tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68673705382023219282024-03-05T21:30:28.837-08:00JHobbs //ON CHRISTIANITYJon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comBlogger249125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-13233217874670941072050-05-15T12:10:00.023-07:002021-03-18T11:52:39.633-07:00Welcome.<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span>In the menu, you will find links to key sites and articles, and some of my own material from the last 20 years or so in ministry.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>Click an image below to download </span>a free pdf book "Could it be true?" that gives reasons to consider Christianity, "Why we believe" that does similar through 5 min reflections aimed at secondary school children and up, or "Rooted" which provides daily studies covering the essentials of the faith. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mnZKi9073Z9W6q2MOlKyGtrBrSlj9E95/view?usp=sharing" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="565" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz8jOIYD4OrNJcivu1sGpD6xDhd0DjVuvWcodyE6dACdhqrsY9H9y5r4S7EhX6p_LCfESPcTllWn4FyQ-VHdGvqhuEfx3E9Q-IZTGzB-63BXhcckCJb6TH83_xcTVRi9gvegsIVCei-yc/w192-h280/Could+it+be+true.png" width="192" /></a><span style="color: white;">..</span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z2xwwjJ3FeJw850Uay96t48nXvbpJsQ0/view?usp=sharing" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="565" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQsR5RVNfj1VzBh9IpWD1AqTUxgofsLbRAvSLLQ0HLDxuFelPdLy2RkyT4-NInWWZuTYgbqWHOjRd8HQb-1_uEexIn6HgeVEIH8YxxOS1od8ZsKTL12tZXeafFVfSYpD7c7Wy0ZddWEY/w191-h280/why+we+believe.png" width="191" /></a><span style="color: white;">..</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_HCxenJIxOXWt-Bm4VpOrikX0lSkiPvn/view?usp=sharing" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1453" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMHK26JLA65HcziQ_eIb5xTUR0RTEc8QKpyRtHfXjqU1lURPehAKJMdUTqMA4WCbsSSEWkduHxLXGeNmoisiskaxe89accjLp4CQoMzVG5-Glt-VnIKTLaeqAaYz50xlWSPygYs86nIaQ/w190-h269/image.png" width="190" /></a><span style="color: white;">..</span></div></div></div></span></div></div></div>
Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-17526946796995753242023-03-20T08:59:00.006-07:002023-03-23T05:04:47.856-07:00An outline of the bible's teaching on divorce and remarriage<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Divorce and remarriage<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One of the struggles many
of us have on considering Christ or becoming a Christian, is that some of his
teachings can be particularly hard to take. As we progress in the Christian
life and become more and more convinced of the wisdom and goodness of Jesus, we
start to see that these struggles result not from any fault in him, but from a
lack of appreciation for the reasons behind his teachings, or particular
cultural expectations that we have because of the time we live in. And this is
very much the case when it comes to divorce and remarriage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We don’t have space for a
detailed discussion of this subject, which has been hugely debated by Christian
thinkers over the years. Nor can we portray things with the compassionate feel
and sensitivity that we would in conversation. Indeed, it is one thing to
outline the Bible’s teaching as below, but another to apply it. Every situation
needs to be considered in its own right, so if these things affect you, do
please get on touch to talk.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The big picture<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Scripture begins with the
most wonderful picture of what marriage is in the mutual delight of Adam and
Eve. It is the combining of one man and one woman as one flesh, in exclusive,
faithful, lifelong companionship (Gen 2v24). So, at its heart are two things: <i>First,
a covenant commitment </i>before God to hold fast to one another come what may
(Mal 2v14).<i> Second, a spiritual bond </i>bound to sex in which the couple
are like one person (Eph 5v28-31).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The rest of the Bible
enables us to see that in this marriage has two particular purposes: <i>First,
to image God</i> by displaying his exclusive, faithful and never-giving-up love
for his people. So, the Bible ends with a picture of marriage between Christ
and his church, and this is to be the model for the husband and wife (Eph 5v24-25).
<i>Second, to serve God</i> by having and raising children who would be godly,
in knowing and honouring him (Mal 2v15).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What this means, is that
in God’s laws given to Israel through Moses, divorce is never approved of.
However, it is accepted as an inevitable reality in a sinful world, in which
people would divorce their spouses for seemingly inconsequential reasons (Deut
24v1). The focus of legislation was therefore on protecting the wife as she
would have been very vulnerable in the ancient world (Ex 21v7-11). This reminds
us of the need of the church to be caring for those who are hurt by divorce,
rather than coming to the subject with a judgmental spirit. It also implies
that a society’s marriage laws should not be so strict as to lock the
vulnerable into abusive relationships. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here then, we see two
things from the start:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maintaining
one’s marriage when it is hard is supremely important <i>first, </i>to ensure stability
for the flourishing of any children or grandchildren, and of each other, <i>second,
</i>to display God’s own gracious and forgiving love to them and to any others
who look on.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Dissolving
one’s marriage when it is hard is especially serious <i>first, </i>because it
is to undo a commitment made before almighty God, abandoning a relationship he
has brought together, <i>second, </i>because it is to tear apart a bond of
oneness causing inevitable emotional and psychological trauma for ones spouse and
any children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We should add that every
marriage takes place in community. So, where it is persevered with, those
looking on in the church and world are encouraged to persevere with theirs. And
when it is left, others are tempted to leave theirs. God’s concern that the
commitments of marriage are kept are therefore broader than their benefit to the
couple and their children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The teaching of Jesus:
Remarriage is permissible when a spouse has committed adultery, or after
divorce they enter into another sexual relationship.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jesus, however, goes a
step beyond this by clarifying the true realty of divorce and remarriage. He is
asked for an opinion on a debate between two Rabbis in his day with respect to
the Old Testament law: <i>“</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"> (Matt 19v3). Jesus responds as
follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;">“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them
male and female, <b><sup>5 </sup></b>and
said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to
his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? <b><sup>6 </sup></b>So they are no longer two but one flesh. What
therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” <b><sup>7 </sup></b>They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one
to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” <b><sup>8 </sup></b>He said to them, “Because of your hardness of
heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was
not so. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>And I say
to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries
another, commits adultery.” (Matt 19v4-9)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-font-kerning: 0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here, Jesus says a number
of things which support what we’ve already learned:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He
affirms the words of Genesis 2 as God’s words and so giving the definitive
truth about marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He
affirms the oneness and inseparability of the couple because of their
commitment and bond before God.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He
affirms that the law of Moses <i>allowed</i> divorce because peoples hearts
were hard towards obeying God, but didn’t actually <i>approve</i> of it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Adultery and marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Most controversial,
however, is his conclusion in verse 9. It states that to remarry after divorce
is effectively to commit adultery. Of course, we must wonder why. And it is because
of the nature of marriage. We’ve seen it is the exclusive, faithful, lifelong oneness
between a man and a woman, sealed with a covenant commitment and spiritual bond.
And because, as Jesus says, “man” cannot separate this, that oneness remains
even after divorce. So, if one party then remarries, they are committing
adultery.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, we need to note that
Jesus isn’t saying couples in our day know they are doing that. But he is
saying that this is what remarriage logically means because of the nature of
marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course, Jesus does add
one exemption: <i>sexual immorality.</i> Some have argued that in Jesus’
culture where sex before marriage was unthinkable, sex with another during
betrothal was in mind. And that would certainly be included. But the word
refers to all sexual immorality forbidden in old testament passages like
Leviticus 18. So, the wider idea of adultery is also present. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The reason this makes divorce
and remarriage permissible is that the one stipulation of the covenant of
marriage is to <i>“hold fast” to the other in exclusive, lifelong, faithfulness</i>.
So, when this is not done, the marriage covenant can be legitimately dissolved,
freeing the innocent party up to remarry. And in the case of sexual immorality,
a remarriage would not be adulterous as the guilty party would have already broken
the spiritual bond by bonding themselves sexually with another.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Divorce%20and%20remarriage%20paper%202023.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We should note that this seems
to imply that if someone divorced for another reason, but their previous spouse
then entered into a sexual relationship with someone else, that would
effectively break the original bond too, making remarriage permissible in that
instance as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Given all this, we might
ask why Jesus doesn’t mention the exception in Mark 10v11-12 and Luke 16v18, giving
the impression that remarriage is never permissible. Most likely, this is
because all agreed divorce and remarriage was permissible in the case of
“sexual immorality,” and so Jesus didn’t always see the need to mention it. The
debate in his day was about whether it was permissible “for any cause,” and on
this, his words were clear: <i>Remarrying after divorce for any reason is not permissible,
because the previous marriage remains. </i>Nevertheless, in stating that Moses
allowed it because of people’s “hardness of heart” Jesus does imply that within
a secular society like our own, broader grounds for remarriage might be
allowed. His point is rather that Christians, as the people of God’s Kingdom,
should live to a higher standard in this as in everything.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Development by Paul:
Remarriage is permissible when a spouse has deserted the marriage, or so
endangered their partner that they cannot remain.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course, this is
incredibly hard to consider for those stuck in difficult marriages. And here, the
apostle Paul gives more help in 1 Corinthians 7, when writing to a church. For
the sake of space, we will list the relevant points, but encourage you to read
the whole chapter:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An important thread
through it all, is that singleness is preferable as the Christian can focus on
pleasing Christ rather than being caught up with all the anxieties that go with
marriage (v32-35). This is not easy to accept. But it is important to realise
if divorced. We must reject our culture’s assumption that singleness is somehow
to be unfulfilled, and so our greatest concern if our marriage breaks down
should be whether we can remarry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To the “unmarried” Paul,
however, does say that if they can’t exercise sexual self-control, they should
marry (v8-9). It is quite possible, this category includes those who have been
divorced for whatever reason and then become Christians, as he distinguishes
them in the wider passage from widows, Christians who separate from their
spouses, and the betrothed or young virgins. If so, he may be saying that
divorce for whatever reason before becoming a Christian, makes marriage when a
Christian possible (as long as it is to another Christian, as verse 39). However,
we should not assume that is because Jesus’ teaching above doesn’t apply. It
may simply be that it is presumed their previous partner has since entered
another sexual relationship, making this possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To Christians who are
“married,” Paul is clear. They should not separate from their spouses. But if
things are so bad that it is the only way forward, they should remain unmarried
or be reconciled to them at some future point (v10-11). This is entirely consistent
with what Jesus has taught. The marriage bond remains, so marrying another cannot
be an option. Rather, because of their marriage vow, the Christian will display
God’s own faithful and gracious commitment to us in our sin, by their readiness
to bear with their spouse and seek healing for the marriage if they can. This
can be an incredibly powerful testimony to any children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To those married to
non-Christians, however, Paul has another word. The Christian spouse should
stay with them. But if the non-Christian partner wants to separate, the
Christian should let them go (v12-16). Now, we should note that Paul is not
saying if your spouse walks out you can happily divorce them. His wider
teaching implies the Christian would want to see if reconciliation can be
found. No, Paul’s point is that if they want to divorce you, your commitment to
the marriage for Christ’s sake shouldn’t mean you must endlessly fight for it,
because “God has called you to peace” (v15).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In short, like Jesus,
Paul is teaching that the Christian should never abandon their marriage, whilst
recognizing that because of their spouse, sometimes separation or divorce may
be inevitable. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course, if during a
period of separation with a difficult Christian spouse or with a non-Christian
who wants to go, that individual enters another sexual relationship, then the
marriage covenant is broken, and remarriage for the Christian would be an
option. However, even in cases of adultery reconciliation can be sought. And if
it doesn’t occur, Paul commends singleness as preferable to remarriage. There
is certainly wisdom in this for children, as remarriage often complicates their
relationship with their parents causing much strife and hurt.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Desertion and marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just as we consider the
exemption clause with Jesus, here we have another clause to chew on. When the
unbelieving spouse leaves we are told the believing spouse <i>“is not enslaved”</i>
(v15). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some think this simply
means they are no longer bound to seek reconciliation.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Divorce%20and%20remarriage%20paper%202023.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> If that were the case, if
the Christian is deserted, they should still regard themselves as married to
their spouse and so unable to remarry, unless of course, their partner dies or
enters another sexual relationship. One practical consequence of this is that
it keeps the Christian from any hasty action when there is separation, still allowing
for the possibility of reconciliation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">However, Paul is
more likely teaching that the deserted partner is actually free to remarry. Structurally,
he is saying 1/ v8-11 where there is separation/divorce in a Christian marriage
– they should remain unmarried and seek reconciliation. 2/ v12-16 where there
is separation/divorce in a mixed marriage – the Christians is “not enslaved.” The
parallel here imply “not enslaved” contrasts having to remain unmarried <i>as
well </i>as having to seek reconciliation. So, yes, they are no longer enslaved
to the individual and can let them go, but they are also free to remarry. Indeed,
it is hard to see how one can be said to be no longer enslaved if they are
still limited by their previous marriage. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is also supported
by another aspect of structure. Either side of the principle to remain in
whatever condition you are in when becoming a Christian, we read 1/ v12-16 the command
not to separate/divorce one’s unbelieving partner – with the caveat that if
they go you are “not enslaved.” 2/ v20-24 the encouragement not to be concerned
if a slave – with the caveat that if you can you should gain your “freedom.” This
parallel makes sense of Paul’s language of slavery with respect to the marriage,
and underlines the sense of true liberty if deserted. Indeed, ideas of freedom raised
with respect to slavery are assumed later in the passage to mean “free” to
marry (v22, 27, 39). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">On scholar</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
quotes the Jewish legal passage on divorce - Mishnah Gittin 9:3: "Lo, thou
art free to marry any man." He adds: "The ancient Jewish marriage
contracts we have found agree: in the context of divorce, 'free' meant
precisely that the woman was free to remarry, and meant nothing else than this.
If Paul meant that remarriage was not permitted, he said precisely the opposite
of what he meant. No first-century reader would have derived the meaning that
some modern scholars have read into Paul's words..."<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Divorce%20and%20remarriage%20paper%202023.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Obviously
one should be cautious about basing an argument on extra-biblical knowledge
that is unavailable outside the realms of modern academic research.
Nevertheless, this simply supports what we have seen in Paul himself. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
reason Jesus didn’t mention this exemption may well have been that the
Pharisees he engaged on this matter were not themselves faced with desertion by
an unbelieving spouse. And we would have to conclude that what makes it an
acceptable grounds for remarriage is the same one as adultery: it breaks the
covenant by failing to “hold fast” to the other in </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">exclusive,
lifelong, faithfulness.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">We should add
here, that many would disagree with this conclusion. However, even if desertion
does not allow the dissolution of the marriage, the partner leaving would
almost always enter another sexual relationship soon after, so permitting it
anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 18.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A final word has to be
said about abuse. Given the above, we can see that separation is a possibility
– and would have to be a necessity if the believer or their children were in
danger. And so the abuser would have effectively deserted the marriage by
forcing their partner to leave. This would mean that the innocent party would
no longer have to feel that they had to seek reconciliation, and on our
understanding, be free to remarry. Moreover, if the abuser (or any who abandon
their partner) claimed to be a Christian, at some point it would need to be
concluded that they had shown themselves not to be by their lack of repentance,
putting them in this same category as an unbeliever who deserts the marriage. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Conclusions<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Christian should never abandon their marriage but always seek to keep their
vows by remaining faithful and persevering with difficulty, so displaying a
truly God-like love. If things are especially hard, separation is a possibility,
but reconciliation should be sought wherever possible. If both in a difficult
marriage are Christians who do not fit the circumstances below, then divorce
and remarriage isn’t an option as their marriage bond remains. Recognizing
this, the church should seek to give special support to such people.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If
a Christian’s spouse commits adultery, they have broken the marriage covenant,
and the Christian may divorce them and remarry to another believer. However, even
here they should consider seeking reconciliation instead, and if that isn’t
possible, consider remaining single to maximise their devotion to Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If
a Christian’s unbelieving partner seeks separation and divorce for whatever
reason and despite the Christian’s attempts to seek a way forward in the
marriage, the Christian should let them go. Again, the Christian should then consider
remaining single, but are free to remarry if they want to, as long as that
person is a believer as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In
consultation with church leaders, it may be decided that an abusive
relationship is effectively one in which desertion has taken place by forcing
the innocent party to separate for their own safety or that of the children. In
which case divorce and singleness or remarriage would be a possibility. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If
a Christian wants to leave or is forcing separation through abuse, and they fail
to repent, the church leadership may deem that they are not truly a believer,
in which case divorce and singleness or remarriage would be possible for their
spouse.</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -18pt;">6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -18pt;">If
someone becomes a Christian after being divorced, much wisdom is needed from
church leaders regarding the specific circumstances. Reconciliation could be
sought, especially if the non-Christian partner has not entered another sexual
relationship. But if they have entered another relationship or do not want
reconciliation, remarriage is permissible for the Christian – but again, only
if they marry a Christian, and after a consideration of the benefits of
singleness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In short, there are two
grounds in which divorce and remarriage are permitted because the covenant
commitment to “holding fast” in exclusive, lifelong faithfulness has been
broken:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Adultery
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">–
which includes sex with another during engagement.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Desertion</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
– which includes abuse that forces the innocent party to leave for their safety.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Westminster
Confession of Faith teaches just this:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“<span style="background: #FCFDFD; color: #0a0a0a;">Adultery,
or such wilful desertion as can no way be remedied by the Church, or civil
magistrate, is cause sufficient of dissolving the bond of marriage.” (Chapter
26 VI)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</p><div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Divorce%20and%20remarriage%20paper%202023.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
This is supported 1/ by Jeremiah 3v8-9 where God is metaphorically said to
divorce Israel for her spiritual adultery with foreign gods, 2/ by Malachi 2v14
where those who break their marriage covenant are said to be “faithless,” 3/ by
1 Corinthians 6v16 which describes sex with a prostitute as becoming one flesh
and so one body with her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Divorce%20and%20remarriage%20paper%202023.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The immediate concern is with
being at peace and letting the partner go rather than hanging on in the hope
they might come to faith. So, it could just mean that they are free from any
slave-like experience they may have had to suffer until then. And in v17-24
that idea is present in slaves gaining their freedom. This fits the whole tenor
of the passage and Jesus’ teaching, which stresses that the Christians should
seek to keep their vows and not initiate divorce.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Divorce%20and%20remarriage%20paper%202023.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Keener, Craig S. <i>...And marries another:
Divorce and remarriage in the Teaching of the New Testament</i>, (Peabody,
Massachusetts, 1991), p.61</span></p></div>
</div><div><div id="ftn4">
</div>
</div><div><div id="ftn2">
</div>
</div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
</div>
</div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-25002014974613408502022-06-22T09:16:00.006-07:002022-06-23T02:15:00.474-07:00What do we make of the requirement of head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11v2-16<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The issue
at hand.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>The instruction: Women having their hair long for the
sake of involvement in worship.<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Two things first need establishing:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">1/ What is praying and prophesying? It could refer to the whole worship
service. But that would be an unusual description. In chapter 14 it refers to
the elements of the service an individual might contribute to by speaking.
