearls or things that were
[00:17:55] There are certain things I can't engage in, but you can bet I'm gonna garner some attention.
[00:18:21] Look how high, Greek culture, I can stack my braids.
[00:18:27] Look at the pearls.
[00:18:28] I've got pearls.
[00:18:30] I've got the means.
[00:18:31] Look at all of the things that I'm attaching to those braids, and I am letting you know that I am displaying something because I want a public response.
[00:18:44] I want you to notice me.
[00:18:47] I want you to see me.
[00:18:50] And when Paul says, let the women, plural, understand that their value is not external, but internal, he's talking to everyone.
[00:19:06] That is something all of us have to understand.
[00:19:09] Now, we don't stack our hair and braid it and do all the things that we do, but let's just take this modern day.
[00:19:17] There are things that we can do as women that would garner attention that would not be appropriate.
[00:19:26] And one of the things in this time is trying to see how high you can stack it.
[00:19:32] These days we might look at different stacks.
[00:19:37] Y'all get that?
[00:19:41] To try to get attention, but in this day, and especially with the pearls, which is why you see so many examples in the Bible of pearls.
[00:19:53] You see
[00:19:55] Different stories that Jesus would tell the parables about the pearl of great price.
[00:20:01] Because pearls were very, very expensive because they didn't have the equipment we have today.
[00:20:08] And so to dive and get a pearl, they would tie a rope to a rock and people would often lose their lives.
[00:20:13] So if you had a pearl, it's very, very costly.
[00:20:17] It was a big deal.
[00:20:19] And they wanted people to see that they had value.
[00:20:24] Now, let's take this a step further.
[00:20:28] Because when Paul is talking about the external things, he says women plural.
[00:20:36] But then he switches and he goes singular.
[00:20:41] Why does Paul do that?
[00:20:43] Well, what he's doing is he's giving instruction to Timothy, and he says a woman, not women, like the previous claim, because this is not a universal prohibition of women from leadership positions.
[00:21:00] But rather, Paul is addressing a current Ephesian situation by either a particular woman or a particular type of woman.
[00:21:13] He's letting Paul know, listen, there's some restrictions here that need to be implemented based on circumstances that you're dealing with in your church at the time that most likely he had written to Paul about.
[00:21:30] and they would write back and forth, hey, I need some instruction on this.
[00:21:34] Now, what would that look like modern day?
[00:21:37] Well, let me tell you a situation where we had to implement that as a church.
[00:21:42] About 10 years ago, our worship team, Pastor Troy got our worship team together because
[00:21:50] There was a situation going on in Charlotte with a particular church in the city that was hiring a bunch of musicians to come and lead worship at their church.
[00:22:06] And they weren't ministers of the gospel.
[00:22:09] They were unsaved, heathen people that could play really good music.
[00:22:16] So this church hired them, put them on the platform,
[00:22:21] and these worship leaders were out all over town getting drunk off their behinds, vomiting in uptown, carrying on, getting drunk, acting crazy and it was very well known in Charlotte that this was starting to take over the worship culture because it was like, hey, I'll play at your church if you pay me.
[00:22:50] So it was this whole, you know, pay to play thing going on.
[00:22:56] And Pastor Troy got all of our worship teams together.
[00:23:01] He had a big family meeting and he said, listen, I know some of you may go down to South End and you may get a beer from the brewery.
[00:23:11] I know some of you may have a glass of wine with your meal at a restaurant, but I'm letting you know there is a culture right now in the city of Charlotte that we are going to break, and I don't so much as want you having a sip of wine in public.
[00:23:30] If you need to have a glass of wine, then you do it at your house.
[00:23:35] But until this is broken in this city, and this is, we have to set ourselves apart from what is happening.
[00:23:47] Now, did that mean that drinking alcohol is a sin?
[00:23:52] The Bible doesn't say it's a sin.
[00:23:54] It says being drunk is a sin.
[00:23:57] Now, Pastor Troy and I don't drink because of several factors.
[00:24:01] One, because our families are filled with history of alcoholism.
