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RenewingMinds
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On the Role of Women and Ministry
Reflections upon the Ministry of Miles & Cornelia Stanford
The greatest need today in the Christian home, the
church, and the world is spiritual men! What we all too often have instead are men who look and act
like women, and, consequently, women who look and act like men.
[1]
Christian author
Miles J. Stanford’s successful ministry spanned over five decades. During
that time, his wife Cornelia faithfully supported and encouraged his work while
quietly engaged in her own ministry to women. Anchored in Scripture
and the truth of identification-based spiritual growth in Christ, their lives
together and fruitful ministries mirrored the artistry of a pair of championship
figure skaters. His masculine leadership and her feminine submission, in
the context of true Christian spirituality, stand as a witness to our
contemporary, gender-disoriented culture.
Both Miles and
Cornelia shared a passion for biblical manhood and womanhood, and their view
found expression in his writings and her exhortation to women of all ages.
Miles believed that the key to genuine masculinity and true femininity lie in
genuine spiritual growth (sanctification) via the Pauline truths of the
believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection,
ascension, and position—seated before God the Father in Heaven.
Why, in light of the opening quotation, does this article focus on women and not
men? Miles wrote:
Most Christian husbands need all the love and cooperation they can get from their wives in order to consistently carry out their responsibilities as head of the home and family. It is a God-ordained ministry in itself for the wife to bolster her husband in his leadership. There is reciprocal gain in such a relationship: her femininity develops his masculinity; while his masculinity fosters her femininity. Just here lie the basic ingredients for all-round healthy development of the children.
"As the church is subject to Christ, so let the
wives be to their own husbands in everything" (Ephesians 5:24). It
requires true spiritual submission for a Christian wife to accept and
maintain her position concerning the headship of her husband. It is there
that she will be blessed of the Lord (and her husband), and in turn be a
blessing to her husband, family, and others. "Her children rise up, and
call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her" (Proverbs 31:28).
[3]
Further, based on years of correspondence and observation, brother Miles understood the tragic contra reality:
Whether overt or covert, whether by means of
insecurity-based aggression or because of what she feels to be necessary on
account of husband-failure, if the Christian wife and mother assumes control
[through lying, manipulation, or taking "leadership"] over her husband and
family, the result will be deleterious. Especially harmful is the effect
upon the children.
[4]
Universal
Standard
Both Miles and Cornelia Stanford held and taught that relevant passages found in 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, and Titus—understood in context—represent standards and guidelines applicable to all cultures and all points in time.
“Let your women keep silence in the churches; for
it is not permitted unto them to speak" (1 Corinthians 14:34). The context
and content of this verse primarily concern the gifts of prophecy and tongues.
In the midst of detailed instructions, which Paul stated were "the commandments
of the Lord" (v. 37), we find this admonition concerning women.
Later, with regard to church procedure, Paul wrote,
"Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I permit not a
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1
Timothy 2:11,12). It is certainly permissible and intended that women
teach under proper circumstances, but not to exercise authority over men.
[5]
Paul the Apostle or Misogynist?
Based on their
acceptance of the inerrant Word and the literal/grammatical/historical (normal)
principle of interpretation, Miles and Cornelia did not believe (as have others)
that these Pauline directives are only applicable “inside the church building or
meeting hall”— a rather novel and self-serving invention.
Neither did they believe that any individual, local church, denomination, or para-church organization has a right to grant “exemptions” contrary to the
clear, dispensational teachings of Scripture. God says it—that settles it!
True, we need to think through how these standards and guidelines apply in our
own day (more on that in a moment), but it is imperative that we avoid the
temptation of rationalizing them away.
For
example, one
female correspondent to withChrist.org wrote
Through close study of the Scriptures, I
have come to believe that women should not be in authority over men, and that is
one of the reasons I am leaving [a so-called conservative and evangelical
ministry largely run by women] after this year.
[Our organization] holds that women are
permitted to teach and be in authority over men because it is "not a church."
I, however, cannot agree with this position because [our] classes are composed
of "THE" church. Why should para-church organizations be exempt from clear
biblical mandates?
