WWUTT 241 Phoebe the Deaconess?

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At the end of Romans chapter 15, Paul included the Roman Christians in the work of the spread of the gospel around the
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Roman Empire. In Romans chapter 16, he's going to get even more specific, listing some of those names that they partner with.
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When We Understand the Text. You're listening to When We Understand the
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Text, celebrating one full year as an online Bible teaching podcast. Thank you for subscribing, and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.
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Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. Here we are in the homestretch, the final chapter of the
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Book of Romans, which is going to take us three weeks to get through. This week we're going to be looking at Romans 16, verses 1 through 16.
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If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there, a lot of names listed here, but still very neat to understand the backstory behind some of these names, and also the wonderful fellowship of believers among the churches that we observe
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Paul discussing, which he talked about a little bit at the end of chapter 15, and is going to encourage the
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Roman Christians in this even more with more specifics, listing specific names here. Let's begin in Romans 16, starting in verse 1.
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I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Centrae, that you may welcome her in the
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Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you.
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For she has been a patron of many, and of myself as well. Greet Priscia and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who wrist their necks for my life, to whom not only
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I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the church in their house.
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Greet my beloved Eponidas, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
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Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
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Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved
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Stachys. Greet Appellus, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus.
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Greet my kinsmen Herodian. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus.
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Greet those workers in the Lord, Trephana and Trephosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the
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Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
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Greet Asencretus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.
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Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them.
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Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
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Yeah, not a lot of names you recognize, right? And you probably don't even know anybody personally who shares some of the names that are listed here.
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Different culture at a different time. Some names stand out as being recognizable just through a general understanding of Greek culture.
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Like, for example, Narcissus. That would be the same guy who was the son of the river god, who was so captivated by himself that he stared at his reflection in the water, and he just sat there and stared at himself until he died right there, which is where we get the term narcissism from, a person who's just extremely self -absorbed.
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It was very common during that time in the Greek and Roman culture to be named after some of those mythological figures.
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In fact, in pretty much every pagan culture, there are names that pay homage to their false gods.
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In the book of Daniel, when Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah's names were changed to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, those names paid homage to false gods.
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So they went from Hebrew names to these pagan names, which gave a tribute to a false god. Now, Hebrew names generally had something that they said about God.
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Like, for example, the name Joshua means that Yahweh saves. That's what the name Joshua means.
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So it's just as true in Hebrew as it was in any non -Jewish culture.
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But, of course, the pagans paid homage to false gods, while the Hebrews, their names would give recognition to the true
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God. So let's go back to Romans 16 here. The first name that we are given is a name that does not appear anywhere else in the
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New Testament, but it is a name that gets used fairly frequently, and I'll explain why here.
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Romans 16, beginning in verse 1, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Centrae.
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Now, when you look at that verse, the word servant probably has a marker next to it, and when you look at the footnote at the bottom of your
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Bible, it says deaconess. So the word servant is translated from the Greek word for deaconess, the feminine form of deacon.
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And there are people, certain teachers who have used this word, this verse in particular, and Phoebe as an example of how a woman can be a deacon.
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But as I talked about on Thursday when we were in our Old Testament chapter, and also on Friday when we were doing our
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Q &A, the offices of the church, which are elder and deacon, are meant only for men to fill.
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We have in 1 Timothy 2, before Paul gets to the qualifications for elders and deacons as listed in chapter 3, at the end of chapter 2 he says,
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So, as Paul is about to go into qualifications for elders, he means first to say that elders and deacons are supposed to be men.
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A woman is supposed to learn in submissiveness. But this is a great honorary thing for a woman to hold a position of submission because she is to be an example to the entire church about how we are all supposed to be submissive.
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The woman is the picture of how the church is supposed to be submissive to Christ, as the men are supposed to be a picture of how
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Christ is the head of the church. So in this function, in the way that God created men and women in their service of the church, we have a functioning church.
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Men and women complimenting one another in their strengths and weaknesses. Don't ever let it be said that this concept of a woman being submissive in the church means that she's less than a man.
