Women Step Forward
Introduction by Paul L. Cox
Pastor Patti Velotta is the pastor of Calvary Way International
in Libertyville, ILL (north of Chicago). Calvary Way is under an umbrella
of Three Cord Ministries, a family of several ministries including Art By
God (This is an amazing art studio), Three Cord Book Store and Coffee
Shop. If you are in the Chicago area please visit Calvary Way. Pastor
Patti Velotta is a founding member of Joel’s Well. www.calvarywaychurch.com
Following is a chapter by Pastor Patti Velotta from my new book, Come Up Higher.
Jesus is coming back for a bride without spot or wrinkle.
Among the things to be healed is the gender issue in the church. The true
root of the “women’s issue” is shared disobedience to God. By
disobedience, men and women together have opened the door to satanic attack, and
men and women have both borne the consequences. Evidence of the attack is
seen in the mindsets, choices, and actions of both genders.
Deception and disobedience are embedded in the misinterpretation of scripture.
Women may hide behind the misinterpretation because of their own reluctance to
lead—denying their own gifts and calling. In addition to denying
themselves, women also deny the leadership and calling of other women, often
rooted in ideas of natural or human preference or plain old jealousy. On
the other hand, men motivated by tradition, historical superiority, or fear of
women have kept women out of leadership roles.
In the beginning, God created Adam in His own image; He created them male and female. Then God blessed them and gave them two jobs to do: they were to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and they were to have dominion over fish, birds, and every other living thing that moves on the earth. He did not tell them to have dominion over each other. In a closer look at their creation, the Bible explains that Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden where he cultivated and kept it. But God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper suitable for him.” The Hebrew word translated helper, ezer, is a word commonly used in the Old Testament as “superior strength”, such as “God is my helper.” The Hebrew word translated suitable, kenegdwo, means fit for or business partner or equal. God then created all the living creatures out of the earth and Adam named them demonstrating he rule over them. None of these were found to be the partner God wanted for Adam. So God put Adam into a deep sleep and removed from his side the material to fashion his equal. This intimate and unique creation of woman is very different from that of the living creatures. Woman came out of man, therefore she is his equal. Paul says, “In the Lord, neither is woman independent of the man, not is man independent of the woman. For as woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God”
However, the man and the woman together disobeyed God’s
command and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The “very
good” of God was fractured. Dominion of the earth was transferred to
Satan. The loving working relationship between male and female became a
war. She did it! God describes the future: there will be hatred
between Satan and the woman, but her seed will defeat Satan, The woman
will have pain in childbearing and the man will work by the sweat of his brow in
the now cursed ground. The relationship between male and female will be a
constant battle for dominion over each other. In Genesis 3:16, the Hebrew
word translated desire, tshuqah, means longing or appetite. This
word occurs only three times in the Old Testament. Many have interpreted
the meaning as sexual desire from its use in Song of Solomon. The
reasoning goes that women will be rul ed by men because women will so want
sexual fulfillment that they will let men rule them. However, the
important clues to the meaning of this word can be found in its closest use in
Genesis 4:7. There the word desire describes the fight that sin is
putting up for control of Cain. The desire is not for sex but for control
and domination. Competition, not complimentary cooperation, becomes the
norm between men and women in this fallen world. And in this broken state,
men will rule over women.
In the first act following God’s prophecy of how things will be (as
opposed to how He planned them), Adam takes possession of his wife and
names her.
The enmity between Satan and the woman has played out in nearly every
culture. Women, the weaker sex, are generally weaker in strength, but not
in endurance or intelligence or pain tolerance in child-bearing or spirituality.
This physical weakness has left them vulnerable to domination and limitation.
Men have owned, resisted and silenced women; women have manipulated, controlled,
and dominated men. The miserable result is seen in both unredeemed
marriage and ministry.
Jesus Christ came to overcome the work of the devil! Once again by Holy
Spirit the sexes can submit to one another. Once again a wife can be
a helper suitable for her husband and a husband can lay down his life for his
wife. In Jesus, we are free to discover that there is neither Jew nor
Greek, slave nor free man, neither male nor female for we are all one in Christ
Jesus. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as
good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
So why, in Christian circles, are women routinely relegated to secondary or
supporting roles by themselves or others despite their gifts and abilities?
