Response to "What Exactly is Preaching?"

       If you've been paying any attention to The Transformed Wife page, you'll know there has been quite some drama over something Lori posted a few days ago. I won't reproduce the entire post here, but essentially Lori was commenting on an image saying Christianity is not about being perfect, but about being a sinner in need of God's grace. Lori said she disagreed with the post because Christians have been sanctified and God calls us saints now. I think both views are correct in a way and it simply depends on what we're trying to say. However, my purpose is not to analyze whether what she said is theologically correct. Many people had a major problem with her posting such a thing, because she so often claims she teaches nothing but so-called "biblical womanhood." Some were her followers, who are vehemently opposed to a woman teaching anything besides Ephesians 5 and Titus 2, whether it be from behind a pulpit or a keyboard. Others were not fans of hers but saw her post as hypocritical, since she frequently speaks out against women teaching and preaching. 

       It is in response to this mess that Lori wrote today's blog. Before we dive in, I must ask why Lori is so defensive about such things. She constantly tells women that they should be unoffendable and "ping offenses off of their shield of faith", whatever that means. And yet, she seems to be very triggered any time someone accuses her of being a hypocrite and preaching. For someone who insists women should turn the other cheek and suffer in silence, she sure isn't very silent about this. And I would think that if she truly believes she is doing the Lord's work and that her reward is not of this world, she would be less concerned with what others think of her, especially the "trolls", as she calls them. 

       As I've mentioned before, Lori never seems to clearly define what she means by "preaching." Her title suggests that perhaps we may finally get a clear answer. Without further ado, let's find out! 

Back in the days when only men preached behind pulpits, people knew what preaching was. Now that many women preach, people are confused with what it actually means. Many have accused me of preaching since I write biblical truths for a blog and social media. Do I preach? No! I teach biblical womanhood as God has commanded that older women do. Writing for a blog and on social media is NOT preaching.

I wonder what "days" Lori is reminiscing about. Though it doesn't contradict anything she is saying here, I did a little research and discovered the first woman ordained as a pastor was Mary Bosanquet Fletcher in the early 1800s. In fact, she was credited with convincing none other than John Wesley that women ought to be allowed to preach. I suspect Lori believes women preachers came about as a result of feminism, but clearly that is not so. But that's not all; there is archeological evidence that there were female clergy all the way back in the early church. Here are two interesting articles I found that elaborate: 

https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/scripture-life/archaeology-and-female-authority-early-church

https://www.ncronline.org/news/theology/researcher-artifacts-show-early-church-women-served-clergy

      So Lori is off to a good start introducing her topic, but all she's done so far is tell us that many people are confused about what it really means to preach, and that writing online is not it. Let's see what else she has to say: 

If you carefully read through Acts, you will see that it was John the Baptist, Jesus, the disciples, and Paul who preached. Not one woman is told that she preached, not one. Preaching is different than teaching or writing and I am going to tell you how.

I've read through Acts many times, and I've never found in it a definition of preaching. The fact that it records John the Baptist, Jesus, the disciples, and Paul preaching does not support her point at all (actually, Acts does not include Jesus or John the Baptist preaching; that's the Gospels, but we'll let that slide). First, we must remember that the Bible does not endorse everything it records. That's why we can read all about examples of polygamy and yet don't come away thinking God approves of it. So the mere fact that all those who were said to preach are men doesn't mean they have to be, only that they were. 

       Second, Lori is starting with the idea that only men can be preachers, and then looking through the Bible to find support for that idea. That is not how we should study the Bible. If Lori were truly looking to the book of Acts to inform her on who could be preachers, she would notice Paul and all the disciples were Jewish as well. And yet, she doesn't teach that all preachers must be Jewish. Why not? Why single out their gender, but no other qualities that apply to them universally? Because she did not get her idea from the Bible, but opposed her idea ON the Bible. 

       Third, she appears to be suggesting that no one should be allowed to do anything unless the Bible records an example of someone doing it. In that case, I notice not one woman in the Bible wrote a blog, not one! 

Let’s look at this verse: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine” (2 Timothy 4:2). Does this verse mean that all of us are to preach the word? NO! This verse was written to Timothy who Paul was training to be a preacher.

That's interesting...one of the ways in which people defend women preachers is by arguing that the verses that appear to forbid it do not apply universally, but were written at a specific time, in a specific place, to a specific individual or church. I've written about this before, so I won't get into it here. I would simply like to point out that Lori hates it when people argue this way and insist that those verses apply universally. And yet, now, when it suits her, she turns around and dismisses an entire verse of the Bible by saying it was meant only for Timothy. If it was meant only for Timothy, what is it doing in the Bible? Surely Timothy is not the only one who should preach the Gospel (and if asked, Lori would agree)! But there is no indication in this verse that the others besides Timothy must be men. 

