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Cultivating a Gentle Quiet Spirit



By Angela Wittman
Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 
While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 
But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 
For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: 
Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. 
(1 Peter 3:1-6 KJV)
 Something about the latest controversy of women teachers in the conservative Reformed churches has been bothering me, but I just couldn't quite put my finger on it until I read the article  Plenty of Room for Priscilla by Pastor Mike Meyers recently published in The Aquila Report. I encourage you to read it in it's entirety, but one part which really stood out to me in his description of the lovely "Priscilla" in his church is this statement:
"What is notably precious about her is that not a single time over these years of faithful and sacrificial outpouring for Christ and his people has our Priscilla ever clamored for recognition or grumbled about the role the Lord has assigned to women."
Amen! This characteristic of the godly woman serving in Pastor Meyers church is sadly what I see lacking in some of today's self appointed female leaders. The perception is that they are discontent with their role in the church and home and are clamoring for attention. And, friends, they are getting it, but is it the right kind?

Does it bring glory to God for women to assert themselves in roles that are not Biblical or wanted? I fear they've lost their first love (Christ) and are now seeking to establish their "rights". It reminds me of the Serpent in the garden with Eve who slyly inquired: "Did God really say?" And what was Eve's response? To take a bite of the forbidden fruit and persuade her husband to do likewise. We all know how that ended.

Instead of asserting our rights and turning over the order of the church, why not submit to the authority of Scripture and seek to cultivate a gentle, quiet spirit? It's hard work and humbling, but we can be encouraged that it is of great worth in the eyes of our Lord and isn't that really all that matters? We should not be discontent with our God-given roles, and possibly leading others astray.

We can be a godly influence without usurping the role of men. Ladies, learn to love your role in the church and home.


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An edifying article about the historical role of women in the Reformed church is On Finding A Place for Priscilla posted at Greenbaggin's by R Fowler White.

Here is an excerpt:
In her January 20, 2020 post on the White Horse Inn blog, entitled Is There a Place for Priscilla in our Churches? Rachel Green Miller addressed her closing appeal to the modern Reformed Christian community: “It’s time to consider, ‘Where is the place for Priscilla in our churches?’” To lead up to that question, Miller reviews the portrayal of Priscilla in the NT and in commentaries of church fathers and Reformers. Her presentation culminates with references to women of the Reformation era, linking them with Priscilla as women who used their gifts to benefit the church. It is a compelling picture, one that Miller supports by citing Kirsi I. Stjerna, Women and the Reformation (Wiley Blackwell, 2008; p. 214) as follows: “The movement(s) flourished and endured from roots that were both male and female: the product not just of the male theologians but of women, who as daughters, sisters, spouses, mothers, widows and as believers espoused the new faith and ‘taught’ it and ‘preached’ it in their own domains, so participating concretely in the Protestant mission.” To appreciate the full import of Stjerna’s remark, I went to her book itself to see it in its context. There, I found out more about the “domains” in which women participated in the Protestant mission. Let me explain.
https://greenbaggins.wordpress.com/2020/02/05/on-finding-a-place-for-priscilla/ 
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