Often the answer comes in quoting the apostle Paul. “I will not permit a
woman to teach or exercise authority over a man”
If Paul is laying down a timeless law prohibiting women from having
authority or teaching men in the church, why does he commend so many women
leaders in the church of Rome who are doing just that? A roman 16 is a
chapter of honor and gratefulness from Paul to his co-laborers in Rome of which
one-third are women. In Romans 16:1-2, Phoebe, who isdescribed as a
servant, diakonos, meaning deacon or minister, probably pastored in
Cenchrea. She is also described as a helper, prostatis, meaning
succorer or, in verb form, proistemi, meaning set over many, including
Paul himse lf! She is responsible not only for delivering, but also for
probably teaching the contents of Paul’s letter to the Roman church, a
dangerous journey and a prestigious assignment worthy of the Romans’ honor and
help. Prisca in Romans 16: 3-5a, who was a fellow-worker with Paul, was
unconventionally mentioned first before her husband, Aquila, to indicate her
prominence in the area of leadership in the ministry. Her teaching of
doctrine to Apollos qualifies her as a teacher while her church in their home
qualifies her as a pastor. In verse 7, the name Junia is given.
Jnnia is a common Roman female name that has been marginalized in favor of an
unknown Greek male name, Junias. Early commentators
have assumed Junia to be a woman. It was not until Aegidus of Rome that
Junia was referred to as a man. Junia is a female a postle who along
with her male colleague, Andronicus, is outstanding among the apostles.
They were Paul’s counterparts in Rome. Romans16:7:
“As an apostle sent by God to witness to the resurrection of
Jesus, Paul would lay the foundation for a church. Certainly authoritative
preaching would have to be part of such a testimony. Junia and Andronicus,
apparently laid the foundation for the churches in Rome: ’they came before me
in Christ.’ ” Phoebe,
Prisca, Junia, Stephana, Tryphaena, Tryphosa are all leaders commended by Paul
for their work in the church. Therefore, his prohibition expressed in 1
Timothy 2:12 seems to have a temporary and specific meaning. Could it be
that the women in Ephesus at that time were uneducated in the Word of the
Lord and had to learn before they were permitted to teach or exercise authority
over a man? The tense of the verb to permit can be translated “I do not
now permit.” In fact, the only imperative in 1 Timothy 2 is “Let a woman
quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.”
This is a description of rabbinic learning. Paul’s encouragement of
women in leadership roles is consistent. In 1 Timothy, he is commanding
women to learn so that they can take appropriate positions in the ministry of
the gospel. The principle behind the passage is not a question of gender,
but one of education.
The same lack of learning appears to be the root of the problem in 1 Corinthians
14:34, “Let the women keep silent in the churches, for they are not
permitted to speak.” This passage has been cited to limit the pulpit to
men only, but if Paul meant that women should not have a significant
contribution, or even speak, in the church, why does he give guidelines
for women to pray and prophesy a few chapters earlier in 1 Corinthians 11:5-6,
10, 13, 15? If 1 Corinthians 14:34 is an absolute prohibition, should
women be allowed to sing or play the organ—let alone share, preach or teach?
Since women in the Jewish culture were prohibited from religious training.
Perhaps the restriction was that they had many questions and were rudely
interrupting the preaching of the Word. The word for “speak” is the
present infinitive which can be translated “continually speaking up” and
implies disruptive, annoying and shameful speech. This made for another
disorderly situation in the Corinthian church that Paul needed to straighten
out. His command was for the women to ask their own husbands at home
because it is improper for them to continually interrupt the service. As
for praying or prophesying in church, it is available to both women and men
equally.
God gifts and calls whom He will without regard to gender. The Bible
reports many women in leadership in both Testaments. Some of my
favorites are: Deborah, the judge and prophetess; Huldah the prophetess,
who alone gave witness to the Word of God; Esther, Queen who saved the nation;
Jephthah’s daughter, who died for God, her father and her nation; Miriam,
prophetess; wife of Isaiah, prophetess; Mary, mother of Jesus; Mary,
disciple of Jesus; Lydia, first convert in Europe, perhaps pastor of church in
her home; Hannah, prophetess and obedient mother of Samuel; daughters of
Zelophehad who knew and trusted God for justice; Jael, who killed the enemy of
Israel; Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel, three mothers in Israel; Rahab, whose belief
saved her family; Ruth, the faithful, who is in the line of the Messiah; Queen
of Sheba, wise student and believer; Anna, prophetess intercessor; Phillip’s
four daughters, prophetesses. T he history of the Christian church also
records women who held leadership positions, many of whom have given their lives
for the glory of God.
“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Before Jesus’ return, we need true understanding of the Word, cleansed garments. Men and women must return to the original assignment and work together according to His pleasure.
Thrown Away People-Self Inner Healing
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