Response to "Gender Perversion in the Home and the Church."

       Lori’s latest blog is an article written by Pastor Aaron Brummitt. It is over 3,300 words but could have been shortened dramatically, while retaining the exact same message, if he had simply said the following: “I know nothing about what I’m writing about but I think men are better than women and will do whatever I can to use the Bible to prove this.” But, since brevity was not his goal, I cannot hope to answer every point he makes. I will do my best to cover the highlights. 

Men and women were not created equal in every aspect and are distinctly different emotionally and biologically. Based upon these differences, God gave each of the two sexes well-defined roles in the home and the church. 

There are two things to note here. First, he makes the same old mistake of failing to understand the difference between “equal” and “same.” Always be on the lookout for the use of either of these words. When they say “equal,” they really mean “same”, but we don’t. Egalitarians don’t believe all people are the same; they simply believe we all have equal rights and should have equal opportunities. We must not allow complementarians to hide behind this dishonest misrepresentation. 

       Second, he says God commanded different roles for men and women based on these differences. There are two types of complementarians: those who believe men and women are equally capable of tasks such as leading, teaching, etc., but that God simply reserved these roles for men for the sake of maintaining order (it could just as easily have been blonds and brunettes); and those who believe there really are differences in the abilities of men and women, that women are not as good as men at tasks like these, and therefore should not be allowed to do them. Clearly he falls under the latter category. 

Beginning with the biological wiring of men and women, we find three distinctions. First and foremost, the average woman is physically weaker than the average man. The Apostle Peter writes, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel” (I Peter 3:7). According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, “Women generally produce about two-thirds the amount of total strength and applied force that men produce.” Every study, to date, has concluded that muscular strength and physical stamina is higher, on average, in men as opposed to women.

Egalitarians don’t deny this; they simply deny that it’s a valid reason to tell women they can’t preach or make decisions for themselves. 

Second, the Lord created man and woman with different biological organs for reproduction.

Wow, I had no idea! 

Third, we find that the woman was created to be more emotional than the man.

Clearly this guy has never seen a group of men watching the Superbowl. 

Due to the distinct differences in physical strength, reproduction, and emotions, God has given men and women unique roles in the home and the church. The scripture teaches us, in the first two chapters of Genesis, the woman was made for the man, and not man for the woman. 

The word “helpmeet” in Hebrew is the word ezer neged, which literally means “worthy helper,” “proper helper,” or “well-equipped helper.” 

       He fails to mention, of course, the fact that “ezer” was used most often in the Old Testament to refer to God Himself, and therefore does NOT mean subordinate or assistant. 

The first sin ever committed by humanity, was committed by the woman when she listened to the serpent and not her husband.

That’s funny, I thought Eve listened to the serpent and not God. Aaron is either severely mixed up or intentionally trying to deceive us. Of course, it’s not surprising; complementarians do generally confuse men with God. 

Christian author, Debi Pearl writes, “Satan could have tempted [Adam]. But Satan waited – waited for the creation of the weaker vessel.” She goes on to write, “Satan knew that the man could not be [easily] deceived, but the woman could.”

Let’s consider this for a moment. Eve is put down for sinning, while Adam is upheld as the standard of righteousness and resilience to temptation. And yet, for Eve to sin, it took all the serpent’s efforts to form an elaborate argument to convince her. What did it take to convince Adam to do the same? Eve simply said “here, eat this.” And Adam said “OKAY!” *Chomp* So maybe Debi Pearl ought to rethink this point a little? It could just as easily be argued that the serpent chose Eve because he knew if she was stronger, and if SHE fell, it would be easy for Adam to fall after her. 

After the Fall, God firmly and protectively set up the gender roles for humanity. In Genesis 3, God said to the woman: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he SHALL RULE over thee.”

The willful ignorance of complementarians on this point never ceases to amaze me. The biblical text literally says right here than men ruling over women was not part of God’s design, but actually part of the curse, the result of sin. It takes an extreme kind of desire to impose your own ideas on the Bible to miss this point. 

According to the scriptures, the woman is commanded by the Lord to obey her husband and be in subjection to him. As Christ is the head of the man, so also the man is the head of the woman in all things.

No, Paul uses a Greek word meaning “obey” when referring to children and parents, and slaves and masters, but he chose a different word for wives and husband specifically to AVOID implying that wives are to obey their husbands. 

In the Greek, the word “submit” is the word hupotasso, which literally means “to obey, to place yourself under another, to allow yourself to be subdued by another, to subject yourself unto another.” 

