Paul’s references to headship

In the light of this broader understanding of the character of God and of His plan for marriage, let’s examine I Corinthians 11:3: “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”

Image of pioneer Adventist leader Ellen White in vision © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com

Does this text refute all I have said, proving that the authority structure at the heart of the universe is indeed like a military chain of command? I believe not. The word translated “woman” here is gune, and the word translated “man” is aner. While gune could be translated either “woman” or “wife,” “guneis the only word in the biblical Greek for wife in the New Testament. There is no other word that properly expresses the meaning wife in the New Testament.” Likewise, “the Greek word aner has two essential meanings: man and husband…This is the only word in the New Testament that is used for husband.” ¹ In other words, Paul was affirming that husbands and wives were to follow the headship model of Jesus, as mapped out in Ephesians 5:22-33:

“Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the church… Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for it… Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his own wife loveth himself: for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church… Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she fear [respect] her husband.”

The same understanding of aner and gune applies to I Timothy 2:12, which states, “I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” While this is a difficult statement to understand (similar to its neighbor text, stating that women are to be saved through childbearing), like other challenging texts in Scripture, we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. The New Testament has many references to women teaching, praying and prophesying in public. Seventh-day Adventists believe, and the Bible teaches, that women as well as men may function as prophets, one of the most significant positions of spiritual responsibility in all of Scripture. We also believe women should preach, teach, heal, and otherwise proclaim the Gospel alongside men. Ellen White wrote:

“It was Mary who first preached a risen Jesus; and the refining, softening influence of Christian women is needed in the great work of preaching the truth now. If there were twenty women where now there is one who would make the saving of souls their cherished work, we should see many more converted to the truth. Zealous and continued diligence in the cause of God would be wholly successful, and would astonish them with its results.” (Signs of the Times, September 16, 1886)

The submission of wives to husbands was given to Adam and Eve, a married couple, as a necessity in order to preserve harmony within covenant relationships between husbands and wives.

Joel 2:28-29 prophesies that men and women will unite at the end of time in declaring the soon coming of Jesus and helping prepare others for that great day.

Conclusion

I believe God has allowed a controversy over headship to arise in our church to prevent us from making the disciples’ mistake of associating spiritual leadership with positions of superiority. I also believe that “The one who stands nearest to Christ will be he who on earth has drunk most deeply of the spirit of His self-sacrificing love…” (See Desire of Ages, p. 543)

When the mother of James and John asked Jesus whether her sons could be seated in positions of honor on His right and His left, the rest of the disciples were indignant that the two should claim the highest positions. Noting this, Christ called them to Him to explain,

“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

Again, Christ decried the love of title and position even among God’s people when He said,

“And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:7-9)

I wonder whether it is possible that even the titles of “Elder” and “Pastor” can be seen as positions similar to “Rabbi” and “Master”? I am told that pastors are still called “Brother Smith,” rather than “Elder” or “Pastor” in some countries of the world where they all call each other names like “Brother Smith” and “Sister Brown.” Has this use of seemingly innocent titles fostered the idea of over/under position among us?

Commenting on this topic, Ellen White explains:

How grave a warning this is for us today! The disciples could not receive the Holy Spirit’s outpouring until they put away their strife for supremacy, their cherished hopes of hierarchical position. Let us not fall for the same strategy of Satan yet again. It is an old one, for it was Lucifer’s original lie that God sought the highest place instead of the lowest.

“Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven. He sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their Creator, and to win their homage to himself. Therefore he misrepresented God, attributing to Him the desire for self-exaltation. With his own evil characteristics he sought to invest the loving Creator. Thus he deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. He led them to doubt the word of God, and to distrust His goodness.” (The Desire of Ages, pp. 21, 22)

God’s goodness—His character—is the opposite of self-exaltation. It is this character—the seeking to serve, the lowest place, as Jesus modeled from the manger to the Cross—that He desires us to reflect in contrast with the character of Satan.

Let us not malign the character of God in order to support our cherished positions. Jesus refuted Lucifer’s accusations against the character of God (and the law of His kingdom) when He revealed the Father’s character by seeking to serve, that is, the lowest place. We likewise are called to vindicate the character of God when we follow His example of humility. Together as a church, let us seek to serve, exemplifying to the watching universe what God can do in humble, believing souls.

Paul exhorts us to this lifestyle of service when he encourages us to be “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.” (Romans 12:10) and “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” (Eph 5:21)

In this way, may we fulfill the prayer of Christ:

“That they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that they also may be in Us: that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as We are One; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one;that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and lovedst them, even as Thou lovedst Me” (John 17:21-23, 26).

Editor’s Note: We welcome your comments on the topic of the post, which is about the teaching of biblical headship according to Paul. It is not about women’s ordination.

Please note the following statement by Elder Ted Wilson, President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, on July 10, 2015, at the General Conference Business Session in San Antonio, Texas:

“The vote on Wednesday did not have anything to do specifically with women being ordained as local elders. … neither was it pertaining to anything in policy regarding commissioned ministers.

So let us be clear on what was voted on Wednesday. We are now back to our original understanding and I would strongly urge all to adhere to what was voted. But do not place into the vote other things that were not listed in the vote.” (See “Ted Wilson Statement to Clarify the Vote Regarding Women’s Ordination Accommodation,” on Seventh-day Adventist Church North American Division site, fetched August 10, 2015)

In other words, Elder Wilson made clear that ordained female elders will continue to serve as before, and commissioned female pastors will continue to serve as before. And the ordaining of female elders and commissioning of female ministers will continue as before.

Nothing has changed in this regard.

(You may also consult “GC PRESIDENT SAYS ORDINATION VOTE DOESN’T CHANGE CURRENT POLICY” on the Adventist News Network site for another report on the same statement.)

Thus no comments will be published that argue against the ordination of female elders or the commissioning of female pastors. Neither will we publish any comments regarding ordination of female pastors, either pro or con, since that is not the subject of this post.

If you have not read the two previous posts on the topic, please do so before commenting. You may find that what  you wish to say fits better under one of the previous posts:

Biblical Headship – the Highest Place Or the Lowest? (1)

Biblical Headship (2) in Marriage

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