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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
Our Obsession with Possessions
I always looked forward to going to my Grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve. No, it was not because of the mincemeat pie or the company of my cousins, but I knew Grandmother’s gift would be an envelope containing a five-dollar bill. I guess I should be embarrassed, but this ten-year-old boy knew that with money I could buy what I wanted, not just that pair of socks or handkerchiefs I usually got from others. Does that sound familiar to anyone?
It took me a few years to discover that money is not always the best gift, but it seems that possessions have always been man’s obsession. It was true with Balaam in Numbers 22. It was true with Elisha’s servant, Gehazi in 2 Kings 5. A man came seeking Jesus’ help to get his brother to divide an inheritance. Jesus’ response to the “possession obsession” was: “…one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses,” Luke 12:15.
We have reached the time of year when “gifts” become our obsession. We need a list so we do not forget anyone. At some point the blessedness Jesus pronounced upon giving (Acts 20:35) loses its positive qualities. This results from giving because we “should” or we “ought to” instead of because we want to. I guess we all need to work on that.
“Things” Can Become Idols
Thayer defines covetousness as “the inordinate desire to have more, especially that which belongs to another.”
To have money or possessions is not evil, but when we begin to put our “trust” in them, we have entered the road that leads to a form of idolatry, Colossians 3:5. That road does not lead in the direction of heaven.
Like fire, money is dangerous if it controls our lives. Being wealthy is no sin, but Jesus warned: “How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God,” Mark 10:24.
No, money and possessions are not evil within themselves, but when a man puts his trust and his faith in them he is bound for serious disappointment.
“Things” Cannot Bring Contentment
J. Paul Getty was at one time considered the richest man in the world, yet more than once he told friends, “I wish I had never been born.” A few years earlier, Jay Gould, who was also very wealthy, is quoted as saying, “I must be the most miserable man on earth.”
Why would men with tremendous wealth say such things? Perhaps a wealthy man who lived eleven centuries before Christ knew why. Solomon said, “He that loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loves abundance with increase,” Ecclesiastes 5:10.
Of course, money and possessions can bring some degree of satisfaction in everyday life, but not genuine, long-lasting happiness. Again, money is like fire—if you keep it under control, it can be used as a tool to bless many. Men with riches are told in 1 Timothy 6:17-18: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.”
Stewards of God’s Blessings
As seen above, responsibility is a companion of riches and possessions. The key word on this subject is “stewards.” A steward is someone charged with the responsibility of the possessions of another. Elsewhere we are told that all those things we possess—our bank book, houses, furniture, clothes, credit card account, etc.—they already belong to God, and we merely have them “on loan” for a time. We then should use them to God’s advantage. All are to “give as he may prosper,” 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, and should also make full use of our time, our skills and talents and opportunities.
How has God prospered you? Have you thought about that lately? How about your family, your health, your job, your home? These are some of the blessings God has given us to use in His service. Are you being a good steward of those blessings? Parents teach their children by example in these things, and if they see you spend great amounts of money on worldly “things,” but give sparingly to the Lord, they learn just where God’s kingdom is found on your priority list.
Paul used the Macedonian Christians as examples to others in their giving, 2 Corinthians 8:1-5. If you read that context you will quickly see that this was so because they “first gave themselves to the Lord.” Who is first in your life? God’s work? Or your own pleasures? A young boy once put it all in perspective: “It’s not what you’d do with a million, if riches should e’er be your lot; but what you’re doing right now, with that dollar and a quarter you’ve got.”
What about you and your dollar and a quarter?
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“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,”
“…Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive,”
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The Woman's Role in the Church
(Conclusion of 3 parts)
Next look at the words every where. “I will therefore that men pray every where..” This is not something limited to the area where Timothy was at the time Paul wrote this epistle. It is not something governed by local custom. What Paul says about the matter is an apostolic injunction for churches of Christ wherever they may be.
In verse 11 the apostle says, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.” The word silence is translated from the Greek word hesuchia, which is defined by Thayer as meaning “quietness: descriptive of the life of one who stays at home doing his own work, and does not officiously meddle with the affairs of others.” It does not mean she cannot utter a sound in the assembly. This word does not forbid a woman's asking a question or making a remark in a Bible class, as some of our brethren teach. If it did, then it would also forbid her singing or confessing Christ.
When Paul, in this verse, said “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection,” he was setting the stage for the next verse: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” Notice how the verse begins: “But I suffer not...” It is very much like verse 8: “I will therefore...” Verse 8 states what Paul, by apostolic authority, commands; verse 12 states what he, by apostolic authority, forbids. The American Standard Version says, “But I permit not...” The New Berkeley Version says, “I do not allow...” Some today, even in the church, will allow women to do the very thing Paul said he, as an inspired apostle, would not allow them to do.
Now, this verse does not say she cannot teach, period. Notice: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” The kind of teaching she is not to do is the kind that would put her in a position of authority over the man. This is precisely the kind of situation she is in when she preaches to or teaches an audience which includes men. “Usurp authority” is from the Greek authenteo, which means to exercise dominion over one, or to govern one. When she teaches a class of ladies, she exercises dominion over them. When she teaches a class of children, she exercises dominion over them. There is nothing wrong with that. But she is not to exercise dominion over men. That is the thing the apostle does not permit.
What is the reason for this restriction? Paul gives us in this very chapter, not one, but two reasons for God’s arrangement. What are they? Not because women are inferior to men. Not because of first century culture or local custom. Not because of Paul’s Jewish background or because of Paul’s celibate state. Paul lists two reasons, and neither of them corresponds to any of these we have mentioned.
Reason Number One: Adam was created before Eve. Verse 13: “For Adam was first formed, then Eve.” Well, what does that have to do with it? I don’t know, but that is what God’s word says about it. And remember that it was God who created Adam and Eve, and what he did he did not do by accident. What he did was according to purpose and plan. There was a reason why God created Adam before he created Eve. In I Corinthians 11:8-9 Paul wrote “For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” Not only was she created for man and after man, but she was created from man, was brought to man, was named by man, and with man’s name. Paul, by inspiration, says the mere fact she was created after man was created is reason enough that she should be in subjection to man.
Reason Number Two: The woman was deceived, while the man was not. Verse 14: “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” The words was deceived are translated from a Greek verb form which means she was completely beguiled. Was in the transgression is from the Greek perfect tense, which usually signifies a present condition which exists because of a past action. Here is the way it is now because of something that took place in the past.
The word parabasei ‘transgression’ refers not merely to sin, but to the high-handed disregarding of God’s law. Thayer says the word signifies “absolutely the breach of a definite, promulgated, ratified law.” Eve was deceived, but she was not deceived about what God had said. His law was fresh on her lips when she violated it. She was deceived all right, but deceived into thinking God did not really mean what he said. This is precisely the kind of high-handed sin being committed by those who insist on women preachers, women song leaders, women deacons. They know exactly what the Bible says about the matter, but they have convinced themselves, as did Grandmother Eve, that they do not have to be bound by what God has said. Just as soon as everybody decides we must all be governed by what the Bible says, our problems in this area will be solved.
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