I left off with noting how Christ Jesus, although equal to the Father, joyfully submits Himself to the will of the Father without diminishing His essential equality with Him, and how I believe that this provides a model for how the roles for men and women in the Church work. I believe that Christ also provides an example for the men in our churches and homes to learn from.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves his own flesh. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
(Ephesians 5:25-29 NKJV)
The husband is given the particular admonition to love and lead his wife in exactly the same way the Lord Jesus Christ does His church. How much did/does He love her? He died an excruciating, humiliating, and painful death on a Roman cross for her. And not only that, He bore God's infinite and eternal wrath and fury on her behalf for the sins of its members. This is a tall order to say the very least!
Further, Christ never hits His Church. He never ignores it. He is never an absentee husband. He never plays around with other "churches". He never just disappears for hours or days to hang out with His friends. He always cares for and protects the Church. He always has her on His mind; always doing what is best and most needful for her. Husbands, let's be that kind of husband and leader and our wives won't have much of a problem following our lead.
So what does all this have to do with church leadership? I'm glad you asked! This passage I believe establishes a pattern of male leadership in the home. According to Paul in 1 Timothy 3, having one's household in order is a prerequisite to being qualified to lead the church.
...if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?
(1 Timothy 3:5 NKJV)
It would be inconsistent of Paul to establish this qualification if male leadership were not clearly on his mind. Only the husband leads the family. A wife is not supposed to lead her family in this way (unless of course she is a single mother; but that is not the ideal situation), therefore, being consistent, she could never meet the qualifications to lead a church.
That being said however, that does not mean simply being a man qualifies you for church leadership. One must still meet the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1; and 1 Peter 5. As we shall see, some men don't meet them. I'm not sure I meet them yet, although I'm working on it.
Once again, I do hope I am coming off with having a loving spirit in all this.
Next time I'll post on the controversial 1 Timothy 2:12-15.
-Christian
