Cheryl Schatz

gengwall,

My “guarding” stuff was kind of shooting from the hip. Suffice it to say that I do not think of Adam as the guardian of Eve so much as the guardian of an environment. I think we are in synch on that note. Having said that, part of guarding an environment does bleed over into protecting the people in that environment.

Yes, I do believe that “guarding” an environment would cause one to “protect” a person. The issue of course would be the reason why one needs protection and the other one issued a responsibility to protect. I believe very strongly that the issue is not one of gender, but of knowledge and responsibility. The one who has been given much, much is required. The principle still holds for us today. If we have knowledge that is needed by another because the other person is in danger of being misled and deceived, then we are required to use that knowledge to protect.

My specific focus was Ephesians 5 and the reasons Paul had in having to rather blatantly point it out to men.

Men do seem to have to be told things directly and more than once! 🙂

The context of Ephesians 5 is that we are to be “imitators of God” (verse 1) willing to learn “what is pleasing to the Lord” (verse 10) and practicing putting ourselves under each other to lift the other person up with our service by being subject one to another (verse 21). Men are then to initiate and model the servanthood code of conduct. While the first man abandoned his sacrifice for his wife, true men of God should follow God’s example and willingly initiate a sacrificial service for their bride. If we can understand this from the passage then verses 23 could be interpreted this way:

Eph 5:23 For the husband is to lead in willing sacrificial service for his wife, as Christ also led in giving himself as a willing sacrificial service for the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
Eph 5:24 But as the church willingly accepts what Christ freely offers her, so also wives ought to accept and lift up their husband’s sacrifice for them and respect him for his service of love.

While a wife is also called to be like Christ-like and to sacrifice herself, the one who is called to take first place as a servant is the man.

We can also note that all of the original apostles who were martyred for their faith were men. While the first man blew it in the garden, allowing his wife to be taken captive by the enemy, God set up a system whereby men now are called to sacrifice (not silence!) in order to pave the way for their women to get past all of the sin-filled traditions that stop a woman from fulfilling her calling as an imitator of God. We see this sacrifice and we praise God for it because it is His will. True godly men of God will initiate our healing, our elevation in society and our ability to serve God and the body of Christ. True godly men will be initiators and examples as they open the doors for us in the church. It is absolutely no problem for me to submit to men in the church as they are opening the spiritual doors for me to minister. I LOVE my brothers in Christ who understand this and who work hard to pass on a godly spiritual heritage that the first man failed in.

I don’t have a problem with the practical application that you outline – indeed I would say part of headship is sacrificing for and serving your spouse so that she can be free to “be all she can be”. (Again, both genders do that, but men seem to need a 2×4 to the head to get it) I simply would never summarize it with the term “source”. It is probably my symantical stumbling block.

Maybe you just don’t quite see what I see. Source can mean fountainhead, initiator, forerunner and provenance. The one who starts the process and by his love and care sees through the process to completion, that to me is a depiction of a godly man.

I concur with all the rest of your sayings. You seem to “get it” about the responsibility of a man. It isn’t about holding back another, but about initiating the giving of oneself.