The Consumer Church:
Christianity $19.95


The world today is more and more dependent of consumerism instead of Christianity. People are to busy to do any listening of God’s Word. What they want is an easy way to get it without any hassle. I did a message titled “Christianity for 19.95” and boy did I get a response. There were no in between statements, either people liked it or they didn’t. I heard comments from both sides; “How could want God to charge for Christianity, that’s absurd.” And; “I think he is right, more people may be interested in Christianity if they had to pay for it.” The two sides have valid points, it is absurd to expect God to charge for salvation, and yet people don’t expect something for free. This is the complexity of Christianity. God gives us the greatest gift without a monetary charge.
Today churches have made a radical change from just preaching the Bible. There are more and more churches turning to consumerism. Not consumerism in the form of money but feeding of the senses. Churches today are reaching for the senses of the people more than the salvation of the soul. People are searching for convenience more than they are searching for a place to serve. Church isn’t about the greatest of social meetings; it is not the place to go to have your ears tickled. It is the place that you come to hear the truth.
I have been troubled in watching people who attend church for their convenience. I have seen families come and go because things haven’t gone their way. I have seen people with ambitious ideas without the ambitions to follow through with them. I have seen people leave because they could not handle hearing the truth. Today I see more and more churches feeding egos instead of feeding the soul, and people are eager to go where it is ego filling. I have heard so many feel sorry for my family because the church doesn’t offer this, or the church doesn’t offer that; here is an idea, for people like that, maybe if you would participate in making a difference, and then there would be something to feed everyone. No, it is more convenient to leave than to stay. I am amazed at how many churches are located within a ten mile radius of where I live. I have counted 44 churches, all without a clue on how to grow. I have also seen churches unwilling to spend resources to make a difference. Both attitudes are wrong when it comes to church. I don’t care if the church has a million dollar budget and has to spend it all for the salvation of one soul. ONE SOUL IS WORTH IT ALL!!!! And I don’t care how inconvenient church may be at times, you don’t leave for convenience!! The topic of this paper is how people are treating church like a grocery store. If they don’t find what they like in one store they will go to another to find it.


Chapter 1
Searching the Aisles

When I go to the grocery store I always search the aisles for what I want. I rarely read the over head aisle markers telling me where I should be. No, I would rather yelp, whine and complain that I cannot find what I am looking for. I will spent a lot of time in searching for the product then spend a few seconds asking for help. Many people in church today are doing the same thing.
I use to work in a grocery store in Lynchburg, Virginia. I remember Kroger’s and working as a bag boy, and then gaining a ten cent raise to become a cashier. I remember having to walk the aisles and spending the time to learn where everything was so I could help the customers when they came into the store. I was proud that I knew everything about that store. I can still remember the set up; (the store has since moved across the street into a newer bigger building) the store sat in a corner of Wards Road and Fort Ave. It had the sliding glass doors sat back in an area that you didn’t walk into the front of the store; you walked in facing down the side of the building. As you came in you were immediately behind the cash registers. As you walked in there use to be a glass bottle return area. When you passed that area you were in the area that had the potatoes and onions. As you got the potatoes and onions you now had to turn left and you were facing down the produce aisle. When you got the end of the produce aisle you were at the end of the store and again turning left you were facing down the back of the store and facing the sandwich meat, meats, and at the end the milk and cheese. Each of the other aisles where set up as most grocery stores are today. The manager’s area was to the left of the registers (as soon as you came in the store). I remember everything about that store. I remember having to type in the amounts of the items being purchased and having to hit the appropriate section of the store (i.e. produce, meat, frozen food, deli. etc…). I remember all of this about a store I worked in over 20 years ago. Knowing the store was critical to the position that I had. I had to adapt to my surroundings, take the time and learn it, and make adjustments to customer needs. Understanding standing the complexity of the job was important when I worked for Kroger. I some how forgot the necessities along the way. After I left the job I no longer cared where anything was in the store. I didn’t have to type in anything on the register. I had left the job and became a consumer!! I expect someone else now to tell me where everything is in the store. I expect to find what I am looking for without working for it.
Today in churches people are very much in the same frame of mind. They want someone else to do all the leg work, they want everything in a neat orderly aisle. When they come in they expect to find everything they are looking for. The church is now becoming a consumer nightmare. Some churches (on local levels) do not offer everything that someone is looking for. Some churches can’t afford the programming of other churches. And so the people who are looking for everything, have for gotten the one thing church is about. The church is not about their comfort zone. The church is not about the many different programs offered. The church is about a community of believers coming together to work toward the advancement of the kingdom of God.
When we look back at what I originally wrote, I will get upset when I can’t find what I am looking for. It does not mean that I am leaving the grocery store to find my convenience elsewhere. I am still faithful in buying my groceries at the same store. I am still faithful in getting gas from the same service station. I am faithful in all my ways and yet people will not be as faithful to a church. They would rather go up and down the aisles searching for specifics instead of being blessed with what is right in front of them.

