Ten lies Church tells women.must read for everybody

LIE #1. GOD’S ULTIMATE PLAN FOR
WOMEN IS THAT THEY SERVE THEIR
HUSBANDS.
How sad that so many Christian men view
women from a selfish perspective.  This
view is often promoted by misreading the
account of Eve’s creation in Genesis
2:18-25, in which Adam is provided a
“helpmate.”   The Hebrew word used here
often is translated “companion,” denoting
intimacy and partnership.  But through the
centuries it has been used to imply that Eve
was some type of domestic appendage.
We men have assumed that God gave Eve
to fulfill Adam’s intimate needs as well as to
serve as his cook, laundress and maid. But
the Genesis account does not say this.
After Eve’s creation, God did not tell her:
“You are Adam’s helper; I command you to
serve him well.” She was not created for
servitude; she was fashioned to be a co-
laborer with Adam so that they might rule
together over creation as God
commissioned them to do (see Gen. 1:28).
LIE #2. WOMEN CAN’T BE FULFILLED OR
SPIRITUALLY EFFECTIVE WITHOUT A
HUSBAND.
From the time she was released from a
German death camp in 1944 until her death
in 1983, Corrie Ten Boom taught the world
about a Savior who could forgive the
cruelest Nazi.  Yet she never married.  Did
the fact that she did not have a husband
make her less “complete”? Some Christians
would say yes.
We have spent so much energy defending
the concept of the biblical family that we
are guilty of idolizing it.   We’ve preached
that a woman’s primary responsibility is to
find a godly husband, have lots of babies
and stay home to raise them for Christ.
But marital status is not a qualifier for
ministry. The Bible does not even state
whether certain key followers of Jesus, such
as the 12 disciples, were married or not.
The highest calling of all believers–married
or unmarried–is to develop a relationship
with Jesus.  Any other earthly relationship is
secondary, and Christ Himself warned us
never to allow people we love to become
idols that distract us from Him.
LIE #3. WOMEN SHOULDN’T WORK
OUTSIDE THE HOME.
Many evangelical churches have preached
that women who work outside the home
are breaking a scriptural commandment,
but this conclusion can be reached only by
distorting the biblical record.  The woman
described in Proverbs 31 is often used to
bolster a traditional view of the June
Cleaver-style matron who spends her day
baking casseroles while her husband is at
the office.  But a careful reading reveals
that the Proverbs 31 woman, in her ancient
Middle Eastern context, functioned as a
real estate agent and ran a textile business.
Titus 2:5 instructs women to “take care of
their homes” (New Living Translation). But
most scholars would agree that this
passage simply exhorts married women not
to forsake their children.
It is true that, because of ambition or
materialism, some Christian women neglect
their children even though the Holy Spirit
has urged them to put their career
objectives on hold.  But rather than placing
a legalistic burden on women by telling
them that having a career is ungodly, we
should tell both men and women to submit
their career plans to the Holy Spirit’s
direction.
LIE #4. WOMEN MUST OBEDIENTLY
SUBMIT TO THEIR HUSBANDS IN ALL
SITUATIONS.
If a christian woman is constantly beaten
up by her husband and decides to stay, the
question is; “If your husband kills you, it
will be to the glory of God.”
this irresponsible conclusion because of a
distorted view of “male headship.” We often
portray marriage as a hierarchy, with
husbands on the throne and wives at the
footstool, and we use Scripture to justify
this view: “Wives…submit to your husbands
as you do to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22).
We assume this verse means women have
no say in family matters or that their
opinion is second-rate.  In extreme cases,
women have been told to submit to abuse
in order to honor male headship.  But this
is not a Christian view.
Paul also told the Ephesians, “submit to
one another” (5:21, emphasis added).  I
have heard teachings by male clergy on the
subject of male headship, but I’ve never
heard a pastor encourage men to submit to
their wives! Yet in a loving marriage, a man
and woman will defer to one another as
they make decisions.
LIE #5. A MAN NEEDS TO “COVER” A
WOMAN IN HER MINISTRY ACTIVITIES.
This idea came from a distorted
interpretation of the apostle Paul’s words
in 1 Corinthians 11:3, “the head of woman
is man” (NKJV).  People have used these
words to bolster the idea that women are
subservient to men or that they cannot
approach God without a male authority
figure in their lives.
Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11 about
head coverings is a difficult passage, and
Bible scholars don’t agree on its meaning.
However, most teach that Paul is
addressing specific cultural concerns in
first-century Corinth and that he is calling
for propriety and order in a society where
immorality and paganism had blurred
gender distinctions.
Paul was not placing men in a position of
generic rulership over women. Because
there is “no male or female in Christ” (see
Gal. 3:28), women can pray, worship, study
the Bible or minister without a man
present. How silly to think that a man,
because of his gender, could add credibility
to prayer or Spirit-empowered ministry! To
believe this would be to trust in the flesh.
