MALE LEADERSHIP
by Kevin
Rutherford
God made very clear His desire that
men lead the public worship services of the Lord’s Church. Paul wrote to the young evangelist Timothy to
tell him how to behave in the church (I
Timothy
Paul tells us in verse eight that it is the men who must lift up the holy hands in prayer. This does not mean a woman cannot pray. This means in a mixed assembly the man must do the leading. Clearly the context indicates a mixed assembly because the women are addressed next.
The men do the leading in the worship while the women, “learn in silence with all submission (v. 11).” A woman must not take authority over a man in the worship services of the church (v. 12).
God then gives two reasons as to why He wants male leadership in worship (v. 13-15). Those reasons are that man was created first, and that man was not deceived in the garden. Those two reasons are wholly unrelated to any cultural changes in any society. God’s desire that men lead in the worship does not change from culture to culture.
If we are going to do things God’s way, the man will lead and the woman will be in quiet submission in the public assembly.