Nice try, but no. He has given the definition of “hupotasso” in a military application (and I do hope he doesn’t consider marriage to fall under this category). In a non-military application, it means “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.” It has been suggested that the best way to translate this word into English would be “be supportive of.” Paul did not have anything remotely like obedience in mind. He tells husbands to love their wives and wives to be supportive of their husbands - two sides of the same coin. Paul had equality in mind here, and yet there is no shortage of those who would try to twist it to say the opposite! 

From Genesis to Revelation, God’s word does not bend on this topic. God intends the husband to rule the home, and the wife and children to be in subjection to his leadership. This apparent gender inequality is not to degrade women, but exists rather to bring honor to each gender uniquely.

I’d really like someone to explain to me how subordinating women as a result of their very nature does not degrade them, but I digress. There is not a single verse in the Bible that tells men to rule their wives and home. Paul easily could have included this, but he didn’t. All he ever tells husbands to do is love and care for their wives, and to sacrifice for them. Sounds pretty submissive to me! 

       He then transitions to the supposed separate roles of men and women in the church. He cites the following familiar passages: 

I Corinthians 14:33-35: For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

There are 30 different words in Greek that could be translated “speak.” Paul specifically chose the one that simply means “talk” or “converse.” Women in that time and culture were generally confined to the home and did not understand how to act in public. Counter to the culture, Paul insisted both men and women be present in church, but the women didn’t realize it was rude to have conversations during the service. Paul was simply telling them not to chat with their friends during the service. That’s it. There’s nothing here about something specific to women that makes it shameful for them to speak. 

I Timothy 2:10-14: But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

The same point can be made here, along with the fact that the word for “silence” Paul chose is the same he used when he told all believers in 1 Thes. 4:11 to live “quiet and peaceful lives.” So he’s referring to maintaining peace and order, not literal silence. Also, the word used for “authority” is not the one meaning legitimate authority, but a domineering, controlling authority (like the kind complementarians think men should have!). Timothy was dealing with a female-dominant cult in the Ephesian church, and Paul was simply telling him that women should not rule over men any more than men should rule over women.  

       But, of course, Aaron thinks the case is closed with the plain English reading: 

Based on these two passages, it is very clear that godly women should never usurp the authority of men or teach them in the church. Both of these passages speak directly to the heresy of adult women teaching adult men. 

Many Christians are far too quick to use the word “heresy” to refer merely to something with which they disagree. It’s a way to bully people and frighten them into giving in and not thinking critically. But two can play at this game: the way complementarians worship men and grant them roles and positions that belong to God alone is nothing short of IDOLATRY. 

Furthermore, we find zero instances where women prophesied the word of God to men, practiced street preaching, traveled as evangelists, or led church services. 

False. I’m beginning to think Aaron has never actually read the Bible. 1 Corinthians 11:4-5 says “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.” (don’t worry about the point about head coverings, this was a cultural issue - even John MacArthur admits this!). This passage is referring to church meetings, and therefore, this is an explicit reference to women leading the church in prayer and prophesying (which could mean teaching, exhorting, etc.). Aaron, you need to stop ignoring the portions of the Bible you don’t like and that don’t fit your agenda. 

God never designed a woman to be a preacher. The word “preach” in the Greek is the word kerusso, which means “to herald, as a public crier, especially divine truth – the gospel.” God designed men with a stronger voice to handle situations that require being heard at great distances. For example, military commanders, in war time, are required to be heard over the sound of battle and at great lengths.

Clearly this guy has never heard my Mom yell. I know many women with powerful voices and men with weak voices...what’s your point?!

I emphasize the importance of a single woman having a proper authority in her life. Without a husband, or a godly father, a single woman needs to submit to the protection of her church elders.

And why is God not enough for her? Why are you so desperate for women to be dependent on men? 

There is no scriptural allowance for a woman to override her meek and quiet spirit to win a soul. 

Yup, you heard him correctly: silencing women is more important to him than winning souls!

In conclusion, there is much confusion in the world today about gender roles. Satan has worked hard to raise up an army of feminists and counterfeit “christians” to blaspheme the word of God. The demon of divination and the spirit of Jezebel are both hard at work teaching women to follow many false doctrines. Tragically, these spirits are seducing the next generation of young ladies to usurp the authority of the man, cast off their God given role as keepers at home, and become street preachers, woman pastors, and New Age theologians.

If Satan has done anything, it is to convince so many in the church that somehow silencing half its members was a good idea. 

       And for crying out loud, there is no such thing as a Jezebel spirit in the Bible! This was made-up simply as an attack on women whenever no legitimate arguments could be made against them.

       Beware anyone who adds so much of his own ideas to the Bible and calls them divine revelation, especially when those ideas so conveniently elevate him at the expense of others.