Ministry to Women
What did Miles Stanford have in mind when he stated, “It is certainly permissible and intended that women teach under proper circumstances” The Stanford’s (as well as many evangelical and fundamental churches) are in agreement with Scripture and believe that women serve a vital role in providing guidance to other women—particularly those younger. Cornelia organized and led 'spiritual growth' classes exclusively for women.
The aged women likewise, that [they be] in
behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine,
teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be
sober, to love their husbands, to love their children (Titus 2:3,4)
Thus, a “permissible” or “proper circumstance” would be any context that is exclusively for women. These “all-women” groups may be in the context of a local, fundamental church or independent Bible study, and their gender-specific focus is made clearly known. Rarely will men force their way in. And if such occurs, the pastor, elders, or even loving husband, should intervene to redirect the poor chap into something more appropriate for him.
The origin of the
“all women" Bible study is likely due to shortages of qualified, male personnel on the
mission field. However, the case can be made that some women might never
attend where there is a “male” presence, and this is certainly true with the
more feminist-minded.
What
about the Internet?
Is the Internet a loophole? With the rise of modern forms of communication (mass media), new opportunities have become available for the preaching and teaching of the Gospel. While the higher cost of radio and television broadcasting is still a practical barrier for most, and while it’s still unacceptable for women to authoritatively usurp the conservative pulpit, the advent of the Internet presents a new communcations paradigm.
As mentioned in
numerous articles, the Internet provides a large degree of democratization due
to its widespread availability and low cost of entry. The Internet's
ability for the dissemination of information is unparalleled in history.
Correspondingly, this new technology provides new opportunities for women, who
feel little or no inward restraint from the Apostle's admonishment, to violate 1
Timothy 2:12.
Neither Christian femininity nor the principle mentioned above preclude a woman from expressing disagreement in the normal course of give-and-take discussions. However, she will need to regularly evaluate whether she is crossing over into the unscriptural realm. Further, in some cases, it may be necessary to establish some form of accountability to protect against self-deception.
Christian women who feel led to teach using the Internet as a medium should do so in a context exclusive for women--e.g, private forums. An "All-women" or "Ministry for Women" designation should be prominently displayed in the introduction to the website, forum, or chat room. Christian men, who desire to demonstrate biblical leadership, should avoid participation or membership in any forum established or operated in contravention to 1 Timothy 2:12. Men looking to participate should be redirected (by those in charge) to forums or sites under the leadership of men—with no exceptions.
Of course there have always been those individuals, denominations, and para-groups, who ignore or twist these passages of Scripture and seek to undermine the Apostle Paul’s veracity. The best advice is to avoid them and leave it to the Holy Spirit to deal with their devices.
During Miles’
years of correspondence ministry, he often came in contact (but always at a safe
distance--i.e., select correspondence) with members of the female-dominated,
holiness churches.
Women, championed by the lesbian-dominated Women's Liberation movement, are fighting for and gaining possession of church pulpits (apart from the woman-ridden holiness churches); hence admitted lesbians will inevitably be admitted--it is just a matter of time and not much of that. [6]
Use your back button to move back to the text.
[1]
Miles J. Stanford, Homosex and the Christian—The
Making, and Breaking, of Homosexuality, page 3; (Spiritual
Sharing Service V, October 1975)
[2] Contemporary secular sociologists and anthropologists have recognized and documented this "gender-distortion" and "gender-inversion"in western culture during the past several decades. While postmodern writers tend to see sexuality as "learned behavior, Darwinists/Naturalists look more in the direction of genetic encoding. Being post-Marx, both acknowledge the influence of "industrial society" upon gender. Anthropology professor Dr. Lionel Tiger attributes THE DECLINE OF MALES, the ascendancy of females and feminist culture to "female-controlled" contraception (i.e., the Pill) and mind-bending effect of Roe v. Wade. Whatever the cause, powerful and unprecedented changes have occurred in western civilization of the past thirty plus years.
[3]
Stanford, "Homosex",
6.
[4]
Ibid., 6.