[00:24:06] And I had enough stuff in my life that God needed to deliver me for.
[00:24:09] I certainly didn't need to add that to it, right?
[00:24:12] and on top of that I just haven't found anything good that comes from it so in the position we're in we don't drink for that reason but we don't tell other people it's a sin but I will tell you when we went through that as a church and we're watching worship leaders
[00:24:33] All over the city, getting plastered and falling down in uptown and it's in the papers and it's all getting talked about.
[00:24:41] We're gonna differentiate ourselves.
[00:24:44] And we're gonna shut it down.
[00:24:46] That is what is happening.
[00:24:48] You've got a problem going on.
[00:24:50] And the Greek word there for silent, where he says that I don't allow the woman to have authority over the man, but to be in silence, that word actually translates calmness or quietness, and it has the illusion of keeping one's seat.
[00:25:13] In essence, keeping your cool.
[00:25:16] There was somebody obviously not keeping their cool.
[00:25:20] So what other type of things was Paul trying to deal with in culture?
[00:25:24] Well, we do know this a few chapters later.
[00:25:27] It says, at the same time, they, this was the women, some of them were younger and not married, some of them were widows, but it says they were also learning to be idle, going around from house to house, and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies.
[00:25:46] Talking about things not proper to mention.
[00:25:51] So we know there's some things that he's trying to correct.
[00:25:55] We also know, but because this is a Greek area, they were worshiping Artemis of Ephesus, which is the goddess of fertility, and also Artemis of Greece, which was the goddess, the huntress, and Artemis translates Diana.
[00:26:16] They were worshiping the goddess Diana and Paul was responding to the Ephesian religious culture which fostered this domineering female leaders at the temple of Artemis that he was trying to dismantle.
[00:26:33] Now if Paul's letter to Timothy were to mean every single woman would need to remain silent, then he wouldn't have had all these other women in these positions that he was actually encouraging to lead who were everything from pastors and apostles and prophets and teachers.
[00:26:57] Here's the thing, men and women were created to be separate in expression but never divided in our purpose.
[00:27:08] Phoebe
[00:27:09] Here's where I'm gonna just start firing out scriptures.
[00:27:12] So I would love for you to write these down because you're probably not gonna remember these.
[00:27:17] And it's very helpful you can write these down because you may understand the place that women have, but I can guarantee you you will run into somebody that does not.
[00:27:28] And part of our responsibility as Christians is to help educate people on what the Bible says.
[00:27:36] So we don't let people live in traps their whole life and not using the giftings that God has put on the inside of them.
[00:27:45] So Phoebe was a deacon, Romans 16, one through seven, and Paul introduces her to the church to indicate that she has authority to represent him.
[00:27:57] He also instructs them both the men and the women to assist her.
[00:28:04] She does not carry a secondary role but a primary role.
[00:28:08] Then there is Priscilla who is a pastor in Acts chapter 18 and I'm gonna go in on that a little bit more in a minute but for now just know that.
[00:28:18] There were other women who were leaders of home churches
[00:28:21] which was the predominant church at the time because of persecution.
[00:28:26] So you have Chloe in 1 Corinthians 1.11.
[00:28:30] She led a church in her home.
[00:28:32] Then you have Nympha, Colossians 4.15, who had a church in her house.
[00:28:38] Then Aphia, Philemon 2, had a church in her home.
[00:28:44] and then Acts 16 you had Lydia who literally gets saved and comes and as soon as she gets saved she starts hosting a church in her house.
[00:28:55] And I love also that the Bible says that Lydia was a dealer in purple which means she was a very wealthy woman who and she had been helping support Paul in his ministry and now Timothy in his ministry and the thing that I
[00:29:13] and the last one I would love is that she would take sea snails because that's how you derived the color purple and you would crush them up.
[00:29:21] They were very hard to get and the purple that would come from them would be the dye that was used to make things that had that rich vibrant color which is why mostly royalty would use the color purple because it was extremely expensive.