Chapter 2
The Convenience Store

I like to buy gas at a convenience store. Why, because it is convenient. I can conveniently pull into the gas pump, put in my credit card, and start pumping my gas. I can then receive my receipt right from the pump. Now that is convenience!! However, wouldn’t it be even more convenient if we could go to the convenient store; there they would have someone ready to greet us at the pump; take our credit card and swipe it for us; pump our gas; and then hand us our receipt; while we are waiting for the gas to finish someone else would come out and take our orders for drinks and snacks. This would truly be the convenient store!
When I get my gas I always have to have something to drink. And, for my convenience, the store has a wide assortment of drinks, slushies, juices, milks, and energy drinks. They also have a variety of coffees, hot chocolates, and fake mocha lattes. If I get hungry searching the drinks there is the convenient deli in which I can order anything from a chicken leg to a cheeseburger. I can go and find some potato chips or corn chips to go along with my deli order. I can be conveniently served by this store. It has everything that I have been looking for and is set up in a manner for my convenience. And to think when I went into the store, all I wanted was something to drink.
As I look at the conveniences of the convenient store I can see that I may have someway lost my focus on what I went for. I remember I was running low on gas and had to pull in for gas. I remember that my throat felt parched and I needed a drink, after entering I was no longer just thirsty, I was hungry. I went for gas and left with more than the gas you put in your car. I lost my focus. All I needed was the gas. Sometimes people focus on the conveniences instead of the necessities. I went to get gas and forgot the gas. I have focused on the conveniences, and forgotten the necessities. People in churches today are somewhat focused on the conveniences instead of the necessities.
A convenience is going somewhere and not having to do anything. Church was not made for the convenience of the member. The membership of the church does not read come for your convenience. Yet people are treating church in the same manner they would visit a convenient store. They lose focus on the necessity. The necessity of church is to teach people the truth about Christ. The purpose of the church is to teach people, baptize people, and preach to people. The church is a group of called out individuals coming together to serve one another. This is where the focus gets lost. People forget they are made for service not for being served. There is not one human being on this earth that was made whose priority is self service. Every person ever created was made to serve God.
Service however takes us out of our convenience, and our convenience doesn’t include our working, because then it is no longer convenient. There are a lot of ambitious people in this world. Ambition with out action is absent of an answer. There are many people in church today who want something for everyone and have the ideas yet lack the responsiveness to see it through.

