Rev. David Holwick ZO Modern Controversies #7
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 9, 2012
Luke 1:28-38
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I. It is tough being a woman.
A. Consider Santa's reindeer.
1) Important information from the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game.
Both male and female reindeer grow antlers each summer.
Males drop their antlers at the beginning of winter -
usually late November to mid-December.
Female reindeer keep their antlers until the spring.
Therefore, according to every historical depiction of
Santa's reindeer, every single one of them - from
Rudolph to Blitzen - are girls.
#20710
2) As usual, females do all the work, while males steal all
the credit.
B. The Bible's approach to women has caused consternation.
1) Many modern people reject it for being anti-women.
a) Evangelist-turned-skeptic, Charles Templeton,
summarized this view well when he wrote,
"The Bible is a book by and for men. The women in it
are secondary creatures and usually inferior."
b) Atheist Dan Barker writes:
"The bible ... is anti-woman. A patriarchal system
cannot stand women who are free."
#63804
2) Even Christians have questions about it.
a) Godly women in this church have asked me about it.
b) When Janis Biron raises her eyebrows at the topic, you
know it is hot!
C. A honest look at the Bible's teaching on women.
1) If you believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, you
should understand its full teaching on this subject.
2) There is much confusion about gender in our society.
3) Perhaps God has some wisdom we have conveniently forgotten.
II. Gender minefields in the Bible.
A. Women seem to be valued less.
1) In Leviticus 27, values are associated with people in
regard to special commitments to God's service.
a) Young people are valued less than older people.
b) And women are valued less than men, about 60% less.
1> This could be because older men were more capable
of the heavy work required in hauling wood, etc.
2> Note that Israelite brides were purchased, but the
grooms were free.
2) Women are not counted in censuses.
a) But censuses had a military purpose (=draft rolls).
3) Some believe the women are lumped with property.
a) The tenth Commandment says you should not covet your
neighbor's house, donkey or wife. Exod 20:17
b) Are wives in the same category as houses and donkeys?
B. Women are limited in their abilities.
1) Women cannot initiate divorce, only men can.
a) Actually, we are told how men could divorce their wives.
b) We are never told that ONLY they could do it.
2) Leadership roles were limited.
a) In Old Testament, women could not be priests.
1> In New Testament, none were apostles of Jesus.
b) Paul's infamous statement that women cannot teach men.
1> This is why many Christian groups do not let women
be preachers.
2> American Baptists do - if their local church will
accept them.
III. Women are valued in the Bible.
A. In the Christmas story itself, women have leading roles.
1) The Virgin Mary gets top billing.
a) She is a lowly handmaiden, but she prays like a
military commander.
b) God honors her by choosing her for this task.
2) John the Baptist's mother, Elizabeth, also gets a lot
of attention in the Christmas story.
3) And the female prophetess, Anna, gets a paragraph.
B. Women served as exceptional leaders.
1) In the Old Testament, Deborah was a judge who was victorious
in battle.
2) Even the Apostle Paul honors the women like Priscilla who
worked side-by-side with him in spreading the gospel.
C. Womanhood is valued.
1) In Proverbs, the concept of Wisdom is equated with women.
2) At the end of that book, a hard-working wife is said to be
of more value than rubies.
D. Equality in value is established from the onset.
1) Genesis 1:27 states:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
he created him; male and female he created them."
Note that both males and females carry God's image.
2) The classic verse in the New Testament is Galatians 3:27-28.
"All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
a) No spiritual advantage or disadvantage in being male
or female.
b) Pentecost - all receive the Spirit, not just one gender.
3) Both sexes need each other, according to 1 Corinthians 11:11:
"In the Lord, however, women is not independent of man,
nor is man independent of woman.
For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman.
But everything comes from God."
IV. Two Biblical models of womanhood.
A. One woman's investigation.
Last year Rachel Held Evans decided to explore Biblical
womanhood for one year.
She studied every relevant passage in the Bible and tried to
follow those teachings in her daily life.
She wrote a book from her experiences.
The subtitle gives you some idea of where the experience took
her:
"How a liberated woman found herself sitting on her roof,
covering her head, and calling her husband 'Master.'"
#63793
1) Evans found that Christians take two main approaches to
gender issues.
B. Egalitarianism - the sexes are equal in God's eyes.
1) The differences reflected in the Bible are due to
human sinfulness, not God's plan.
2) In Jesus Christ, those differences can disappear.
3) Restrictive teachings, like Paul's rule that woman cannot
teach men, are usually attributed to the culture.
a) Uppity women would have given the church a bad rep.
b) Other passages show that women could indeed teach.
4) They also appeal to the principle of progressive revelation.
a) This means God can give new rules that replace old ones.
b) Numbers 27 gives an example concerning the genders.
1> At first, women could not inherit land.
2> A test case was brought to Moses, and he changed
that policy to an egalitarian one.
c) Can God still do this today?
C. Complementarianism - God intends the differences between sexes.
1) Women are not inferior to men, but they have different
roles to fulfill.
2) In marriage, wives should defer to their husbands.
a) Husbands should lead the family.
b) Also, the husbands are supposed to love their wives
and see that their needs are met.
3) In the church, leadership is given to men, but women have
many opportunities of service.
a) Eternal salvation is offered to both sexes on the same
basis - trusting in the blood of Jesus.
4) This view is more controversial, but tries to take the
Bible at face value instead of shoe-horning it to fit
modern conceptions.
V. Feminists need what we all need.
Liz Curtis Higgs was a well-known disc jockey and very wild.
She says she spent a decade immersed in a sex, drugs, and
rock-n-roll lifestyle.
In fact, Howard Stern was the morning show, and Liz Curtis
Higgs was the afternoon show.
One day Howard Stern said to Liz, "You know, you need to clean
up your act."
If Howard Stern says you need to clean up your act, you must
REALLY need to clean up your act.
Because Liz Curtis Higgs had been burned and heartbroken by
so many men, she became a militant feminist.
But she had a Christian girlfriend who kept inviting her to
church.
So one day after a long, long time, she said, "Okay, I will
go to church one time and ONE TIME ONLY."
That week, the pastor just happened to be teaching on the
Bible verse that says, "Wives, submit to your husbands."
That's not exactly a good verse to reach a militant feminist.
Liz got a little uptight, a little ticked, a little angry.
But she continued to listen and she actually heard the second
part of the verse, which most people miss.
The second part says, "and husbands - you sacrifice yourself;
you give yourself for your wives just as Jesus Christ
sacrificed Himself for the church and died for her."
When Liz heard that part, she leaned over to her friend and
said with a little cynicism,
"Shoot, I'd gladly give myself to any man if I knew he would
die for me."
And her friend leaned over and said, "Liz, there is man who
loved you enough to die for you.
His name is Jesus Christ. That's how much He loves you."
It was not long after that that Liz dropped her guard,
surrendered her life to God in love, and became a believer.
Today she is a well-known Christian author and speaker.
#26823
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#20710 “They Had To Be Female Reindeer,” from email submitted by
Col. Herman White of Colorado Springs, Colorado,
February 25, 1990.
#26823 “A Militant Feminist Submits,” from sermon by Rev. Rick Warren,
“Planned For God’s Pleasure,” December 12, 2004.
#63793 “Taking A Look At ‘a Year of Biblical Womanhood’,” Terri Stovall,
Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org, November 9, 2012.
#63804 “The Biblical View of Women,” Kyle Butt, M. A.,
<http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=3654>
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