God also said: Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; May he rule over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the sky, over the domestic animals, over the whole earth and over all the reptiles that crawl on the land. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; man and woman created them. And God blessed them and said: Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; He reigns over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the sky, and over all the animals that crawl on the land. And God said: Behold, I have given you all the herbs that give seed, and that are on the face of all the earth and on all the trees, in which there is fruit that gives seed; It will be yours for the food. And for all the beasts of the earth, and for all the birds of the sky, and for all the reptiles of the earth, in which there is a breath of life, all green grass will be for food. And so it was done. God saw everything he had done, and lo and behold, it was fine. And it was the evening and the morning of the sixth day (Genesis 1: 26-31).
One of the theological strengths of the thirty years of ministry of the Baptist Church of Bethlehem is how we understand God’s plans for how men and women relate to each other in family, church, and society. we say we are complementary?based on the word ‘complement’. In other words, we believe that when it comes to human sexuality, the greatest demonstration of God’s glory, the greatest joy in human relationships, and the greatest fertility in ministry occur when the profound differences between men and women are accepted and celebrated as complementary to each. another to the other. They complement each other and beautify each other.
- Is it about placing our way of life between two types of error: on the one hand.
- The abuse of women under male domination and.
- On the other hand.
- The denial of gender differences.
- When they have a beautiful meaning.
- That.
- On the one hand.
- Complementarities recognize and deploy the history of mistreatment of women.
- Personally and systematically.
- And the current ills.
- At the global and local level.
- Of the exploitation and depreciation of women and girls; and.
- On the other hand.
- Complementarys deploy feminist and egalitarian impulses that minimize the differences.
- Given by God.
- Between men and women and sub-invest the order that God has designed for the fulfillment of our life in common.
Thus, complementarys resist the impulses of a sexist, dominant and abusive culture on the one hand, and the impulses of a sexually blind and unisex culture that seeks to match genders, on the other. And we are between these two forms of life not because the happy medium is a safe place (it is not at all), but because we believe it is God’s right plan in the Bible. For both men and women. ” All right,” as it says in Genesis 1.
In fact, I would say that the attempt at feminism to remedy male abuse of women by nullating gender differences fails and produces millions of men whose women cannot enjoy because of their impurity, or cannot bear it because of their brutal and distorted masculinity. We do not teach children the truth, beauty and value of their differences, and how to live them, these differences do not mature in a healthy, but dysfunctional way. And comes a generation of young adults who just don’t know what it means to be a mature man or a mature woman; and the cultural price we pay is huge.
The way I would like to address this is to go from the general to the specific: a word about the human being, an illustration of being male and female, and then a specific text to show the biblical basis.
Let me start by saying a word about the human being. My first Sunday in Bethlehem, the night of July 13, 1980, I preached a message entitled “Life is not trivial”. Told:
Every human being feels from time to time the desire that life should not fade as if it flowed from a faucet. You have all proven that your desire for everyday life is more than a series of trivialities. This desire can occur to you when you read a poem, when you are kneeling in your room, when you are by the lake at sunset. This often happens at birth and death.
I quoted Moses in Deuteronomy 32:46-47: “Apply your heart to all the words I speak to you today, so that you may command your children to take care to fulfill all the words of this law. Because this word is not an empty word for you, rather, is this your life?
In the background of every human being created by God, who bears the emblem of humanity created in the image of God, there is a desire for life, so that it does not make sense. Don’t be trivial, frivolous, insignificant. I recently read this quote from police novelist Agatha Christie (1896-1976):
I like to live. Sometimes I’ve been out of control, desperate and extremely miserable and in the clutches of sadness, but, despite everything, I still know very well that being alive is already a great thing.
I think it’s wonderfully true. Being a living human being is a great thing, you haven’t had all those weird and wonderful moments when you stand by a window, or a door, or anywhere, and suddenly, spontaneously and powerfully, you realize: I’m alive. I’m alive. Not like a tree or a rabbit, but like a human being. I think, I feel, I desire, I repent and I suffer. Alive. Made in the image of Dieu. Is that a good thing?
That’s good. And part of the greatness of being a living human being created in god’s image is that you are a man or a woman. “That is why God created man in his image, in the image of God, created him; Do men and women believe them?(Genesis 1. 27). No one is a human being whose sex is indeterminate. There is no such thing. God never wanted such a thing to exist. God creates men and women. And that’s a good thing. .
It is a distortion of these human natures to think that God’s only purpose in differences was to make and care for babies. The differences are too numerous and too deep for such a superficial explanation. A woman is a woman who cares for the depths of life. his humanity. And a man is a man who cares for the depth of his humanity. And that’s a great thing. So my first point is that God did a great thing by making us a man and a woman, in his image. Do not stop. Enjoy it. Rejoice to be alive and to be the man or woman that you are.
Let me create an illustration to illustrate some of the differences between masculinity and femininity. Can an image be worth a thousand words? Even the image of a word.
Suppose that among young adults on a college campus, a child and a woman, say 20, engage in a conversation before worship. He likes what he hears and sees and says, “Is anyone sitting next to you?”They sit together. They see how others are involved with God in worship.
When the service ends and they leave, he says, “Do you have plans for lunch?Would I like to take you to lunch?” At this point, she may indicate that she is not interested: “I have some plans. But thank you?. Or you can point out otherwise: “Yes, but let me make a call. I think I can change them, would I like to leave?”
