Gender Roles in Creation, Church, and Culture

There are few passages of scriptures in the Bible that draw more confusion and disgust from people, inside and outside of churches, as 1 Timothy 2:12. "I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet."

What kind of chauvinistic, patriarchal, back-woods hate speech is this? How could a loving God tell women to be quiet? These verses fly in the face of everything our culture believes. These verses seem out of step with what most people think God's true will would be for humanity.

In 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Paul gives Timothy insights into how believers living in a wicked and potentially hostile city or nation should respond. The plan does not involve running from the fight, nor surrendering to the influence of culture.

In 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Paul gives Timothy an additional way that churches can display God's goodness and glory to their community. From the beginning of creation, God has given, both men and women, specific roles in which to function. God has ordered families and the church families to be structured and to operate in a distinct way to maximize human flourishing.

These verses are in the Bible for a reason and there has never been a more urgent time for us to consider how God defines and orders gender, in the Creation, the Church, and Culture.