Understanding My Calling: a Discover Your Purpose Moment

Time Out 

I want to take a moment, just a little break from the "No More Lies" series. I will get back to it, but I have to say something.

I love Jesus. I will not be ashamed of that. I will not back down from that. I will not apologize for it. 

This week I have been called a hater, a racist, a heretic, a liar, deluded and yesterday I was called mean for posting things about Jesus on the internet.

Yesterday I wrote about rejection: I said "I am supposed to count it a blessing when people hate me for the gospel's sake.  But sadly, that is not the kind of rejection I have felt and dealt with the most in my life." 

I guess I was wrong. 

As I began recounting to my husband some of the things that have happened I realized something: I am called to teach and preach. Not because I desire to be a teacher, but because the love God has bestowed to me is too much to hold back.

I tell others about Jesus because I cannot contain it. I tell others about my personal struggles and life because it is an example of God's grace at work in my life. By sharing my story, my hope is that someone will recognize their self between the lines.

Do I have the Right to Teach? 

So I have also been told I am in direct violation of God's word. That no woman should teach. 1 Timothy 2:12 "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." But when we cherry pick out one or two verses we do not get a full picture of who God is and what He has to say about us. We have to look at the overall character and intent of God and we must look at context.

The Character and Intent of God

In Genesis it says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Galatians 3:28 says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 13:21 says, "Strengthen (complete, perfect) and make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good that you may carry out His will; [while He Himself] works in you and accomplishes that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ (the Messiah); to Whom be the glory forever and ever (to the ages of the ages). Amen (so be it)." (AMP)

Philippians 1:6 says "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

Deborah was a judge. Mary Magdalene was the first to spread the word of his resurrection. Priscilla had a church in her house.  Actually, not only did she teach at home, she taught those who wished to teach.

In Titus Paul instructs women to teach. Is this one of those contradictions in the Bible that people are always throwing at Christians as an excuse to not believe? Yes...and no.

It does seem to conflict, but let's look at Paul not as a saint, not as perfect (only Christ is perfect) but as a man of his times and culture. In a word: fallible. He says "I do not", not "God does not".

Context

When Paul instructed women to be silent, you have to remember how services were conducted and what the tradition was.

Here is an excerpt from a great website: Bible Headquarters.

"As stated previously, in Yeshuas' time, women participated fully in the religious life of the community. This included participation in synagogue services and in the regular study sessions that were conducted in the synagogue's bet midrash (house of study). There was no separation of the sexes in synagogues and women could be counted as part of the required congregational quorum of ten adults. There was, however, one inequality. For social reasons, women were not allowed to read the Scriptures publicly.
In the Babylonian Talmud and the Tosefta, we find an early rabbinic (tannaic) ruling: "All are qualified to be among the seven [who read publicly from the Torah in the synagogue on the Sabbath], even a minor or a woman; however, the sages ruled that a woman should not read from the Torah out of respect for the congregation."21 This is apparently a reference to the same social custom or decorum that we find mentioned in Paul's letter to the Corinthians:
Women should keep silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Torah states. If they want to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is a disgrace for a woman to speak in the congregation.22
Paul felt it necessary to issue his corrective because in early Christian congregations, following Jewish practice, it was permissible and customary to interrupt the preacher to ask questions. In first-century synagogues, a sermon followed the reading of Scripture. This exposition of Scripture was more a lesson than a sermon, and congregants were encouraged to ask questions. In fact, the asking of questions was so central to the rabbinic teaching method that often the preacher-teacher began his sermon by just seating himself and waiting until someone from the audience asked a question. There is a whole category of Jewish literature called ye·lam·DE·nu (May [our teacher] instruct us). It is similar to what we now call "Questions and Answers." Today public speakers often employ a Question-and-Answer period, especially as a means of clarification at the end of a lecture. In first-century Jewish society this approach was usually the main method of instruction.
From Paul's injunction we learn that at public religious gatherings of early Christians, women sat with men in the same hall, perhaps even next to their husbands or fathers. Paul's command itself implies a mixed audience: there would have been nothing indecorous about a woman asking a question in a group composed entirely of women.
If there had been separation of men and women in first-century synagogues, it is likely that the early church would have continued the custom. However, the New Testament gives no indication that the early church had such a custom." Were Women Segregated in the Ancient Synagogue?

Conclusion: 

So I will keep doing what I feel God has called me to. I will share my life and teach others what I know of God. I will always be careful to rightly divide the word to the best of my ability. I am not ashamed. I will not back down from who I am, who I was designed to be, who I was called to be and who I am constantly being equipped to be.  This song comes to mind and is my anthem!  "I will not be silent!"

Join the Conversation: 

Have you ever felt you had to justify the call of God on your life?

Trivia, the Universe, and Clay

Ask any close friend of mine and they will tell you I love trivia, and in fact I am possibly one of the most random people they know, because I am a fountain of useless knowledge. The last game of Trivial Pursuit™ I won was because I knew that the native bird of the Maori people was the Kiwi. Thank the movie “Whale Rider” for that one.

If I had the finances, I would probably be taking at least one college course at all times, simply because I love to learn. I soak knowledge up like a sponge, and I love finding out new things. Do you know who else loves knowledge? God does and while I have been called a “know-it-all” before, God really does know it all.

The Bible says that the God who made the universe has secret knowledge just for us, and he gives it when we seek him. (Jeremiah 33:2-3) The Message says He will tell us things we could never figure out on our own.

So how do we seek Him? Matthew 7:7 says ask, seek, and knock. Psalms 119:17-18 says open my eyes so I can see the miraculous things in your teachings.

Jesus gave the perfect example of this in Matthew 11:25-27 (T.M.)   “Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer: ‘Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work.’ Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. ‘The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor does the Father the way the Son. But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.”

I grew up in church hearing the scripture from Isaiah that says God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours and for a long time I thought that we could not know what God was thinking. Oh, how glad I am that I was wrong.

His word says in John 1:1 that "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." His word tells us what He is thinking. Jesus told us how God operates: that he wants to let ordinary people in on extraordinary things if we are willing to listen and learn line upon line.

A child in school typically is not doing long division in kindergarten. No, first the child must learn numbers, then they learn values, then they learn that you can add the value of a number to another number, next they learn subtraction. In higher grades a child learns multiplication, followed by division. This is learning line upon line.

We should be teachable: mold-able. He is the potter, we are the clay.  Do not fear that you will never really know what God wants for your life. Do not worry what the final product will be, but allow God to make you into what He originally designed you to be; this is called surrender.

Webster’s defines surrender this way: yield, give up control, relinquish.  

We know God has plans for us, so we need to know them too. Sit at the Master’s footstool and learn His ways, be teachable and surrender to the process of change. Read His word and seek Him. He will fill you until you are overflowing and then you will know what He wants you to do.

Be blessed and be a blessing. Remember that learn is a verb.