[00:29:40] Then you've got Euodia and Sinchi, and in Philippians 4, 2 through 3, they played a very influential role in the early church.
[00:29:49] It says that they labored alongside of Paul in the gospel.
[00:29:53] Then you have Junia, who the Bible says in Romans 16, 7, was prominent among the apostles.
[00:30:02] and what's interesting about Junia is that her identity they tried to systematically erase it for two millennia because the ecclesiastical system could not imagine that a woman could be an apostle so in later translations they tried to change Junia to Junius
[00:30:24] To be a man because they didn't like the fact that there was a woman on record.
[00:30:32] One of my favorites, and coincidentally, she was saved before Paul.
[00:30:39] One of my favorites is the daughters of Zepholahad in Numbers 27.
[00:30:44] Now this is Old Testament and I thought it was very important to bring Old Testament because in the Old Testament they were under the law.
[00:30:54] And here these five sisters, they came to Moses and they were complaining, bringing a complaint to him.
[00:31:02] And they said, Moses, our father was faithful.
[00:31:07] He's been here in the wilderness and he was a faithful man, but he's died in the wilderness.
[00:31:14] and here we are about to go into the promised land each of us is supposed to inherit our land but because we're women because we're females the law says we aren't allowed to own anything we can't possess anything or have anything and we don't think that is fair
[00:31:36] We don't think it's right that just because our father passed and we aren't married and we don't have male children that we are being penalized for being women.
[00:31:47] And Moses said, I see what you're saying, I understand what you're saying, but I'm gonna need to take this to God.
[00:31:57] And it says that he took this to God and God said, these sisters are accurate.
[00:32:05] Give them the land that is due them.
[00:32:08] It is their inheritance.
[00:32:10] And understand that some of the laws that were set up were not laws established by God.
[00:32:17] They were laws established by man in order to try to keep things under control.
[00:32:24] Again, many women were not educated and they were considered breeders.
[00:32:30] That was the value and that was not from God, that was from man.
[00:32:35] So understand that when God said, no, they are right, that is their rightful thing, give them what is theirs, that's a big deal in the Old Testament for that to happen.
[00:32:47] Numerous others served as prophets, evangelists, leaders, and judges, and I love that even it talks about in Nehemiah how women
[00:32:57] There was a group of women who were skilled craftsmen who got up on the wall in Nehemiah 3.12 and labored alongside of Nehemiah to build the wall.
[00:33:09] In essence, what I would submit to you today, that is what God has gifted in you, what God has put in your heart, the gifts and talents that He has given to you, He's not going to give you the ability to be a great speaker and teacher and pastor as a woman and then tell you you can't do it.
[00:33:31] That would be cruel.
[00:33:34] I thank God for the Joyce Meyers of the world, for the Lisa Baviers of the world, for people that have been on the front lines and fighting this battle because I will tell you, I never grew up in a church that made women take a side seat to men.
[00:33:53] I always grew up in a healthy model of men and women leading alongside of each other in a healthy way.
[00:34:01] But here's the thing.
[00:34:01] Understand that the reason I am up here today speaking and preaching the gospel is one, because I don't have 20 children to look after.
[00:34:12] And two, because I am covered by the headship of Troy Maxwell.
[00:34:18] I am not up here on my own accord.
[00:34:20] I am submitted to the headship that is Troy Maxwell.
[00:34:26] But to think that women don't have a role to lead is an error.
[00:34:32] As a matter of fact, what I would say to you is there are things that we have gotten out of whack and out of place.
[00:34:40] Headship belongs to the man.
[00:34:42] What does that mean?
[00:34:44] It means God is gonna hold one person responsible and it will be the men.
[00:34:51] The husbands, the leader of the houses, it will be the men.
[00:34:55] Now, that doesn't mean that we don't have a role, a very important role.
[00:35:00] It means that headship belongs to the man.
[00:35:03] But understand this, there is also the power of influence, and women, we must use that well.
[00:35:11] What happens when we don't use our influence well is what happened in the garden
[00:35:19] When we convinced our husband to eat of the fruit that we were not supposed to eat of.