LIE #6. A WOMAN SHOULD VIEW HER
HUSBAND AS THE “PRIEST OF THE
HOME.”
Search your concordance. Scripture never
describes men as “priests of the home.”
This man-made concept was popularized in
evangelical churches in the last century.
We have one priest, Jesus Christ, whose
blood atoned for our sins.  It is a mockery
of the gospel to suggest that any human
being needs an additional priest apart from
the Son of God.
The Bible says all believers are priests (see
1 Pet. 2:9, Rev. 1:6); there is no gender
restriction. Husbands function as priests
when they pray for their families or when
they minister the Word of God to them, and
wives also function in this role.  Christian
men need to stop being defensive and
recognize that God has called us to
function in unity with our wives.  We need
to listen to their counsel, consider their
opinions, and pray together for the mind of
the Lord rather than putting our foot down
and shouting, “I am the leader of this
family, and what I say goes!”
LIE #7. WOMEN ARE NOT EQUIPPED TO
ASSUME LEADERSHIP ROLES.
The most common mistake we make in
biblical interpretation occurs when we take
one isolated verse and build a doctrine
around it–even if the verse seems to
contradict other passages. This is often
what we do with 1 Tim. 2:12, “I do not allow
a woman to teach or exercise authority
over a man” (NASB).
Most theologians believe that this passage
was addressing an isolated situation in
Ephesus.  They came to this conclusion
after studying the myriad of references in
the Bible to women in spiritual authority.
The Old Testament records that Deborah
was a judge over Israel–and God blessed
her leadership in battle (see Judg. 4-5).
Other women who held authority over men
include Miriam, Huldah and Noadiah.
Jesus issued His first gospel commission to
women (see Matt. 28:1-10), and both men
and women were empowered to preach on
the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Priscilla,
Chloe and Phoebe were leaders in the early
church, and one woman, Junia, is called an
apostle by Paul (Rom. 16:7).
The promise of the prophet Joel was that
“sons and daughters” would prophesy after
the Holy Spirit was given to the church (Joel
2:28, emphasis added).  Yet we have taken
one misunderstood verse from Paul’s
writings and used it to negate hundreds of
other passages that support the full release
of women into ministry.
LIE #8: WOMEN MUST NOT TEACH OR
PREACH TO MEN IN A CHURCH SETTING.
Since 1 Timothy 2:12 obviously contradicts
the overall biblical endorsement of women
in authority, how are we to understand it?
What is Paul actually saying in this
passage?
What Paul was most likely saying to the
Ephesians was this: “I do not allow a
woman to teach these cultic heresies, nor
do I allow them to usurp authority from
men by performing pagan rituals.”   He was
not saying, as some Christians have
assumed, “I do not allow godly Christian
women to teach the Bible.” In his day,
Paul would have been thrilled to have had
more skilled women who could teach the
truth!
LIE #9. WOMEN ARE MORE EASILY
DECEIVED THAN MEN.
who was deceived, but the woman being
quite deceived, fell into
transgression” (NLT).  Some have suggested
that because Eve was tricked by the devil,
women have a stronger propensity toward
deception.  Others have gone so far as to
insist that women are to blame for all the
evil in the world and are therefore under a
greater curse than men.  The Bible clearly
states that Adam and Eve were both held
guilty by God for their disobedience, and
they were both punished. Paul was not
teaching that women are more prone to
deception.  He was explaining that what
Eve did was not right, and that the
Christian view of the creation was that
Adam and Eve sinned when they listened to
the serpent.
Women are certainly capable of spreading
deception because they have a fallen
nature as men do, but there is no evidence
that they have greater gullibility.  That view
is rooted in demeaning stereotypes and
prejudice.
LIE #10: WOMEN WHO EXHIBIT STRONG
LEADERSHIP QUALITIES HAVE A “SPIRIT
OF JEZEBEL.”
How absurd! Was Barak “deceived” when
he took orders from Deborah? (See Judg.
4:14.) Did baby Jesus come under a harmful
influence when Anna prophesied over Him?
(See Luke 2:36-38.) Was Apollos spiritually
emasculated when he submitted to the
teaching of Priscilla? (See Acts 18:26.) Of
course not!
To associate godly women with Jezebel, a
wicked Old Testament despot, is unfair and
offensive, yet men in the church today
often pin Jezebel’s label on strong,
anointed women because they feel
threatened by them.
Let’s stop the insults. If a woman is using
manipulation to usurp authority or if she is
spreading heresies, then she certainly
deserves the Jezebel label–as do men who
do such things.  But women who walk in
spiritual integrity and preach the Word of
God with power deserve our respect.