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apostle and had done the works of an apostle amongst them (2 Corinthians 12:12). Lastly there is a solemn word: "But if any be ignorant, let him be ignorant". It is almost like we might say: "If you want to live in cloud cuckoo land, live in cloud cuckoo land, but don't expect me to live in cloud cuckoo land". In speaking of the Lord's commandment Paul is not just referring to the immediate matter about which he had been speaking, for he says it about: "the things (plural) that I write to you". Ignorance is nothing to be proud about. We have the word of God in our hands today and therefore have the means to become acquainted with the mind of God and we have also the Holy Spirit to guide us (John 16:13).

Conclusion

It is important to notice that Paul hangs his teaching as to the place that women have in the assemblies of the saints on their position in the ordering of God. It is not just Paul's ideas. Peter teaches similarly though he is not concerned with the coming together of Christians in a corporate way. He speaks of the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit (note the absence of self assertion in this) which in the sight of God is of great price (1 Peter 3:4). It is the lack of this that is one of the major causes of marriage breakups in the present day. While in the Western world the scriptural place given to women has been largely given up (the tide has gone out so to speak), in countries like Afghanistan we have the other extreme (the tide has come right in so to speak). Right practice is somewhere between the two.

Christ's example is always important. He never sent women out to teach (all the apostles were men), though they had their own place in the scheme of things and were especially involved at and around the time of Christ's crucifixion. Maybe the men needed to keep their heads down at that time lest they were also apprehended (consider here Peter's denial of Christ to save his skin), but the women were no doubt not in such great danger.

Finally, we must remember that Christ said: "Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have become insipid, wherewith shall it be salted ? It is no longer fit for anything but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot by men" (Matthew 5:13). If we as Christians are just following the current trends in the world we are of no testimonial value - if the world becomes corrupt (and that is its tendency) we will become corrupt with it. To be salt we must stand against the current of the world which is morally downhill. The world is influenced by what comes up from beneath (Revelation 9:2); we should be influenced by what comes down from above (James 1:17). At the same time where things have no moral connotations we can do what is customary, for instance in the kind of clothing we wear. There is no merit in wearing what went out of fashion hundreds of years ago. We should not be seeking to project ourselves by wearing outlandish garb.

August 2001

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