Duck, It's Wincing Wednesday!

Welcome to Wednesday. Last Sunday morning as my wife was driving us up to surprise my mom, I read to her some from the next section of Scripture we will be sharing in our Bible study class. It has to do with the Apostle Paul’s instructions to Timothy regarding how believers should organize and function as a local New Testament Church (Ecclesia). When I read the verses to her I could see her wince. She didn’t run off the road but she did let out a little gasp as she grasped how these verses are not what you hear everyday.

In this section Paul talked about some gender and role distortions going on in the Church that Timothy had been sent in to help. Paul made it clear that within God’s clearly defined plan, there are specific details outlining the proper roles for men and women, and in particular, how these should function within the local Church. Why did my wife wince when she heard these very straightforward verses? Because, over time, they have been so massaged and mangled to the extent no one recognizes their meaning anymore, therefore, they sound very much out of place in our so-called enlightened Church practice of today.

I asked her to explain her concern and she said she didn’t see how those verses could be received in today’s culture. The man (Adam) as God’s designed leader in the home and Church is very dated for our modern politically correct world. The woman (Eve) as child bearer, homemaker, and in submission to the Lord and her husband is an even more radical teaching. Yet, this is exactly what the Apostle Paul was inspired to send to the Church that needed to straighten out their false teaching and practices. My wife and I discussed how that many attempt to limit this teaching as applying only to the culture that existed in the time in which the Apostle Paul wrote.

That’s always been interesting to me since Paul based his prescriptions for God’s plan as grounded in the creation account found in Genesis, not in any contemporary explanations that existed in his own day. I am not that bright but I do believe the creation of Adam and Eve took place a few thousand years before Paul was alive on the planet, but yet, that was his foundation for God’s directive regarding the role of men and women in the Church Jesus founded. I am sure that my wife’s response will be repeated whenever I share these verses with the class. I hate it whenever I feel intimidated when preparing for lessons like this. I should never be reluctant to present the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, with God’s help, regardless of how it might be received.

I could easily avoid these types of lessons by skipping around in a topical manner and many do just that. However, I believe the Word was given, delivered, and preserved that it would be presented in the way it was put together, word by word, sentence by sentence, and account by account. One thing I can be sure of is that God’s plan is always and forever the very best for men, women, boys and girls. Our flesh or sinful nature may not accept this as truth. Our culture may scoff at it making any sense at all in our advanced world. But, none of these things change God’s Truth. If He said it and He made it clear, then we would do well to do our best, with His help, to pursue, embrace, and make it the basis for our living. Meanwhile, I’ll just have to get used to a little ‘wincing’ now and then as I seek to honor Him in my teaching. Amen. ….More later.