Prayer is of course to speak to God. At its most basic, prophesying was to
speak a Spirit-given message to the church. This would predominantly be given
in a vision, and seems to have been more prevalent in the time of the apostles.
But the term might have encompassed a spontaneous sharing of scriptural truth
too.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">2/ What is the head covering in mind? We are not entirely clear what
Greek, Roman or Jewish practices were in the 1<sup>st</sup> century (Thistleton,
823), so this cannot help us in any definitive sense. As the head covering
seems to be something that is only required when the woman is speaking, we
might expect it to refer to a shawl or veil. However, the focus on praying and
prophesying could simply be because it is when the woman is standing out from
others and in some sense leading the congregation that the issue at hand really
matters. What is often not realized is that the phrase translated “with the
head covered” literally means “have down on the head.” In the 3<sup>rd</sup>
century Mishnah this phrase did refer to a veil (Barrett, 249), but that
doesn’t mean it did in the 1<sup>st</sup> century. It could well refer to having
hair hanging down. Wearing it long would certainly explain the emphasis on
cutting hair and hair length in what follows (Blomberg 210), and is strongly supported
by Paul’s conclusion to his argument where verses 13 and 15 bracket verse 14.
The brackets seem to equate a woman not being “uncovered” as not wearing long
hair, with the center stressing the shame of a man wearing his long. And this note
about the man corresponds with the dishonour of a man having his head covered
in verse 4, again suggesting to be covered is to wear long hair. These verses
make less sense if cloth coverings (or even long hair being done up on the
head) are in mind. And the final word in verse 15 couldn’t be clearer: A
woman’s “hair has been given her for a covering.” There “covering” could be
translated “clothing,” and implies a Christian woman’s hair is the equivalent
of the Greek hair-shawl (Blomberg, 214).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We should note that commentators do differ on this question, and it is
very difficult to call. Verses 13-15 could instead be a supporting analogy. The
point would then be that even nature shows the fitness of women not men veiling
their heads in worship because God has given women not men the natural covering
of long hair. But if this is the case, it is hard to see from the text why a further
covering would be necessary as the distinction of genders would already be
apparent in hair length. The only reason could be a cultural one – such as
uncovered long hair implying immorality, as may be implied by verse 6 (mentioned
below). But if that were the case, then in a culture like ours where that isn’t
the implication, head coverings would no longer be needed as long as women had
long hair.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The head covering movement offers a number of other reasons why they
take Paul to be referring to a veil rather than hair length:<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Writings/Should%20women%20wear%20head%20coverings.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
First, they take issue with verse 7 being understood as saying long hair can be
in place of a veil. But we would agree with them that Paul is arguing for
equivalence: The long hair is the covering – and so the natural veil God has
given women, which is the very reason why Paul need not require a cloth veil. Second,
they ask if being uncovered means not having long hair, then why would such a
person be told she should cut her hair short (v6) as it would already be short?
But this is to be pedantic. The literal rendering is: “A woman with an
uncovered head is the same as one having been shaven (perfect passive), and so
if she won’t cover her head then she should cut her hair (aorist middle). But since
it is disgraceful for a wife to cut her hair (aorist middle) or be shaved
(present passive), let her cover her head.” This reveals that cutting and
shaving are being used as two ways of describing the cropping of hair – the
former being done willingly by the woman and latter done to her, as was the
case for immoral women. The point is that if a woman doesn’t wear her hair
long, it is like she is an immoral woman and so she should go the whole way and
cut whatever short hairstyle she does have off too. This is a very Pauline way
of speaking, similar to when he says that those so into circumcision should go
the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Gal 5v12). Recognizing this parallel
gives further support to the idea that short hair is what is meant by the
uncovered head. Third, it is said Paul has a different covering to merely long
hair in mind in verse 10 as it is described there as a symbol of authority. We
have concluded that verse is better rendered “a wife ought to have authority over
her head.” However, there is no obvious reason why long hair can’t be both a
woman’s glory and a symbol of authority. Fourth, it is noted that around 150
years later veiling was common practice. This is not insignificant. But it is quite
possible over that period that the veil was added as the interpretation of the
passage because cultural practices encouraged it. If the passage is about hair
length, it says nothing that forbids wearing a veil too. And if that was expected
by the wider culture, it could come to be justified from chapter 10v32-33.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Given these explanations, the flow of argument in 1 Corinthians 11
itself has to be the decisive factor, and to my mind this leans more towards
Paul referring to long hair as the head covering rather than some form of veil.
This seems the only reasonable explanation of his saying so much about hair
length in v5-6 and v14-15, and would mean that his requirement was just that wives
should wear their hair long to distinguish them from their husbands. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The language of dishonour and disgrace in not doing so has immoral
connotations. Different reasons are suggested by commentators for this, but the
one that applies to both men and women in the culture of the day is that of long
hair implying a man was homosexual and short that a woman was a lesbian
(Blomberg, 210-211, Barrett 257). This may explain why Paul appeals to the
“nature” of things – a word he uses with regard to same-sex relations in Romans
1v26-27, which he also describes with the very same words of “dishonourable”
and “shameful” that are found in in 1 Corinthians 11v4 and 14. The point would
be that throughout the Greco-Roman world where hair length could imply
something about one’s sexuality, how it was worn in worship especially mattered
(and whether or not a man or woman then covered it with clothing according to
the custom in their time and place). There is certainly evidence of Hellenistic
Jews around this time being concerned about the role of hair in affirming one’s
sexuality and gender (Thistleton, 824-825). And it would make sense of the
claim that nature teaches men should have short hair and women long. Obviously,
it doesn’t in any fundamental way. But, the differences bound up with creational
design do teach that men should not seek to look like women, nor vice-versa.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The wider argument.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>The context: A concern for not offending those in the
church or culture.<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal">We must read the whole passage in context. What is in Paul’s
mind is the tension between Christian freedom and other’s consciences. He has
just made the point that although his readers are free to eat meat that may
have previously been used in pagan sacrifices, if doing so would cause offence
to a fellow believer they shouldn’t. He then concludes:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>“</i><b><i><sup><span lang="EN-US">31 </span></sup></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US">So, whether you eat or
drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. <b><sup>32 </sup></b>Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the
church of God, <b><sup>33 </sup></b>just
as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be
saved.” (1 Cor 10v31-33)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This may be important in understanding our passage on head coverings.
The flow of thought naturally moves from Paul’s example of limiting his
Christian freedom for the sake of those within the church and culture to a
commendation of their imitating him (11v1). This supports the sense that what
follows is not necessarily a matter of righteousness, but of expedience – so as
not to offend those in or outside the church. This is further supported by the
passage immediately following. It begins with a concern for church unity and
putting other’s needs before one’s own (1 Cor 11v17-22). Paul does give
creational reasons for what he says, but he wants it to be adhered to in part
so that Jews and Greeks in and outside the church aren’t provoked by how the
Christians present themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It is possible he sees the instruction he gives as a “tradition” (11v2,16),
which can have moral force (2 Thess 2v15, 3v6). But his point in v2 may be that
having commended them for keeping the traditions he wants them to abide by what
he is about to say too – perhaps because in this matter they are taking their
freedom too far and going against tradition (Blomberg, 208). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">The principle: Upholding and affirming gender distinctives.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Verse 3 then sets up the theological principle that governs what
follows. The words man/woman can be translated husband/wife, and the prominence
of ideas of headship make the latter most likely, as does the fact that this is
the meaning in every other place where they are paired, except perhaps 2
Timothy 8-15 (Blomberg, 209). The idea
of “head” is that of both authority and source. But in Hebrew thought the
latter implies the former. So, Christ is the head of all men in the sense that
Adam was made directly by the Son, but that means man is also subject to the
Son (Col 1v15-18). In a similar sense, woman is from man as Eve was made from
Adam. But that also means wives are subject to their husbands. The point is of
an ordered hierarchy: wife-husband-Christ-God (Barrett, 249), in which each in
some sense reflects (is the glory of) the one they are from. This ordering fits
Paul’s teaching that the wife must submit to her husband’s will and that he is
responsible for her growing in spiritual splendour (Eph 5v22-35). In other
words, Christ’s authority and excellence is delegated to and displayed in the
husband, and the husband’s to and in the wife, just as God the Father’s is delegated
to and displayed in Christ. (Note, however, that the God-Christ relationship
being a model for the husband-wife one means that it is not one of inequality
or inferiority, but equality and interdependence, as v11-12 stress.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This focus on husbands and wives implies that the requirement may not
have covered unmarried girls or women. Nevertheless, the wider references to
creation and the nature of things suggests it would, but is especially
important for husbands and wives because breaching it dishonours one’s spousal head
by confusing one’s place in the order of things (v11-15).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">But what does this all mean for the matter at hand?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Paul’s play on words implies there is a link between the physical head
as linked to one’s authority and one’s theological head who has authority over
them. So, the husband who speaks with his head covered somehow dishonours
Christ as his “head,” and a woman who does so uncovered dishonours the husband
as her head. But why? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The following verses are hard to understand. Verse 14 tells us that it
was considered a disgrace for men to have long hair, so the sense seems to be
that for a woman to be uncovered is equivalent to having her hair cut or shaved
because it is to be acting like a man (v6), and that matters because of the
theological distinction between the sexes. Although by creation both men and
women bear God’s image, given the order of v3, the man is the “image and glory
of God” in the sense that he represents and reflects God’s authority and
excellence through Christ in the congregation, and by doing so points people to
him. If correct, this would mean that “woman is the glory of man” in the sense
that her husband’s authority and excellence is to be represented and reflected
in her in a way that affirms him. We are told that this dynamic is creational
in that Eve was created from and for Adam – although it is stressed that this
doesn’t mean they are independent of each other.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Verse 10 then literally reads: <i>“That is why a wife ought to have
authority on her head, because of the angels.”</i> The “on” can be rendered “over,”
and so could either refer to the head covering as a sign of authority on the
wife’s physical head or of her taking authority over her physical head. Given
Paul immediately stresses she is not independent of him or him of her, it could
well mean it is a sign that as she speaks she bears an authority derived from
her husband, and acknowledges to any watching angels that she is not a man.
However, taking control of something is what is meant every other time the
phrase is used in the New Testament (Blomberg, 212). So, most likely Paul means
she should take charge of how she wears her hair in worship. Whatever is meant,
verses 11-12 ensure that the distinctions between men and women being upheld
are not taken too far as has so often been the case in history. Husbands and
wives are interdependent and need each other, which is to be especially
recognized and upheld by those “in the Lord.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It is easy to assume the following statement that long hair on men is a
disgrace but a glory to women is based on cultural precedence as the OT
Nazarites famously had to grow their hair long out of devotion to God (Num 6v5),
and others may have done so because of religious vows (Acts21v23-24). However,
these were exceptions. Paul tells us his instructions are according to
“nature,” and elsewhere that refers to created design and the resulting sense
of conscience (Rom 1v26, 2v14, 11v24, Gal 4v8). This is supported by his saying
hair is given to a woman by God “for a covering.” The sense is that this is
God’s intent in creation that is borne out by general convention. The note that
it is “her” glory may mean that it displays something of her particular excellence
as a woman by marking her position in the divine order of things, as in verse 7
(Barrett, 257).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Putting it all together.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Paul’s point seems to be that the act of wearing long hair ensures that wives
who pray or prophesy in church do so in a way that ensures clarity that they
are women, and so affirms their husbands (or men in general) as the ones with
the authority delegated from Christ. So, if her husband were to have long hair
it would dishonour Christ as his head by not making clear he was the one who
holds this delegated authority, and if the wife had short hair she would
dishonour her husband as her head by claiming an equal authority with him which
would effectively deny his God-given place.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This would suggest at the very least the importance of marking the
difference between the sexes in how men and women dress for worship, and
especially not dressing in a way that reflects cultural confusion of sex and
gender – a big issue in our own day. Having said that, to my mind verses 13-16
do suggest there is something creational about women wearing their hair long as
a God-given covering, with men keeping theirs short. I would therefore encourage
this, but only tentatively because the meaning of the passage is so uncertain
and debated. Yet it is interesting that the God-given “nature of things” means
women’s hair is generally thicker than men’s, and due to baldness many men find
themselves unable to have hair as a covering. Make of that what you will!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Finally, we should acknowledge a good argument can be made that Paul had
veils in mind. But if that were the case, because women already had long hair
as a covering, his reason must have been because of the cultural implications
of their hair being uncovered. As there is no sense of that being inappropriate
in our own day, it would seem that as long as differences in gender are apparent,
it is no more necessary than saying women should always wear long dresses to
church as not doing so was regarded as inappropriate 100 years ago. Instead,
the principle for application is that what is worn in worship should be fitting
and give no sense of offence to those in or outside the church, especially by
implying immorality. In some cultures this might mean men should wear suits and
women dresses. In our own, it is likely to depend on the demographic of the
specific church.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
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<div id="ftn1">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Writings/Should%20women%20wear%20head%20coverings.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <a href="https://www.headcoveringmovement.com/articles/is-a-womans-long-hair-her-covering">https://www.headcoveringmovement.com/articles/is-a-womans-long-hair-her-covering</a>,
accessed 22/6/22<o:p></o:p></p>
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</div><p></p>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-78628983350695078722022-04-13T06:04:00.003-07:002023-05-22T03:29:04.436-07:00 What is complementarianism?<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At Grace Church (as with many other churches)
we hold to a view of male-female roles in very specific contexts known as </span><i style="background-color: transparent; color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">complementarianism</i><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.
