Women In Leadership (Part III)

Series Context and Heart Behind It

• 8-year journey for Ken, intensified over the last 1-2 years, then again in the last 1-2 months

• Vision: raise up a “last days army” of men and women walking freely in their God-given destiny

• Series goal: remove obstacles, not create division; open dialogue on what Scripture actually says

• Egalitarian position (Ken’s): men and women equal, no restrictions on how they serve

• Complementarian position (for context): men and women equal in value, women restricted in some leadership areas

• Tribe’s history: women have always been on leadership and voting/governing teams; now moving toward eldership

• Ground rules: dignity over dogma, freedom to disagree with biblical reasoning, freedom to learn and change

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 (Women Silent in Church)

• Question from last week: what is the passage actually saying, not just what it isn’t saying

• Key insight: Paul quotes 6-8 “Corinthian slogans” throughout 1 Corinthians, plus 15 OT quotes and a Greek poet

  • Not everything in 1 Corinthians is Paul’s own voice; he’s often quoting others to correct them

• Verses 34-35 identified as a quote from legalistic, Judaistic intruders, not Paul’s own position

  • The verses are internally incoherent: “the law” never commands women to be silent

  • They contradict Paul’s broader teaching and the rest of Scripture

• Verse 36 begins with a Greek word (untranslatable without “!” and “?”) meaning “What?! No way!”

  • Paul’s response is the opposite of silencing women

• Paul’s broader task in 1 Corinthians: keep the church out of two ditches

  • One ditch: “anything goes” (Corinthian permissiveness)

  • Other ditch: legalistic, Judaistic rule-imposition

Genesis 2:18 and the Hebrew Word “Ezer”

• “Helper suitable” (ezer kenegdo) widely misread as “assistant” or subordinate

• Hebrew word ezer used:

  • Twice for Eve

  • 3 times for military allies rescuing Israel

  • 16 times for God

  • 0 times for a subordinate

• Ezer means a powerful ally called when you cannot do it alone, not a lesser helper

• “Kenegdo” (suitable/across from him): implies opposition in the best sense, collaborative pushback

  • Rabbi clip: marriage created to solve “acting alone,” not loneliness; two minds produce better outcomes together

• Complementarian argument (Adam came first) addressed:

  • Animals came before Adam; chronological order doesn’t confer authority

  • Eve was made from human material; Adam from dirt

  • Point: these arguments don’t hold up under scrutiny

• Conclusion from Genesis: men and women made as equal, opposite, mutually dependent collaborators

1 Corinthians 11: Headship and Head Coverings

• “Head” in verse 3: Christ is head of man, man is head of woman, God is head of Christ

  • Key fork: “head” means authority OR source (as in head of a river); discussion hinges on this

• Head coverings in Corinthian culture: covering = shame or slavery; uncovering for women = prostitution, adultery, or slave status

  • Paul’s point: don’t send the wrong social signal when you come to worship

  • Contemporary parallel: like covering your head with a Gatorade towel after a devastating loss

• Verse 7: man is image and glory of God (worship as a free person, not a slave); woman is the glory of man

  • “Glory of man” not derogatory: woman is the most beautiful thing God made, a glory to be used for God’s glory

• Verse 10: “a symbol of authority on her head” contains added translator words (“a symbol of”)

  • Original Greek says the woman has authority on her own head, i.e., she decides whether to cover

• Verses 11-12: mutual interdependence tied together; neither man nor woman is independent of the other

• Verse 13: Paul tells the whole church to “judge for yourselves,” not just the men

• Verse 16: if anyone wants to argue, the common practice across all churches is honoring one another; that’s where Paul ends

• Overall: passage is about honor in worship, not hierarchy of leadership

Closing Summary and Next Week

• Central image: two boards leaning at 45 degrees, meeting at the center

  • Neither can stand alone; neither should overpower the other; together they make a complete structure

  • Gender identity, honor, gifting, and leadership all flow from this equal-and-opposite partnership

• Sexuality note: all of sexuality safely contained within marriage between one man and one woman; Bible teaches against sexual immorality in every other form

• Single people honored: Paul calls singleness superior, an undistracted partnership with God

• Next week: 1 Timothy 2:12, the “biggest doozy” of the series

  • Homework: read 1 Timothy carefully, look at the original Greek verbs in 2:12 beyond the English translation

• Prayer requests: Kathy’s family (loss of daughter, funeral tomorrow), Stacy Human’s family (loss of father)

• Questions/disagreements welcome at hello@tribeomaha.com; Ken’s wife will grill him with submitted questions at the end of the series