Women As Deacons - 1 Tim 3:11
Growing up in the CofC as I did, having women in any leadership role other than as an elementary-school teacher was completely verboten. The men were appointed by God to be in charge and the women were to be submissive. In reality, women ended up doing a fair number of things just without any official designation.
Fast-forward a few years and a few theological jumps and skips and I find myself not being real sure of myself when it comes to authority structures in a local assembly. As far as the traditional elder/pastor position, if there should be one at all I’d be forced to say that it should be filled by men. But other than that, my intuition says let men and women serve where they will.
Intuition, however, is not scripture. Which brings me to a question about deacons and whether a woman should be one or not. I realize that there is other scripture which speaks to this issue but the one I’m trying to figure out at the moment is from 1 Tim 3:11. Here’s the context :
(2) Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
(3) not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
(4) He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,
(5) for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
(6) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
(7) Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
(8) Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
(9) They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.
(10) And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless.
(11) Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things.
(12) Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.
(13) For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
The above citation is from the ESV and has verse 11 saying wives. However, the same verse from the NASB reads :
Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things.
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Notice how the meaning changes when the word is women instead wives. The ESV reads like Paul is talking about the wives of deacons while the NASB reads as if he is talking about further qualifications of women in the deacon role. Neat, huh?
So, a few thoughts and questions concerning the whole shebang :
- One word in the Greek is interpreted as both woman and wife. Context determines which one it should be.
- This is the only section in the NT which so prescriptively talks about deacons. Maybe it just wasn’t that big of a deal. Or maybe it was just common knowledge.
- If the correct rendering is wives, why isn’t there a section talking about elders wives as well?
- If the correct rendering is women, why in vs 12 does Paul start out “Let deacons each be the husband of one wife…”.
Now I know that getting this right does not make an airtight case in either direction. There are other passages to consider and even accounts from outside of scripture which can inform our understanding of the whole issue. But wouldn’t it be nice to figure this one out? I think so.
One thing that struck me in the commentary you quote is the last part where he says that this passage “appears to be an overarching principle for church life”. I’d like to know how he came to that conclusion. Have to look it up when I have time.