This idea may be new to some. It is therefore important to clarify what we do
and don’t believe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To my mind, much within feminism has been a
very necessary corrective to an unhealthy dominance by men that has shown
little concern for women’s contribution to society or the particular burdens
they have had to carry. This cannot be justified by the Bible. God created men
and women equally in his image, and commissioned them both to “subdue the
world” through industry, as well as with filling it by raising godly children
(Gen 1v26-28). Both Adam and Eve were to cultivate the garden (2v15-18) and
parent the kids. But our conviction from the Bible is that God wants this to be
worked out through men and women complementing one-another, and </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">(in certain contexts only)
each playing a different role that gives expression to differing strengths. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">In short,
complementarianism holds that men and women are created equal by God, but
assigned and designed for differing roles in family life in which they operate
as a team (Gen 1v26-28, 2v18). This is important not just because of it
benefits family life, but because God intends it to pattern the union and
delight in each other of Christ and the church, who work together in nurturing
spiritual children and doing good in the world. Husbands are therefore called
to lovingly oversee their family as Christ does the church, and especially by
taking primary responsibility for ensuring spiritual development, protection
and provision for their wife and children (Eph 5v25-6v4). And the compelling
wisdom of this is that that by doing so, the husband frees his wife to be able
to focus for however many years on her primary responsibility for having and
nurturing younger children if she is able, and whatever else she engages in
within the home, church or world (1 Tim 5v9-14). So, made in God’s image, both
men and women are to display his character, but with men expressing that in
marriage by imaging his role of gracious-ruler, and women his role of
life-giver (the meaning of the name Eve).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">But it is important to note
that this is about <i>primary </i>responsibilities, and so shouldn’t be
understood in an overly prescriptive manner. With a concern not to undermine
the God-given relational dynamic, and with a consideration of the needs of the
children, the call to be a team means that the couple will discuss and agree a
pattern for their life together in and outside the home, that best fits the
circumstances, personalities, and combination of gifts that the Lord has given
them. For some, this may necessitate the wife being the primary earner and the
husband the primary carer. Nevertheless, the husband will continue to oversee
everything, making whatever sacrifices are necessary to ensure the flourishing
of his wife and family as he serves rather than domineers them, just as Christ
does for his church. And whatever the balance, as the wife gets on with her own
activity, she will inevitably have a focus on children when young, and in all
things will respect her husband’s oversight by readily acting inline with what
she knows of his will so far as it is not sinful or abusive, just as the church
does to Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Because, from Genesis to
Revelation the Bible grounds all this in creation and in Christ’s relationship
with the church (Gen 2v15-18, Eph 5v21-32, Rev 21v1-2), we believe that
complementarianism should be expressed in all times and cultures, and is important
in helping marriages to operate in the way God has designed them to, and in
picturing to us, our children, and others, the sort of relationship we are
called into with the Lord Jesus. Moreover, in an age when men are increasingly
unsure of their role, gender is being blurred, women are often treated
appallingly by men, and marriages regularly break down due to a lack of
responsibility in husbands, this teaching could not be more relevant or
important to uphold. And in order to affirm and uphold it, the Bible teaches
that the principle of male-oversight in families is also to be reflected in the
church as God’s family, by reserving the spiritual oversight of men to men (1
Tim 2v11-15), whilst encouraging women to be active in all other ministries
according to their God-given abilities. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div style="border-bottom: double windowtext 2.25pt; border: none; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">In
practice, this means that the overall leadership in our church is given by men,
as is the regular authoritative teaching of mixed-gender contexts, whilst women
and men lead, teach, and minister in all sorts of other ways. Indeed, one
aspect of complementarianism that is often not noted, is that by acknowledging
the complementary differences between the genders it better recognizes the
particular contribution woman can and should make, rather than presuming that
men or women can do all without the other. So, a healthy complementarian church
should be one that more actively seeks to promote the ministry and input of
women.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: double windowtext 2.25pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
follows, is an article Bethan and I have found helpful in addressing concerns
people may have in our culture with these sort of teachings, and then a very
basic outline of the biblical arguments for men being the overseers in the home
and church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Complementarianism for dummies.</span></b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">By Mary Kassian<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/complementarianism-for-dummies/">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/complementarianism-for-dummies/</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/complementarianism-for-dummies/</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Accessed 6/9/21<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A little while ago a reporter asked me to define “complementarianism.”
She didn’t know what it meant. And that’s not entirely surprising.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The word “complementarity” doesn’t appear in the Bible, but is used by
people to summarize a biblical concept. It’s like the word “Trinity.” The Bible
never uses the word “Trinity,” but it undeniably points to a triune God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Though the concept of male-female complementarity can be seen from
Genesis through Revelation, the label “complementarian” has only been in use
for about 25 years. It was coined by a group of scholars who got together to
try and come up with a word to describe someone who ascribes to the historic,
biblical idea that male and female are equal, but different. The need for such
a label arose in response to the proposition that equality means
role-interchangeability (egalitarianism)—-a concept first forwarded and
popularized in evangelical circles in the 1970s and 1980s by “Biblical
Feminists.” I’ve read several articles lately from people who misunderstand
and/or misrepresent the complementarian view. I was at the meeting 25 years ago
where the word “complementarian” was chosen. So I think I have a pretty good
grasp on the word’s definition. So I want to boil it down for you. In emulation
of the popular “for Dummies” series of instructional books, I’ll give you a
“Complementarianism for Dummies” primer on the intended meaning of the word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-outline-level: 4;"><b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1. It’s complementary . . . <i>not </i>complimentary.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The word “complementarian” is derived from the word “complement” (not
the word “compliment”). The dictionary defines “complement” as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 30.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Something that completes or makes
perfect; either of two parts or things needed to complete the whole;
counterparts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Complementarians believe that God created male and female as
complementary expressions of the image of God—-male and female are counterparts
in reflecting his glory. Having two sexes expands the view. Though both sexes
bear God’s image fully on their own, each does so in a unique and distinct way.
Male and female in relationship reflects truths about Jesus that aren’t
reflected by male alone or female alone.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-outline-level: 4;"><b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2. June Cleaver is so 1950s and so <i>not</i> the definition
of complementarity.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In our name-the-concept meeting, someone mentioned the word
“traditionalism,” since our position is what Christians have traditionally
believed. But that was quickly nixed. The word “traditionalism” smacks of
“tradition.” Complementarians believe that the Bible’s principles supersede tradition.
They can be applied in every time and culture. June Cleaver is a traditional,
American, TV stereotype. She is <i>not</i> the complementarian
ideal. Period. (And exclamation mark!) Culture has changed. What
complementarity looks like now is different than what it looked like 60 or 70
years ago. So throw out the cookie-cutter stereotype. It does not apply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-outline-level: 4;"><b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">3. A proletariat-bourgeois-type hierarchy has no place in
complementarity.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Feminist theorists maintain that male-female role differences create an
over-under hierarchy in which men, who are like the privileged, elite, French
landowners (bourgeois) of the 18th century, keep women—-who are like the
lower, underprivileged class of workers (proletariat)—-subservient.
Complementarians, however, do not believe that men, as a group, rank higher
than women. Men are not superior to women. Women are not the “second sex.” Men
have a responsibility to exercise headship in their homes and church family,
and Christ revolutionized the definition of what that means. Authority is not
the right to rule—-it’s the responsibility to serve. We rejected the term
“hierarchicalism” because people associate it with an inherent, self-proclaimed
right to rule.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-outline-level: 4;"><b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">4. Complementarity does not condone the patriarchal, societal oppression
of women.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Technically, “patriarchy” simply means a social organization in which
the father is the head of the family. But since the 1970s, feminists have
redefined the historic use of the term and attributed negative connotations to
it. Nowadays, people regard patriarchy as the <i>oppressive rule of men</i>. “Patriarchy”
is regarded as a misogynistic system in which women are put down and squelched.
That’s why we rejected the term “patriarchalism.” Complementarians stand
against the oppression of women. We want to see women flourish, and we believe
they do so when men and women together live according to God’s Word.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-outline-level: 4;"><b><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">5. Complementarians believe God designs male and female to reflect
complementary truths about Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Now that we’ve cleared up some misconceptions and false terminology
about complementarianism, it’s time to give you a basic definition.
Essentially, a complementarian is a person who believes that God created
male and female to reflect complementary truths about Jesus. That’s the
bottom-line meaning of the word. Complementarians believe that males were
designed to shine the spotlight on Christ’s relationship to the church (and the
LORD God’s relationship to Christ) in a way that females cannot, and that
females were designed to shine the spotlight on the church’s relationship to
Christ (and Christ’s relationship to the LORD God) in a way that males cannot.
Who we are as male and female is ultimately not about us. It’s about testifying
to the story of Jesus. We do not get to dictate what manhood and womanhood are
all about. Our Creator does. That’s the basis of complementarianism. If you
hear someone tell you that complementarity means you have to get married, have
dozens of babies, be a stay-at-home housewife, clean toilets, completely forego
a career, chuck your brain, tolerate abuse, watch <i>Leave It to Beaver</i> reruns,
bury your gifts, deny your personality, and bobble-head nod “yes” to everything
men say, don’t believe her. That’s a straw (wo)man misrepresentation. It’s not
complementarianism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #F1F1F1; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="color: #171717; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Mary Kassian </span></b><span style="color: #171717; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">is the author of several books, including </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Gone-Wise-World-Wild/dp/0802451543/?tag=thegospcoal-20"><i><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Girls Gone Wise in
a World Gone Wild</span></i></a></span><span style="color: #171717; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> and </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/True-Woman-101-Eight-Week-Womanhood/dp/0802403565/?tag=thegospcoal-20"><i><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">True Woman 101:
Divine Design</span></i></a></span><span style="color: #171717; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">. She teaches women’s studies modules at The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Mary and her
husband enjoy biking in the Canadian Rockies, not far from their home in
Edmonton, Canada. Check out her blog at </span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="http://www.girlsgonewise.com/"><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">GirlsGoneWise.com</span></a></span><span style="color: #171717; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Basic biblical
arguments that support the idea of male headship in the home and church.</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Old Testament can’t be dismissed as simply reflecting the patriarchy of the
Ancient Near East, first, because Jesus taught it to be the trustworthy word of
God, and second, because of the preponderance of female deities and priestesses
in Egyptian and Canaanite religion. This meant that in many ways its teachings
set Israel apart from the wider culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
creation, wives are presented as helpers to their husbands in the tasks of
ordering the world and filling it with others who would know and serve God to (Gen
1v26-2v24). Although both husbands and wives are involved in raising children
and working to provide (Prov 31v10-31, Gen 18v19), their different focus of responsibility
is signalled by God’s concern with wives in childbearing and husbands in providing
(Gen 3v15-17).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
idea of the husband as the overseer of the family is evident in the fact that
Adam is held most responsible for the sin of Eden, despite Eve initiating it (Gen
3v8-12, Rom 5v12-21). Elsewhere the Jewish idea of the firstborn as bearing the
authority in the family is also appealed to as Adam was formed first (1 Cor
11v8-10, 1 Tim 2v13). This idea is affirmed in the New Testament by Christ
being presented as holding supreme authority as “firstborn” over all creation
(Col 1v15-18).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
positioning of the husband as the overseer and head of the family is further confirmed
by God describing his relationship with his people as like a marriage covenant
with him as the husband (Hosea 2), and determining that men be the heads of
families, clans and tribes throughout Israel (Gen 18v19, Num 30v3-16). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">God
also required that priests and Levites within Israel could also only be men (Ex
28v1, Num 3v15ff), despite the history of Israel showing that there were often
more godly and gifted women in other families and tribes (eg. the contrast
between Hannah and Eli in 1 Samuel). This meant that the formal teachers and
spiritual guardians in Israel had to be men (Deut 17v8-9, 18, 24v8, 2 Chr 15v3,
35v3).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 35.7pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -17.85pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
idea of male headship in marriage is reaffirmed in the New Testament as Christ
is said to be head of his bride and family, the church, which is his body just
as Eve was to Adam in being taken from him (John 3v29, Rev 21v2-4). The
physiological nature of the term “head” includes ideas of prominence and
origin, causing the body/wife to grow and flourish (Eph 1v15, Col 2v19). This
makes the idea a wonderful one. But ideas of authority are present too. Christ
is head “over” all things, which are “under his feet” (Eph 1v22). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;">7.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;">The
apostles therefore affirm the headship of husbands on the grounds of creational
order and the pattern of Christ’s relationship with the church. Both grounds
transcend culture and so teach that the principle of headship does too (1 Cor
11v2-16, Eph 5v22-33, 1 Pet 3v1-7).</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;">Given all this, it
is no surprise to find the same principle required for the leadership of the
church, which is presented as a household comprising households (1 Tim 3v12-15):</span><!--[if !supportLists]--></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Men
were those appointed apostles, including after Christ’s resurrection (Acts
1v21-22). <o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Men
were those looked to when non-apostolic church leadership first emerged after
Pentecost (Acts 6v1-6). <o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Men
were those it was presumed would oversee the various churches (Tit 1v6-9). <o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Men
were those who were to formally teach and exercise spiritual authority in those
churches (1 Tim 2v11-15). <o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is probable 1 Corinthians 14v34-35 teaches that only men were therefore to be the
ones involved in weighing and correcting contributions in services.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ol><!--[if !supportLists]--><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">None of this
implies inability in women who were involved in all other ministries, which was
radically counter-cultural. It is simply that in its structures, the church is
to uphold and affirm the dynamic God ordained for marriage, which is important
because it displays God’s own relationship with his people, and when rightly
adopted enables the flourishing of wives and children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-89911131750910807802022-01-11T05:25:00.006-08:002022-01-11T06:10:52.238-08:00Gender roles<p>Women have
undoubtedly been oppressed in the past, and we must thank God for the degree to
which feminism has rectified this. Nevertheless, we must always be cautious
when problems are rectified, that the pendulum doesn’t swing too far the other
way. No society is infallible in its judgements, and so in every age the
received views of the day must be tested against the bar of scripture. And so
it must be with respect to the roles of men and women.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt;"><span lang="EN-US">It is
invariably emotive to discuss this issue. We live in a society that assumes
that equality of personhood between men and women necessitates equality of
access to whatever roles. In considering whether men are given a particular
responsibility for leadership in the church and home it is not surprising then
that many women feel such teaching implies that they are somehow inferior, and
that those who feel called to be pastors think the very foundation of their
calling is being questioned. Despite these difficulties however, discussion
must proceed. Discerning and submitting to God’s truth has never been a
comfortable thing to do, especially when that truth goes against the grain of
one’s culture, instincts and presuppositions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We must recognize before all else, that both
Jesus and the apostle Paul were radically counter-cultural when it came to
women. Indeed, some have described their teaching as proto-feminist. Within
Judaism women were considered spiritually second class and so not worth
teaching or talking to on spiritual matters. Moreover, they were not considered
reliable witnesses in law. Yet Jesus commended Mary for sitting at his feet as
a disciple to her Rabbi and chose her to be the first witness to his
resurrection. Paul also spoke of there being neither male or female in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">God</st1:placename></st1:place>, described women as his co-workers
in the gospel, and challenged the prevailing oppression of wives by their
husbands in teaching that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the
church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">These men were not therefore prone to
accepting the status quo. Given that, it is surprising and noteworthy that, as
we will see, Jesus did not choose any women to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">apostolic</i> witnesses of the resurrection and that Paul persistently
reserved the role of authoritative leadership in the home and church for men.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Of course, some still claim that they and
the wider scriptures were too influenced to see past cultural presuppositions
and so cannot be relied upon on this matter. Now we must always ask whether
scripture itself acknowledges a particular teaching is just for a particular
culture. But it is quite another thing to suggest that what it portrays as
applying to every age was actually the wrong and even oppressive view of its
day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">We must realize how serious this suggestion
is. You see if that was the case on the subject of women, how do we know that
scripture is not in error on other subjects, such as the nature of God or the
way of salvation? If Jesus cannot be trusted in his own teaching and in his
affirmation of the Old Testament and apostles as Spirit-inspired and reliable,
then Christianity really does implode and our faith has no warrant at all. Moreover,
these assertions implicitly question the integrity and power of God, for they
suggest that having so affirmed the centrality of scripture and the apostolic
teachings through Jesus, he has not ensured that they are reliable in what they
assert. We must recognize that such a suggestion also removes any grounds for
appealing to the Bible’s radical challenge to the inferiority and abuse of women
in the first century too.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In truth, it is the scriptures that are
intended to correct our cultural assumptions and preferred ideas (2 Tim
3v16-4v5). So it is that we must honestly consider whether our current views on
this question are justified from scripture or driven by the assertions of
absolute equality and rights that mark contemporary society and that have
inevitably shaped our instincts.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In grasping the Bible’s view on gender, three
substantial arguments need consideration: the sweep of scripture, the model of
Christ and the teaching of the apostles.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;">(1)
The sweep of scripture</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">1/ Men and women are equal.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It is critical to be clear that both are
created “in <span style="color: black;">God’s image” (Gen 1v27). As the FIEC
basis of faith puts it, they therefore “have inherent and equal dignity and
worth.” So, their lives are equally precious, and there can be no justification
for violence or speaking ill of either gender (Gen 9v6, Jam 3v7-10). This is
born out in a strange way in Old Testament law, by God ensuring equal
restitution for an injured slave, whether male or female (Ex 21v32). And one
application would be that men and women should receive equal pay when engaged
in equal work, for the worker deserves their wages (1 Tim 5v18).<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Another is that at its most basic, true manhood or womanhood is to be male or
female and like Christ, the image of God. So, the more godly, the more manly or
womanly. Both men and women are to be courageous and caring, forthright and meek,
active in fighting the good fight and in weeping over the needy etc.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">2/ Men and women are
created to operate as a unified team. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Humanity are made
“male” and “female,” but given the generic title “man” and tasked together with
“subduing” the earth by shaping its resources for good, and “filling” it with children
who would in turn know, image and serve God in this way (Gen 1v28). The linking
of these two tasks shows that God created the genders with marriage in
particular in mind. And so, having been called to work and guard<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
the garden, man’s isolation is deemed “not good,” and God makes woman as a “helper
fit for him,” presenting her to him as his wife (Gen 3v18, 20-24). As a supreme
affirmation of their oneness in this, woman is made from man’s rib, so their
marriage union is a returning to being “one flesh.” This is why there should be
such appreciation and care between spouses. Paul writes that husbands should
love their wives “as their own bodies” (Eph 5v28-31).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">3/ Men and women are
created for different responsibilities.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">As God committed to
making woman a helper in working and keeping the garden, we should reject any
sense that a woman cannot work outside the home. Both men and women are called
to “fill and subdue.” And in agricultural societies it has always been
necessary for women to play some part in the farming. Nevertheless, in
marriage, the woman’s primary calling is related to “filling” in the sense that
she was predominantly caught up with bearing children, and man’s to “subduing”
as he was predominantly consumed with the work needed to provide for the family.
