Spotting Gemstones
Apropos of nothing, I am sharing an edited version of an article I published with Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) in 2022 entitled “Spotting Biblical Gemstones.”
In the rough of the biblical stories, there are treasures gleaming brightly that, for a long time, I did not have the eyes to see.
Consider Phoebe. Her name heads the list of greetings in Romans 16, which tells us that she definitely delivered – and likely even read and interpreted – the letter we know as Romans to the house churches that met in the city of Rome. There is a woman in the New Testament who led a church, took dangerous risks, and interpreted scripture. But, for so long, I couldn’t see her.
Neither could I see Priscilla, who taught the silver-tongued preacher Apollos,1 or Mary or Junia, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus’s mother, Julia, or Neurus’ sister – all of whom are women that Paul greets by name in the sixteenth chapter of Romans. These women are described as Paul’s co-workers, women who work hard on behalf of others or in the Lord, women who played a mothering role that mattered to the community of Christ followers. And at least one – Junia – is incredibly described as “outstanding among the apostles.”2
I couldn’t see Euodia and Syntyche as anything other than quarrelsome women, because, if they were acknowledged at all, they were nothing more than squabbling sisters. I didn’t recognize that they were actually leaders in the church in Philippi, women who were important enough for Paul to mention and advise.3
I couldn’t see Lois and Eunice, women whose strong faith shaped the life of their son/grandson, Timothy. I only saw the young Timothy – a close friend and even protegee of Paul.4 Of the people who raised him to be such, I knew little to nothing.
I couldn’t see Lydia, a wealthy businesswoman who provided for Paul in the city of Philippi.5 For that matter, I never heard that Mary, Jesus’s own mother, was prominent in the early church, present alongside the other men and women who met and prayed and experienced the outpouring of God’s promised Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.6
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These names might sound obscure – and maybe they are. But they should not be. These women’s names are scattered like gemstones throughout our New Testament writings. And they are worthy of our notice, our curiosity, our wonder, our gaze.
What, for instance, might it have been like to share a business and ministry with Paul, as Priscilla did? Did she and her husband Aquila have late-night “what do we do with a problem like Apollos” sessions?
How dedicated did brave Lydia have to be to accept Paul and his companions back into her household after Paul and Silas had been advised that they’d best leave town if they wanted to avoid prison time or more violent trouble?
What did Junia do to be outstanding among the apostles? Could I be known as the same?
There is a great cloud of witnesses – women who served God’s church through a variety of means – leadership, financial support, teaching, praying, offering hospitality, and countless others. Those of us who serve the church do so following in the footsteps of faithful women, whose names glitter throughout the scripture like precious stones.
Photo by Irina Iacob on Unsplash
See Acts 18.
Romans 16:7.
See Philippians 4:2-4.
2 Timothy 1:5.
Acts 16.
Acts 1:14.