[00:35:27] What happens when men don't use their headship well is you sit and you watch us because we hand you the fruit because the Bible says you were standing right there beside of us watching but yet did nothing.
[00:35:43] So there are two things going on here.
[00:35:46] There are men that are abdicating their leadership and headship role.
[00:35:52] and then there are women that are using their influence in an inappropriate way which is a very big deal because women using their influence inappropriately brought down all of creation so please don't tell me that we can't lead when we brought down creation because we led inappropriately
[00:36:18] Please don't tell me that we can't lead when the strongest man that were ever on the face of this earth, Samson, we brought to his knees.
[00:36:31] Please don't tell me we can't lead when you need us to sell your hot wings at Hooters and you use us and our influence to try to sell you some wings.
[00:36:45] Or you need us to sell that car so you dress us in a bikini and put us on the hood cause you know when we're involved stuff's gonna get done.
[00:36:59] It's not that we don't have the power, it's that we don't always wield our power well.
[00:37:08] and when we do, we are a force to be reckoned with and it is powerful and it is godly.
[00:37:15] When we don't, it's destructive and somebody's gonna tell us to sit down and rightfully so.
[00:37:24] Can you hear me?
[00:37:26] All right, let's keep going.
[00:37:29] There are, in Luke chapter eight, there are many women who were in Jesus's band of traveling disciples.
[00:37:37] As a matter of fact, when Jesus was raised from the dead, the first to see him were the women, and they were the first to preach about his resurrection.
[00:37:49] Jesus regarded women as fit for delivering news about himself to other men.
[00:37:56] In John chapter four, Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman, which means she was a half-breed.
[00:38:03] Samaritans were only part Jew, and you have to understand, in this time, you are considered tainted.
[00:38:10] If you weren't full-blooded Jew, you were tainted.
[00:38:13] So all of us, we aren't Jews, we're Gentiles, the majority.
[00:38:19] I'm pretty sure there's probably not 100% Jewish person in here.
[00:38:24] We kinda all got a little bit of mutt going on, you understand?
[00:38:30] Jesus wasn't supposed to be talking to her because she wasn't a purebred, because she was a woman that had a promiscuous past, and just the fact that she was a woman in public without her husband there, and also for the fact of here is Jesus.
[00:38:51] He is a priest.
[00:38:53] He's in the priesthood talking to her.
[00:38:57] And it says that he provides her living water.
[00:39:00] She came because she was thirsty.
[00:39:03] And it says the woman then left her water pot, went her way to the city, and said, do you have that up?
[00:39:11] And said only to the women of the city.
[00:39:13] Is that what it says?
[00:39:16] It says, to the men.
[00:39:18] She's evangelizing.
[00:39:20] Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did.
[00:39:25] Could this be the Christ?
[00:39:26] And it says, and many of the Samaritans of the city believed in him because of the word of the woman.
[00:39:35] Women are listed as prophets in Acts 1, 8-9, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 5.
[00:39:43] And prophets clearly had authority to both teach and preach.
[00:39:50] Then we know Deborah, going back Old Testament, which is so significant to see this in the Old Testament.
[00:39:57] where Deborah was a prophet, a judge, and a military commander.
[00:40:02] And I won't go in depth on her because on Mother's Day we talked in depth about her.
[00:40:07] But please understand that without women there are many battles that are won that would not be.
[00:40:16] We gotta get the men and the women leading alongside of each other.
[00:40:21] Now, you just heard the main scripture that is used to keep women from leading, but let's go back and let's see what the original design, when God designed us, when he blessed us, what was the original design?
[00:40:38] Let's go back to the garden and let's talk about this for a minute.
[00:40:42] so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him x y and x x created he them we good with that we understand that here we aren't confused here all right and God blessed who is it up there if it's up there y'all aren't saying it
[00:41:09] God blessed who?
[00:41:12] Them.
[00:41:12] And God said unto?
[00:41:14] Them.
[00:41:16] Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it, which means bring the earth under control, and have dominion, which means to rule and to dominate, over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
[00:41:35] Who did God give that command to?