This is evident in the fact that when Adam and Eve sin, woman’s punishment is a
greater toil in child-bearing and man’s in providing (Gen 3v16-19). These are
their particular roles. And we should note that God has designed the genders
for them: Only women are able to bear and feed children, and men are generally
stronger for working the ground. Indeed, because God’s command was to “fill” the
world with godly children, the expectation was that so far as it was possible,
women would give the majority of their adult life to raising as many as they
could (1 Sam 1v8, Ps 127v4-5, Matt 22v23-30).<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
And by necessity, this would require their husbands to take charge of overseeing
things in order to facilitate that. The wife’s calling was therefore largely
based at the home, and the husband’s largely outside it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Given this creational
design, it is quite reasonable to expect men and women to lean towards certain
inherent behavioural traits that fit them for their particular roles, just as
they have physical ones. And this is just what studies show. In terms of “personality”
a BBC article on the issue notes that: <i><span style="background: white;">“Women
scored higher, on average, on enthusiasm, compassion, politeness, orderliness,
volatility, withdrawal, and openness, while men scored higher on assertiveness,
industriousness and intellect.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
</span></i><span style="background: white;">As for “interest,” one paper describes
how: </span><i>“Gender differences in vocational interests are among the most
important proximate determinants of occupational gender segregation…male
adolescents clearly tend to favour occupations which require creating and/or
manipulating objects (i.e. “things”), while female adolescents prefer to work
in occupations in which interacting with customers or patients is important
(i.e. “people”).”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></b></span></span></span></a></i></span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Awareness of this is
helpful in appreciating why husbands and wives may not share the same concerns,
priorities or methods when it comes to work or home. Rather than expecting the
other to do things their way and airing frustration when they don’t, they can
learn from one-another and recognize that their differences can complement
one-another in marriage. We might add that this would be something to be
considered in the workplace and in education too. Rather than feeling
girls/women must act or learn like boys/men or vice versa, their particular
strengths can be combined. Although we should note, that these are generalizations.
The differences should not be overstated and are on a spectrum. So, there will be
boys and men who are more compassionate and interested in people than many women,
and girls and women who are more assertive and interested in things than many
men.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">4/ Men and women are
created with differing authorities.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">To the Hebrew mind,
deeming both genders “man,” creating man first, and woman from man, and having
the man name woman, all signals that God has granted men an authority over
women. And despite modern discomfort with the idea, it is a theme born out
throughout the Bible (see appendix). But we should note that the assumptions of
Genesis 1-2 mean this is primarily a structure for the husband-wife
relationship. In the calling to “fill and subdue,” both are given authority over
any children and the wider creation, but with him as head and her as helper.
That means that he oversees the welfare and activity of the family, and she assists
in that, especially with a focus on children when they are young. He images God
primarily as saviour-ruler and her as lifegiver-carer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">This reveals the lie
that abortion is somehow pro-women. It displays a most tragic failure of women
to fulfil their calling to care for children – and men’s in acting to protect
them. Likewise, the lie that sex outside marriage is liberating. By keeping sex
for the security of marriage the woman acts for the good of any children that
may be conceived, and the man acts to protect her too. There’s nothing manly
(or womanly) about promiscuity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">This head-helper authority
structure is particularly clear in the fall. Although the focus of the text is
on Eve’s action, Adam is the one confronted by God. And his particular sin is
that of silently standing by rather than taking charge to protect Eve by turning
her from sin and crushing the snake. And he further refuses to take
responsibility by then blaming her (Gen 3v1-12). In a culture filled with
families that have been abandoned by men who have either left or withdrawn into
work or hobbies, it all sounds rather contemporary.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Finally, we should note
that after the fall, this husband-wife dynamic is marked by battle (Gen 3v16). The
meaning of <i>“your desire will be for your husband”</i> is unclear, but as
this verse is about life becoming harder for woman, the sense is that he will “rule
over” her in a way that implies oppression rather than care. Interestingly the
same phrase is used in Gen 4v7, where it is about one “desiring” to control the
other, and the other forcefully suppressing that. The point is that sin corrupts
the particular roles given husband and wife. And so a particular sin to look
out for and address in men is a forceful and harsh attitude, especially towards
women, and in women, a controlling or manipulating attitude, especially towards
men.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">5/ Men and women are
created to work in harmony.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">The famous outline of
the ideal wife in Proverbs 31 undermines any sense that an affirmation of
gender roles in marriage justifies the stereotypical 1950s view of such things.
First, we see that she is not consumed simply with children and homemaking. She
engages in business, cares for the needy, and provides for her household, which
included servants. And because her “wisdom” and “instruction” in verse 26 is
not immediately tied to children, the sense is that she gives godly counsel not
just to them, but to the servants and all who she engages with. She therefore
has a high degree of management and so authority over the household, and of involvement
in her community. This corresponds with what we see in the NT, where there is
no criticism of Lydia as a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16v14), and where women
not in paid work are urged to be industrious in doing good from their homes rather
than being idle “busybodies” (1 Tim 5v10-13, see also Acts 9v36-39).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Second, the bracketing
of this section of Proverbs 31 with mention of the husband, implies his wife nevertheless
does all this under his ultimate oversight and as his helper. Verse 11 tells us
that he <i>“has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value,”</i> and
verses 28-31 (with v23) that he praises her to those other elders who govern
with him at the city gate. The sense is that as overseer of the family, he can
trust her to faithfully get on with what will benefit the family, whilst he
engages in his own role (here in local government). In fact, the word for
“watches over” (v27) can refer to a guard posted to watch over a city. What
this all means, is that the wife does bear an authority, but delegated from her
husband, in which she is free to get on with making decisions without
micro-management from him. This should challenge controlling husbands.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Conclusion.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">We must remember that
throughout history much of a woman’s adult life would have been taken up with
bearing, feeding and nurturing young children, and then experiencing a degree
of physical weakness in having done so. The compelling wisdom of God in marriage,
is that by overseeing the family, the husband frees his wife up for focusing on
all that is required of her, comforted in the knowledge that he is overseeing everything
for their good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;">(2)
The model of Christ</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Jesus does not teach explicitly on our
subject because the point was assumed by those around him. Nevertheless, he very
clearly asserts the equality of men and women as his disciples, challenges the
idea that women should simply be concerned with domesticity (Lk 10v38-42), and regularly
commends women as an example to all (Lk 7v44-50, Mk 14v6-9). Yet given this,
the fact that he doesn’t challenge the idea of gender roles in the home and
church is significant. We must also note that despite the radically high spiritual
status he ascribes women he chose not to commission any as his apostles.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Moreover in Matthew 19v1-12 he grounds his sexual ethics in the narrative of
Genesis 2 which he states is “the Creator” speaking. By doing so, he affirms
the principle of headship bound up with that narrative that is stated above and
was assumed by his hearers. He also affirms it by teaching that this dynamic in
marriage is a picture of his own relationship with the church, picking up on the
same description of God to his people in the OT (Mat 9v15, 25v1-10).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;">(3)
The teaching of the apostles</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It is Paul who tackles our subject when it
does begin to be challenged. However, it is significant that the wider NT
writings assume male leadership of the home and church, and they are absolutely
free from any encouragement for women to take on these roles. Because of the
high religious status Jesus gave women and the fact that there is evidence
women were seeking to take a lead in churches (1 Timothy 2v11-15), once again, this
assumption itself teaches something.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">However, we need to consider Paul’s teaching in particular, and we
can only do so on the grounds that he writes as an apostle and therefore as one
of Christ’s inspired spokesmen to the church. It is beyond the realm of this
paper to fully argue the case for trusting his writings to therefore be taken
as God’s Word, however some reasons are given as an appendix.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">1/ Christ and the
church in Ephesians 5v21-33</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Because it is so
important, we will include the full text here:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">“</span><sup><span lang="EN-US">21 </span></sup><span lang="EN-US">Submit to one another out of
reverence for Christ. <sup>22 </sup>Wives, submit yourselves to your own
husbands as you do to the Lord. <sup>23 </sup>For the husband is the head
of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the
Saviour. <sup>24 </sup>Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives
should submit to their husbands in everything. <sup>25 </sup>Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her <sup>26 </sup>to
make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, <sup>27 </sup>and
to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any
other blemish, but holy and blameless. <sup>28 </sup>In this same way, husbands
ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves
himself. <sup>29 </sup>After all, no one ever hated their own body, but
they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—<sup>30 </sup>for
we are members of his body. <sup>31 </sup>‘For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become
one flesh.’ <sup>32 </sup>This is a profound mystery—but I am talking
about Christ and the church. <sup>33 </sup>However, each one of you also
must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
(Ephesians 5v21-33)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">What we see affirms and develops what we’ve
learnt.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo21; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
relationship of the husband and wife is patterned on the relationship of God
with his people. So, Christ as head to his body as church is akin to the
husband as head, but one flesh with his wife as his “own body” (v22-25,
v28-32).</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo21; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
word “submit” has unhelpful connotations today. But the idea of submission in
itself should not be resented as all have to submit in one way or another (v21).
Everyone is to submit to the Lord. Congregations submit to elders. Citizens to
government. Servants/employees to masters/bosses. We must be clear. None of
this implies inequality of being or inferiority of worth. In fact, even Jesus
submitted to his Father’s will, and in a sense to the authority of Pilate (Jn
19v10-11). It’s about upholding spheres of responsibility. It must be
highlighted too, that when it comes to sex we’re told each has authority over the
other’s body, and in that sense the husband must therefore submit to his wife
just as she to him (1 Cor 7v3-5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo21; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
wife’s more general submission to her husband is to be equivalent to how as one
of the church she submits to the Lord (v22). That means that unless her husband
asks her to sin, she should be ready and willing to defer to his will, and not
reluctant, resentful, or argumentative about it. This is the “gentle and quiet
spirit” Peter commends (1 Pet 3v4). One cannot but think of Christ himself in
Gethsemane: <i>“</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you are
willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">.”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;"> (Lk 22v42). The
reason the wife should submit in marriage is because as head, her husband is
working for her good – and that of the family (v24). Of course, in a fallen
world husbands can be harsh. However, the wife is still called to submit just
as Christ did to unjust authority in government, in the hope they her husband might
be brought to better embrace God’s word (1 Pet 2v18-3v2). But this doesn’t mean
a wife shouldn’t respectfully point out bad behaviour, or seek help from her
church or even the state if it is particularly bad. And if a husband puts his
wife or children in danger, there would need to be separation, and possibly divorce
if the behaviour continues and he has effectively abandoned the marriage (1 Cor
7v10-11, 12-16). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo21; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
wife’s submission should be in “everything.” That doesn’t mean she has to check
everything with her husband. As with our submission to Christ, it means she has
much freedom to decide things for herself, but in everything will ensure her
decisions do not contravene what she knows her husband would want. This
highlights the importance of communication in marriage.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo21; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">On
the same model, husbands must love their wives as Christ did the church,
meaning that they are to daily give up their lives for their wife’s good (v25)<i>,</i>
just as Christ is the “shepherd and overseer” of our souls who gave his own
life for their good (1 Pet 2v24-25)<i>.</i> So, male headship and oversight is
primarily given as a means of the husband caring for his wife. Those who want
to dismiss these verses as Paul simply reiterating the view of marriage in his
day don’t realise how counter-cultural this was. Abuse and unfaithfulness
towards wives was quite accepted in Greco-Roman society.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo21; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
particular concerns of the husband’s headship and oversight are to help his
wife become more godly and so flourish in her faith and service, and to ensure
she is sufficiently well provided and cared for. The word for “care” is also
used of the tender feeding and care of young children (1 Thess 2v7). Such authority
expressed in care is supported by ideas of Christ’s headship elsewhere in
Ephesians. He uses his mighty power in overseeing all things for the good of
his church, fights against evil powers to that end (Eph 1v20-23), and causes his
church to grow to a maturity of godliness and use of gifts (Eph 4v15). So,
headship rightly exercised is truly empowering and enabling not restraining. One
only needs consider how hard it is for mothers of newborns to nurture their own
faith, and how exhausted and emotionally fragile they are, to see how important
this role is at that stage in particular. Yet, for many women, menstruation can
leave them regularly in need of such care throughout life. This may be why
Peter adds that husbands should “be considerate” of their wives, particularly
with respect to how they are “weaker.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> The
sense is that they are to seek to understand their wives’ particular needs, and
honour them in how they care for them. This care should be equivalent to the
husband’s own care for his body as his wife is one with him (Eph 5v26-30). At
the very least this means that he should not treat her in any way that he would
not want to be treated himself.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo21; text-align: left; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">The
idea of protection is also implicit in the concern for discipleship, provision
and care, which is signalled by it being summed up as patterning Christ as
“Saviour” (Eph 5v23). The husband is to protect his wife against spiritual danger,
and against physical need or harm. This too is supported by Jesus’ commitment
to lay his life down to protect his sheep from the wolves (Jn 10v11-13). Moreover,
Jenson notes that the phrase “man of God,” used 80 times in scripture, often has
“militaristic undertones,” and (in gospel terms) refers to “a warrior engaged
in a war.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[8]</span></span></span></a> And
Paul does use a colloquial phrase “act like men” when urging his hearers to be
steadfast, strong and loving (1 Cor 16v13, ESV). So, husbands are to express
this aspect of maleness by engaging in spiritual battle by praying for their
family, encouraging and sometimes correcting them with the sword of God’s word,
chasing after them if they go wayward, and acting to fend off detrimental
influences. But they also engage in the physical battle of toiling away at work
and general oversight, to ensure they are flourishing as they should. All this
shows that a husband who abuses or harms his wife in any way is acting in a
manner that is wholly contrary to biblical ideas of male headship or oversight in
marriage. Such things cannot therefore be excused.</span></p>
<div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">It
is not just the husband-wife relationship, but its grounding in their one flesh
sexual union that is a picture of Christ’s relationship with the church
(v31-32). This brings much to the idea of sexuality and marriage. Only
heterosexual marriage reflects the difference-dynamic of husband as head who
governs, and wife as body to be cared for. And sex in marriage is important for
deepening their closeness and awareness of this dynamic. Moreover, the sense of
union and mutual delight in sex is intended to give some sense of the union and
mutual delight we can enjoy with the Lord, as we serve him in the raising of
spiritual children for his family the church.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">2/ Men and women in 1
Timothy 2v8-3v13</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Here, Paul’s key
request to men is to pray without <i>“anger and quarrelling.”</i> This
underlines the importance of prayer in those who have oversight of their families,
but also, perhaps, a particular tendency in men to anger. For women, his commendation
is of modesty, self-control and <i>“good works”</i> rather than a concern with revealing
or showy dress. This shouldn’t be read as a critique of all concern with looks.
