This morning I look on-line at the main CNN home page and see this headline and article right in the top listing of national news - "Church Says Women Can't Teach Men". It is the story of a woman who has taught Sunday School at her church for 54 years, but (according to the article) the pastor there just told her she can't teach anymore because she is a female. This took place at a Baptist church and you can read the article and see a video clip here. Later in the morning the headline was actually changed from the original title to a sensationalistic new title of "Church Dumps Teacher for Being Female".
So in national news on CNN this issue is raised - and I am wondering if we are prepared to adequately answer this question.
On one hand, I hear the view from those who believe that women should not teach men - yet it seems that those who hold this view still have women singing in church (which is really teaching through lyrics if you were to just look at the lyrics of some songs). Or they allow females to be sharing what they learned in the Bible in small study discussion groups of mixed sexes and allow them to contribute there. But to stand in a pulpit and talk (which interestingly they didn't even have pulpits in the early church) and share what they are learning - females aren't allowed to do that.
I also read blogs by some females who themselves hold the view that females shouldn't be teaching men. But oddly, their own blogs are extremely authoritative as they as females strongly teach on various topics in their blogs by using Scriptures and even rebuke others (including men) who don't hold their viewpoints - which sure seems like teaching to me to. The "church" is the people throughout the week, not just a meeting. So is a female teaching both men and women on a public blog, different than standing in a pulpit for a woman who believes females shouldn't teach men? Shouldn't their blogs (if they hold this viewpoint) be for "females only"? They certainly preach and teach on their public blogs and know it is a mixed audience they are speaking to.
On the other hand, there are those who hold that women should teach - but I just talked to an elder at a church who holds this view and asked if they can they explain from the Bible the passages that say women should remain silent etc. This elder said he really couldn't explain them, but "feels" that women should be able to teach men. So with this person, having a feeling about it was the primary reason he believed women should teach men - but he couldn't answer or give an explanation from the Scriptures or be able to explain the various passages that seem to say otherwise.
My wondering, is whether what view is held by someone (or what in-between view), can we intelligently discuss from the Scriptures why that view is held? Can we do so lovingly and gracefully and respect those who differ from our view in this? We have to remember that there are wonderful godly people who study the Scriptures and pray and say "the Spirit leads me to believe women can teach in church" and there are wonderful godly people who study the Scriptures and pray and say "the Spirit leads me to believe women cannot teach in church (at least can't teach men)".
Here in national news being read by perhaps millions (I don't know the viewing audience of CNN news), at least one church is thrust into the limelight for telling a woman who taught for 54 years in her church she can no longer do so.
I know most churches don't react as extreme as the one in the headlines this morning (or at least how the headlines and article portray this story and we don't know what the real story is), but since it made national headlines - I believe it raises how we need to really, really have a way of explaining our views on this. We can't just throw out a Bible verse from its context and have that be our reason for saying women can't teach men, without adequate explanation and reasoning from the whole of Scripture. We can't really just have a "feeling" that women should teach men, without being able to have a biblically based reason for it and also be able to explain the passages that say "women should remain silent".
It is a huge question being asked today and to those outside the church, another incredibly insane thing to read headlines like this and thus have stereotypes of the church reinforced.