[00:41:39] Was it just to Adam?
[00:41:42] No.
[00:41:43] But God did give Adam headship as we see previously in the garden.
[00:41:49] Men and women were together to steward God's mission in equal measure.
[00:41:55] Now, obviously we talked about Adam being more prone to abdicate his leadership and woman being more able to give her influence to the wrong thing.
[00:42:10] But what we see happen is when that transpires, we go from the blessing, where God is pronouncing blessings, and he says, be fruitful, multiply, then the curse comes in.
[00:42:21] Now, there was a curse that was pronounced over both the man and the woman, and the curse is not on people, it's on sin.
[00:42:30] and when you invite that sin into your life then there is a curse but you yourself are not cursed.
[00:42:38] Sin is cursed and when we participate we invite that into our life.
[00:42:44] So let's keep going here so we can understand what happened.
[00:42:48] When Eve took of the fruit and gave it to her husband and it says once he ate the head, once he ate it says then both of their eyes were enlightened.
[00:43:02] The leader, the head of the garden.
[00:43:06] The curse was pronounced and over the woman it said, now your husband, you go from this, now your husband will rule over you.
[00:43:18] and that is where we spend a good deal of the Old Testament which is why things were the way they were.
[00:43:26] But I, like the New Testament where it says we are no longer under the law,
[00:43:34] But what Jesus did is Jesus gave us our rightful place back.
[00:43:40] And Galatians 3, it says this, there is neither Jew nor Greek, which is very important because there were certain places you could not hold unless you were Greek, or unless you were Jew.
[00:43:55] Now the rest of us, you and me, we get grafted in because of what Jesus did.
[00:44:00] Because Jesus initially came to the Jews first.
[00:44:04] Now it's saying, hey, it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or basically a Gentile, you're grafted in.
[00:44:10] A slave nor free, because a slave wasn't allowed to own anything either, had no rights.
[00:44:18] Jesus is saying, now you get equal rights.
[00:44:22] Then there is neither male nor female.
[00:44:24] You are all one in Christ Jesus.
[00:44:28] And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and Abraham was given the promise.
[00:44:35] You are Abraham's seed and you are heirs.
[00:44:40] according to the promise.
[00:44:43] Now, understand something as I read this, that God removed lineage barriers, financial barriers, and gender barriers.
[00:44:55] God did not remove gender.
[00:44:58] He removed gender barriers.
[00:45:02] Understand the difference.
[00:45:04] Okay, and let me show you, because look at what happens when what Jesus did is applied to our life.
[00:45:13] It says in Acts, in the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, not just some, not just the Jews, on your sons and your daughters.
[00:45:27] They will prophesy, not just your sons.
[00:45:32] Your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams, even on my servants.
[00:45:39] Notice how even the servants get redeemed, both men and women.
[00:45:45] I will pour out my Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.
[00:45:49] Okay, okay, great.
[00:45:51] Pastor P, we hear ya.
[00:45:53] But we just got a problem with the whole female pastor thing.
[00:45:58] I mean, shouldn't that just be a man's thing?
[00:46:02] Why do females need to be pastoring?
[00:46:05] And if they're gonna pastor, can't they just lead like the women's little group?
[00:46:11] Let me just tell you something, and I'm gonna back this up scripturally.
[00:46:15] My husband and I taught on sex and dating a few months back.
[00:46:23] If you would have only heard from him on sex,
[00:46:29] That would have been a very unbalanced message.
[00:46:32] The feminine heart and the masculine heart are to come together in a balanced way and lead.
[00:46:43] A healthy home has the voice of a mother and a father and a healthy church home is no different.
[00:46:57] So, Priscilla and Aquila were the OG Troy and Penny Maxwell.
[00:47:04] And here's what's interesting, I'm gonna read to you about Priscilla and Aquila, but here's what's interesting for those of you who study the Word a lot and understand theology, whenever someone's name is listed first, it means they are the one who is more prominent.
[00:47:24] Every time you see Priscilla and Aquila, Priscilla is always first.
