gengwall

Since my general area of study is marriage, I will take a crack at the Ephesians reference.

There are two primary indicators that “head” does not involve “authority over” as Grudem claims.

1. The headship of Christ in relation to the church is used to create an environmental or relational picture from which to understand the submission of the wife to her husband (and later, the sacrificial service of the husband to the wife). But that submission is of the same kind that all believers are to have in relation to one another within the body. Any time someone in the body submits to another, the other is treated as “head”, yet the relationship contains no authority structure. Believer A’s voluntary attitude of submission toward believer B does not grant believer B any actual authority over believer A. The same is true in marriage. The only difference in marriage is that such submission is particularly difficult for wives toward their husbands. So, the strong word picture of Christ and the church is presented to help wives get over their resistance. It still does not grant the husband any inherent authority over the wife. In fact….

2. The model of Christ as husband/head contains no authoritarian actions. In fact, Christ’s headship as husband is a complete contrast to the worldly model of kephale. Rather than operate as authoritarian ruler over his wife, the church, Christ acts out headship by being a sacrificial servant. Over and over again in scripture this picture of Jesus persists. As “head” he washes the disciples feet. As “head”, he pleads with the Father in prayer that the body may be “one”. As “head”, he insists his followers not to “lord it over” others. As “head” he suffers and dies so his bride can be cleansed. Paul stresses this sacrificial service when addressing the husbands in this passage (and all believers leading up to it). Certainly, no one can have the sense they are an authoritarian ruler over the one submitting to them after they get through with Paul’s description of the “head of the wife”. I challenge any complementarian to show the scriptural basis for husbandly authority in the description of who the head is and what he does as outlined in Ephesians 5:25-30.

Now, Christ is mentioned as “head” with authority in several passages, most notably in the opening of Ephesians (Eph 1:22). But Christ’s authoritarian headship there is not in relation to his bride but in relation to all of creation and for the benefit of the church. So, Christ as head of the universe is not the same as Christ as head of the church, and whereas Christ exercises unlimited authority over the universe, he never does so as husband/head of the church.

So, the answer to Grudem’s question is simple and we don’t have to go outside fo scripture to find it. You see, he forgot to include his proof verse in Ephesians 5 as one of the examples of headship. Right in front of his nose is the example of kephale without inherent authority.