Breaking News: Female Sunday School Teacher Fired after 54 Years
Today, August 21st, the Associated Press released a tragic story from Watertown, New York (view full story). For Mary Lambert, the decision from her young pastor ended 54 years of service as a Sunday school teacher. The decision was reached after adopting a “literal interpretation” of Scripture. That passage, as you may have guessed, is 1 Timothy 2:12: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man…” The pastor, however, thinks that women outside of the church are not limited by the biblical command. Rev. LaBouf wrote this on Saturday: “‘I believe that a woman can perform any job and fulfill any responsibility that she desires to’ outside of the church.”
So if he truly believes that women can “perform any job” outside of the church, I would assume Rev. LaBouf would not oppose women being teachers, say in public or possibly even private schools—as long as they did not teach anything about the Bible. But if women can be capable and even gifted teachers in that setting, why would he be opposed to letting those women use their gifts in a Sunday school setting? The inconsistencies abound. Even most complementarians I know do not oppose women teaching Sunday school. They take the word “man” as literally as possible to exclude children. Therefore, women can teach male children but not adult males. Then of course, the decision for when a male child becomes a male adult is arbitrarily drawn—usually during the adolescent years. And aren’t children the most impressionable of all?
With the same level of “literal interpretation,” I hope LaBouf takes the command for “men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing,” which appears in 1 Timothy only a few verses earlier. The “literal” interpretation becomes nothing more than a “selective” interpretation to justify a theology that restricts women. This inconsistent interpretation is demonstrated in any church that is concerned about the *apparent restrictions* placed on women in 1 Tim. 2:12. They are quick to limit women from teaching, but not as quick to command the men to lift up their hands while praying, or even to stop them from disputing. A holistic and biblical perspective of gender recognizes that our identity is not in gender, but in Christ, as articulated by Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11-12, and 2 Corinthians 5:16-17.
While Mary Lambert’s story made the Associated Press today, we at CBE hear stories like this all the time. CBE affirms that God uses the gifts of all people, regardless of gender. When I speak with our members I ask them what they appreciate about our ministry; most say “knowing they’re not alone.” Lambert is also not alone either, and our prayers go out to her.
