Biblical Manhood - Gender Roles Part 4

The wife’s role is home-centered and supportive. The woman was created as a helper, suitable for Adam. (Genesis 2:20) See also 1 Corinthians 11:9 where Paul writes that she was created for man and not the other way around. She is to have the wonderful ability to support and help him in his calling in life.

Titus 2:4-5 gives a list of roles and attitudes that young women are to be taught by older women in their lives. Among these is “keeper at home”. The word literally means “homeworker”. First Timothy 5:14 advises young women to marry, bear children and manage the home.

In 1 Timothy 5:10 there is a description of the characteristics that women should have if they would be worthy of being supported by the church in their old age. Notice what types of things are part of the condition for support. She is to be the wife of one man and to be well reported for her good works, charity, taking care of the elderly, orphans, etc. Her focus is to be on those kinds of activities.

Husbands, you need to make sure that your wife has the time and resources to carry on this kind of role. She should be supporting you in your calling. She should be caring for your children and the needs of the household. Following that she should be involved in hospitality and ministering to other women and children and those in need such as the poor, shut-ins, etc. From this you can see that if your wife is to fulfill her responsibility, she needs time and energy. That is why it is primarily your responsibility to meet the basic needs of support, protection and maintenance of your home and property. Don’t put these additional burdens on her and divert her from the focus God has for her.

Biblical Manhood - Gender Roles Part 3

Continuing our study of biblical roles for men and women, we find that the role of leadership in the church is given to men. 1 Timothy 2:11, 12 says that the woman is to learn in silence and is not to be in the role of teaching men.

1 Corinthians 14:34, 35 says that women are to have a silent role even to the extent that if they have a question, they are to ask their husband at home. This keeps the roles in the right order. If the wife were to go to some other man such as a pastor or teacher, she would be coming out from under the leadership of her husband and would be showing disrespect for that leadership. Going to her husband with questions also encourages the man to get busy studying and learning and growing in his relationship with God so that he can be all that he should be as a spiritual leader for his wife.

Man’s leadership role is to be carried out with a servant spirit. Consider the following examples of Christ. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. Christ said that He came as one who serves, even though He is the Lord of all. We are to have the same mind that Jesus had when he humbled himself to come here and take the role of a servant, even going to death for us. (John 13:12-17; Luke 22:26, 27; Philippians 2:5-8)

Biblical Manhood - Gender Roles Part 2

We are examining the biblical roles given to men and women. We ended the last article discussing the fact that man’s headship is a federal one. He is responsible for what happens in the family.

The husband is also the spiritual leader or “priest” of the home. He is not literally a priest because each person in the family has a direct relationship with God, but he ministers some priestly functions for his family.

Look at Job’s example. In Job 1:5 we find Job praying for his children as they went about their daily activities in case they may be tempted to stray from following the Lord.

Abraham erected altars to the Lord on behalf of his wife and children. Noah did the same thing. (See Genesis 8:20; 12:7; and 13:4, 18)

There needs to be preparation for this role. This preparation should happen in childhood and then especially in the teen years so that when a man is grown, he will be able to assume these responsibilities. This is why the main thing to be taught to young men according to Titus 2:6 is to be sober minded – that is he should be self controlled and focuses. This begins to wean him away from childish things.

Biblical Manhood - Gender Roles Part 1

This series on Biblical Manhood is taken from a series of Sunday School lessons that I taught to a group of men ages 14 to 40. If you would like to see the entire printed lessons, please check out this page for a list of all of the pdf and audio files for these lessons: http://tinyurl.com/ye9qtnj

The next area we want to study is that of the biblical roles of men and women. This is a somewhat controversial topic these days given the pressure put on us by the philosophy of the world. Just as in any other attempt to follow God’s ideal, the world system, the flesh and the devil all work against it.

So let’s exam what God has to say.

God has given the man the headship in the home and leadership of the church. Ephesians 5:23 tells us that the man is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church. The husband is the one primarily responsible for supplying the family needs such as clothing, shelter and food.

When God cursed Adam and Eve because of their sin, Eve’s curse in Genesis 3:16 was related to child bearing. Adam’s curse according to the next verse was related to his work in the field outside of the home.

The headship of the man is a federal headship. That means that the man answers for the household. Notice that when God went looking for Adam and Eve after the fall, he looked for Adam and spoke to Adam. He was the representative of the family and is the one who had to answer to God for what happened. There is a very good book outlining the idea of the Federal Husband. You can read about it on Amazon here: http://tinyurl.com/yzyx7uw