Neither has a car, so he suggests walking to a restaurant on a nearby avenue, about 10 minutes from the church, while walking he discovers that she has a black belt in martial arts and that she is one of the best in the area. As they walk, two men stand threateningly and say, “Beautiful girlfriend, you are a lucky man. We want your purse and wallet. In fact, is it as beautiful as you want it?
Thought crosses his mind: “Can you take these kids down?”But instead of going back and hiding behind her, he takes her arm, pulls her back and says, “You’ll only touch her if she’s in my corpse. “
When they attack him, he confronts them both and tells him to run, knock him out, but before the two men know what hit them, she knocks them out and makes them lose some teeth. Then a small crowd gathers. The police and the ambulance arrive and she enters the ambulance with the young man who begins to regain consciousness, on the way to the hospital her main thought is: this is the kind of man I want to marry.
The main point of this story is to illustrate that the deepest differences in masculinity and femininity are not higher or lower abilities. There are very deep arrangements or inclinations written in the heart, although often very distorted. Notice three crucial things.
First, he took the initiative and asked if he could sit next to him and if he wanted to have lunch, and suggested the place and how to get there, she clearly understood what she was doing and responded spontaneously according to her wishes. joined the dance. That doesn’t say anything about superior planning skills. God writes the impulse to direct to a man’s heart and the wisdom to discern and enjoy it in a woman’s heart.
Secondly, he said he wanted to take her to lunch, which she’s paying for. This sends a signal from the young man: “I think that’s part of my responsibility. At this small moment in life, I take the initiative, should I toast?”She understands and approves. She supports the initiative and kindly accepts the offer. to be served by him. She moves on to the next stage of choreography. And that doesn’t say anything about who is the richest or the most capable of making a profit. This is what God’s man thinks he should do.
Third, it is irrelevant to the male soul that a woman she is with has greater self-defense skills. Your deep, masculine, God-given impulse is to protect you. It’s not a matter of superior competence. It’s a matter of masculinity. She saw that. She was not underestimated for it, but honored and loved.
At the heart of mature masculinity is The Feeling of God (disposition, inclination) that the primary responsibility (not the sole responsibility) is with him in terms of leadership, provision and protection, and at the heart of mature femininity is meaning (disposition, inclination). ) given by God that none of this implies his inferiority, but that it will be a beautiful thing to be with this man and to affirm and happily receive this kind of leadership, provision and protection.
For those who disagree with this complementary vision, the likely criticism would be that all of this is determined by culture. “It’s not innate and it doesn’t come from God. ” They would say that supplements simply reflect the house in which he grew up and the prejudices of his childhood.
Now it’s possible. Everyone makes assumptions and preferences about this problem. The question is, “God reveals his will about these things in his word. “
Let us first look at a biblical text dealing with marriage and then one that deals very briefly with the church In both texts, sacrificed, humble, loving and Christlike men must assume the primary responsibility for leadership, supply and protection. They are called to come with these men, to support this direction and to advance the kingdom of Christ with the full range of their gifts according to the means established in the scriptures.
First, a text on marriage and home, Ephesians 5. 22-33
Women are subject to their own husbands, as to the Lord; because the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the church, who is the savior of the body. However, since the church is subject to Christ, women are also subject to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wife, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her, to sanctify her, having purified her by washing the water with the word, to present her to himself a glorious Church, without spot. , or wrinkle, or something similar, but sacred and flawless. Therefore, husbands must love their wives as much as their bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated their own flesh; on the contrary, it nurtures and cares for it, as Christ does with the Church; because we are members of your body. [Then, quoting Genesis 2:24] Therefore, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. This mystery is great, but I mean Christ and the church. Yet you, each one of you, also love your own wife as yourself, and the wife respects her husband.
Here are four observations in this text:
Thus, a complement concludes that biblical leadership for the husband is the divine call to assume the primary responsibility of directing, protecting, and providing his home as a servant of Christ, and biblical submission to women is the divine call to honor and affirm her husband’s leadership. and help him achieve it according to his gifts. ” Help that suits you best,” as Genesis 2:18 says.
We don’t have time to develop arguments about how this applies to the church, so I’m just going to make a few brief comments so they know how we, as complements, understand that. In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul says, “I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise the authority of a man. “In this context, we understand that the primary responsibility of government and teaching in the church must be assumed by spiritual men. These are the two functions that distinguish the elders from the deaconos: government (1 Tim 5. 17) and teaching (1 Tim 3. 2). Therefore, the clearest way to apply this passage is to say that the elders of the church must be spiritual men.
In other words, since the church is God’s family, the realities of leadership and submission we have seen in marriage (Ephesians 5:22-33) have their counterparts in the church.
This last point is very important. For men and women who care about serving, saving souls, restoring ruined lives, resisting evil, and serving people in need, there are simply endless fields of opportunity. God wants the whole church to be involved in ministry, man and woman. No one should stay home and watch soap operas and sports while the world perishes.
The biblical view of masculinity and femininity is a call for men and women to realize that it is a great thing to be a man made in the image of God, and it is just as great. be a woman created in the image of God. But since the burden of primary responsibility falls on men, let me challenge them primarily.
Is there a moral vision for their families, a zeal for the house of the Lord, a magnificent commitment to the advancement of the kingdom, an articulated dream for the mission of the Church, and a firm desire to make it come true?He drives a devoted woman without him, he’s a great person!
There are hundreds of these men in today’s church and we need more. When the Lord visits his church and creates a powerful army of deeply spiritual, humble, and strong men, faithful to the word of God and the mission of the church, the vast army of women will rejoice in the leadership of these men and enter into a joyful association AND that will be a good thing.