It's been a busy month, and in some ways I feel bad about my inactivity on this blog. But at the same time so much of my reading and study is going towards the masculine journey which is the subject of the new blog. When you add up the two of them the total is average of what I used to do on here. In the future when I am able to get back into a Church setting full time I'm hoping to be able to blog equally on both, but for now my heart is really in the place of the new one and it will get the majority of my time.
But sometimes something hits me from that blog that though along similar lines doesn't fit with where the post line is going. Such is the case with this one. On Man of God... I'm in chapter 10 of Wild at Heart which is titled "A Beauty to Rescue". It's an essential aspect of a man's life, because in some ways it's what his life has been created for and preparing for. To be clear, life is about more than marriage and finding the person you're supposed to spend your life with. But keep in mind that in a God centered marriage we have the chance to see the full image of God displayed to creation. Both haves of the image, the strong and powerful side brought by the man, and the beautiful, nurturing side brought by the woman, come together as one.
The masculine journey is about a man reclaiming his heart. It is about coming to know and reveal the image of God that he has been created in. And as he learns about and learns to use his strength, it is his calling to use that strength to rescue the beauty. The feminine heart has been assaulted by the Enemy in an attempt to keep the two halves from joining to together. A man must recover his strength if he is ever to going to rescue the beauty and join his half to hers.
As I read and wrote last night my mind went I came across a quote in the text that really hit me, "I wanted to look like the knight, but I didn't want to bleed like one." At that moment I thought of my wedding ring. I picked this one out because of the grooves cut into it, they reminded me of the stripes that Christ received before He was crucified. The point of the ring was to be a constant reminder that I am to love my wife as Christ loves the Church. Christ bled for the Church.
And as I realized this my mind went to Ephesians 5.25, the verse that is the reason for my ring, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her". This is the part of the letter that is mine to read. I had a professor in college who told me that it isn't his job to point out verse 22 to his wife and command her to follow it, it is his job to learn and live verse 25. That is my job as a husband. But in this post I'm going to talk about verse 22 as well, not to my wife, but to the women of the Church with the hope that we might begin to understand our roles and see our lives in the midst of the battle that we are in.
Men and women are clearly different. As soon as I said the world battle at the end of the last paragraph I bet I lost the attention of, or at least didn't hit the heart, of the women who read this. Men were made for the battlefield. We are naturally aggressive, dangerous, and love to test our strength, or at least we were created to be that way. And while our strength is for the service of God, part of that service is rescuing the princess. God said in Genesis 2, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." But ever since Genesis 3 the woman has been under attack, as has the man.
The Enemy works to take our the image of God we bear. That is his only objective. With men he goes after our strength. He works to emasculate us and, honestly, feminize us. If we become passive and spineless, God's strength ins't seen. And without our strength we cannot rescue the beauty, we cannot offer it to her, and we cannot use it to create new life. The strength of men has been given to them so that they may spend it serving others. And sometimes that means using it in life threatening situations. Sometimes that means being willing to give everything just so that others might be free.
Without our strength, the strength of God, it is impossible for a husband to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. It is impossible for a man to bleed like a knight if he doesn't have the strength to suit up and take on the dragon.
Women are different, they are gentle, nurturing, and beautiful, that is the part of the image of God they are created in. Now I am not saying that women are not powerful, and strong, just do something to any of my mother-in-laws children and you'll see how dangerous a woman can be. But the primary nature of a mother is to nurture and care for her children. She is the one they run to crying after they fall. She is the one that kisses the boo-boos, and comforts the hurt feelings. Not that dad's don't, there are times when he is compassionate and gentle, but over all dad is the protector, mom is the comforter.
And so we have this verse in Ephesians 5 that says, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." It's a verse that I think many women don't like, today especially. When my wife and I were in Israel there was a girl in the class who never said it directly, but you could tell by the other things she said that the idea of submission wasn't in her plans. She had some issues with some of the shop owners because in the middle east men are superior to women, and this can be seen even in how they do business. A man can get a better deal haggling than a woman can. She didn't like this and I recall one night she said in class, "I'm as good as a man."
I believe that this is another tactic of the enemy. If he's trying to emasculate and feminize men, then he's probably working to effeminate and masculinize women. He does whatever he can to attack their beauty and purity to make them feel ugly and dirty. I think he uses anger and pride which makes the idea of submission insulting. And today we have a society made up of guys and girls in opposite roles.
Women lead and men submit. Because of this I think men can struggle to really love their wives. A submissive man can't rescue the beauty and a woman who is leading doesn't want, or even feel the need, to be rescued. Neither can play their part, and so the image of God is undisplayed.
So what is to be done? Honestly, I've just been typing and these sentences have been coming out. My initial thought was that a man bleeds as he is injured using his strength to rescue the beauty, and afterwards the woman tends to his injuries, nurturing him allowing him to delight in her beauty. Delight in, not use for his own pleasure there is a big difference. When a man uses a woman he violates her selfishly taking and giving nothing. But when he delights in her, they come together both willing, both vulnerable, and it is one of the most beautiful things in all of creation, and I'm not talking simply of sex. It is at this moment when the two halves come together as one that the full image of God is revealed and displayed to creation.
Men, we must love our wives as Christ loves the Church. We must recover our strength, and then use it to rescue her. Women, you must submit to your husband. Allow him to rescue you, and when he has, tend to his wounds. This is the way God intended for it to be. Because this is when the two complete halves can come together and reveal what He had in mind all along.
"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."
To God alone be the Glory!
Peace be with you
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