Beauty is affirmed in the Bible. It seems more a critique of those in his day
who dressed in a way that wanted to promote their sexiness or status.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Verses 11-15 reserve teaching
and exercising authority over men in the church to men. We do no not have space
to unpack them in any depth. We must be clear, however, that not all forms of such
things are frowned on in the Bible. Women regularly prayed and spoke the gospel
to men in prophecy (1 Cor 11v2-16), Anna is commended for instructing people in
the temple about Christ (Lk 2v36-38), and Priscilla with Aquila, in teaching
Apollos (Acts 18v26). Moreover, we have already seen wives should exercise
authority in their homes (Prov 31v24-28) and so would undoubtedly have done in
some sense when their home was used to host a church. Rather, as I understand
it, Paul is teaching that because of the importance of male headship, women
should not be more authoritative teachers or elders in the church, as that
would require correcting or rebuking men. And he justifies this by saying that women
should not be tempted to grasp after a role that isn’t theirs, as Eve did in
the garden. Rather they should embrace their particular role (if married and
able) of raising children.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">This idea of reserving this
overall leadership in church to qualified men is supported by what immediately
follows in 1 Timothy 3. It is assumed that elders who “oversee” the church are
men. But what is very important is that they are to be proved by how they
manage their own household, because <i>“</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US">if
someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for
God’s church.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> The sense is that there is an
equivalence between oversight of the biological family and oversight of God’s
spiritual family.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This link underlines the importance of a
father’s leadership being one of shepherd-like oversight, and of his taking
ultimate responsibility for watching over his family’s spiritual wellbeing
(Acts 20v28-30). To my mind this makes “overseer” a more helpful word than “leader”
for describing the husband’s authority in the home, as modern ideas of leadership
are often to do with vision setting and direction, and there is some sense in
which the wife leads in the household too. Oversight better reflects the idea
of responsibility being entrusted to the wife, but with the husband bearing
ultimate responsibility, watching over the welfare and activity of the family,
and only intervening where necessary. We might think then of dad as a pastor or
shepherd of his family, who exercises oversight like pastors in the church, “willingly,”
“eagerly,” “not domineering,” but being an example, keenly aware that he is
accountable to Christ (1 Pet 5v2-5).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">At this point, we might ask how we should view a woman who has a
sense of being called to overall church leadership and seems to have gifts in
leading and teaching. Any sense of calling is by its nature uncertain and
subject to testing. In testing such a calling by scripture we must therefore discern
that because overall church leadership is reserved for men, this calling has to
some extent been misunderstood. This is not to mean that the gifts have not been
given; rather, that they are for expression elsewhere – perhaps by running some
work within a church, leading and teaching in a less regular and
non-authoritative manner, being a women’s minister or other such thing. In the
Old Testament, the LORD required that priests not only be male but descended
from Aaron. Some of them did an appalling job, and those of other clans and
tribes would have been much better. Nevertheless, it was considered a serious
thing to appoint anyone outside Aaron’s line as a priest because it was to
reject God’s ordering of things. It’s a principle that does need reflecting on.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">Conclusion.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black;">We can picture the
relationship of the genders in marriage as below. Christ governs and cares for all,
mediating that through his providence and the church. The husband oversees all
aspects of the welfare and activity of his family, with his wife deferring to
his will as she plays her own part in this, especially in caring for any
children when young. And this pattern is to be upheld as families combine in
the family of God that is the church.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-mDcXd1XJV_gdme0lqVAw015NDDAO-bIVKYKR7fEIOXOrmOISQ-dYQu8bxdxByNIzfwyJUl6S6Kb-C5Ik6sc59MiTjk1-EQVuveAUygOpaVp244wPj4Czn_jqbxHwwZyr3oLjmtn3juN2yaf7Vmm1nb9jteJdesilWnXryTzM0AtCfepL0F-Yf-nO=s575" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="370" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-mDcXd1XJV_gdme0lqVAw015NDDAO-bIVKYKR7fEIOXOrmOISQ-dYQu8bxdxByNIzfwyJUl6S6Kb-C5Ik6sc59MiTjk1-EQVuveAUygOpaVp244wPj4Czn_jqbxHwwZyr3oLjmtn3juN2yaf7Vmm1nb9jteJdesilWnXryTzM0AtCfepL0F-Yf-nO=s320" width="206" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Objections</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">Two follow, not least because we are very aware of how women have
been subjugated in the past, and live in a society that holds equality and
freedom as its primary values.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span lang="EN-US">1/ The issue of abuse.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Undoubtedly, women have been oppressed be men
throughout history. And so it should be no surprise that men might use the Bible’s
teaching to justify their oppression of others. However, it doesn’t follow that
the Bible’s teaching is wrong or should be rejected. The fact is that in our
egalitarian society, women continue to be oppressed by men. Consider the #MeToo
movement, the massive rise in sex trafficking, or the normalisation of
pornography that largely serves men.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Or
the disregard for marriage that allows men to father children with numerous women,
but without any sense of commitment or responsibility, so leaving the women to
struggle with the totality of what it is to raise and provide for the children.
It is shocking to read that 90% of the 1.8 million single parents in the UK are
women.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[11]</span></span></span></span></a></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">How are we to respond to such things? Firstly, to
commend these women for stepping up where men so often step down. The Bible’s
teaching on marriage should not be heard to imply single parents can’t do it on
their own – and often better than some married couples. Having said that, there
are obvious benefits to children being raised by two parents in terms of parental
time and resource, but also in terms of having one of each gender as a role
model.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> And
the older I get, the more convinced I am that one thing we desperately need to
recover in terms of marriage, is the sort of view of gender responsibility
outlined above. Rather than being enslaving or abusive, a right understanding
of male oversight would lead to a culture where boys are raised to understand
that it is part of what it is to be a man, to respect girls and be responsible
with sex. And in marriage, that they are to commit to and cherish their wife,
and empower her to use her God-given gifts to the full.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
problem we have is that even this is now heard to be derogatory to women, by
implying they have a special need to be looked out for in this way. Certainly,
we should affirm that girls and wives should commit to, cherish and empower boys
and men too. But as Christians, we must recognise that knowing the qualities of
men by creation and their corruptibility due to sin, God has wisely given a
particularly responsibility in this to them - and one reason, is to protect against
exactly the sort of abuses we see today.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span lang="EN-US">2/ The issue of fairness.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">When all is done, many nevertheless feel it is unfair for there to
be a role that women are not allowed to engage in, whether as an overall church
leader or a co-overseer of one’s family. In the parlance of modern society we
are told that this is discriminatory and to make women second class. So the
whole issue is said to be one of justice. We should be very careful about
speaking this way in the areas discussed above, for if God has ordered things
as we have described this would be to charge him with doing wrong. Moreover, this
is still to think according to the world’s ideas of authority rather than
Christ’s. It is to see the issue as one of greatness and superiority rather
than of order and responsibility. But in the workplace we do not consider employees
under the authority of a manager to be inferior.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">We should add that the texts we have looked at affirm throughout
that there is actually a noble role for women that men are excluded from – that
of childbearing. If we are to use the language, we must therefore say that here
it is men who are unjustly discriminated against and made second class. Of
course, we do not say this, because it is obvious that God has given men and
women different roles with respect to childbearing. However, the principle of complimentarily
is the same. Yet the sad fact is that suggesting this applies to who should
oversee the home and church raises people’s heckles. We should ask ourselves why
this is. It may be because not all women are able to bear children. But neither
are all men able by their gifts to be church leaders or by their circumstances
have a family. Or are we tempted to say that men have the better deal because
childbearing is so hard or not really an important role? If so, we should pause
to reflect on what a privilege childbearing is and on how male oversight should
also mean constant sacrifice. Indeed, in some countries church leadership can
mean martyrdom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Conclusion</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">We have established then that God has ordered the creation so that
there are particular roles for men and women. He created them equal but
different, to complement rather than compete with one-another, and one aspect
of this is that he has reserved the role of head or overseer in the church and
home for men</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">It is significant that our culture’s recent assumption that both
genders are essentially the same has already to some degree passed. Now there
seems to be far more recognition of complimentarily. In an age when men are
increasingly unsure of their role, gender is being blurred and marriages breaking
down due to a lack of responsibility in husbands, in its wider sense this teaching
could not be more relevant or important to uphold.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;">APPENDIX A</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Male headship throughout the Bible.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">The structure of Genesis 2 as
understood in Hebrew culture affirms the primacy of Adam by order of birth, by
the naming of the animals and by the presentation of Eve to him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">This is confirmed by the fact
that although Adam and Eve both sin, Adam is primarily held to be responsible
(Romans 5v11-32).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">It is also confirmed by God
consistently using the image of groom and bride to describe his leadership and
care of his people. The image implies that he exercises a loving authority like
that of the perfect husband.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Throughout Israel’s history, a
principle of primogeniture was also affirmed by which inheritance would <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">usually </i>go to the firstborn male and
they would hold the ultimate authority for the family.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Furthermore, Israel’s history
is marked by the principle of the household headed up by the father. We see
this with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the nation from that point on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Because the nation is a family
of families, leadership develops from household heads. So the heads of twelve
tribes are Jacob’s twelve sons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">For this reason, elders in
Israel were only male as they were the more prominent household heads.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">The Priesthood within Israel
was also reserved for men only, and from one family and one tribe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Priests and those who served as
elders in the synagogues of Jesus’ day were therefore men too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Commentators agree that the
structure of the early churches was based on the synagogue with elders taking
the equivalent role of the Jewish elders.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Whatever its application might
be today, the principle of the firstborn son being given authority is
reaffirmed in the NT by scripture speaking of Christ as the firstborn over
creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">The principle of headship is
also reaffirmed in speaking of Christ as head of his bride and family, the
church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">The apostles therefore affirm
the headship of husbands on the grounds of creation and the pattern of Christ’s
relationship with the church. Both grounds transcend culture and so teach that
the principle of headship does too. It is portrayed as bound up with God’s
order of things (1 Corinthians 11v2-16, Ephesians 5v22-33, 1 Peter 3v1-7).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 21.25pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo20; tab-stops: list 21.25pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: ideograph-numeric; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">As the church is also to a
large extent a family of families meeting in family homes, it is natural for
the principle of headship that applies to biological families to be reflected
in the church.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Style" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><br /></p>
<p class="Style" style="margin-top: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;">Appendix B:
The authority of Paul</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">In John 14-16 Jesus promised the Holy
Spirit would lead his apostles into “all truth.” But does this apply to Paul?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">There is no way of explaining Paul’s radical conversion and
service of Christ to the point of death, other than that the risen Christ
did appear to and commission him as an apostle. People will die for what
they believe to be true but not for what they know to be false. And Paul
claimed to have been personally made an apostle by the risen Jesus
himself.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">The apostles commissioned during Jesus’ lifetime themselves
affirmed Paul’s apostleship so that it was accepted throughout the early
church (Gal 3:1-10).<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo7; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US">2 Peter reflects an acceptance of Paul’s writings as
“scripture” within the early church (2 Pet <st1:time hour="3" minute="15" w:st="on">3:15</st1:time>-16). This term categorizes them with the Jewish
Scriptures which were held to be the unbreakable and so entirely
trustworthy word of God (John 10v35).<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><br /></p><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> Leviticus 12 does prescribe twice as long
a period of purification for a mother giving birth to a girl as opposed to a
boy. But we are not told this is because of inequality. Supporting this, is the
fact that Leviticus 15 prescribes the same period of cleansing for men and women
after a “bodily discharge.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> The word
the NIV translates “keep” has the sense of keeping it secure from danger. The
same word in 3v24 is translated “guard” in terms of the way to the tree of
life. The point is that Adam with Eve, were to keep what was unclean or
corrupting from the special place of God’s presence, making his failure to
tackle the serpent so serious.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> 1 Timothy 2v15 makes this point in a
controversial passage, by stating that women will be “saved through childbearing.”
In context, the idea is probably that a genuineness of saving faith is proved
by our willingness to submit to God’s will. So, rather than seeking to lead in
the church which is not what God has called women to, they should give
themselves to child-bearing that he has. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities#:~:text=Taking%20this%20approach,%20the%20researchers,men%20scored%20higher%20on%20assertiveness"><span style="background: white; font-size: 9pt;">https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities#:~:text=Taking%20this%20approach,%20the%20researchers,men%20scored%20higher%20on%20assertiveness</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 9pt;"> / accessed
30/4/21</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 9pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/223822/1/dp13380.pdf%20/"><span style="font-size: 9pt;">https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/223822/1/dp13380.pdf
/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"> accessed 30/4/21<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 7.5pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 7.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span face=""Verdana",sans-serif" style="font-size: 7.5pt;"> When Junia is said to
be “outstanding amongst the apostles” in Romans 16v7, this should not be taken
as meaning she was one of the founding leaders of the church. The greek “apostolos”
means “sent one” and could describe a simple emissary or missionary.
Alternatively, it could be meant that Junia had a high reputation amongst the
apostles.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> This doesn’t mean women are weaker than
men in every sense. My observation is that spiritually, psychologically and in
readiness to take responsibility, women are often stronger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> “What does it mean to be God’s man” in <i>Men
of God, </i>ed. Archer and Thornborough, p24<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"> The idea is probably that a genuineness
of saving faith is proved by our willingness to submit to God’s will. So,
rather than seeking to lead in the church which is not what God has called women
to, they should give themselves to the child-bearing that he has, noting that
most women then would have been married.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/661314/gender-distribution-of-pornhubcom-website-traffic-in-selected-european-countries/">Europe:
distribution of Pornhub visitors by gender & country 2019 | Statista</a>, accessed
8/7/21<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/what-we-do/media-centre/single-parents-facts-figures/#:~:text=In%20the%20UK%3A,single%20parents%20are%20women%20(iii)">Single
parents: facts and figures | Gingerbread</a>, accessed 8/7/21<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Gender%20roles.doc#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/forget-race-or-class-marriage-is-the-big-social-divide">Forget
race or class, marriage is the big social divide | The Spectator</a>, accessed
8/7/21<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-23446838537293482412021-11-04T08:25:00.003-07:002021-11-04T08:25:15.263-07:00Reflections on climate change.<p>In 2014 as much as 97% of climate scientists already agreed
that human activity contributes to global warming.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Reflections%20on%20climate%20change.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></a>
Most especially, it is recognized that CO2 and other greenhouse gases are
sharply increasing due to industrialisation. This increases the greenhouse
effect in our atmosphere that traps in heat from the sun, so warming the
climate leading to an increase in drought and fires and, it is thought, to more
severe weather-related events such as storms, and floods. It also leads to
feedback factors that exacerbate the problem, like warmer oceans that then
release the CO2 trapped in them, or melting ice that no longer reflects solar
radiation and so heat into space, and releases further greenhouse gases from
the ground that is then exposed. These feedback factors mean that even small
human contributions to global warming can have a larger effect than they would
warrant on their own. And COP26 has addressing all this in its sights.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At other times in the history of the world CO2 and
temperatures have been high with purely natural causes. However, the
correlation of the increase with industrialisation and population explosion,
whilst solar irradiation remains pretty much constant, shows it is caused or at
least exacerbated by humanity.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Such increases, however, are not necessarily detrimental.
More CO2 can benefit plant life, and before the days of central heating when human
populations were small, higher temperatures may have enabled flourishing. But
it is the speed this increase is occurring because of human activity that is so
serious. One estimate is that it is ten times faster than the temperature
increase at the end of a typical ice age.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Reflections%20on%20climate%20change.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
And this means that plant and animal species have less time to adapt, and that
there are likely to be some devastating consequences for the massive human
population we have today. Temperatures in many countries will become unbearable,
leading to increased drought, famine, and disease, resulting in unmanageable
migration and instability. Elsewhere, such things will be brought about by
increased flooding. And in the developing world huge costs will be involved in
combating rising sea levels or relocating those living on the coasts. We are
already seeing these things. Efforts are therefore being made to limit the
warming in an attempt to limit the impact.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But warming is not the only problem, nor the ultimate one.
Sin is. In our selfish desire for wealth and our covetous consumerism, we are
showing little concern for God in our attitude to the world he has entrusted to
our care, devouring its resources in an unsustainable way. This further
contributes to climate change, for example through an excessive use of fossil
fuels, destruction of vegetation that would otherwise store CO2, and
multiplying of livestock that requires land to be cleared and that produces
more gas. But it also devastates ecosystems, meaning a rapid extinction of many
plant and animal species that only furthers the devastation. And so, we fail to
protect the wondrous diversity and bounty of the world that is intended to
display God's glory and generosity; and we fail to respect his wisdom in how it
all inter-relates in a way that can be both sustainable and sufficient for all
his creatures. This is a serious failure in our responsibility to rule over the
earth in a way that images him - that is in ordering it in a way that causes
all life to flourish and be provided for (Gen 1v26-31).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of course, unless we are scientists our ability to really
grasp all this is limited. We should not play armchair experts and should guard
against the Christian tendency to see Satanic conspiracies around every corner.
Just as medical science can be a gracious blessing of God's providence for the
good of humanity, environmental science can be too. And whether one tends to
think that climate change is wholly man made or not, it seems undeniable that
human activity is worsening it, and therefore efforts are needed both to limit
the increase in greenhouse gases and our general consumption of the world's
resources. Indeed, between 84% and 90% of all climatologists, and between 91%
and 97% of experienced climatologists think that "half or more" of
global warming since 1950 has been caused by humans. Some think we have caused
almost all if it.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Reflections%20on%20climate%20change.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> And
this means that changing our ways really can have a significant impact. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, we should be cautious and critically minded in our
response. The ideological fads of recent decades have shown only too clearly
how easy it is for the opinions of world leaders and scientists to be so
pressurised by lobby groups, that they shape their findings and decisions in
order to be in-line with group think rather than the hard facts, and act in a
way that will gain acceptability whilst still protecting profit, rather than
truly help the vulnerable. For example, the poor often have to engage in
environmentally harmful practices in order to survive. And so radical programs
to deal with the crisis might not only have a massive cost to everyday people
in the West, but impoverish poorer nations and peoples who rely on fossil
fuels, deforestation, farming beef, the provision of cheap goods etc, whilst
those in the renewables industry get rich, and those who can afford to offset
their carbon footprint continue with their luxuries.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This should not be an excuse for inaction. Individuals are
responsible before God for stewarding the earth and so for living in a more
sustainable way, and should consider the means of doing that, so contributing
in a small way to what one hopes might be a worldwide adjustment. We should
remember that the final judgment of Babylon is of those who gain wealth and
luxury at the expense of others and in doing so "destroy the earth"
(Rev 11v18, 18v3-13). Nevertheless, governments and those at COP26 are also
responsible for ensuring their response isn't a knee-jerk one in the face of
media pressure to just agree something that looks good. Rather, they must ensure
that any plan is made and entered into only if it will actually make a
difference, and that it includes provision for those it will be most
detrimental for. As one blogger put it, it must be ensured that the cure is not
worse than the disease. This is of course a tall order and needs much prayer.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And with that note on prayer, we as Christians must remember
in all this that God "works all things according to the counsel of his
will" (Eph 1v11). We are responsible for treating his creation badly and
the effects it has, but he has purpose in it all. And so, we should not share
in the environmental anxiety that so many are burdened by. "The earth is
the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." (Ps
24v1). He cherishes his creation and has gifted it to his Son. And so, whether
through COP26, human ingenuity, or other means, in his kindness he will no
doubt restrain the damage we do, and will certainly one day renew the world so
that it can flourish as it should (Rom 8v18-25). And in this, we must remember
that Christ is the only Saviour, not governments or activists. So, we should
engage with people's recognition of the damage we do, of the potential
destruction of the planet, and their search in pantheistic spiritually for a
greater oneness with nature, pointing out that their instincts are not wholly
wrong. They are recognising the reality of sin, the fitness of God's judgment,
the nature of the new creation, and in it all, the need of a divine saviour.
