{"id":69924,"date":"2024-09-26T16:43:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T21:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=69924"},"modified":"2024-09-26T16:43:56","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T21:43:56","slug":"can-women-teach-classes-with-teenage-boys-since-bible-classes-are-not-a-part-of-the-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-women-teach-classes-with-teenage-boys-since-bible-classes-are-not-a-part-of-the-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"Can women teach classes with teenage boys since Bible classes are not a part of the assembly?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Hello,<\/p>\n

Where I attend church, we recently have had enough teens move up to where we can have a high school class. Men were willing to teach this class. We don’t have elders. The men met because one of the young women volunteered to teach the high school class. The men voted and decided it was ok. Not all the men were happy with this decision, but the vote was still passed. I asked one of them later on how they reached this decision. I was told that that Sunday school isn’t part of the assembly. I was also told that these aren’t men yet.<\/p>\n

I am having a hard time, and I feel like it might be a gray area, but it seems we would rather be safe than sorry and have a man teach so we don’t have to worry. We have never had a woman teach a high school class before.<\/p>\n

Should I be worried about the direction this congregation might be heading in?<\/p>\n

Thank you!<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

There are two problems to be addressed.<\/p>\n

“A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression<\/em>” (I Timothy 2:11-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nothing in this passage limits the rules given to the worship assembly, and nothing in the context indicates that Paul was discussing the worship assembly. Paul’s proofs are based on the order of the world since the Garden of Eden – long before the church was established.<\/p>\n

Few have problems with women teaching children, and most understand that a woman is not to teach adult males, but determining when a boy should be counted as a man causes a bit of difficulty. In many congregations, the division is made when a boy decides to obey the gospel. This is generally the age when a child matures enough to distinguish between good and evil; yet, a child often gains this ability long before we would call them an adult.<\/p>\n

By “adult,” we are talking about the time when a person’s development ends physically and mentally. We find the Bible talking about four aspects of maturity. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men<\/i>” (Luke 2:52). Children mature mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially. However, they don’t reach maturity in all four areas simultaneously. Most boys are physically mature by age 18, but recent studies show that mental maturation continues up to the age of 24 or 25 in males. Until the early twenties, the portion of the brain that governs judgment and restraint is not fully developed. But just because a boy, say of thirteen, is impulsive, it does not imply that he doesn’t understand the difference between good and evil (i.e., spiritually mature).<\/p>\n

The teenage years are the time for transitioning from childhood to adulthood. The transition should be gradual. The teenager gradually assumes more responsibility while the parents slowly release the limitations on his actions. Even though a fourteen-year-old boy is not an adult by any stretch of the imagination, he is close to the age where he needs to be treated as an adult in limited areas. I recommend that he start studying under adult males, not because the women can’t do an adequate job, but because he is entering the phase of life when he must learn his role. He needs males that he can use as role models to help guide him through the transition into adulthood.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the argument that since the Bible class isn’t a part of the worship assemble, a woman can teach young men is false. The argument that teenage boys are not yet men might be technically true, but it isn’t the best solution.<\/p>\n

The second problem is deciding what is correct by majority vote. This is a case where our secular style of government is influencing the church. See:<\/p>\n