Romans 12 & 1 Cor. 12

Jesus made a point of telling his followers not to be like the world with its hierarchies, lording over one another; seeking positions of power and exercising it over each other. Instead we Christians are to have an attitude of humble service to one another as parts of one body.

We must always remember that Jesus, God of all creation and Savior of the world, washed his disciple's feet, and told them to wash one another's feet.

We often do not take the clear Word of God seriously enough, and at the same time, we often elevate obscure passages to fit our own ideas. The Gospel itself and what Jesus did by washing his disciple's feet should immediately and forever tell us a woman is to be loved and served, and is to give love and service as much as any man.

But we people have sinful natures, often overwhelmed by worldly notions, and taken over by the result-of-sin wrong idea that men "should" rule over women. (Genesis 3:16) Think of how many times the Israelites, who had the one true God and Promise of a Savior, went astray and bowed down to wood, metal, stone, and stars. We are no different. We have the truth of God's Word printed out for us, yet often do not read it or study it, but prefer to twist it to suit ourselves. (The man-made doctrine on women adopted by the Wisconsin Synod is an example.)

Matthew 20:25-26 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you."

Romans 12 includes the word "tis" in the Greek. This means the passage is third person singular.

It is often translated with "he" and "him" giving the impression that only men are to teach or lead. Not so.

Romans 12:4-8 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a person's gift is prophesying, let them use it in proportion to their faith. If it is serving, let her/him serve; if it is teaching, let her/him teach; if it is encouraging, let her/him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let her/him give generously; if it is leadership, let her/him govern diligently; if it showing mercy, let her/him do it cheerfully.

In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul compares the followers of Christ again to the parts of one body, and again emphasizes the fact that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to whoever he wills. There is no delineation between men and women.

1 Corinthians 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

verse 25 there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

Some might read verses 27-30 as Paul setting up a hierarchy of gifts, but he has already made it plain that no matter the gifts one has, those gifts are to be used in service to all with equal concern and respect toward each other.

God is a God of order and wants us to do things in an orderly way, so do not think I am advocating throwing over churches or synods. What I am advocating is for Christian men and women everywhere to read the Word and study it and pray for the Holy Spirit to give them understanding and discernment. It is past time that Christians get what the Bible teaches about women right.