And this Saviour is one who entered our creation to redeem it; who took flesh,
died on a cross, and rose to life, to forgive us our sins and renew us as well
as our world, so that we can finally live rightly within it. Come Lord Jesus.<o:p></o:p></p>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Reflections%20on%20climate%20change.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/jun/05/contrarians-accidentally-confirm-global-warming-consensus<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Reflections%20on%20climate%20change.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> https://extranewsfeed.com/what-climate-skeptics-taught-me-about-global-warming-5c408dc51d32<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Reflections%20on%20climate%20change.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/apr/19/study-humans-have-caused-all-the-global-warming-since-1950;
https://medium.com/big-picture/talking-to-climate-deniers-514177e31888<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-27213813549277167812021-10-07T04:47:00.003-07:002021-10-07T04:52:47.552-07:00What is complementarianism?At Grace Church (as with many other churches) we hold to a view of male-female roles in very specific contexts known as complementarianism. This idea may be new to some. It is therefore important to clarify what we do and don’t believe. <br /><br />To my mind, much within feminism has been a very necessary corrective to an unhealthy dominance by men that has shown little concern for women’s contribution to society or the particular burdens they have had to carry. This cannot be justified by the Bible. God created men and women equally in his image, and commissioned them both to “subdue the world” through industry, as well as with filling it by raising godly children (Gen 1v26-28). Both Adam and Eve were to cultivate the garden (2v15-18) and parent the kids. But our conviction from the Bible is that God wants this to be worked out through men and women complimenting one-another (in certain contexts only) by each playing a different role that gives expression to differing strengths. <br /><br />In short, complementarianism holds that men and women are created equal by God, but assigned and designed for differing roles in family life in which they operate as a team (Gen 1v26-28, 2v18), patterning the union and delight in each other of Christ and the church, who work together in nurturing spiritual children and doing good in the world. Husbands are called to lovingly oversee their family, and especially by taking primary responsibility for discipling, protecting and providing for their wife and children (Eph 5v25-6v4). And the compelling wisdom of this is that that by doing so, the husband frees his wife to be able to focus for however many years on her primary responsibility for having and nurturing younger children if she is able, and beyond that, for whatever she engages in within the home, church or world (1 Tim 5v9-14). <br /><br />But it is important to note that this is about primary responsibilities, and so shouldn’t be understood in an overly prescriptive manner. With a concern not to undermine the God-given relational dynamic, and with a consideration of the needs of the children, the call to be a team means that the couple will discuss and agree a pattern for their life together in and outside the home, that best fits the circumstances, personalities, and combination of gifts that the Lord has given them. For some, this may necessitate the wife being the primary earner and the husband the primary carer. Nevertheless, the husband will continue to oversee everything, making whatever sacrifices are necessary to ensure the flourishing of his wife and family, just as Christ does for his church. And whatever the balance, as the wife gets on with her own activity, she will respect his oversight by acting inline with what she knows of his will, so far as it is not sinful, just as the church does to Christ. <br /><br />Because, from Genesis to Revelation the Bible grounds all this in creation and in Christ’s relationship with the church (Gen 2v15-18, Eph 5v21-32, Rev 21v1-2), we believe that complementarianism should be expressed in all times and cultures, and is important in helping marriages to operate in the way God has designed them to, and in picturing to us, our children, and others, the sort of relationship we are called into with the Lord Jesus. Moreover, in an age when men are increasingly unsure of their role, gender is being blurred, women are often treated appallingly by men, and marriages regularly break down due to a lack of responsibility in husbands, this teaching could not be more relevant or important to uphold. And in order to affirm and uphold it, the Bible teaches that the principle of male-oversight in families is also to be reflected in the church as God’s family, by reserving the spiritual oversight of men to only men (1 Tim 2v11-15), whilst encouraging women to be active in all other ministries according to their God-given abilities. In practice, this means that the overall leadership and regular authoritative teaching in our church is given by men, whilst women lead, teach, and minister in all sorts of other ways. <br /><br />What follows, is an article Bethan and I have found helpful in addressing concerns people may have in our culture with these sort of teachings. <br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Complementarianism for dummies. </span></b><br />By Mary Kassian <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/complementarianism-for-dummies - Accessed 6/9/21 </span><br /><br />A little while ago a reporter asked me to define “complementarianism.” She didn’t know what it meant. And that’s not entirely surprising. <br /><br />The word “complementarity” doesn’t appear in the Bible, but is used by people to summarize a biblical concept. It’s like the word “Trinity.” The Bible never uses the word “Trinity,” but it undeniably points to a triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. <br /><br />Though the concept of male-female complementarity can be seen from Genesis through Revelation, the label “complementarian” has only been in use for about 25 years. It was coined by a group of scholars who got together to try and come up with a word to describe someone who ascribes to the historic, biblical idea that male and female are equal, but different. The need for such a label arose in response to the proposition that equality means role-interchangeability (egalitarianism)—-a concept first forwarded and popularized in evangelical circles in the 1970s and 1980s by “Biblical Feminists.” I’ve read several articles lately from people who misunderstand and/or misrepresent the complementarian view. I was at the meeting 25 years ago where the word “complementarian” was chosen. So I think I have a pretty good grasp on the word’s definition. So I want to boil it down for you. In emulation of the popular “for Dummies” series of instructional books, I’ll give you a “Complementarianism for Dummies” primer on the intended meaning of the word. <br /><br /><b>1. It’s complementary . . . not complimentary. </b><br /><br />The word “complementarian” is derived from the word “complement” (not the word “compliment”). The dictionary defines “complement” as follows: <br /><br />Something that completes or makes perfect; either of two parts or things needed to complete the whole; counterparts. <br /><br />Complementarians believe that God created male and female as complementary expressions of the image of God—-male and female are counterparts in reflecting his glory. Having two sexes expands the view. Though both sexes bear God’s image fully on their own, each does so in a unique and distinct way. Male and female in relationship reflects truths about Jesus that aren’t reflected by male alone or female alone. <br /><br /><b>2. June Cleaver is so 1950s and so not the definition of complementarity. <br /></b><br />In our name-the-concept meeting, someone mentioned the word “traditionalism,” since our position is what Christians have traditionally believed. But that was quickly nixed. The word “traditionalism” smacks of “tradition.” Complementarians believe that the Bible’s principles supersede tradition. They can be applied in every time and culture. June Cleaver is a traditional, American, TV stereotype. She is not the complementarian ideal. Period. (And exclamation mark!) Culture has changed. What complementarity looks like now is different than what it looked like 60 or 70 years ago. So throw out the cookie-cutter stereotype. It does not apply. <br /><br /><b>3. A proletariat-bourgeois-type hierarchy has no place in complementarity. </b><br /><br />Feminist theorists maintain that male-female role differences create an over-under hierarchy in which men, who are like the privileged, elite, French landowners (bourgeois) of the 18th century, keep women—-who are like the lower, underprivileged class of workers (proletariat)—-subservient. Complementarians, however, do not believe that men, as a group, rank higher than women. Men are not superior to women. Women are not the “second sex.” Men have a responsibility to exercise headship in their homes and church family, and Christ revolutionized the definition of what that means. Authority is not the right to rule—-it’s the responsibility to serve. We rejected the term “hierarchicalism” because people associate it with an inherent, self-proclaimed right to rule. <br /><br /><b>4. Complementarity does not condone the patriarchal, societal oppression of women. <br /></b><br />Technically, “patriarchy” simply means a social organization in which the father is the head of the family. But since the 1970s, feminists have redefined the historic use of the term and attributed negative connotations to it. Nowadays, people regard patriarchy as the oppressive rule of men. “Patriarchy” is regarded as a misogynistic system in which women are put down and squelched. That’s why we rejected the term “patriarchalism.” Complementarians stand against the oppression of women. We want to see women flourish, and we believe they do so when men and women together live according to God’s Word. <br /><br /><b>5. Complementarians believe God designs male and female to reflect complementary truths about Jesus. <br /></b><br />Now that we’ve cleared up some misconceptions and false terminology about complementarianism, it’s time to give you a basic definition. Essentially, a complementarian is a person who believes that God created male and female to reflect complementary truths about Jesus. That’s the bottom-line meaning of the word. Complementarians believe that males were designed to shine the spotlight on Christ’s relationship to the church (and the LORD God’s relationship to Christ) in a way that females cannot, and that females were designed to shine the spotlight on the church’s relationship to Christ (and Christ’s relationship to the LORD God) in a way that males cannot. Who we are as male and female is ultimately not about us. It’s about testifying to the story of Jesus. We do not get to dictate what manhood and womanhood are all about. Our Creator does. That’s the basis of complementarianism. If you hear someone tell you that complementarity means you have to get married, have dozens of babies, be a stay-at-home housewife, clean toilets, completely forego a career, chuck your brain, tolerate abuse, watch Leave It to Beaver reruns, bury your gifts, deny your personality, and bobble-head nod “yes” to everything men say, don’t believe her. That’s a straw (wo)man misrepresentation. It’s not complementarianism. <br /><br /><i>Mary Kassian is the author of several books, including <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/2/#">Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild</a> and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/2/#">True Woman 101: Divine Design</a>. She teaches women’s studies modules at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Mary and her husband enjoy biking in the Canadian Rockies, not far from their home in Edmonton, Canada. Check out her blog at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/2/#">GirlsGoneWise.com</a>. </i><br /><br /> Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-42818452301961602102021-04-29T07:18:00.021-07:002022-01-11T06:14:13.427-08:00Understanding gender.<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When investigating ancient British burial
sites, archaeologists made a fascinating discovery. During the first and second
centuries BC, Men were buried with swords and women with…mirrors!</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whatever one makes of these tokens
of masculinity and femininity, they show that it has been quite obvious to
previous generations that men and women are different. For all sorts of reasons
that has been challenged by more radical thinkers today. And this has left people
unsure of what it actually means to be a man or a woman, and somewhat
embarrassed or even hostile at any suggestion that there might be particular
roles or traits that go with being male or female. But this really does matter
for all sorts of reasons. The following spring to my mind:</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>It
undermines a sense of belonging and identity in which a man or woman can have a
settled sense of “I know who I am and am comfortable with that.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Lacking
any true sense of masculinity or femininity, it leaves men and women
susceptible to unhelpful stereotypes in order to feel they are truly male or
female.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>It
leaves others prey to confusion over whether they fit their gender when they
dislike or don’t fit those unhelpful stereotypes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>It
fosters resentment from an expectation that children and adults of the opposite
gender should “be like me,” rather an appreciation of how their gender may mean
they have particular strengths and struggle with particular weaknesses.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>This
in turn fosters a one size fits all view of education and the discipling of
children, rather than one that accounts for generalisations in gender
difference and distinctions in future marital roles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>It
leads to tension and burdens in marriage as both partners struggle to do the
same things rather than recognize and cherish the particular contribution each
can make.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo2; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>It
can leave us unnecessarily ashamed of why we find certain tasks or dispositions
more fulfilling than others, for example, a mother desiring not to be in paid
work so that she can have more time with her children, or a man desiring to be
gentlemanly or protective towards women.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope this list is sufficient to
motivate us to do some good hard thinking about gender in our day. It will not
only benefit our sense of self, but our marriages, our parenting and our
general relating to one-another. We will give an overview of key Bible texts on
the issue, before drawing out some things to consider. If time is short, you
could jump the more laborious treatment of bible passages to section 2. But I
would urge you not to, as you will jump into conclusions that may be considered
controversial in our day without an appreciation of the Bible wisdom behind
them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">In what follows what is meant by "gender" is the behavour traits and roles </p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">[1] GENDER THROUGH
THE BIBLE</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Old Testament foundations
in Genesis 1-3.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">1/ Men and women
are equal.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is critical to be clear that both
are created “in <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">God’s image” (Gen
1v27). As the FIEC basis of faith puts it, they therefore “have inherent and
equal dignity and worth.” So, their lives are equally precious, and there can
be no justification for violence or speaking ill of either gender (Gen 9v6, Jam
3v7-10). This is born out in a strange way in Old Testament law, by God
ensuring equal restitution for an injured slave, whether male or female (Ex
21v32). And one application would be that men and women should receive equal
pay when engaged in equal work, for the worker deserves their wages (1 Tim
5v18).<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Another
is that at its most basic, true manhood or womanhood is to be male or female
and like Christ, the image of God. So, the more godly, the more manly or
womanly. Both men and women are to be courageous and caring, forthright and meek,
active in fighting the good fight and in weeping over the needy etc.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">2/ Men and women are created to operate as a unified team.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Humanity
are made “male” and “female,” but given the generic title “man” and tasked
together with “subduing” the earth by shaping its resources for good, and “filling”
it with children who would in turn know, image and serve God in this way (Gen
1v28). The linking of these two tasks shows that God created the genders with
marriage in particular in mind. And so, having been called to work and guard<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> the
garden, man’s isolation is deemed “not good,” and God makes woman as a “helper
fit for him,” presenting her to him as his wife (Gen 3v18, 20-24). As a supreme
affirmation of their oneness in this, woman is made from man’s rib, so their
marriage union is a returning to being “one flesh.” This is why there should be
such appreciation and care between spouses. Paul writes that husbands should
love their wives “as their own bodies” (Eph 5v28-31)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">3/ Men and women are created for different responsibilities.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">As
God committed to making woman a helper in working and keeping the garden, we
should reject any sense that a woman cannot work outside the home. Both men and
women are called to “fill and subdue.” And in agricultural societies it has
always been necessary for women to play some part in the farming. Nevertheless,
in marriage, the woman’s primary calling is related to “filling” in the sense
that she was predominantly caught up with bearing children, and man’s to
“subduing” as he was predominantly consumed with the work needed to provide for
the family. This is evident in the fact that when Adam and Eve sin, woman’s
punishment is a greater toil in child-bearing and man’s in providing (Gen
3v16-19). These are their particular roles. And we should note that God has
designed the genders for them: Only women are able to bear and feed children,
and men are generally stronger for working the ground. Indeed, because God’s
command was to “fill” the world with godly children, the expectation was that so
far as it was possible, women would give the majority of their adult life to raising
as many as they could (1 Sam 1v8, Ps 127v4-5, Matt 22v23-30).<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> And by
necessity, this would require their husbands to take charge of overseeing things
in order to facilitate that. The wife’s calling was therefore largely based at
the home, and the husband’s largely outside it.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Given
this creational design, it is quite reasonable to expect men and women to lean
towards certain inherent behavioural traits that fit them for their particular
roles, just as they have physical ones. Awareness of this is helpful in
appreciating why husbands and wives may not share the same concerns, priorities
or methods when it comes to work or home. Rather than expecting the other to do
things their way and airing frustration when they don’t, they can learn from
one-another and recognize that their differences can complement one-another in
marriage. We might add that this would be something to be considered in the
workplace and in education too. Rather than feeling girls/women must act or learn
like boys/men or vice versa, their particular strengths can be combined.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">4/ Men and women are created with differing authorities.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">To
the Hebrew mind, deeming both genders “man,” creating man first, and woman from
man, and having the man name woman, all signals that God has granted men an
authority over women. And despite modern discomfort with the idea, it is a
theme born out throughout the Bible.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> But we
should note that the assumptions of Genesis 1-2 mean this is primarily a
structure for the husband-wife relationship. In the calling to “fill and
subdue,” both are given authority over any children and the wider creation, but
with him as head and her as helper. That means that he oversees the welfare and
activity of the family, and she assists in that, especially with a focus on
children when they are young. He images God primarily as saviour-ruler and her
as lifegiver-carer.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
reveals the lie that abortion is somehow pro-women. It displays a most tragic
failure of women to fulfil their calling to care for children – and men’s in
acting to protect them. Likewise, the lie that sex outside marriage is liberating.
