SHOULD MOTHERS WORK

SHOULD MOTHERS WORK?

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Edited February 3, 1999 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Some years ago, I wrote an article entitled "Grace and Authority in the Church." (This is available in booklet format from Way of Life Literature. It is also available at the Way of Life web site. See the Church section of the End Times Apostasy Database.) The article was a reply to some friends who were "separating" from a fundamental Baptist church because of things they disagreed with. They told me they were separating from this fundamental Baptist church and from its pastor "because of his liberal teaching on remarriage, women working outside the home and his refusal to correct error."

In specific, these friends gave me a list of eight things that they were concerned about. (1) The pastor did not teach that women should not work outside the home, and the wife of the associate pastor worked. (2) The church held parties or fellowships on Valentines Day, Halloween, and Christmas. (3) The pastor allowed a divorced person to work in the bus ministry. (4) The pastor failed to correct publicly certain erroneous statements that were given during testimony times and certain (supposed) erroneous statements that were made by visiting preachers. (5) The pastor failed to do anything about missionaries who joked and told stories in the pulpit. (6) Though the church took a stand for the KJV, these friends did not think there was sufficient teaching on the subject of Bible versions. (7) The pastor "used humor to break the tension" in his preaching, whereas they felt that sober-mindedness required that such levity in the pulpit cease. (8) The pastor seemed to prefer to let God change people about such things as appearance (long hair, ear rings on men, etc.) rather than approach them directly.

I replied that I did not believe these were reasons why we should separate from a church, that there are other more important issues, and I dealt briefly with each of the matters that they raised. I said: "It is natural that in any church we will find things with which we do not agree. To practice Bible separation because of the type of things discussed in this letter, though, is not proper or healthy, in my estimation. These are not matters of apostasy. These are matters of preference, and there are many such things that we must deal with as members of any church. While we are to separate from error, we are also exhorted to submit ourselves to pastoral authority and to exercise grace in the local church. I believe there are many types of things with which we can disagree in a church while continuing to submit ourselves to God-ordained authority. There does not have to be a contradiction here." A family is at liberty, of course, to leave a church over such matters if the Lord so leads and if He unites them with a better church, but I would not call this separation. (By the way, the aforementioned couple got very angry with me because I did not support their position. They cancelled their subscription to O Timothy magazine and stopped answering my letters. At last report, they had stopped going to church.)

Recently I received an e-mail from some friends who read the "Grace and Authority in the Church" article and had a question about the matter of working moms. Since this is similar to other letters I have received on this subject, I have decided to publish their challenge and my reply. Following is the question that they posed to me:

"Basically, we understand, from our readings, that biblical separation is to be practiced any time a brother walks disorderly to the doctrines of the apostles...i.e., any of the written Word of God. I have also read your booklet ‘Grace and Authority’ and agree that most of the cited brother's concerns were areas of Christian liberty. But, in my humble opinion, you seemed to avoid the question of working wives. Now here is my puzzlement. Titus 2:3-5 clearly teaches that women are to be workers at home. (Other passages could be mentioned: 1 Tim. 5:14, the young widows' Scripture). No exception clause is given, i.e. she has small children, or the family needs the money, etc. It is one of the apostles' doctrines, just as surely as not fornicating is. One could argue that this isn't as important as fornication, but then we are exalting man's reason. The Scripture doesn't rank itself so, and ALL Scripture is given by inspiration, etc. That Scripture even goes on to say that the Word of God is *blasphemed* if disobeyed. It really is a serious issue, dealing as it does with roles, gender identity, and the welfare of the children and the family. So why wouldn't you have to practice separation in that instance?" (from a concerned reader)

REPLY FROM BROTHER CLOUD

Hello. Thanks for the note.

As for women working, the point of "Grace and Authority in the Church" is not to say that it is fine for women to work outside the home under any circumstances. I believe far too many mothers are working outside the home and are hurting their families spiritually because of it. I was not defending working mothers. I was merely pointing out that some things are not as important as others, and many things like that are not the basis of separation, in my opinion.

Titus 2:5 says the young women are to be keepers at home. I believe that means that this is to be her focus, but I don't believe that means she can do absolutely nothing else but keep the home. Bible verses must be interpreted not only in light of their immediate context but also in light of the teaching of the rest of the Bible. Failure to do so allows for error. Many other passages describe a woman’s responsibility before God. Proverbs 31 describes the godly woman as a homemaker, for example, but she also goes out and buys fields, etc. My wife Linda has never worked outside the home, so to speak, since we have been married (for example, she has not returned to her nursing occupation), but she has been deeply involved in evangelism (which requires a lot of time and energy outside the home) and she also has been involved in real estate, portrait photography, etc. None of these activities precisely fit under the category of "keeper at home." I strongly believe moms should be available for the kids. I believe churches should emphasize that, and I believe it is wrong for churches to encourage moms to work. I also believe there are circumstances that might require a woman to work. My mom had to work for many years because dad was in and out of hospitals and could not hold a job. I don’t see this as compromise. (This is not to defend those who work merely for luxury and who neglect their families.) Hebrews 10:25 says we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. No exceptions are given, but I don’t believe that means God will never allow a Christian to miss a church service. I believe it is a principle and a general rule and that it is extremely important, but that does not mean there are no exceptions. If a Christian has a job in a crucial service such as medical, there are times when he might have to miss a service. I believe it is the same for Titus 2:5. It is certainly God’s will that young mothers be keepers at home, but to narrowly define that to mean that a mom can never work or do anything but home things under any circumstance is to go beyond what the Bible is saying. I know moms who work in Christian schools where their children attend. I certainly do not believe that is wrong. I also believe that it is not necessarily wrong for a woman to work a part time job, even if she has kids. It depends upon the nature of the job, how much time it requires, etc. She might be able to be a "keeper at home" and still have some sort of job. The bottom line is whether the job harms the home and makes it impossible for her to fulfill her responsibilities before the Lord. I also don't believe it is wrong for women to work after their children are older. Titus 2:5 is specifically directed to "young women." Young women tend to have young children! Your pastor’s wife works, for example, but her kids are grown and I believe that is something that is strictly between her and her husband.

The couple who wrote to me about separating from the fundamental Baptist church based on the assistant pastor's wife working, etc., did not give me the details of the situation. We don't know whether she had any children, and if she did, how old they were. We don't know how much she worked and what was the nature of her work.

I did not try to get those specific details because I was not writing a treatise on working mothers. I was merely trying to make a larger point, and I stand by it. If you are going to "separate" from churches on that basis you are obviously at liberty to do so, but I believe you will never be satisfied with any church if you go down that road (if you try to be consistent with all of the issues).

Family issues are very important, but they are not the only issues that are important. In fact, the New Testament has relatively less to say about the family than about many other things. I am merely speaking of balance in judging churches. They should be judged by the entirety of the New Testament faith rather than by any narrow realm of issue. I don't say that because I think you don't believe that, but merely to reinforce my position.

Sincerely, Brother Cloud