       Lori goes on to quote some old commentaries that spoke about the definition of "preaching." I won't reproduce them all here, but the main idea seems to be that to preach is "to proclaim loudly and boldly." That's it? That's the definition of "preach" that we've been waiting for? In that case, I suppose Donald Trump and Joe Biden are preaching at their rallies! Seriously, though, I guess Lori's argument is that if writes, she is not literally speaking out loud, so it's fine. But wait! I thought one of the reasons Lori gave for women being forbidden to preach is that they are more easily deceived than men, and so cannot be trusted to teach correctly? Is she saying, then, that women are more easily deceived when they speak out loud, but if they type their words, suddenly the tendency toward deception vanishes? It makes no sense and becomes nothing more than a contrived, empty rule to follow. It brings to mind the Pharisees refusing to do any work on the Sabbath, even rescuing their lamb from a pit. 

       And, for the record, one of my faithful readers pointed out recently that in Mark 16, the word for "preach" is kērussō; one of the possible definitions of this word is "publish." So perhaps what Lori does really is preaching! 

       Lori's final paragraph is so full of points I must respond to that I'm going to break it up piece by piece: 

The ministry of preaching was given to men.

No, it wasn't. There's not a single verse in the Bible saying this. As I said, finding a list of male preachers in a highly patriarchal society is hardly evidence that it must be that way for all time. Does she think God based His rules on 1st century Roman culture? The closest the Bible comes to saying this is when it says overseers must be the "husband of one wife." But this is entirely missing the point of that verse; Paul was speaking against polygamy, not women being overseers. We should not make too much of the gender pronoun, since there would have been no need to tell women they shouldn't have multiple husbands! Paul could easily have said "an overseer must be male", but he never did! 

  Preachers preach. Women are forbidden from preaching yet many do. 

There is no verse in the Bible forbidding women to preach. Those famous verses about women being silent in the churches were about maintaining order in the church, and one of the verse appears in the middle of a discussion about people randomly speaking in tongues. It was about order, not discrimination against a certain gender. What is so disorderly about a single woman speaking to the congregation? Besides, the Greek word Paul used to tell women to be silent did not mean literal silence: it was more like "to hold one's peace" and not speak out of turn. Clearly these verses are not forbidding all women for all time from preaching or holding the office of pastor, and yet there are some who so desperately try to make them say exactly that to try to conform to their man-made traditions. 

Women are to have meek and quiet spirits. Women up on stage preaching don’t have meek and quiet spirits.

Actually, all believers, both men and women, are to have meek and quiet spirits! For example, in Matthew 5, Jesus says "blessed are the meek", not "blessed are the meek women." And Timothy himself (a man) is instructed twice to be meek, in 1 Timothy 6:11 as well as 2 Timothy 2:25. Some versions use the word "gentleness" instead, but the King James Version uses the word "meek." There are also many places in the New Testament when all believers are commanded to be "quiet", because, as I said before, the word used for quiet doesn't mean literal silence, but rather holding one's tongue when appropriate. Once again, these apply to all believers, not just women. So the idea that being meek and quiet is only for women ignores the teaching of the Bible. And, since all believers are commanded to be meek and quiet, if these are disqualifies for being a preacher, I guess neither men nor women can be preachers! 

They are doing something that they are not called to do. They are to teach the young women biblical womanhood.

Here is yet another example of Lori drawing an obviously fallacious conclusion. Lori's idea of biblical womanhood is primarily based on Titus 2:3-5, in which older women are told to teach younger women to be reverent, love their husbands and children, be busy at home, kind, self-controlled, etc. But there is no indication that this is the only thing women are permitted to teach! Paul does not say "teach this and nothing else!" He simply says to teach this. Lori is adding in her own idea that the teaching of women must be restricted to these principles; there's no way around it. 

       Besides, in the verses preceding these, the older men are told to be worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, love, and endurance. Are we to suppose these are qualities only men should pursue? Of course not! It is absurd to try to make each of these sections exclusive to each gender. Paul simply is saying "teach these kinds of things." 

God gave men the low, strong voice to proclaim loudly and publicly for a reason. Preaching is for men.

Lori ends here with this weird point. Not all men have low, strong voices, and I have no idea where Lori got the idea that some men have such voices for the sake of preaching. What about, you know, microphones? For that matter, what about women with low, strong voices? I know a few myself. Certainly Lori wouldn't allow them to be preachers on that basis. So why even bring up this point? If that's the strongest argument you have, you may need to rethink what you're trying to argue for. 

       The bottom line is that Lori has no problem flip-flopping on her burden or proof to force whatever conclusion she wishes. Unless the Bible has a verse that literally says "it is okay for a woman to stand behind a pulpit in a church building and preach to a congregation that includes men", she will not be convinced that women can preach. Yet, there is no verse in the Bible that explicitly says "it is NOT okay for a woman to stand behind a pulpit in a church building and preach to a congregation that includes men." This is classic cherry-picking. Lori, like all those who "find" in the Bible the idea that God disqualifies some from serving Him in certain says simply because of their gender, do not find that idea in the Bible at all. They find it within themselves and the cultures of past centuries, and impose it on the Bible. 

Link to the original blog: https://thetransformedwife.com/what-exactly-is-preaching/?unapproved=182088&moderation-hash=2644a78b06e15ea6a2bc38f85cbcec54#comment-182088