Created by the Creator

The confusing factor today starts with school (secular) on realizing where we come from. We are taught evolution; millions of years and many animals come from one organism. We are taught we have evolved from monkeys that evolved from multi-celled, that evolved from a mono-cell. I get confused just thinking about it? Have you ever asked your self the question, if I evolved from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys? Or why there are still multi and mono-celled organisms? They are simple questions without answers. Scientist can’t explain it; all they can do is theorizing about it. Yet, in our society we would rather think on theory than thank God for creating us.
It can be confusing when you have a conflict on what you are taught. There was a young boy who went to church every Sunday with his mother (dad was to busy watching TV). One Sunday, after the service, the young boy asked his mother, “Where did I come from?” The mother responded, “You were created by God, and we are blessed by Him to have you as our son. God has created everyone and everything for His purpose, and you are special to Him.” The young boy smiled as they left for home. When he got home, he went in and sat by his father who was watching the football game. He thought for a second and asked his father a question. He asked, “Dad, where did we come from?” Without hesitation the father answered, “Son we have evolved from monkeys. Million and millions of years ago a single-celled organism in a swamp split and became multi-celled, it then turned into a tadpole, which then turned into a creature that grew legs and left the water, lost its tail and grew hair, then became a monkey and eventually became us.” The young boy now confused, went back to his mother and said, “Mom when I asked you where we came from you told me we were created by God and when I asked Dad he told me we evolved from monkeys, I’m confused.” The mother replied, “Oh, honey there is nothing to be confused over, your father was simply telling you about his side of the family, and I told you of my side.” Stories like this are funny but yet are true. Most families do not attend church together, or come to the same conclusions about life. The father is the blame to family deterioration. Selfishness takes over and self over rules God.
I want us to look now at the creation of man. Man’s creation is the most important act in God’s creation. Nothing else in the historical act of creation compares to the creation of man. No animal, star, planet, being, insect, or angel has the claim of humanity. Do you know what that is? We are created in the image and likeness of God. How special we are! This act of love for us, show our importance to Him. He could have made us to be anything and yet he decided to architecturally design us after Himself. Even in the beginning of mankind it was about God, not us. Our special creation comes with a special purpose; to serve and have control of the planet He designed for us.
In Genesis chapters 1-2 we see the design of the earth, all its’ contents, solar system, and the heavens. Even in the grand design we can see that each day had a purpose, to precede the day you and I were created. He prepared a place that would sustain us, so when we were created on the sixth day we would have nothing to want for. There would be an all sufficient planet with herbs, trees, and animals to feed us for all eternity. There is no question of our special service; it is taking care of what God has provided for us. Five days of creation formed a planet of perfection for you and me. How wonderful of thought it was to do such a thing. In Genesis 1:26 it states; “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”(KJV) We are created in His likeness and His image; these are the very first words spoken about man. Remember, I said earlier that no animal, star, planet, being, insect, or angel has the claim of humanity. That claim is spoken about before the actual act our creation. Man’s dominion over the created earth is also indicated before the act of our creation. We were given a purpose before we were given life. No other creature has been spoken about in such a way and with such a specific purpose.
We are first made in the image and likeness of God. I have always wondered about the difference of image and likeness. Have you ever taken the time to think on these things? Why in the world would the Bible state image and likeness? Aren’t they both the same thing? For the longest time I thought that way, and I am sure many of you have had the same thought or have never even thought about it. Let me tell you, I could not do it on my own; I had to do something that sounds ridiculous to some people. I took what I like to call the child-like approach; I asked God; when I want to know something, I ask a question. You know what? He gave me an answer! Unheard of I know; ask and ye shall receive. The answer came with a two part description. 1) Being made in the image of God shows our inward appearance and, 2) Being made in the likeness of God shows our outward beauty. Now I know we can look at some people and say things like this. “She isn’t going to win any beauty contests,” or “He’s even ugly on the inside.” We have taken the view of man and not the view of God when we look at our creation.
To be made in the image of God shows our inward appearance. This is where struggles begin with some people. Inwardness is never taught in schools, and some churches are not teaching the inward beauty in which we were first created. Have you ever thought of the inward beauty of God? His inward beauty surrounds us daily in simple things. We just over look them. Emotions and expressions show us the inward beauty of God through our relationships. We were never created to argue, fight, feud, bellyache or complain. (Some people however just have to be that way it seems). Every one of these emotional outbursts comes from our inside. We don’t physically act without an emotional drive. We are a created being that follows our inward drive. We will do nothing physically without thought. Sometimes we think we do things without an inward action, but nothing we do; I mean nothing gets done with out our inwardness.
The word image comes from a Hebrew word that means phantom, illusion, hence the use of the word image. We have grand illusions of what we can do or what we are going to be, which means we are again using our inward thoughts to drive our outward actions. People know they are emotionally driven, they just forget this fact. But our inward side is the first ingredient of our creation, and that is replicated of the inwardness of God. This is what people don’t think about. My inward thoughts are to be Godly. Why? That is how we are created. The problem is man’s will is taking place of God’s presence. Out of all emotions love is the reason we are here. God loves us. God created us by His love, for His love, and we are to show His love. We are built inwardly on the love of God. This is something that is utterly forgotten by the world today. Being built on the love of God does not mean all men love God. God never leaves us or forsakes us, man however will both leave and forsake God. What happened? Why is humanity so independently ignorant? Simply put, humanity has forgotten its inward attribute. 1 John 4:8 tells us the result of forgetting how to love. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