By keeping sex for the security of marriage the woman acts for the good of any
children that may be conceived, and the man acts to protect her too. There’s
nothing manly (or womanly) about promiscuity.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
head-helper authority structure is particularly clear in the fall. Although the
focus of the text is on Eve’s action, Adam is the one confronted by God. And
his particular sin is that of silently standing by rather than taking charge to
protect Eve by turning her from sin and crushing the snake. And he further
refuses to take responsibility by then blaming her (Gen 3v1-12). In a culture
filled with families that have been abandoned by men who have either left or
withdrawn into work or hobbies, it all sounds rather contemporary.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Finally,
we should note that after the fall, this husband-wife dynamic is marked by
battle (Gen 3v16). The meaning of “your desire will be for your husband” is
unclear, but as this verse is about life becoming harder for woman, the sense
is that he will “rule over” her in a way that implies oppression rather than
care. Interestingly the same phrase is used in Gen 4v7, where it is about one
“desiring” to control the other, and the other forcefully supressing that. The
point is that sin corrupts the particular roles given husband and wife. And so
a particular sin to look out for and address in men is a forceful and harsh
attitude, especially towards women, and in women, a controlling or manipulating
attitude, especially towards men.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Conclusion.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We
must remember that throughout history much of a woman’s adult life would have
been taken up with bearing, feeding and nurturing young children, and then
experiencing a degree of physical weakness in having done so. The compelling
wisdom of God in marriage, is that by overseeing the family, the husband frees
his wife up for focusing on all that is required of her, comforted in the
knowledge that he is watching over everything for their good.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Old Testament examples.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">1/ The Father of Israel.</span></b></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It
is Peter who points us to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18 as an Old Testament
model of this (1 Pet 3v6). A number of things confirm what we have learnt:
First, Abraham calls God “Lord” and seeks to serve and obey him, and Sarah
calls Abraham “lord” and seeks to do as he asks (Gen 18v3-5, 6-12). So, we are
seeing the husband-wife relationship in marriage is a pattern of God’s own
relationship with his people. Second, in this relationship the husband bears an
authority as head, with his wife as helper (Gen 18v6). But there is no sense of
coercing Sarah in that, which is what Peter commends. Her submission to Abraham’s
request is ready and willing. It’s just the accepted way things work. And it is not even of yielding to his will, which
implies reluctance, but rather a deferring to it. This is an obvious challenge
to those who resent and resist any oversight from their husband. Third, a
traditional understanding of gender roles is not clear cut in how Abraham’s
oversight is expressed. He is interested and involved in the matters of the kitchen
too (18v6-8).</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Fourth,
the importance of child-bearing is born out by the tragedy of Sarah’s inability
to conceive and the heart of the promise being many descendants (Gen 18v18). Fifth,
Abraham is to “command his children and his household…to keep the way of the
LORD,” which affirms his oversight as household head, with the special place of
families in multiplying those who know, image and serve the Lord. As Malachi
puts it: what the one God seeks from marriage, is “godly offspring” (Mal 2v15).
We must underline the importance of this. Perhaps the key purpose in creating
humanity in two genders, is for their difference to be united in the raising of
children who love and serve the Lord. So, there is no marriage in heaven as
this purpose will then be complete (Matt 22v23-30). </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal">
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">2/ The wife of noble character.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
refers to the famous outline of the ideal wife in Proverbs 31. First, we see
that she is not consumed simply with children and homemaking. She engages in
business, cares for the needy, and provides for her household, which included
servants. And because her “wisdom” and “instruction” in verse 26 is not
immediately tied to children, the sense is that she gives godly counsel not
just to them, but to the servants and all who she engages with. She therefore
has a high degree of management and so authority over the household, and of
involvement in her community.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Second,
the bracketing of this section with mention of her husband implies she nevertheless
does all this under his ultimate authority and as his helper. Verse 2 tells us
that he “has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value,” and verses 28-31
(with v23) that he praises her to those other elders who govern with him at the
city gate. The sense is that as overseer of the family, he can trust her to
faithfully get on with what will benefit the family, whilst he engages in
service he must do outside the home. In fact, the word for “watches over” (v27)
can refer to a guard posted to watch over a city. What this all means, is that
the wife does bear an authority, but delegated from her husband, in which she
is free to get on with making decisions without micro-management from him. This
should challenge controlling husbands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">The New Testament.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">1/ Christ and the church in Ephesians 5v21-33</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Because
of its importance, it is worth quoting this passage in full:</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">“</span></i><i><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">21 </span></sup></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. <sup>22 </sup>Wives,
submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. <sup>23 </sup>For
the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his
body, of which he is the Saviour. <sup>24 </sup>Now as the church submits
to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. <sup>25 </sup>Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her <sup>26 </sup>to
make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, <sup>27 </sup>and
to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any
other blemish, but holy and blameless. <sup>28 </sup>In this same way,
husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife
loves himself. <sup>29 </sup>After all, no one ever hated their own body,
but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—<sup>30 </sup>for
we are members of his body. <sup>31 </sup>‘For this reason a man will
leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become
one flesh.’ <sup>32 </sup>This is a profound mystery—but I am talking
about Christ and the church. <sup>33 </sup>However, each one of you also
must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What we see affirms and develops
what we’ve learnt.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>The
relationship of the husband and wife is patterned on the relationship of God
with his people. So, Christ as head to his body as church is akin to the
husband as head, but one flesh with his wife as his “own body” (v22-25,
v28-32).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>The
idea of submission in itself should not be resented as all have to submit in
one way or another (v21). Everyone is to submit to the Lord. Congregations
submit to elders. Citizens to government. Servants/employees to masters/bosses.
None of this implies inequality of being or inferiority of worth. In fact, even
Jesus submitted to his Father’s will, and in a sense to the authority of Pilate
(Jn 19v10-11). It’s about upholding spheres of responsibility. It must be
highlighted too, that when it comes to sex we’re told each has authority over
the other’s body, and in that sense the husband must therefore submit to his
wife just as she to him (1 Cor 7v3-5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>The
wife’s more general submission to her husband is to be equivalent to how as one
of the church she submits to the Lord (v22). That means that unless her husband
asks her to sin, she should be ready and willing to defer to his will, and not
reluctant, resentful, or argumentative about it. This is the “gentle and quiet
spirit” Peter commends (1 Pet 3v4), and it’s focus here implies it is may be the
essence of true femininity: <i>To image God by sacrificing oneself in submitting
to someone for the good of others. </i>Elizabeth Elliot cites Mary as the
supreme example of this in her response to Gabriel: “I am the Lord’s servant…may
your word to me be fulfilled” (Lk 1v38). She writes: "This is what I understand
to be the essence of femininity. It means surrender.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
But given this is also to image God, one cannot but also think of Christ himself
in Gethsemane: “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you are willing, take this
cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done</span><span>.” (Lk 22v42). The reason the wife
should submit in marriage is because as head, her husband is working for her
good – and that of the family (v24). Of course, in a fallen world husbands can
be harsh. However, the wife is still called to submit just as Christ did to
unjust authority in government, in the hope they might be brought to better
embrace God’s word (1 Pet 2v18-3v2). But this doesn’t mean she shouldn’t
respectfully point out bad behaviour, or seek help from her church or even the
state if it is particularly bad. And if the husband puts his wife or children
in danger, there would need to be separation, and possibly divorce if the
behaviour continues and he has effectively abandoned the marriage (1 Cor 7v10-11,
12-16). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Such
submission should be in “everything.” That doesn’t mean the wife has to check
everything with her husband. As with our submission to Christ, it means she has
much freedom to decide things for herself, but in everything will ensure her
decisions do not contravene what she knows her husband would want. This
highlights the importance of communication in marriage.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>On
the same model, husbands must love their wives as Christ did the church,
meaning that they are to daily give up their lives for their wife’s good (v25).
This surely gets at the essence of true masculinity: <i>To image God by
sacrificing oneself in overseeing something for the good of others,</i> just as
Christ is the “shepherd and overseer” of our souls (1 Pet 2v25)<i>.</i> So,
male headship and oversight is primarily given as a means of the husband caring
for his wife. Those who want to dismiss these verses as Paul simply reiterating
the view of marriage in his day don’t realise how counter-cultural this was. Abuse
and unfaithfulness towards wives was quite accepted in Greco-Roman society.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>The
particular concerns of the husband’s headship and oversight are to help his
wife become more godly and so flourish in her faith and service, and to ensure
she is sufficiently well provided and cared for. The word for “care” here is
also used of the tender feeding and care of young children (1 Thess 2v7). <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Such authority
expressed in care is supported by ideas of Christ’s headship elsewhere in
Ephesians. He uses his mighty power in overseeing all things for the good of
his church, fights against evil powers to that end (Eph 1v20-23), and causes it
to grow to a maturity of godliness and use of gifts (Eph 4v15). </span>So, headship rightly exercised is truly empowering and
enabling not restraining. One only needs consider how hard it is for mothers of
newborns to nurture their own faith, and how exhausted and emotionally fragile
they are, to see how important this role is at that stage in particular. Yet,
for many women, menstruation can leave them regularly in need of such care
throughout life. This may be why Peter adds that husbands should “be
considerate” of their wives, particularly with respect to how they are weaker.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
The sense is that they are to seek to understand their wives’ particular needs,
and honour them in how they care for them. This care should be equivalent to the
husband’s own care for his body as his wife is one with him (Eph 5v26-30). At
the very least this means that he should not treat her in any way that he would
not want to be treated himself.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;">1<span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -18pt;">The idea of protection is also implicit in the concern
for discipleship, provision and care, which is signalled by it being summed up
as patterning Christ as “Saviour” (Eph 5v23). The husband is to protect his
wife against spiritual danger, and against physical need or harm. This too is
supported by Jesus’ commitment to lay his life down to protect his sheep from
the wolves (Jn 10v11-13). Moreover, Jenson notes that the phrase “man of God,”
used 80 times in scripture, often has “militaristic undertones,” and (in gospel
terms) refers to “a warrior engaged in a war.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span></span></a> And Paul does use a colloquial
phrase “act like men” when urging his hearers to be steadfast, strong and
loving (1 Cor 16v13, ESV). So, husbands are to express this aspect of maleness
by engaging in spiritual battle by praying for their family, encouraging and
sometimes correcting them with the sword of God’s word, chasing after them if
they go wayward, and acting to fend off detrimental influences. But they also engage
in the physical battle of toiling away at work and general oversight, to ensure
they are flourishing as they should. All this shows that a husband who abuses
or harms his wife in any way is acting in a manner that is wholly contrary to biblical
ideas of male headship or oversight in marriage. Such things cannot therefore
be excused.</span></p>
<div><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"><span> </span>It
is not just the husband-wife relationship, but its grounding in their one flesh
sexual union that is a picture of Christ’s relationship with the church
(v31-32). This brings much to the idea of sexuality and marriage. Only
heterosexual marriage reflects the difference-dynamic of husband as head who
governs, and wife as body to be cared for. And sex in marriage is important for
deepening their closeness and awareness of the dynamic. Moreover, the sense of
union and mutual delight in sex is intended to give some sense of the union and
mutual delight we can enjoy with the Lord, as we serve him in the raising of
spiritual children for his family.</span></div>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">2/ Men and women in 1 Timothy 2v8-15</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Here,
Paul’s key request to men is to pray without “anger and quarrelling.” This
underlines the importance of prayer in those who have oversight of their
families, but also a particular tendency in men to anger. For women, his commendation
is of modesty, self-control and “good works” rather than a concern with revealing
or showy dress. This shouldn’t be read as a critique of all concern with looks.
Beauty is affirmed in the Bible. It seems more a critique of dressing in a way
that wants to promote one’s sexiness or status!</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">We
do no not have space to unpack verses 11-15 in any depth. Elsewhere Paul speaks
of women praying and speaking the gospel in prophecy (1 Cor 11). So, he cannot
be forbidding that here. His point as I understand it, is that because of the importance
of male headship, women should be learners not authoritative teachers in the
church, as that would require correcting or rebuking men. And he justifies this
by saying that they should not be tempted to grasp after a role that isn’t
theirs, as Eve did in the garden. Rather they should embrace their particular
role of raising children.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[8]</span></span></a></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">3/ The role of men in 1 Timothy 3v1-13</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
idea of headship is supported by what immediately follows in 1 Timothy. It is
assumed that elders who “oversee” the church<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>are men. But what is very important here is that they are to be proved by
how they manage their own household, because “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he
care for God’s church.” The sense is that there is an equivalence between
oversight of the biological family and oversight of God’s spiritual family. This
underlines the importance of the father’s leadership being one of shepherd-like
oversight, and of his taking ultimate responsibility for watching over his
family’s spiritual wellbeing (Acts 20v28-30).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Given what we’ve learnt, to my mind “overseer” therefore seems a more
helpful word for the husband’s authority that “leader,” as modern ideas of leadership
are often to do with vision setting and direction, and there is some sense in
which the wife leads in the household too. Oversight better reflects the idea
of responsibility being entrusted to the wife, but with the husband watching
over the welfare and activity of the family, and only intervening where
necessary. We might think then of dad as a pastor or shepherd of his family,
who exercises oversight “willingly,” “eagerly,” “not domineering,” but being an
example, keenly aware that they are accountable to Christ (1 Pet 5v2-5).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">5/ The role of women in 1 Timothy 5v9-16</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Paul’s
instructions on widows give us much on what was seen as commendable in women. The
list of their particular good deeds are “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the
Lord’s people, helping those in trouble.” Whereas younger widows are rebuked
for being “idlers” and “busybodies who talk nonsense,” and urged to “marry, to
have children, to manage their homes.” Similarly in Titus 2v4-5 younger women</span><sup><span lang="EN-US"> </span></sup><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">are “to love their husbands and children, to be
self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to
their husbands.”</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Three things are noteworthy. First, there is the focus we have seen
throughout on having a particular responsibility for young children. Second, is
how much this resonates with Proverbs 31. “Manage their homes” translates one
word - a verb that describes “giving leadership to a household.” But strikingly,
in the same letter men are described as those who “manage” their household too (1
Tim 3v4). However, there the verb just translates “lead” with the addition of “<i>his
own </i>household” following (my italics). In other words, both had an
authority to manage the household, but in different ways, and with the husband
having ultimate oversight.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Some suggest that the call to “manage” and “be busy at” home, is a
requirement for the wife to focus on homemaking. Personally, I wonder if this interpretation
stems from a stereotype of the modern domestic wife. Given Proverbs 31, the critique
of being idle, and the commendation of hospitality and caring for the needy, it
seems more likely Paul is simply making the point that women who are at home
with their children should not waste any spare time they have, but be busy in
using their home for Christian service. I think he would be rather critical of
those who are instead consumed only with cleaning, home improvements, or
cooking for their family.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Third, although all Christians are urged to “good works,” Paul has twice
stressed these in the context of women (1 Tim 2v10, 5v10). And this is what is
especially noted about Dorcas in Acts 9v36, alongside “acts of charity,” which
describes care of the needy equivalent to this “helping those in trouble.” This
may reflect an assumption that women should give themselves to caring
ministries in particular, and especially if they did not need to work. Although
it is unclear whether the roles of husband as main provider and wife as main
carer should continue when children are older, </span><span>the benefits of maintaining just one
income so that the other has time for service in the church and community therefore
needs consideration. And often that will fit a mother’s desire to be more at
home.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Interestingly, these verses also imply that the ideal for younger widows
is not to remarry, so that they can serve Christ in an undivided way. This corresponds
with 1 Corinthians 7v25-40. And it signals that with all the emphasis on
marriage and childbearing with respect to gender, singleness is a noble path,
trodden by the Lord Jesus himself. Single men and women can still be involved
in “filling” the world with godly offspring as they play a part in the
discipling of children and others through the church, and in “subduing” the
world as they bring their own particular strengths to bear in serving society
through work, community action, and church ministries.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">6/ Upholding the differences in 1 Corinthians 11v2-16</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">We
will not say much about this notoriously difficult passage. But some things are
clear. First, there is a hierarchy of headship from God the Father – Christ – man
– woman (v3).<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
By consequence, Christ’s equality with the Father affirms the equality of men
and women, and his willing submission to the Father the fact that submission is
not something to be regarded negatively. Second, a refusal to affirm God’s
order for male-female relationships means that men dishonour Christ by
implying that their wife rather than Christ is their head, and women dishonour
their husbands by not accepting them as their head (v5-6). Third, the idea of
head and helper is affirmed in the statement that woman was created “for man”
as an explanation for his headship. Fourth, whatever the meaning of the head
coverings, the sense is that the difference between the genders should be
marked and upheld by their appearance. Men should not take on the appearance of
women and vice-versa. We can see today, how a blurring of those distinctives
adds to the confusion over gender.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Conclusion.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">We
can picture the relationship of the genders in marriage as below. Christ
governs and cares for all, mediating that through his providence and the
church. The husband oversees all aspects of the welfare and activity of his
family, with his wife deferring to his will as she plays her own part in this,
especially in caring for any children when young.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IezY1ejkImmyBrtJ_zUiG_4OIQknugyaGvboYTgp4y9XYByZTP9hLEwrO4gvb07ve0UC8LsbP3p_m6zm0SwTlXqoaU92RWAXhKOhR9erHwijOPhnt8QfNTo0CqKLIO9zbwEk_64xIzg/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="370" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IezY1ejkImmyBrtJ_zUiG_4OIQknugyaGvboYTgp4y9XYByZTP9hLEwrO4gvb07ve0UC8LsbP3p_m6zm0SwTlXqoaU92RWAXhKOhR9erHwijOPhnt8QfNTo0CqKLIO9zbwEk_64xIzg/w217-h337/image.png" width="217" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;"><br /></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">[2] APPLICATIONS FROM THE BIBLE’S TEACHING ON GENDER</span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">1/ Honour is given to God and to men and women by
