Big People

03.29.14

1 Corinthians 14.34-35 34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. (NIV)

Sometimes one just feels compelled to wade in where sharks wander. I think there is a perfectly plausible explanation for why Paul made this statement to the Corinthians. I’m not going to defend him, but I am going to say that those who land on the above as a “law” are the same ones who land on head-coverings as law as well (see 1 Cor. 11).

Paul was instructing a fledgling church and to be sure, there was a lot of misinformation and disinformation afoot in Corinth. Corinth itself was a pagan’s delight as well as a destination for debauchery. So, to even plant a church in Corinth was difficult enough, but to minister to people who were used to the worst of the worst, no wonder they had things so messed up.

So, Paul said some things to them that we might need to take in cultural context; and he said some things that we need to be careful of, lest we make them into cemented rules, only, by which we can worship God. Can you imagine Jesus making a statement about women in churches this way? I can’t.

And yet, Paul seems to be the one God chose to flesh out for us how a church is to operate as in their place of ‘worship’. (But even in that statement I need to be careful, because how a church is to operate is governed by order and love; it needs to make sense to outsiders in a warm and welcoming and godly way.)

When a seeker (Paul calls them inquirer or unbeliever) comes into the meeting and it’s chaos, they are going to draw conclusions about God and church people. Nowadays, the church is commonly, viciously caricatured as actor Dana Carvey’s Church Lady. It’s no wonder we are pre-judged; but it is also no wonder we bring it upon ourselves.

Arguing about whether we cover our heads or not, or whether women should speak or not, is the least of our worries. Today, in the Church, we face a whole host of issues ranging from how to treat the openly homosexual, to the practice of living together, to abortion, and on and on and on. But Jesus didn’t build His church of the continuation of law and order; He proclaimed His church to be a place of spirit, truth, and above all else, love. We’re to teach others about God to the point that God can teach them about how to avoid their sin. Loving God and loving people. It takes a big person to truly love another person. We’re to be big people.

And as big people, we represent a big God. Part of representing a big God is avoiding petty issues and making it impossible for people to experience His presence and wonder. Rules’ll pretty much do that. Big people are concerned with others coming to know their Big God in a wondrous way and then worshiping Him in spirit and truth. The quickest way to quench that is to start arguing over petty, past stuff that has no bearing on the present of His presence and power.

My application today is to hang up my Church Lady costume, and then do whatever I can to enhance another’s experience of my Big God who will show us all how to live in Him and love each other like there’s no tomorrow… I want to be a big person.