The following are suggested answers to the Message Based Discussion Questions from the message presented on February 2, 2014. The insert for the message precedes the answers. These are designed to stimulate thinking, not replace it.

1)    If you take a text out of the context, you have a pretext –an excuse.

2)    Pauline letters are prescriptive.

3)    You interpret out of the text, not read into the text.   Exegesis vs. eisegesis.

 

1)    Disciple men to worship in dependence on Jesus 2:8 What does it take?

• Courage; Humility; Intensity; Perseverance.

2)    Disciple women to approach Jesus properly 2:9-10

• Approach Him with a pure heart 2:9a – internal; modest apparel 2:9b – external; inward beauty 2:9c – heart; works of blessing 2:10 – works

3)    Disciple women to worship Jesus in submissive silence 2:11

• Let a woman learn –
• Submission – under ranks: 1 Cor. 11:8-12; Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18; Titus 2:5 
• Silence – 1 Tim. 2:2; 1 Pet 3:4; 1 Cor. 14:34-35  

4)    Disciple women to worship Jesus in divine order 2:12-15

• Jesus gave women limited authority 2:12
• Jesus established the order of authority 2:13-15

As men and women worship in Spirit and Truth,

they will emphasize their roles over their equality!

• Men and women equally bear God’s image and are strapped with a sin nature..  Both are complete in Christ, both bear guilt of sin, and both are viewed by God in a state of glory.
• Men and women have God-given roles, equally important for the unity and harmony of the body.  Stepping down from the role or usurping the other’s roles is detrimental to Christ’s body – church.
• Men are not superior to women even in their role.  They have a different role just as the Trinity has different roles.    

Message Based Discussion Questions

1)    Was your mother and/or grandmother involved in serving in a church?  How so?

• My mother was involved in many ways. She worked with a “circle” which was a gathering of women who worked on projects together and enjoyed fellowship and helping others.
• She sang in the choir.
• She was involved in several Bible studies.

Digging deeper:

2)    Read Genesis 3:1-19. Did Adam have a consequence for his sin in Genesis 3? _yes_ What was it? Was that just for Adam? How do we see it today?

• Adam’s consequence was hard work by the sweat of his brow
  • He had to work through thorns and thistles
  • He would eat the herb of the field
  • He’d eat bread until death
• The consequence was for all men, until Jesus returns
• Today, hard work continues in the field and factory
  • People are tired after work
  • It consumes most of their day
  • Bosses and work are  often difficult
  • It may last until death

3)    What was Eve’s contribution to the sin problem of Genesis 3? __she was deceived and drew in Adam_ What was the consequence that God imposed? Is that consequence still experienced today? Does this passage have anything to do with the consequence of Genesis 3? How so or how not?

• She had pain in childbirth and she was under the authority of her husband. She would have sorrow in conception and raising children.
• The consequence is still experienced today.
• It is likely as the rulership of earth was given up by Adam to Satan (2 Cor. 4:4), so also Eve gave up any co-authority by succumbing to deception. God kept the order of responsibility to rest with the man as it was his in the beginning.
• God was going to hold one person responsible, so neither party could blame the other party for failures.

4)    How quiet is quiet? _quiet, but not absolute_ Consider the word quiet in 1 Tim. 2:11.  It is used in Acts 22:2 and 2 Thes. 3:12.  Then compare another word for quiet in Luke 18:39 and 1 Cor. 14:34.  What difference do you observe?  What does that mean for the context of 1 Tim. 2:11?

• Acts 22:2 When Paul spoke the people were quiet enough for him to continue speaking so all could hear.  It’s possible there may have been a whisper or two.
• 2 Thes. 3:12 people are to quietly work and get the task done. That would not preclude asking for understanding on how to get the widget in the right place or the length of board to cut.
• Luke 18:39 This word sigao- means to remain silent and say nothing.
• 1 Cor. 14:34 – The women were causing enough trouble that they were to be totally silent (sigao-) in Corinth worship
• 1 Tim. 2:11 – She is to remain silent during the worship service and ask questions or clarifications at home, so that genuine worship can be accomplished during the service. God is looking for a response to Him of glory, not an intellectual exercise of understanding. The issue is worship, not knowledge. The issue is God, not us.

Making application of the message to life:

5)    How would you disciple young women that their role is not a role of subjugation? What kinds of things should you disciple?

• Every young woman (and man) needs to learn enforced humility, until they can live out genuine humility. Women are not in subjugation, defeat, oppression or even suppression. They are to be held in honor (1 Pet. 3:7). She is not to be treated as a slave or a rug.
• Disciple the roles of Tit. 2:4-5 to love their husbands and be good “house workers,” which will be agreed upon by the husband and wife. She needs to learn 1 Pet. 3:1-6, 8-12; Eph. 5:22-24; 6:1-4; 1 Tim. 5:1-16; Pro. 31:10-31 to begin with. 

6)    What are consequences of either men or women who step out of their God-given roles?

• They are resisting God and it is wickedness 1 Sam. 15:22-23
• They are violating the picture of the order in the Trinity John 5:19-30; 14:26.
• They give a foothold to the devil to influence Eph. 4:27

7)    Who and what kind of people at Grace may need help in discipling women in these principles? What can you do specifically, besides pray for them?

• Parents need help as they raise their daughters
• Single parents need help
• Those who are discipling women
• Youth leaders and home group leaders need wisdom
• Link young women up to older women, who will love them to Jesus.
• Everyone is involved in some way, especially by prayer
• The key is to honor women as fellow-heirs and treat them in a way that they would much rather raise the next generation, than seek their own ladder of success, so that the one who rocks the cradle rules the world.