In response to various comments about headship within marriage, I have 2 points to make:
1. When God made woman, he said 'it is not good for the man to be alone'.
If, as a result of wanting to shield the inadequacies of a man, or due to gross distortions of scripture, etc., the end result is that man is to carry the ultimate decision making responsibility in a marriage, then he is still alone. The woman has not ultimately been able to help him.
2. If by headship, Paul meant that the man dishes out the orders to the wife and the wife must obey, just as Christ is the head of the man, and this supposed equality of role differentiation is God's way of ordering the world, then how come Christ never tells the man what to do? This argument that the man is the head of the woman in practice is nothing more than a theological justification for the slavery of the woman in the marriage. If I am wrong, then I would invite any husband here to tell me when was the last time Christ intervened in his marriage and said do this or do that? When was the last time the man had to do what he was told? Even the most spiritual of you would not be able to point to more than a couple of occasions in an entire lifetime when Christ led the man to do some specific thing. That is not what headship means. Headship is explicitly defined in the New Testament as sacrificing yourself for the wife. There is no need to look elsewhere for an explanation.
1. That is not an accurate interpretation. It was not good for Adam to be alone so God made him a helpmate, from the man himself. To say that " man is to carry the ultimate decision making responsibility in a marriage, then he is still alone" certainly does not mean that she has not been able to help him.
Having a final authority does not mean that there was no input by others. This is how life functions, in many realms. We do this in business and politics all the time.
A family is not a democracy. The children (nowadays people are so messed up so I know some function this way, but it is not the norm ) do not have an equal say in family matters. In a good Christian marriage, a wife is able to voice her concerns and have the husband prayerfully consider them before making a final decision. When this is done, they can agree together. It is not very often that the husband has to make an "ultimate decision", as it were. If there is disagreement between the spouses, the wife has given her input but the husband feels it is not in the best interest of the family, then his final word stands. He is the head/leader of the relationship.
2. We as Christians are told what to do, it is called the Bible. It is our source of faith and practice. It tells us how to live our lives so they are pleasing to God.
Headship is more than just being a figure head and it is not being a slave driver either. This is where men have indeed abused the Scriptures and their role as head of the home. That does not mean that it is wrong...or that we should have a knee-jerk reaction. The Bible tells us repeatedly that a woman is to submit to her husband in all things. Men and women complement each other. We do stand equal before God in value but we do have different roles. If it is abused that is a result of sin.
Christ submitted to the Father and women are to submit to their husbands, whether people like that concept or not, it is Biblical and the model of what God put down for us to follow. Submission does not mean slavery or abuse.
Historically, we have seen abuse of this model by ungodly and overbearing men who rule as tyrants instead of loving husbands....this is wrong.
Equally wrong is how many men today have been emasculated and have handed over their own responsibilities to the women to be the main bread winners..... and then men are donning aprons and dusting instead of taking on their own roles as provider and protector.
There is freedom in Biblical roles. It is when women want to be men and the men let them because they are not man enough themselves....it is nothing but disorder and disharmony.
The idea of role differentiating can be just another way of making the woman do as she is told. Human nature is free. It cannot be put in a box. And whilst it is true that most top scientists, mathematicians, etc. are men, there have still been a significant number of women innovators, etc in history. The woman's make up renders her suitable for certain roles and unsuitable for others, just as is true for men also. But that does not mean that women and men must always fulfil those roles and no others. Each individual is free to be the person they want to be. That is the fundamental nature of humanity.
Nothing stops a woman from being a rocket scientist or a man a child minder. And nothing says that a woman has to bear children.
A woman is capable of being a rocket scientist , there is no doubt. I personally have a BSc and run a small business that does nearly $1M a year. I think women are more than capable in many areas. The question isn't can she be one, rather, should she be one? Is she married, does she have children? Is this something that she wants to do instead of those things? If she is neglecting her children and husband to pursue her career, regardless of what it is, she is disobeying Scripture. It would really depend on her situation. A single woman must be able to provide for herself, but a married woman should not be pursuing a career at the neglect of her family. I am not saying a woman should never work outside the home, I stated, at the neglect of her family.
A man being a child minder... this is another story. Nowhere in the Scriptures do we see that this should be an option for a man. It is always the woman who is busy at home, not the husband. How a man would even want to do this and give up his role to provide for the family, is beyond me. Even if the wife has a higher earning potential, it is something I loathe seeing a man do. We have roles for a reason, it really is how God made us. I know people reject that, but I do not see how Christians would want to model something other than what the Bible says, for their family life.
I believe if more energy and desire was put into fulfilling the roles laid out for us in Scripture instead of chasing after other roles/money/achievements in a covetous manner, more people would be very satisfied in their homes.
