QT 30 May 16, 1 Tim 2:11-14, Roles aren't meant to communicate one is better than another

1 Tim 2:11-14 (ESV) Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

NOTE: This passage poses a great difficulty to many. But that has to do more with the application than a logical view of what it is really saying. In the garden, the serpent started the dialogue with the woman, even though the Genesis passage indicates the man was right next to her during the whole sequence of events. Satan's focus on her even suggests that she was the authority. She was just as smart as the man, but, as we will find out later, she had better communications skills and was more in tune with her emotions. Because of her being deceived by Satan spiritually, God gave the role of leadership in the home to the man. We do seem to hate pre-defined roles, don't we?  The event in the garden and the passage in 1 Timothy are both primarily spiritual. God gave the role of spiritual leadership to the man. Man, as evidenced in the garden, man can be quick to give over his role if another can do it as well or better. For most men in our society, the woman is the spiritual lead in the family, and with disastrous consequences. Not because they cannot do a good job but because of the man's stubbornness. The woman may command the children but she will struggle to control the man, and the result is that her children, especially boys, will see spirituality as a feminine thing and not a masculine ideal. Similarly when men see women pastoring churches, it reinforces the fact that it is not necessary for the man to lead, women can do just as good a job. They probably can, but that is not why God created different roles. We undermine man's role when we allow women to teach the men. Paul's argument is not against women. He is against men sloughing their responsibilities because they see women doing the job well. God knew that ultimately women as spiritual leaders would detrimentally affect the family. And so he created roles not to say one is better than the other, but to protect the family.