We exercise the spiritual gifts for edification by our speaking (1 Cor. 14:26-31). A proper church meeting, therefore, must be unique in two things-in mutuality and in speaking, a speaking that is genuine, positive, nourishing, and edifying. This means that whenever we come together, we should have speaking in mutuality, not the speaking of only one or two. Every saint should have the equal right and opportunity to speak concerning Christ, to speak for Christ, and to speak forth Christ. Relying on others to speak, to pray, and to call hymns is a tradition that kills the church life, for it annuls the function of the members of the Body of Christ. Instead of following the traditional practice, we should function in the church meetings in the way of mutuality. This will edify, improve, and develop the functioning ability of all the attendants of the church meetings.
The way to meet by mutuality in speaking is the way God invented and ordained. This is God’s created way, and no one can improve it. Therefore, we must turn away from the traditional practice of having only one or a few speakers and recover the Lord’s ordained way of speaking in mutuality. We need to fully come back to the God-invented and God-ordained way to meet.
Even when the whole church meets together we should practice mutuality in speaking. First Corinthians 14:26 indicates that when the whole church comes together in one place, we should practice mutuality. Mutuality in speaking is clearly revealed in 1 Corinthians 14. There is not a hint in the New Testament that in a church meeting there should be just one or two persons speaking. The church meeting must be open to all attendants that all may function.
The gathering for edification by exercising the spiritual gifts in mutuality and by speaking should be kept in peace. This means that the meeting should be carried on in a good order. For this reason, in 1 Corinthians 14:33 Paul says, “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.” This indicates that the church meeting should be kept in a peaceful and becoming order according to what God Himself is.
In the church meetings the sisters should be silent in giving teachings. First Corinthians 14:33b-35 says, “As in all the churches of the saints, let the women be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but let them be subject, as the law also says. But if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church.” The phrase “in the churches” means in the meetings of the church. According to 11:5, women can prophesy (of course, in public) with their head covered, and Acts 2:17 and 18 and 21:9 confirm that there were women prophesying. But in 1 Timothy 2:12 women are not permitted to teach, that is, to teach as an authority (there teaching is related to the exercising of authority), defining doctrine. Hence, according to the New Testament principle, for women not to be permitted to speak in the church meetings means that women are not permitted to teach with authority concerning the defining of doctrine. In this sense they should be kept silent in the church meetings. They are not permitted to speak because they should be subject to man. This is related to the matter of authority ordained by God in His government. In God’s governmental ordination women are not permitted to speak with authority over man. They may pray and prophesy, that is, mainly to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord. However, they must do this under the covering of the brothers because they are charged to be subject (1 Tim. 2:11).
First Corinthians 14:34 should not be understood in isolation from the rest of the Bible. According to the teaching of the entire New Testament, sisters may prophesy, but they do not have the authority to define doctrines. This must be left to the brothers. Furthermore, it is a fact of history that some of the most serious heresies have come in through women. On the one hand, the sisters should not be prohibited from giving testimonies or edifications in the meetings. On the other hand, the sisters should be careful to stay within the boundary and not presume to teach in the sense of defining doctrine.
In 1 Timothy 2:11 Paul says, “Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection.” Quietness here means silence. For a sister to learn in silence and in all subjection is to realize her position as a woman. This safeguards the sisters from the presumption of overstepping their position in the local assembly.
In 2:12 Paul goes on to say, “But I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to be in quietness.” To teach here means to teach with authority, to define and decide the meaning of doctrines concerning divine truth. For a woman to teach in this way or to exercise authority over a man is to leave her position. In God’s creation man was ordained to be the head, and woman was to be in subjection to man (1 Cor. 11:3). This ordination should be kept in the church.
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