GetWisdom PaperturnSampler FINAL SinglePages - Flipbook - Page 89
LIVING IN AUTHENTICITY
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PHILIPPIANS
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The people who led were men and women, converted Jew and
Gentile, circumcised and uncircumcised. We know God loves diversity, and we see that here as a new season unfolds. Nothing was the
same as it was before. Everything was new and uncharted.
The New Testament indicates that the gospel radically
altered the position of women, elevating them to a
partnership with men unparalleled in first-century society.
Wherever the gospel went, women were among the first,
foremost and most faithful converts. The gospel led them
to engage in aspects of Christ’s service that went beyond
the cultural limitations of the day. As Ben Witherington III
observes, “In the post-Easter community we find women
assuming a greater variety of roles, some of which . . . would
have been forbidden to a Jewish woman (e.g., being a
teacher of men in Acts 18:24-6).”8
History Lesson
Another female leader in the New Testament was Priscilla
(she and her husband, Aquila, led a church in Ephesus—and
later, another one in Rome). If you read their story in Acts 18,
you may have noticed that her name is usually mentioned
first. This suggests she is the more noteworthy and prominent
leader of the two. Priscilla is even listed first when she and
her husband explained theology and doctrine to Apollos in
Acts 18:24-26. Paul specifically names this amazing couple
on several occasions (Romans 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 16:19;
2 Timothy 4:19). What an incredible woman Priscilla must
have been!
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