Mans
Jun 25, 2006 Print This Post
//MOOD: Great
//NOISE: Kids Watching VeggieTales
It was an interesting weekend around Riverview. As you may know, we are going through topics that the people in our church want us to teach on. It has been a cool exercise.
Well, this weekend Mark taught on Biblical Masculinity. This was a topic that came up a bunch in the requests for teachings.
After the service on Saturday, he wanted to talk about the message.
Basically, he was nervous about how the message was received, because the topic of male and female roles in the family and church is not a popular one these days. Especially when he referenced the Danver’s Statement, which is this:
Based on our understanding of Biblical teachings, we affirm the following:
1. Both Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, equal before God as persons and distinct in their manhood and womanhood (Gen 1:26-27, 2:18).
2. Distinctions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human heart (Gen 2:18, 21-24; 1 Cor 11:7-9; 1 Tim 2:12-14).
3. Adam’s headship in marriage was established by God before the Fall, and was not a result of sin (Gen 2:16-18, 21-24, 3:1-13; 1 Cor 11:7-9).
4. The Fall introduced distortions into the relationships between men and women (Gen 3:1-7, 12, 16).
* In the home, the husband’s loving, humble headship tends to be replaced by domination or passivity; the wife’s intelligent, willing submission tends to be replaced by usurpation or servility.
* In the church, sin inclines men toward a worldly love of power or an abdication of spiritual responsibility, and inclines women to resist limitations on their roles or to neglect the use of their gifts in appropriate ministries.5. The Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, manifests the equally high value and dignity which God attached to the roles of both men and women (Gen 1:26-27, 2:18; Gal 3:28). Both Old and New Testaments also affirm the principle of male headship in the family and in the covenant community (Gen 2:18; Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:18-19; 1 Tim 2:11-15).
6. Redemption in Christ aims at removing the distortions introduced by the curse.
* In the family, husbands should forsake harsh or selfish leadership and grow in love and care for their wives; wives should forsake resistance to their husbands’ authority and grow in willing, joyful submission to their husbands’ leadership (Eph 5:21-33; Col 3:18-19; Tit 2:3-5; 1 Pet 3:1-7).
* In the church, redemption in Christ gives men and women an equal share in the blessings of salvation; nevertheless, some governing and teaching roles within the church are restricted to men (Gal 3:28; 1 Cor 11:2-16; 1 Tim 2:11-15).7. In all of life Christ is the supreme authority and guide for men and women, so that no earthly submission-domestic, religious, or civil-ever implies a mandate to follow a human authority into sin (Dan 3:10-18; Acts 4:19-20, 5:27-29; 1 Pet 3:1-2).
8. In both men and women a heartfelt sense of call to ministry should never be used to set aside Biblical criteria for particular ministries (1 Tim 2:11-15, 3:1-13; Tit 1:5-9). Rather, Biblical teaching should remain the authority for testing our subjective discernment of God’s will.
9. With half the world’s population outside the reach of indigenous evangelism; with countless other lost people in those societies that have heard the gospel; with the stresses and miseries of sickness, malnutrition, homelessness, illiteracy, ignorance, aging, addiction, crime, incarceration, neuroses, and loneliness, no man or woman who feels a passion from God to make His grace known in word and deed need ever live without a fulfilling ministry for the glory of Christ and the good of this fallen world (1 Cor 12:7-21).
10. We are convinced that a denial or neglect of these principles will lead to increasingly destructive consequences in our families, our churches, and the culture at large.
But while we were talking, several women came up and thanked him for the message. While he was hanging at my house this afternoon, he told me that continued the whole weekend. Married woman told him that they are so glad their husbands heard his message. Single women talked about needing that kind of man in a future spouse. That struck me big time. While the complementarian view of male and female roles may not be popular in our culture at large, it really resonates with how God has created us. One of the biggest testimonies to that fact were all these women who were excited about the message.
I’m really proud of Mark for fighting for an unpopular doctrinal position.
Technorati Tags: cbmw, complimentarian, danversstatment, manhood, womanhood
June 25th, 2006 at 7:12 pm
Yeah, give him props from me too. He did a great job of laying it all out there about what Biblical views of gender roles without apology, but didn’t at all seem chauvinistic (at least to me). Well done Mark.
June 25th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
pass along props for me as well…
oh… and… um… send some of those single girls my way :-X
June 25th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
Are you man enough to handle them????
Just Joking
June 25th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Oh yeah, I had a serious thought too. It reminded me of my first time ever at Riverview, when you spoke on homosexuality. Like that time, I was totally impressed (1) to see a church address a tough issue, (2) approach it Biblically and honestly and (3) not coming across Pat Robertson-esque but rather fair, respectful and loving towards that may feel offended.
That night I heard you teach I knew Riverview was home, and hearing you and the other pastors like Mark continue in that way helps me know Riverview will be home for a long time to come.
June 25th, 2006 at 9:55 pm
So glad to hear about the truth taught at Riverview this weekend. I know first hand the problems that arise when those God-given roles get fuzzy or completely mixed up. I wish more churches taught on and practically encouraged the practice of these truths. Does Mark want to come to Orlando and share these things here?
Always good to read your posts, Noel. I’m so pleased to see, if from a distance, the things the Lord is doing in, around and through you. Say hey to Grace&Co for me!
June 26th, 2006 at 9:34 am
Can I exchange some props for nice single gal?
June 28th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Even many non-Christian women that I know accept what I would consider a “complimentarian” view. I believe that when we get down to brass tacks and don’t let selfishness get in the way, our roles (at least in marriage) can be self-evident.
June 29th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
” (3) not coming across Pat Robertson-esque but rather fair, respectful and loving towards that may feel offended.”
Uhh…except that Pat Robertson contributed to the Danver’s statement, making it automatically Pat Robertson-esque, and Tammy Lahaye-esque! Shocking!
I wasn’t offended though. What always trips me up in the gender role discussion is where women can take on leadership roles. It seems that the only way for the church to allow women into some roles is if the men decide to entertain the notion. That always makes me uncomfortable because I don’t trust myself or other men to be willing to relinquish anything like authority. Which is actually one of the points in the Danvers statement (point 4). So what makes me nervous is that if we are wrong in our interpretation only the men can challenge the wrongness but in doing so we can’t sort out if we are only looking at it because culture has made us uncomfortable or because the Spirit is stirring us to look at these issues until we align with God’s intention.
Also, when people try to talk about “how to be a man” they can’t seem to avoid talking about “how to be a good person”. Humility and integrity aren’t traits of manhood, they’re traits of personhood. What is confusing is what makes us good men instead of just good people.
It’s odd, because this issue doesn’t really bother me normally, until there is a talk about it and I start trying to think it through.
But I thought Mark did a good job of dishing out a difficult statement, he did a boss-hog job.
September 7th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/2006/02/literal-renderings-of-texts-of.html
Right…this blog stirs up the pot for me too. His interpretation of Tim 2 makes my conscience twinge and causes me to wonder if the church is doing the devil’s work regarding women’s roles.