Frequently I comment on the messages that are given at services on the Sabbath, after I have had some time to reflect and ruminate on them a little bit, and I would like to do so today as well.  Yesterday at services, our associate pastor gave a message that had been adapted from his talk to a recent women’s weekend in Spokane that he had also given in Seattle last Sabbath, and although the scriptures he went to in his message were familiar ones that I have frequently commented upon before [1], what I thought was most worthwhile about the message was the graciousness in which it was given and the framing and approach in which the message was delivered.  As someone who cares a great deal about such matters, I thought it would be worthwhile to share this approach and this framing and discuss how it relates to our view of the gender perspective of the Bible as a whole.  In particular, it is my hope that this framing can help us to understand that the Bible’s discussion of gender roles is something that applies to both men and women on different levels, and is ultimately applicable to everyone in some fashion, which might help us to better deal with each other with a firm sense of justice as well as compassion and mutual understanding.

It is commonplace for those who wish to disparage the moral view of the Bible to attack the Bible as hopelessly sexist and out of date when it comes to its view of gender.  While some might praise the statement that there is no male or female in Christ, there is clearly an expectation of submission to men as the head of household by wives that is viewed by many contemporary women with a high degree of distaste as being a lamentable if not reprehensible relic of patriarchy.  Yet at the same time, the Bible is very clear to note (especially in Paul’s epistles, where these matters come up in various household codes, as well as the letter of 1 Peter, where it also comes up) that the submission of women to men is also tied to the submission of men to Jesus Christ, just as the submission of believers to religious and civil authorities (see, for example, Romans 13) is also directly tied to these authorities also being subservient to the will and laws of God.  Our submission to authority, be it the authority of husbands over wives or that of parents over children, or civil and religious authorities over ordinary citizens and residents of a place or other brethren, is always conditional on that authority being exercised according to God’s ways and God’s will.  No human authority of any kind is absolute, and even though authorities are to be respected, those authorities are continually called upon to be self-sacrificial in their conduct.

It is also worthwhile to note that the submission that women are called to make as women on the physical level is precisely connected on the spiritual level to the submission that all believers are to have towards Christ.  Collectively, all baptized believers are part of the body of Christ, and as such all believers are subject, insofar as we relate to God and Jesus Christ, according to the same submission to Christ’s authority as a husband and God’s authority as a father as is expected of women and children with regards to men on the physical level.  This has obvious implications, not least of which is that human authorities are themselves under authority, that such authorities have a high degree of enlightened self-interest in proving themselves gracious and gentle in the operation of that authority given that they are called to be conspicuously on the receiving end of that exercise of authority, and that human authorities are called upon to exercise the self-sacrificial and godly leadership of Jesus Christ, who being preeminent was quick to serve others rather than seek to be served himself as is the custom among the rulers of the heathen.  To the extent that we are conscious of being under authority, we can be gracious and mild in our exercise of the authority that we have been given, and I thought our associate pastor did a particularly good job at both stating this as well as demonstrating it in his message.

After all, we live in a world where many people (among whom I must include myself) who are very prickly about the way that authority is exercised because of our own experiences with abusive and tyrannical authorities.  That extreme sensitivity can make it difficult for authorities to perform their God-given functions, not least because authorities in general do not wish to run roughshod over others and to rule with coercion but rather seek to be obeyed willingly and freely.  When authorities view their own behavior in the offices they hold as mild and gentle and others respond to it with alarm and distress, it can often be a source of considerable distress to those leaders, who wish not to be feared but to be loved by those whom they rule over.  Yet we also live in a world where believers are being trained to become rulers in the kingdom of God, and in order to be a good ruler over others, one must be able to gracefully handle being under the authority of others.  No one who does not rule over themselves nor can handle being under authority is going to be given rule for eternity by God and Jesus Christ in the world to come.  For all authorities that will exist in that glorious age will be subject at least to the authority of God and Jesus Christ and obedient to their ways and their will, and also under the godly authority of who knows how many other layers of authority.  Unless we learn how to submit ourselves to authority here and now we will not be trusted with power over others later, and to the extent that we abuse the power we are given here and now, we will suffer judgment not only for our behavior but for the way that we have made it harder for other people to submit to God and those authorities that are under Him.  When seen in that light, it is always to be appreciated when someone deals with the thorny matter of gender roles in such a way that reminds us that none of us escape the application of those roles on some level, and thus it behooves us to be cognizant and responsive to that reality in such a way that we do not demand the submission of others that we are unwilling or unable to demonstrate ourselves in turn.  For by the standard we hold others accountable to we will be held accountable ourselves in turn.

[1] See, for example:

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