(2 minutes read)
During my first years of ministry I received a phone call from a married lady of our church asking if I could urgently fetch her at the maternity hospital because her husband who was supposed to do it wasn’t answering his phone. Aware that she had just gone through a C section I immediately agreed to transport the mother and baby.
I drove them home and when we got there we discovered why the husband wasn’t answering the phone. Due to his drunkenness he was sound asleep in the sofa of the living room after having vomited and urinated on himself. I offered to help her to take care of him but she resignedly declined and with heroic effort went to shower her spouse beyond taking care of her new daughter and her other two boys.
It is common to hear at church about the unequal yoke, which is the union between a believer and an unbeliever or vice versa. The unequal yoke however is not only limited to the incompatibility of faith; it includes other inequalities as well. Sadly the situation of the sister who called me happens with believers more frequently than we can imagine and it cannot be naturally accepted.
Unfortunately, the biblical teaching that man is the head of the woman has been understood out of context fuelling the idea of the female servanthood to irresponsible men. When in reality, this is only part of a broader and deeper teaching where both must submit themselves to Christ and one to the other in an environment of true love.
Under the lordship of Christ there is no room for superiorities, totalitarianisms or discriminations in whatever context let alone in the marriage relationship. Men and women do have the image and resemblance of God and therefore must learn to share life as equal companions.
- Which are some of the inequalities that culturally exist in marriage?
- How could equalitarian marriages be built?
(Unequal yoke, 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 / Equal yoke, Galatians 3:27-28)
Patriarchy creates inequalities in a set up that is supposed to be equally yoked. Also commitment in prayer to always choose the right partner.
ReplyDeleteCertailnly marriage under the "Redemption" is not the dominance of man but the Lordship of Jesus!
DeleteProgressive Christianity is a false religion. I choose to follow God's word instead of the opinions of progressive, anti-God activists with an agenda. Collossians 3:18. God's words. Not mine. You folks seem to like twisting scripture to suit your narrative.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! Your concern for correct biblical interpretation is commendable. The key for understanding Colossians chapter 3 is in the first three and lanst three verses of this chapter. "Dead and resurrected with Christ we must look for thing from abobe, therefore everything we do we must do it as for the the Lord because it is Him who we serve". Both, husbands and wives, must submit to the Lord.
DeleteThank you for your reply. I understand Colossians just fine, sir, and its meaning is clear. Yes. Both husbands and wives must submit to the Lord, and wives should submit to their husbands, for it is pleasing to the Lord. The key to understanding Colossians, or the entire Bible for that matter, is to read it as God's word. To read it as the truth. Not reading it to look for ways to twist the truth of God's words to fit a narrative.
DeleteThe problem with words like equalitarian and complementarian is that it tends to suppose that you always need to take that approach in every circumstance. It seems to me at this point (I always leave room to learn and change) that the equalitarian position on women in ministry is justified but the complementarian approach is more sound when it comes to marriage. I am not saying a husband should dominate or even rule his wife – scripture does not teach that. The command to husbands is to love their wives – it never tells a husband to force his wife into submission (that is a misreading of scripture that equalitarians sometime have). The commands to husbands and wives are different and each one is expected to do what God commands them to do and not force the other one to do what they want.
ReplyDeleteWhile the teaching in Ephesians 5 is part of a broader teaching on mutual submission its also clear that the relationships Paul describes (Husband/Wife, Children/Parents, Slaves/Master) reflect examples of how this should operate. The Colossians 3 passage has no direct mutual submission but does frame the command in our service to God (v.17). 1 Peter has a similar view with examples that its hard to contend that they meant anything other than what they actually say. Again, nowhere does it tell a husband to force his wife into submission – that is abuse. It is her free choice to submit or not. It seems to me scripture teaches she should (not forced but freely from a willingness on her part to and from her submission to Christ).
The equalitarian view is often that submission is part of the punishments from the fall. If that were so then the NT would not be commanding the Redeemed wives to be in submission to their husbands. The equalitarian logic falls short as do their Biblical interpretations. But the Bible does not say to any husband: “force your wife to submit.” Both the equalitarian and the complementarian can agree on that.
Dear reader, thank you for your comment. We must not allow semantics to cloud our understanding. If women have the image of God they are not inferior than men, and if men have the image of God they are not inferior than women.
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