[00:47:32] Probably because of a specific gifting that she had or a way that she was known in the city.
[00:47:40] Chew on that one.
[00:47:42] Romans 16, it says, this is Paul, Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risk their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
[00:48:02] Likewise, greet the church that is in their house.
[00:48:08] Now,
[00:48:10] Maybe, sure, but maybe that was more of a small group.
[00:48:14] Well, I understand churches were predominantly in houses in this day because of persecution, but let's go to the original translation in the Greek.
[00:48:25] That word there for church is the word ecclesia, which means it is a formal, official church structure with official authority.
[00:48:35] It is not informal.
[00:48:39] It is specific.
[00:48:42] Okay, fine, fine.
[00:48:43] Well, maybe Aquila did most of the talking and Priscilla didn't do anything because women shouldn't be teaching men anything.
[00:48:53] First of all, if you're married, you know that's not true.
[00:48:59] But you would also know that us, as that word silence said, we need to hold our seat.
[00:49:06] We need to make sure that when we say things, we're doing it the right way.
[00:49:11] So let's take this a step further.
[00:49:14] Say somebody were to say, well, she didn't teach any men.
[00:49:17] Is that so?
[00:49:20] Acts chapter 18.
[00:49:22] At that time, a Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus.
[00:49:26] He was an educated man from Alexandria.
[00:49:29] He knew the scriptures very well.
[00:49:32] Apollos had been taught the way of the Lord.
[00:49:36] He spoke with great power.
[00:49:39] He taught the truth about Jesus, but he only knew about John's baptism.
[00:49:46] He began to speak boldly in the synagogue.
[00:49:48] And here's what's so great is he knew about John's baptism, but he didn't know about being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
[00:49:57] So it says that Priscilla, name first, and Aquila heard him.
[00:50:05] So they invited him to their home, and there he gave him a better understanding.
[00:50:13] Does it say that?
[00:50:15] What does it say?
[00:50:17] They gave him a better understanding of the way of God.
[00:50:23] In Romans 16, 3, it says that she's a fellow worker.
[00:50:28] Now listen, I know there are some denominations that say, well, a woman can teach, but not on a Sunday morning, as if the day of the week matters.
[00:50:40] Or a woman can teach as long as it's in kids' church.
[00:50:45] As you know because it matters the size of your spirit is different.
[00:50:51] The Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit.
[00:50:55] There's not a little Jesus that floats over there in the kids area and the big Jesus over here.
[00:51:00] And if that were true at what age should a woman stop teaching?
[00:51:08] When they turn 12?
[00:51:08] 18?
[00:51:12] At what age should we stop teaching?
[00:51:17] You see, what has gone on
[00:51:20] is that when things have gotten out of order, people made some hard stops.
[00:51:27] And I'm not saying there's not a time and a place.
[00:51:30] But what I do know is the masculine heart and the feminine heart need to stand alongside each other and serve the Lord with everything they've got.
[00:51:40] Husbands, I can tell you, you are better because of your wife.
[00:51:47] She was made not to usurp you, but to stand alongside of you.
[00:51:52] And if you don't think that women have power, make her mad.
[00:51:58] Make her mad.
[00:52:01] We're meant to use our power in a healthy way.
[00:52:05] I'm gonna close up and just say a couple more things.
[00:52:08] I think it's interesting that women had a large role in the early church leadership.
[00:52:16] And it had nothing to do with their gender.
[00:52:18] It had to do with what they were qualified for.
[00:52:20] I believe that women and men should serve in whatever roles they need to serve in because of their qualifications.
[00:52:32] A woman physically carried and delivered the living word, but some won't let her carry or deliver the word today.
[00:52:43] I believe it is the devil who is trying to snuff women out of the pulpit.
[00:52:48] And I'm not talking about rogue women.
[00:52:52] I'm talking about women that are submitted, that are covered.
[00:52:56] This plexiglass podium doesn't make me more or less of a pastor.