Being made in the likeness of God is being able to show an outward response to our inward appearance. If we are built inwardly on the love of God our outward response to others will be loving and not feuding. The world has left out this outward response. Today the world teaches us it is about being the better you. Preachers today are teaching on purpose, power, positive thinking, possession, and promotion (Not all, but some). The ones that are doing this have a charisma about them that people turn to. Their charisma dictates their actions. They hear people promote them and how they have brought them to a positive life. This is not about God and his promises; this is about man and his possession. The likeness of man is not what we are made in. We are made in the likeness of God. Pastor’s are not motivational speakers, they are to teach, preach and promote God’s Word. Everyone is to promote the likeness of God. I have heard many people say that I want to be like someone else. I would like to have the life someone else has. I would like to have their opportunity and how I could use what they have to do more. Well, here is a break through for you; you will always be you, you will never be anything but you, and you opportunity starts with you. If many people would understand that God wants them to be their selves in Him, we would see a realization of the likeness of God. To be made in the likeness of God is mind blowing to me. I am made in the likeness of the Creator of the Universe and all that is in it. I am in the image of the Creator of the Universe. I am a part of the only created beings that claim this. No animals, no angels, no creeping things, no fish, no fowl of the air, nothing else can claim to be made in the image and likeness of God. I am it! So let’s motivate ourselves in understanding this. I am made in the image and likeness of God. I am possessing my life in knowing this as my fact. I am no longer going to be a world follower. I am going to be a God server. His likeness is going to be seen in my actions and in my words to others. If we could get people to possess these thoughts; Christianity would bring a revival like no other. How do we get people to understand that this is where we begin?
Have people study on God’s Word and see the magnitude of it wealth. Stop with self promotion and start promoting your purpose. I am on this planet to serve my Creator. My likeness should overshadow my inability. When we think ourselves unable to do something, we have already set ourselves up to fail. When we ask God what He wants us to do and we do it, we never fail. The results may not be what we want to see, but we have not failed in our service. And if we have not failed in our service, we have kept our likeness of Him, and He is proud of us.
The problem with most of us is that we are set up to believe that if something doesn’t go the way we planned then we have failed.
Here is a story I heard of a person that thought they had not done any good because he had not personally seen the results. There was an evangelist who was in Australia doing revivals and he would always ask the question, “Does anyone have a praise?” In the first church he went to he had a person stand up and give this testimony; “As I was walking I passed a man in the street and as I passed he said this, Do you know where you are going when you die? The bible says that if you do not have Christ as your Savior you are going to hell. He didn’t give me time to give him a response, he just walked off. I thought he was crazy. I later got to thinking on what he said and I realized I wanted to see what he was talking about, and I now have Christ in my life because someone took the time to tell me without Him I would go to hell.” The evangelist didn’t think about it much until he went to the next church in Australia on his tour and he asked the same question, and someone stood up and gave him a similar story of a man on the streets of Sidney Australia. As the evangelist went through many churches on his tour of Australia, he kept getting testimonies of the man who would say; “Do you know where you are going when you die? The bible says that if you do not have Christ as your Savior you are going to hell.” And each time they would tell of how the man would walk off and yet how he had made an impact on their decisions for Christ. As the evangelist left Australia he continued his tour through many other countries. As he returned to his native England and started his revivals he again asked for praise, and wouldn’t you know it, he had someone give testimony of a man on the streets of Sidney, Australia. The evangelist was so intrigued by this individual; he finished his revival tour and returned to Sidney, Australia. When he arrived he found the street name and went to a local store and asked if anyone knew of a man who would share a simple question and statement about Christ with others. The clerk responded indeed he knew the man and even knew his address. He said everyone knows this man. The evangelist was excited and went to the address given to him by the clerk. As he approached the house and knocked on the door, he could not contain his excitement. When the man opened the door the evangelist introduce himself, and asked the man, how he did it. The evangelist asked “How does it feel to have reached so many people for Christ?” The man was puzzled and returned with, “What do you mean?” The evangelist said, “I have been doing revivals throughout Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Great Britain. As I did my revivals I would always ask if there were any praises and I would have someone stand up and tell me of a man they met on the streets of Australia. I heard about you in many of the churches I have done revivals and I just want to know how it feels to have made such an impact for Christ on so many lives?” The man became overwhelmed and as his eyes filled with tears he replied, “I did not know any of this. I have told may people the same thing for many years; I just wanted people to know that Christ is the only way to Heaven. You are the first person to ever tell me that someone heard what I had to say.” You talk about someone who knew what it was to show the likeness of God. He gave people the simple truth. God give us the simple truth. He does not complicate anything. This man did not complicate anything. He made it simple. We need to make it simple. The simplest of actions can bring a swarming of results that you and I may never find out about. This does not mean we have failed. It simply means we have not received the results we wanted. We sometimes forget to plant a seed for God because we are afraid of failure. The failure is not promoting our likeness of God. We out the planting, nothing can grow. If the seed is still in the package and never gets used, it remains a seed in a package.
Being made in the image and likeness of God is a great privilege for us. Now again I know we think that some people are made in the image and likeness of satan. I know it hard to swallow, but there has never been a person who was created in that image or likeness. The problem is that they will forget God and become the products of an ungodly world that is ruled by satan (I know I didn’t capitalize satan, I just don’t think of him as worth the honor or respect). Just as those who choose not to follow their God given image and likeness, I choose not to give satan any glory.