[5]
Miles J. Stanford,
THE LINE DRAWN, A
Textlet on the Baptism, Tongues, Healing, and Demonism, so-called
(Hong Kong Press, 1975).
[6]
Stanford, “Homosex”, 15.
Spiritual Marriage? -- Spiritual Woman!
MJS
The
implication is not that spiritual men are unessential to a healthy Christian
marriage, because they are. But in the home the woman has a unique ministry, as
well as the more difficult position of responsibility. She has the greater need
for spiritual growth.
In
an attempt to meet this feminine need our Christian psychologists and counselors
are writing numerous books, taping lectures, and holding conferences. Coming
into contact with these sources the Christian wife’s first reaction is regret
that she did not know many of these principles or truths years earlier - what a
difference it would have made in her life and marriage!
Many
essential principles are seen, and there is scriptural light shed upon the
practical life of home and marriage. In the face of all this positive help, why
is it that the changes brought about do not usually last beyond a few weeks or
so? Why is it that so many sound psychological principles and scriptural truths
fail to hold up?
Praise the Lord, there is an answer to be shared! In the first place, the best
of techniques will never produce reality, and the quicker they fail the better.
It is all too common for a needy wife to read a manual or two, or attend a tape
series, or go off to a highly recommended and expensive seminar, and then seek
to faithfully apply to her marriage and family some of the things learned. In
almost every instance there are dramatic changes in the home, for a time. And
there is a very important reason why one is all too soon back in the midst of
the same old problems.
What
is learned from these highly trained and dedicated leaders cannot be dismissed -
it is valuable and essential. Although they can provide much of what is needed,
the main problem is that they rarely supply the all-important scriptural
foundation upon which to build and by which all is to be maintained. Everything
soon falls to the ground unless the real cause of the problem, the old nature,
is brought into the process of crucifixion by the Holy Spirit.
For
a healthy Christian marriage there must be spiritual growth. Practical and
scriptural principles from manuals and conferences - yes! The learning of what
God has done about the old nature at the Cross, and of one’s position in the
ascended Lord Jesus - absolutely! But all of this will not produce the necessary
results and hold up under all circumstances unless the Holy Spirit is given time
to exercise the process required to work these truths into the individual life.
“For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor. 4:11).
Since so many Christian women are married to unsaved husbands, or to those who may be saved but remain carnal, it should be helpful to hear what Sylvia Lockwood has to say concerning the Lord’s faithful ministering to her. Notice the growth truths involved, as well as the Spirit’s timing and processing.
“YOU
ARE NOT YOUR HUSBAND’S FIRST WIFE! You are not even the girl he married. That
is, you aren’t if you have been saved since your wedding day. Then ask yourself
these questions: ‘Is he unreasonable because he objects to the step I have
taken? Or, am I the unreasonable one?’
“Think for a moment of the radical change that has taken place in your life. Did
you used to go to shows together? And dances? Did you spend hours with other
couples over the card table? And did you suddenly give up these hours of
pleasure together because you received the Lord as your Saviour?
“Is
it really any wonder that your husband is disappointed, disgruntled - even
disgusted? After all, a mutual satisfaction in these pastimes undoubtedly had a
part in drawing you two together in the first place. Now you have suddenly
discovered that you no longer care to participate in these things.
“But
what of your mate? His heart is still unchanged. He still longs for the old
companionship, the old places of amusement. And you have become a strange,
unpredictable creature, transformed almost overnight. You are no longer the one
he married. Is it any wonder he rebels against the One who so changed you?
“Why
do I say this to you? Because I wish that someone had just pointed out my
husband’s side of the question in those first days after I was saved and became
a new creature in Him. I believe with all my heart that if such had been the
case, it would have changed the course of our lives - my own, my husband’s and
my children’s. And my husband would have been able to see Christ in me long
before he did.
“As
it was, I went on for years in my self-righteous way, feeling sorry for myself
because my mate did not see as I did - insisting on my ‘right’ to Thursday and
Sunday evenings out that I might attend services. After all, if I sat with the
children the other five nights, he should be able to stay with them two! And I
insisted on other ‘rights’ also.