[00:53:02] The fact that it's a Sunday morning, the fact that there are men and women
[00:53:11] I believe that if you are an empty, submitted vessel, you can preach the gospel.
[00:53:18] As a matter of fact, Mark 16, 15 said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
[00:53:27] I don't believe that was just 50% of the population.
[00:53:32] But you know what I do believe?
[00:53:35] I believe that we will reach more people for Jesus if we empower both men and women to carry the gospel and stop arguing about the function of women.
[00:53:46] I love that Esther stopped the plot of Haman who was trying to take the head of the king.
[00:53:52] She knew that even in a time where it said she could not approach the king, that if she were to sit and remain silent,
[00:54:03] When there was a plot to behead the king, then it would destroy the people.
[00:54:10] And she stood up when she needed to stand up.
[00:54:12] And she did so in a respectful, honoring way.
[00:54:16] The word Haman in the New Testament is the same word for adversary.
[00:54:21] I believe you and I, men and women included, we have an adversary.
[00:54:27] And we need all hands on deck to take the adversary down.
[00:54:32] I can tell you if I was the devil, I would sure as heck try to convince 50% of the population that they had no voice.
[00:54:42] Why would the devil want plot destroyers speaking up?
[00:54:47] Women are very discerning.
[00:54:50] My husband has a strength like an ox, but he does not have my discernment capabilities.
[00:54:58] When discernment and strength come together,
[00:55:02] Then you have a Deborah and a Barak that can take on the fiercest army and bring it down.
[00:55:08] Would you stand on your feet with me today?
[00:55:16] Mark 16, 15, go into all the world and preach the gospel.
[00:55:20] That's a directive for all of us.
[00:55:24] And what I would like to do today as a woman who is covered by a man
[00:55:32] who is standing under her King.
[00:55:35] I would like to invite you with heads bowed and eyes closed, whether you're in the room or whether you're online, I would like to invite you to know the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords today.
[00:55:49] I want to ask you if Jesus is first place in your heart.
[00:55:54] Man, woman, child, it doesn't matter.
[00:55:58] My question to you is, is Jesus first place in your life?
[00:56:05] Maybe at one point he was and you kind of got off to the side a little bit.
[00:56:14] If today was your last day on this planet, is there even a question in your mind as to where you would go, as to where you would spend eternity?
[00:56:26] If there is, I want to invite you today to come home, to come back home, to put Jesus in His rightful place.
[00:56:41] With heads bowed, eyes closed, if that is you, you just go, you know what?
[00:56:45] I need to put him in his rightful place.
[00:56:48] Maybe things have gotten out of my life and I just need to make sure today.
[00:56:52] If that's you, would you just raise your hand?
[00:56:54] Say, I just need to make sure.
[00:56:55] Thank you.
[00:56:56] Thank you.
[00:56:58] Love you guys up here on the front.
[00:56:59] Proud of you girls.
[00:57:01] Thank you over here.
[00:57:03] Thank you in the middle.
[00:57:04] Coming over to this side now.
[00:57:05] Thank you for the hands in the back.
[00:57:07] Who else?
[00:57:08] I need to make sure Jesus is in first position.
[00:57:11] Man or woman, doesn't matter.
[00:57:13] Thank you, young man.
[00:57:14] There's nothing better you can do to lead your family than that.
[00:57:17] Thank you, beautiful lady.
[00:57:20] Beautiful.
[00:57:22] I see an incredible woman back there.
[00:57:26] Incredible, anointed, gifted.
[00:57:31] Who else?
[00:57:32] Anybody else before I say this prayer?
[00:57:35] Online, you join us in saying this.
[00:57:37] Everyone say this out loud.
[00:57:38] Say, Heavenly Father, I thank you that from now on, you are first place in my life.
[00:57:48] You take first position.
[00:57:50] I submit my will, my heart, my strength, everything that I am to you.
[00:57:58] I ask you right now
[00:58:00] to come into my life and make me new, brand new.
[00:58:07] In Jesus' name, I declare it.
[00:58:11] Amen.
[00:58:12] Give yourselves a hand today.