Baptist History

There are many conceptions of how the Baptist Movement was started. Some say the Baptist Movement started with John the Baptist, others say that the pamplet, "The Trail of Blood" proposed the beginnings of the Baptist, others agree that the Baptist, come from the Protestant Reformation. I only agree that the movement has always been a distinct group of Bible and Scriptural believing people who have never held any factions with other denominational movements. The Baptist Church however is no longer a distinct group, being many factional groups, in differences of doctrinal and scriptural positions. We now have Independent, Independent Fundamentalists, Southern Baptists, American Baptists, Freewill Baptists, and the list is growing. In the all of these there are subordinate groups who cannot agree on vital issues of Scripture. In upcoming blogs I will continue in my studies and I would encourage you to do the same on why you are, or why you consider yourself Baptist. If your answers are any of the following then again take this as an encouragement to understand being Baptist.
Answers:

"It is the place I have always attended"
"My parents were/are Baptist"
"It is the closest church to where I live"
"I like the Pastor"
"The programs of the church are family friendly"
and "I don't know"

These are not reasons to be Baptist, these are reasons you go to the church. More churches need to be explaining the history of their origins and explaining the gospel correctly, not giving man's personal opinion, rather backing everything with Scripture for as Paul wrote to Timothy,
"2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness..."

Women in the Church

In the modern world the Scriptures have not changed and yet the world has. The feminist movements, “Women’s Lib” and other liberal organizations have taken the Scriptures and made them non-relevant for today’s society. We are now in a tumultuous time of being chauvinistic (as men), legalistic, and uncompromising when we claim Scripture does not support women pastorates. Today we need to see what is relevant for all Scripture to be profitable, not changeable. Women can prophesy, women can teach, women can be a valuable asset to the church. They however cannot be found as pastors in Scripture. There are so many people today trying to force Scripture to say things that are not there. In either the Old Testament or the New Testament there are no women priests, pastor-teachers, or elders ever listed. No parts of the 66 books we call the Bible and hold our faith in were penned by women. This by no means is derogatory towards women, it is the truth. This is a subject that has caused division throughout the church history, not just within the modern history of the church.
Today the church has turned to evangelical feminism. Schools, and seminaries are rapidly abandoning the truths of Scripture since their inception to accommodate this new wave of teaching. The problem has never been that of women serving in the church; the problem is there is no Scripture to put them in authority over the church. One of the main arguments for women pastors is the finding of 7 women listed as prophetesses in the Bible. Now let’s look at the 7 women that the word prophetess appears with;
Miriam in Exodus 15:20-21 led the women in a celebration and dance and to sing praises unto the Lord. This by no means meant that she was over the spiritual authority of any man, in this instance she led the women only.
Deborah in Judges 4-5 served as a judge, not a priest (leader of worship and authority on Scripture). Deborah then chose Barak to lead the battles, deferring to male leadership. Barak showed his insecurity by saying he would only go to battle if Deborah went with him, then she tells him because of his cowardness that he would not rule and she would.
Huldah in 2 Kings 22:14 and 2 Chronicles 34:22 was consulted on foretelling what was going to happen to Josiah after Hilkiah the priest and other leaders found scrolls. She predicted the future events, she prophesied in a literal sense, not in setting of worship or leader of a church or temple.
Each of the above women are called prophetesses, none are shown to have a permanent calling to that office. Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah have only one recorded prophecy, not authoritative temple leadership.
Noadiah in Nehemiah 6:14 along with Tobiah and Sandballat worked against Nehemiah in the rebuilding of the wall. Again nothing is said about her authoritative leadership in a temple or place of worship. Some have even speculated that this is not a prophetess but a mistranslation of the son of Binnui mentioned in Ezekiel 8:33.