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Absolutely not. She is vitally important in the example and the service of the church.
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There are some things that a woman can do that a man cannot. And likewise, there are things that a man has been called to do that a woman cannot do.
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But it's complimenting one another in their respective callings, in their spiritual gifts, in their strengths and their weaknesses.
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And we have an awesome, strong, functioning church. If you had a church that was all men, you would have a dysfunctional church.
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That is not the way the church is supposed to operate, and the man is not the most important part of the church.
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It's that men are called to a certain function and women are called to a certain function.
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And a woman is not supposed to stand in the position of an elder teaching authority in front of the church, nor are they supposed to be a deacon.
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Now how do I draw that from there as well? Because some who will agree that a pastor is not supposed to be a woman will still say, well, but women can be deacons too.
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And just about the only passage of scripture that they have to use to support that view is this one in Romans chapter 16.
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But the reason why your Bible translates Phoebe as being a servant instead of a deacon is because the
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Greek word there for service, for deacon, deaconos, is not meant to be understood as a proper title.
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Paul is not recognizing Phoebe in the position of deacon. He's just observing her as a servant.
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And the Greek word that applies for deacon in the proper sense is also the same word that applies to service.
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But when we look at the qualifications for elders and deacons in 1st Timothy chapter 3, it is very clear that they are supposed to be men.
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So elders, again, we know are supposed to be men by what was said at the end of chapter 2. And Paul appeals to creation as for his reasons as to why men are supposed to be the head of the church.
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Then when you get down to the qualifications for deacon beginning in verse 8, it says deacons likewise must be dignified, not double tongue, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
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So the things that applied for elders apply for deacons as well, apply to deacons as well.
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The one difference between an elder and a deacon is that an elder must have an ability to teach where a deacon is called as a servant.
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So the elder meets the spiritual needs of the church. The deacon meets the physical needs of the church.
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And as we also see in the qualifications for deacons, it says their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober minded, faithful in all things.
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It doesn't say their spouses, which would be the case if it was a woman that could fill the role of deacon as well.
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But it says very plainly the deacon is a man who has a wife.
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Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober minded, faithful to all things.
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And then it goes on even to say, let deacons be the husband of one wife, not married to just one person, but specifically the man is married to one wife.
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So I think in the context, it is very plain that the role of a deacon is also just to be for men as the elder role is supposed to be for men.
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That's three lessons in a row now where I have mentioned this, but it is a point of contention in many churches as to whether or not women can be pastors, first of all, but also whether or not women can serve as deacons.
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And I don't believe that they can. There are churches that I greatly respect with teachers that I admire that that have women deacons in their church.
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And I don't think that they should. I think it is plain in scripture that not only is the role of elders supposed to be for men, but the role of deacon as well.
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So then as we go on in Romans chapter 16, now we see a couple of names that we recognize greet
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Prisha and Akilah, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only
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I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. And since I'm already over 11 minutes now in our lesson,
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I'm going to wait to talk about Prisha and Akilah tomorrow. Lord God, as we wrap up our study today in Romans chapter 16,
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I pray that you would keep us submissive to the instructions of your word, not as we want things to be.
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We don't read into the scriptures the roles that we want to have because we want them, but we are obedient to what the
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Bible says and we submit to the authority of the word of God. We fill the roles that we have been called to fill according to how how you have designed us to fill them.
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And so I pray that we would honor these scriptures as we submit to you and your authority according to what is said in your word by the word of Christ being filled with the word of Christ.
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As it talks about in Colossians 3 16, let us be thankful for all things.
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We are thankful that you have created us the way that you have and given us the opportunities and the roles that are before us.
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Not wanting somebody else's job, but we are praising the Lord and faithful with what we have been given so that you will make us faithful in much as the scriptures promise.
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We pray and ask all of this in the name of Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening to When We Understand the
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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt
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.com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page. Join us again tomorrow as we continue our