22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
Substitutionary payment of prison time will not fly in today’s culture. Yet when it comes to biblical truth, substitutionary atonement is not a culturally limited concept—this doctrine applies for all time. Only the coldest anti-biblicist would mock the idea as an artifact of an ignorant, unliberal religion. Yet, many today deride the scriptural concept of submission in marriage as being hopelessly archaic. The emotional backlash is remarkably telling. Disagree maybe, but why such venom? Could it be our popular, western culture has echoed in the hearts of many otherwise Bible-committed Christians? The idea of group-think seems rather pervasive in this case.
Aren’t women equal to men (see Galatians 3:28)? Are they not as smart as men, as responsible? In some cases, are not women physically stronger and can they sometimes run faster than men? In all these cases, yes. Yes, that is, speaking generally from our human perspective. Interestingly, we cannot avoid differences, try as we might to find cases to prove otherwise. Even in athletic competition, the exceptions don’t sway the obvious “rule” that men are generally faster and stronger than women. The Olympics separate men from competing with women. Western societies still maintain separate public restrooms. So who decides which differences are legitimate and which are “cultural?”
A case can be made that our current generation is trying to force a “sameness” of the sexes, but in reality is proving the exception to the rule, that is, as defined by God. In the Bible, we find that God sees a difference, and this can be traced back to creation. At the genesis of human life, the record shows that God didn’t create a generic human being and then distinguish this un-sexual being into two sexes. No, the first human was created as a man, the second as a woman (see Genesis 1-2). Sexuality is inherent to creation itself. The differences can be seen in the rest of the biblical story of humankind. (for a fuller discussion of this, see “A Cosmic Drama,” by Chuck Gianotti).
So we can’t so easily dismiss the Holy Spirit’s teaching here through Paul as being culturally limited and therefore irrelevant to our present day situation. Admittedly, the teaching of this passage is radical, but it is not to be dismissed. Marriage today is proving to be a disaster, and sexual confusion is rampant. It makes sense to give God’s way a better look.
Lord, help me see the beauty and wisdom of a radical standard for marriage.
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