In Isaiah 8:3 it is simply talking about the wife of the prophet having a child. It simply means the wife of a prophet who named a child with a name that had prophetic meaning.
Anna in Luke 2:36 was a lady of age who served God in prayer and fasting and talked to those who were seeking redemption. Never does it say anything about her being the head of the temple. The passage literally says she told people about the Messiah. The last person mentioned as a “self-proclaimed prophetess is Jezebel in Revelation 2:20 and we know this is a “self” proclamation, to lure people away from Christ.
Women have every right to tell people about their Savior as well as men. That is not what is in question; it is the authoritative leadership of the position of pastor that is in question for women.
In Acts 21:9 there were four daughters of Philip who did prophesy. Again they told people about Christ or future events. Never does it show anything about their authoritative leadership in the church, nor are their names ever mentioned in Scripture. Acts 2:17-18 show how people are to tell about Christ, nothing is mentioned about church leadership as pastor.
In Acts 18:26 Aquila and Priscilla both gave instruction to Apollos. This however was done in a private setting and not in worship or authority over the church.
In Matthew 8:15 when Christ healed Peter’s Mother-in-Law, it says she ministered unto them. This means she served them, met their needs, it does not mean she preached or taught them in an authoritative position. Phoebe is mentioned as a servant (or deaconess) in Romans 16 not as a pastor.
Now in order to set the church authority we need to first understand the leadership of the house as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:22-33. This is where the feminist movement has taken and made Scripture non-relevant. The Greek Word for submit is hupotasso. This literally means to place oneself in submission. This does not mean that the woman is inferior, or less spiritually. God has made one woman to be the wife of one man, and so she is constituted by God. It is a willing personal subjection that is demonstrated by this Scripture.
Warren Wiersbe says in his writing;


In these days of “Women’s Lib” and other feminist movements, the word “submission” makes some people see red. Some well-meaning writers have even accused Paul of being a “crusty old bachelor” who was antiwomen. Those of us who hold to the inspiration and authority of the Word of God know that Paul’s teachings came from God and not from himself. If we have a problem with what the Bible says about women in the church, the issue is not with Paul (or Peter—see 1 Peter 3:1–7), but with the Lord who gave the Word (2 Tim. 3:16–17).
The word translated “subjection” in 1 Timothy 2:11 is translated “submitting” and “submit” in Ephesians 5:21–22 and Colossians 3:18. It literally means “to rank under.” Anyone who has served in the armed forces knows that “rank” has to do with order and authority, not with value or ability. A colonel is higher in rank than a private, but that does not necessarily mean that the colonel is a better man than the private. It only means that the colonel has a higher rank and, therefore, more authority.
“Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40) is a principle God follows in His creation. Just as an army would be in confusion if there were no levels of authority, so society would be in chaos without submission. Children should submit to their parents because God has given parents the authority to train their children and discipline them in love. Employees should submit to employers and obey them (Eph. 6:5–8, where the immediate reference is to household slaves, but the application can be made to workers today). Citizens should submit to government authorities, even if the authorities are not Christians (Rom. 13; 1 Peter 2:13–20).
Submission is not subjugation. Submission is recognizing God’s order in the home and the church, and joyfully obeying it. When a Christian wife joyfully submits to the Lord and to her own husband, it should bring out the best in her. (For this to happen, the husband must love his wife and use God’s order as a tool to build with, not a weapon to fight with—Eph. 5:18–33.) Submission is the key to spiritual growth and ministry: husbands should be submitted to the Lord, Christians should submit to each other (Eph. 5:21), and wives should be submitted to the Lord and to their husbands.[1]

