Preface to a complete book available free online here

Preface This little book was originally published as chapter 2 of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. We coedited that book and wrote several of the chapters, including this one. Even as early as the 1970s, we were waving the flag of biblical complementarianism (not yet called that) over the emerging gender-leveling impulses of what was then called evangelical feminism or egalitarianism. In the decades since, the response to issues of manhood and womanhood has been neither simple nor unilateral. There is cause for joy and sorrow. On the one hand, our culture in general has moved with stunning speed away from any Christian consensus on what is right and wrong in the matter of sexual ethics. The flashpoint has moved from male headship to homosexuality. This is no surprise to us, and you can see what we saw coming by reading question 41. The ethical and hermeneutical step from rejecting gender as a factor in what marital couples do to rejecting it as a factor in who marital couples are was a small one. If gender does not count in what the spouse does, then gender doesn’t count in who the spouse is. That is where our culture has come. On the other hand, there has been a resurgence of churches and younger Christians who take their Bibles seriously enough Preface that they are willing to walk dramatically out of step with this culture. They see in the Bible a vision of manhood and womanhood that does not blur the sexes but puts their differences in dazzling color. These churches see the complementarian vision as life-giving for both men and women. They think this is what God has taught. And they believe God is wise and good. His ideas for sexuality are most beautiful and most satisfying. Most important, the highlighting of male and female differences in the dynamics of marriage puts Christ and his church on display with the greatest clarity. In Ephesians 5, Paul presents the marriage of man and woman as a parable of Christ’s covenant relationship with his bride, the church. The husband is to take his cues from the sacrificial leadership, protection, and provision given by Christ, and the wife is to take her cues from the clearheaded respect and glad submission that the redeemed people give to Christ. Together, in this profoundly loving and Christ-exalting relationship, husbands and wives create outposts of an alternative kingdom in this world. In these kingdom outposts, called families, they aim to raise disciples of Jesus who are wise, bold, and risk taking. And they pray that their families will be a salty witness in a decaying society. From the beginning, God meant for marriage to magnify the beauties of this divine-human covenant. Both egalitarianism and so-called “homosexual marriage” effectively nullify this marital parable of Christ and the church. It is gratifying to see how many younger Christians grasp the theological significance of marriage and choose to embrace the biblical vision of complementarity, lived out in thriving, mission-oriented churches. When a person begins to take this vision seriously, questions of biblical interpretation and practical application multiply. 14 Preface     50            Crucial Questions An Overview of Central Concerns about Manhood and Womanhood John Piper and Wayne Grudem ® Furnished by Rick Livermore Webmaster220 San Juan Capistrano California –  https://rick-livermore-on-blogger.blogspot.com/