“Then one blessed winter when I was ‘cooped up’ with the children because they
both had whooping cough, I did a great deal of Bible study on my own. It was
then that the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart through such passages as Galatians
5:22, 23; Ephesians 4:30–32; and especially I Peter 3. I saw myself as God saw
me - and as my husband saw me. It wasn’t easy to face the facts. This wasn’t a
nice picture at all.. How short I fell of God’s ideal of a Christian wife!
“The
Holy Spirit showed me that I had no ‘rights’ except the right (and glorious
privilege) of living in godly subjection to my husband, displaying the fruit of
the Spirit in my life to the glory of Him who loved me and gave Himself for me.
“I
knelt in brokenhearted contrition before my heavenly Father, confessing a long
list of ‘dispositional’ sins - especially in relation to my husband. I felt the
water of the Word flowing through my being with cleansing and sweetening power.
When I arose from my knees that day I was truly a new creature in Christ.
And my heart was overflowing with a love for my husband that I had not known in
a long time. Oh, what a refreshing, blessed experience it was!
“But
the test of that experience came in the days that followed. It is never easy to
die daily to the old nature. And Satan saw to it that I was tested and tried
from every side. It was not easy to put my husband’s desires above my own. And,
at first, after I had confessed to him my failure to live before him as a
Christian wife should (even as I had confessed to my heavenly Father), there
were many times when he tried my ‘sincerity’ (as he put it) to the utmost. Only
the grace of God saw me through. But it did! Wonderful, all-sufficient grace of
God!
“Oh,
I wasn’t perfect from that day on. Far from it, as my husband will attest! But I
was sincerely learning to yield my ‘members as instruments of righteousness
unto God’; and not as ‘instruments of unrighteousness’ (Rom. 6:13). I
was learning daily to reckon myself ‘to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ, our Lord’ (Rom. 6:11). I was being taught to walk in
the Spirit, and not in the flesh (Gal. 5:16). What a joy it brought to my heart,
and what a change it brought in my husband’s attitude! There was a new respect
born in his heart for my Lord and His Word, as God took me through the rough
places and gave me grace to accept forgiveness when I failed.
“There came a day when the ‘rights’ I used to demand were freely, and lovingly,
granted. But it didn’t come in a matter of weeks, or even in a matter of months.
It took years. How grateful I am to God for His faithfulness to me through this
time!
“No,
my husband is still not an out-and-out Christian, though he makes a profession.
But he acts more like a Christian than some of my friend’s husbands, who are
pillars in the church. Where he used to hinder in every possible way anything I
desired to do in my Lord’s service, today he urges me to participate and does
his utmost to help.
“He
tells me that he would not have his ‘first wife’ back for anything in this
world, agreeing that the changes wrought in my life by the Holy Spirit, through
the Word, have all been for the better. He no longer resents the fact that
worldly amusements are out as far as I am concerned, but commends me for
sincerely living as I believe my Lord would have me live. And I firmly believe
that one of these days will see him taking an out-and-out stand for my Lord and
by my side in the church. May God hasten the day!
“My
one big regret is that some ‘mother in Israel’ did not see my need and
set me straight earlier in my Christian life on God’s requirements for Christian
wives. Had I known then what God expected of me, perhaps my husband would have
found the Lord Jesus as his Saviour long ago. At least he would have had a
sweeter wife to live with down through the years!”
“‘They which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but ‘ unto Him
which died for them, and rose again’ (2 Cor. 5:15). Do our lives in some small
degree bear the impress of true devotedness to Him?
“You may say as it has often been said, that this is all very well for people who have nothing to do but go about preaching, but that the trials and difficulties of practical, everyday life render it impossible for most Christians. This is a great mistake. To begin with, the only thing which a Christian has to do in this world - whether he breaks stones on the roadside or preaches to thousands - is to live unto the Lord Jesus. Then the trials and difficulties, which so many complain of, are intended for the very purpose of helping and not hindering devotedness to the Lord Jesus.” --C.A.C.
- SEATED
- ASCENDED
- RAISED
- BURIED
- CRUCIFIED