It is the wife placing herself in the proper and divinely-fitted position under her husband. This is not because man made it this way but because God made it to be so. If you read through this passage (Ephesians 5:22-33) you find it is the husband’s responsibility to wash the family with the word of God, not the wife’s. Thus as the man is head of the family, he is the leader, director and teacher of God’s Word. In 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 the same word hupotasso is used for the phrase “to be under obedience”. Again the woman is regarded as one who is not to speak coming from the Greek laleo which means to utter, speak, or preach. This passage again reiterates what is said in 1 Timothy 2:12 on a woman’s role in the church, not to usurp authority over the man. John MacArthur write this about 1 Timothy 2:13 and 14;
A popular view today is that woman’s subordinate role is a corruption of God’s perfect design that was the result of the Fall. Since the effects of the curse are intended to be reversed in Christ, it is argued, differing male and female roles should be abolished. Paul, however establishes woman’s subordinate role not in the Fall, but in the divine order of Creation. For it was Adam who was first created, he writes, and then Eve. God made woman after man to be his suitable helper (Gen 2:18). The priority of man’s role is obvious.
Nor was Paul’s teaching prompted by some cultural situation at Ephesus and hence not applicable today, as some argue. He not only appeals here to the creation account in Genesis 2, but also taught this same truth to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:8-9).
Paul does not derive women’s role from the Fall, but he uses that event as further corroboration of God’s intention. He points out that it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression. Genesis 3:1-7 chronicles the tragic account of what happened when Eve usurped the headship role:
The whole human race thus fell into depravity and judgment. Eve was not suited by nature to assume the position of ultimate responsibility. When she stepped out from under the protection and leadership of Adam, she was highly vulnerable and fell. And, of course, when Adam violated his leadership role and followed Eve (though it was not he who was deceived), the perversion of God’s order was complete. The Fall resulted, then, not simply from disobedience to God’s command, but from violating God’s appointed roles for the sexes. That is not to say that Adam was less culpable than Eve, or that she was more defective. Although he was not deceived by Satan, as was Eve, Adam still chose to disobey God. As the head of their relationship, he bore ultimate responsibility. That is why the New Testament relates the Fall to Adam’s sin, not Eve’s (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21-22). Headship by man, then, was part of God’s design from the beginning, and he bears the responsibility for its success or failure. The tragic experience of the garden encounter with the serpent confirmed the wisdom of that design.[2]

The same word hupotasso is used in Titus 2:5. To say a woman can be pastor negates the leadership in the family. The church is based on family orientation, through fellowship, and the edifying of the body through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The problem is when people interpret the word men to mean all of humanity.
1Ti 2:5-8 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

In 1 Timothy 2:5 the word men, (Greek anthropos) does mean all humanity yet the word used in 1 Timothy 2:8 the word is only for men (Greek aner) and this is where any modern translation loses the fullness of the original languages. By using the same word men, holding two separate meanings in the same passage, people now interpret from the English language and not the original language that when men is the word used it must mean all humanity. The Greek Word (aner) not (anthropos) is used for husband in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 meaning man not woman. We must know the difference between humanity as a whole and the separation of the sexes.
The next problem is women cannot be qualified through the characteristics of 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. There are characteristics listed for men only! The problem with qualifying women through Ephesians 4:11 the word some is negated by turning it to meaning all; the word some is qualified by distinction as in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9 for pastorates (overseers or bishops) as for the some being men. When we change it to all, we then open it to all worldly interpretation. Thus, we make Paul contradict the authority of the home in Ephesians 5:22-33 and what he wrote to Timothy and to Titus. The words used in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 have distinct and unchangeable words for this office being for men alone. To say women qualify again makes Paul’s writing to be non-effect and thus agrees with his words in 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
Galatians 3:19-4:7 teaches the spiritual equality for Jews, and Gentiles, slaves and free, and both sexes. The misrepresentation of this passage is assuming all are equal in leadership; the true context shows that Paul is speaking on salvation in our faith in Jesus as our Savior, not on our authority to lead.
[1]Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. 1 Ti 2:9
[2] MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 1 Timothy, Chicago, Ill. Moody Press, 1995 pp. 88-89