8.15.21 HUDDLE

Zach Below   -   August 15, 2021

INTRO QUESTION

  1. What were your summers like as a kid? What was your favorite thing to do?

 

 

WEEKLY INTRO: Welcome to week 3 of our latest series: POWER: GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. We have been spending time in 1 Corinthians 12-14. These chapters discuss the various gifts that God gives through the Holy Spirit as well as the purpose of those gifts . . . which is to build each other up in love. Well, if you read chapter 14, you will undoubtedly come across something that brings about a bit of a record scratch moment. This week we will be discussing what to do with such moments.

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGMENT: READ 1 CORINTHIANS 14:26-40

Good Order In Worship

26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

34 Women[a] should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.[b]

36 Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38 But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.[c]

39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGMENT QUESTIONS

  1. What stands out to you from the text?

 

  1. What questions does it raise?

 

 

There is little doubt that one of the questions raised is in relation to that record scratch moment we spoke of earlier . . . what is the deal with women being silent in church??

 

  1. What are your first thoughts when you read verses 34-35? How did you interpret it?

 

While we would all love to simply pretend that verses like this were not in the Bible, one of the things we CAN’T do if we take the Bible seriously is simply throw it out and pretend it doesn’t exist. So, what do we do?

 

When you are reading the Bible, it is important to think in 3 Layers:

  • Context – (Flow of thought)
  • Culture – (What did it sound like to people back then?)
  • Questions – (What questions does it bring up) 

 

So, when we think of difficult verses like this, we must ask, is there anything in the context that can help us better understand the text? Is this a cultural thing? Was this meant as a directive to all people at all times or was this text meant to be specific to this culture/community?

 

 

CONTEXT

Virtually all scholars that reflect on this text point out a problem with this passage. This problem has to do with CONTEXT.

 

  1. Read 1 Corinthians 11:5. What is the assumption that Paul is making in this verse?

 

(LEADER: The assumption that virtually all scholars point out is that Paul assumes there are women who are prophesizing in church)

 

  1. Now Read 1 Corinthians 14:39-40. In the same section of scripture (order of worship) where Paul says that women are to remain silent in church, who does he encourage to be eager to prophecy and speak in tongues in church?

 

  1. Do you think this strengthens the argument that Paul’s statement on women being silent is more addressed to the faith community at Corinth or that it is for everyone at all times? What makes you say that?

 

 

THE LARGER PROBLEM

Not only does the immediate context present a problem to suggesting that this verse is a literal command for everyone, the greater context of Jesus’s ministry and the launch of the church presents an even larger problem.

 

  1. Think back on Jesus’s ministry. When you think of Jesus’s interactions with women and their involvement in His ministry, how would you describe it?

 

In Acts 1, there was a group of about 120 people that Jesus appeared to and gave instructions to. This included a “group of women.” In Acts 2 we see that about 10 days later, they were all together (the 120) and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. This shows that on the very 1st day of the church, men and women were there and they were both prophesizing.

 

  1. How do these two points inform us on how we should interpret our Corinthians passage?

 

 

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

This is just a small sample of the role of women throughout the New Testament. This topic has been debated for 2000 years and won’t be settled during this group time. However, here are 5 different ways that scholars have interpreted this passage over the years. Read and discuss what you think of each.

 

  • Gordon Fee suggests that this passage was never there to begin with. He suggests that it was placed there later by a scribe. One part of his argument is that if you take out verse 34-35 the sentence before and after make much more sense.

 

  • Some suggest that this is actually Paul quoting the Corinthians. This idea argues that Paul is actually pushing back on the Corinthian church’s view.

 

  • Near Corinth, there was a Temple that contained the Oracle of Delphi. There, a prophetess would channel Apollo and she would make predictions. The people of Corinth would have been aware of this and it is possible that the Corinthian church was treating prophecy this way.

 

  • Due to the wider culture of the time, woman had not been involved or invited to many public gatherings. In fact, the church was somewhat revolutionary in their inclusion. Some scholars suggest that because many woman were unaware of the etiquette in such a public forum, they were asking questions and interrupting and incorrect times. Some scholars suggest that this was Paul laying out the proper etiquette for gatherings.

 

  • Some suggest that in the context, this passage is about “judging prophecy” and that was a role given to the elders of the church.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE

The bottom line is that this topic has been debated for 2,000 years and as you can see by the 6 points before, no one has a slam dunk answer. Instead, one must do the hard work of thinking through and studying these type of difficult texts, and be ok with living in the tension of possibilities. Above all, we must extend grace to one another as we pursue Christ.

 

 

  1. Any final thoughts/questions?

 

 

CLOSE IN PRAYER