upholding and celebrating their distinctives rather than denying them.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
is the most striking thing from 1 Corinthians 11v2-16. If God has designed an
order to how men and women relate, upholding it matters and denying it is
serious. By refusing to accept this – or being ashamed of it, husbands and
wives do not receive the honour they should for their particular callings, nor
God and Christ for their design and headship.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">2/ The distinctives are to be supported by a general
conformity to cultural gender norms regarding appearance.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
follows from 1 Corinthians 11 too. We must be clear that the concern isn’t with
unhelpful cultural norms – such as boys liking sport and girls liking cooking. The
concern is with dress. No doubt this is because it is a signifier of identity,
just as biological appearance is: “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A woman
must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> your God detests anyone who does
this.” (Deut 22:5).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">One
needs to guard against Pharisaism, eg. in ruling boys should never have long
hair or wear kilts, and girls never have short hair or wear trousers, in a
culture where these are all quite acceptable. Nevertheless, as hair length is
still a general marker of gender, one might say such conformity is preferable. But
the principle is that the genders should not dress in a way that makes their
gender uncertain. This is particularly important at church, so that the God-given
hierarchy is evident (including to angels!) in who speaks (1 Cor 11v10).<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[10]</span></span></a></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Beyond
that, the Bible is silent about cultural norms. To my mind it can be damaging
to enforce team sports on an unsporty boy so they feel they belong, or enforce
a concern for fashion on an unfashion-conscious girl. But there may be wisdom
in helping them to engage with others of the same gender who have the same
interests, so they do have a sense of gender-belonging. Gender specific teams
or activities may help in this. We might also </span><span>encourage interests our children do
lean towards that are more generalised to their gender. For example, if a boy
doesn’t like team sports, is really into fashion and likes mountain biking, we
might want to make much of the mountain biking without undermining their
interest in fashion. If a girl doesn’t like fashion, is mad about football and
likes dance, we might want to make much of the dance without undermining their
interest in football. The point is that it is helpful for a sense of identity
to, at least somewhere, be into something others of the same gender are particularly
into.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">3/ As heads, husbands have a particular responsibility
and authority to oversee the welfare and activity of their families, and
especially in discipleship, provision and protection.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Some
examples of what that will look like:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">Having an eye on what is needed spiritually and
materially for the family, and in consultation with one’s wife ensuring that
responsibilities are distributed wisely to ensure those needs are met.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">Being watchful for how their wife or children might be
struggling spiritually, emotionally, or in any way, and being ready to serve by
rearranging responsibilities or take more on to alleviate the burden.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">If they are threatened in any of these ways, being ready
to fight for them (yes, here men can fight) in prayer, Bible instruction, exhortation,
pursuit, discipline (of children) etc.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">Being prepared to take on extra paid work if necessary to
enable one’s wife to have sufficient time with the children when they are young.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">In all this taking the initiative, and especially in the
spiritual care of one’s wife and children, in teaching, correcting, rebuking,
encouraging and strengthening them with God’s word.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">A particular need is for the husband to respect his wife as helper
enough to ask: “What do you think about us doing…” and “Would you mind helping
with…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">4/ As helpers, wives have a particular responsibility and
authority under their husband to promote the welfare and activity of their
families, and especially in raising young children, and managing the home whilst
based there.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some
examples of what that will look like:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">Having an eye on what is needed spiritually and
materially for the family, and in consultation and deference to one’s husband, agree
how responsibilities can be most wisely distributed to ensure those needs are
met, and readily accept one’s own role in that.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">Being watchful for how the children might be struggling
spiritually, emotionally, or in any way, and being ready to point out their
needs to one’s husband and liaise with him as to how best they might help them.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">If the children or husband are threatened in any of these
ways, being ready to fight for them (yes, here woman can fight too) in prayer,
Bible instruction, encouragement, pursuit, discipline (of children) etc.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">Unless there are good reasons not to, being ready when
children are young to limit paid work in order to devote one’s time to caring
for them, managing the home so one’s husband can better focus on his
responsibilities, and consider giving extra time to serving within the church.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1; text-indent: -18pt;">In all this, respecting her husband’s oversight, even
when he struggles to fulfil it, encouraging him in all he does that is good,
and abiding by what he would want in all things, unless it would mean sin.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">A particular need is for the wife to sufficiently honour her husband
as head by asking: “What do you think we should do…” and “How would you like me
to help with…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">5/ Given the importance of gender roles in marriage, we
should encourage the shaping of society to accommodate them.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Personally,
I find it hard to see careerism as ever helpful. We work to do good with our
gifts, and provide for our family, gospel witness, and the poor. Seeking to
advance for any other reason too easily keeps men and women from their
responsibilities to their families. Nevertheless, some will need to advance.
And in that as in all work, we should encourage a reasonable working week and
flexible hours where possible, so men and woman can give the particular time
they need to give to one-another and to their families – as well as to their
other responsibilities in church and community. Moreover, it would be good to
question the thinking that seeks to encourage both parents back to work through
the provision of free child-care, and the detrimental impact on families of an
economy that requires that for a reasonable quality of life. In “careers
advice” too, we would want men and women to factor in their God-given
responsibilities to a consideration of what they do, and be critical of a model
for women that takes no account of what it will mean for them to have children.
The man whose primary ambition is to ensure his family thrives before God,
should be commended, as should the woman whose is to raise godly children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">6/ As men and women are created to play these differing
roles, we would expect not just physical but behavioural differences that it
would be helpful to appreciate.</span></b></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Studies
do conclusively show that to a small degree men are more oriented towards
achievement, being more assertive and concerned with ideas than women, and
women oriented more towards nurture, being more “agreeable,” but also more
prone to variable emotions and anxiety. The
former no doubt helps men achieve for the good of their family, and the latter
helps women nurture their children with positive relationships.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">In studies: </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background: white;">“Women
scored higher, on average, on enthusiasm, compassion, politeness, orderliness,
volatility, withdrawal, and openness, while men scored higher on assertiveness,
industriousness and intellect.</span></i><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPj7Zrc52XEjAhymNpJeqkdLC_QBvmkSyiKF37t6MbQZ2N87j3je0KuFA7BKn95nOjj9BGKG5xNH05jGTPUzdE58H2FHpyUhhw4gSitOu5Djw2Z5sZI_7L_XeUPEAQRQ890xdmhaJK9ak/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="408" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPj7Zrc52XEjAhymNpJeqkdLC_QBvmkSyiKF37t6MbQZ2N87j3je0KuFA7BKn95nOjj9BGKG5xNH05jGTPUzdE58H2FHpyUhhw4gSitOu5Djw2Z5sZI_7L_XeUPEAQRQ890xdmhaJK9ak/w403-h285/image.png" width="403" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Having said this, the range of behavioural traits is not
at all exact as the diagram above shows.</span><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;">[12]</span></span></span></a><span> There
are men who will have more classically female traits than many women and vice
versa. And as the Bible doesn’t specify such things, but teaches that both are
to image God, we should refrain from saying certain traits are more masculine
or feminine. Women are also called to achieve and men also to care.</span><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;">[13]</span></span></span></a><span> In
fact, it is a sign of our security as men or women, that we are unashamed of
displaying what might be more commonly linked to the other gender. The Lord
Jesus spoke of longing to gather Jerusalem’s “children” like a “hen gathers her
chicks” (Matt 23v37). And he commended Mary for sitting at his feet like a male
disciple rather than bustling around as her sister was (Lk 10v38-42).</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Although these minor differences when added up are
significant. More substantial differences between the genders have been noted in
“interest:” </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">“Gender differences in vocational interests are among the most
important proximate determinants of occupational gender segregation…male
adolescents clearly tend to favour occupations which require creating and/or
manipulating objects (i.e. “things”), while female adolescents prefer to work
in occupations in which interacting with customers or patients is important
(i.e. “people").</i></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Put most simply, men are interested in things, preferring
things-orientated work environments, and women in people, so preferring
people-orientated work environments. This is evidenced by the fact that in the
most egalitarian society men still dominate professions in science, technology,
and engineering, whilst women dominate in the so called “caring” professions of
social sciences and medicine.</span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[14]</span></span></a></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Husbands,
wives, educators, and workplace managers would do well to be more aware of this
difference as explaining different ways of relating and learning between the
genders. Just as we no longer expect a left handed person to write as well with
their right hand, we cannot expect a “things” oriented man to do as well
socially as a “people” oriented woman, nor vice-versa. And so in knowing each
others’ makeup, it would be wise for husbands and wives, and workers with
different capabilities, to distribute tasks accordingly, seek each other’s
counsel, sympathise with each others’ weaknesses, and learn from each others’
strengths. This is one way of serving each other. And what they should not do
is mock or get exacerbated with the other because they don’t seem to do, say or
understand things as they do. God has made men and women to complement not
compete with each other.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">Now
we need to be clear: All this does not mean that only men should be CEOs and
women primary school teachers. But it does mean it is not necessarily due to
prejudice if men are more prevalent in the former and women in the latter. It
also means that men and women are likely to do these roles in slightly
different ways. Moreover, rather than requiring women to be male-like to
advance, companies could appreciate their particular strengths. Likewise,
schools in not requiring men to be woman-like in their teaching. </span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">More
fundamentally, </span><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">these differences may explain why some men
may be less fulfilled if predominantly at home, and some women if predominantly
in the workplace.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">7/ When men and women do not display these generalised
traits, the distinctiveness of the roles nevertheless needs to be maintained.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Due to gifting, the wife may be
suited as the main breadwinner, the more adept at overseeing finances, or
whatever, and the husband more suited to childcare as the children get older,
and to cooking and being based at home. Indeed, this may be forced on them by
circumstance, with the wife’s emotional health suffering by being at home, or
the husband’s at work. Nevertheless, under God the husband is still responsible
for ultimate oversight and the wife for assisting him. So he should still seek
to ensure they properly discuss and decide on this alternate distribution of tasks,
that she is not overburdened by that, and that between them the children
receive the care and home environment they need, and that they are all properly
discipled. He may be the one to cook and clean, and she to do the DIY and call the
garage, but as overseer the husband is to ensure they are all done, and in a
way that doesn't exhaust or harm the members of his family. See below...</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVoSLLkjWmtjbcLLb6uKZKU5nI8mXj9sFyvv_wcyOUVyXqyXPT519KIL1-H9H3enUknZYoxGc1g6iCsWSnkORNPWODaAaceauvf7cKuk-cuQiwOkA6dddV7h9Hj_Qo05vxVSSINsJyqQ/s798/gender+roles.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="798" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPVoSLLkjWmtjbcLLb6uKZKU5nI8mXj9sFyvv_wcyOUVyXqyXPT519KIL1-H9H3enUknZYoxGc1g6iCsWSnkORNPWODaAaceauvf7cKuk-cuQiwOkA6dddV7h9Hj_Qo05vxVSSINsJyqQ/w400-h390/gender+roles.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because these roles are written
into the genders creationally, we can assume that maintaining this sense of
ultimate oversight would be especially important for the husband, if he is not able to display it in the normal way, and his care of her especially important as she is still
likely to feel a particular sense of responsibility for home life alongside her
responsibilities at work, that he might not have felt if he was the main worker.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And if she is simply more capable,
organisationally or spiritually, she can still ask her husband what he would like
them to do on issues, or ask him to read her the Bible etc. And in church
life, leaders might be careful not to keep bypassing Christian husbands and
going to their capable wives. But talking to the husband about how they feel
their wife could best serve, or asking wives to chat over their service with
their husband.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">8/ Given these gender roles and traits, however, it would
be wise to consider how they will show themselves in many if not most
marriages.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">As man is created for provision for the family and women for
nurture of the family, he is more likely to feel unfulfilled and in tension if
unable to be the main earner, and she to feel unfulfilled and in tension if she
is. This may be why in many marriages, the husband tends to be more focused on work
matters than home matters whereas for the wife it is often the other way
around. This is not to excuse failings that stem from these dispositions, but
simply to point out why they might be there so that they are not resented.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Either way we must reject careerism that can dominate both for men and women,
and not over commit financially that binds both in work, limiting time for
other things. For example, the wife and mother should feel no sense at all of
failure in choosing to focus on young children and when she has more time, give
that to being at home, ensuring its smooth running, and using the home for
doing good in the chu<span style="font-family: inherit;">rch and community rather than earning. Likewise, although
the husband should ensure sufficient time with his family, he should not feel
an unnecessary guilt in being unable to give as much to home life as his wife.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Where this distribution of roles is not possible
because of financial need or the husband or wife’s God-given nature, we should
be clear the balance of these things between husband and wife is not
prescribed.</span> However, God's design means that these leanings will usually be the best fit
for husbands and wives. And it means the</span> wife should not expect her husband to
have the same home-focus as she has - always pushing him to engage because she
rightly wants him to be interested, nor should the husband expect his wife to
establish the sort of work-focus he has - always pushing her to advance because
he rightly wants her to flourish. Rather, there can be an encouragement that
looks out for and accepts a differing focus and concern. But both should be
"busy" in their different spheres (2 Thess 3v11).</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Moreover, creational design may explain the husband’s frustration
when his wife overdoes things, as a distorted expression of his desire to protect
and care for her. Likewise, her frustration at his not sharing her depth of
concern about the home or children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">9/ Although gender roles are limited only to the family
and church, it would nevertheless be wise to reflect their creational
disposition in society more generally.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Because
men and women were created for these differences, and wider society comprises
families, the head-helper disposition will always be evident, and is nothing to
be ashamed of. For example, we should commend men for wanting to give up their
seats and open doors for women, and films where men care for their families or
protect or rescue women and children. This is not to imply that women are weak
or unequal, nor that they should not do these things themselves. But these are
particular expressions of what manhood is. And it encourages boys and men to do
likewise. Likewise, when women give up their careers, time, and energy to raise
their children, or are concerned with creating a nice home for their family.
Again, men can do these too. But these are particular expressions of what
womanhood is, and set an example to other women and girls. By contrast we
should be critical of unhelpful portrayals of the two genders, eg. dads as
bumbling and inept, or of women feeling they’ve achieved in life by marrying a
rich prince charming. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">10/ As behavioural traits are not specified by the Bible,
however, masculinity and femininity should be defined by created gender,
likeness to Christ, and embracing of one’s particular responsibilities, not
particular characteristics.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">So,
men are most manly when most like Christ and sacrificing themselves in the
responsibility of oversight. Women are most womanly when most like Christ and submitting
to oversight for the good of others. Being sensitive and caring does not make a
man less manly, nor does being sporty or courageous make a woman less a woman.
This can be incredibly liberating to grasp for all number of men and women,
especially in a day when those who are drawn to the characteristics commonly
aligned to the opposite gender can be led to question their own.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">This
also teaches that we cannot excuse failures in godliness as inevitable
outworkings of our gender. Despite their strength, men are to be gentle not
harsh (1 Pet 3v7), and despite their sociability women are to restrain their
speech (1 Tim 5v13).</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">What
then is true biblical manhood?</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo7; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">To be male and like Christ, <o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">expressing this if married in the particular
responsibility of lovingly overseeing, discipling, protecting, and providing
for one’s wife and family so that they flourish in knowing and serving the Lord,
<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">contributing any creational traits inherent in godly
maleness to wider society, <o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">battling against any corrupted traits inherent in fallen
maleness, (those scripture seems to highlight are: withdrawing from
responsibility, being domineering, angry, resentful, and lacking in
self-control – Gen 3v6, 16, Col l3v18, 1 Tim 2v8, Tit 2v6<b>)</b><o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">and readily embracing all ministries in the service of
Christ.</span></li></ol>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Given
the responsibility for oversight and care of the family, we might add that the
following scenarios that are common to men, are particularly unmanly: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo16; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">refusing to ask your wife to help when you
have too much or she is better at something,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">being consumed with work, sport or hobbies
rather limiting them for family,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">spending so much on a flash car that it
impacts the quality of home and provision given to your family,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">shouting and intimidating rather than
listening and explaining,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">being harsh or physical with your wife or
children, rather than gentle and patient,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">watching TV whilst your wife slaves away,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">leaving your wife to sort problems with
kids as you can’t face them,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">leaving the spiritual input and praying for
your children to your wife,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">being lecherous instead of pure,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">engaging in multiple sexual relationships
rather than committing for life,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">considering same sex relationships and
dressing in a culturally feminine way,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">showing little concern to be attractive to
your wife and gently encourage your sexual relationship,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">being overly focused on sex rather than
delighting in your wife,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">consenting to the abortion of a child rather
than seeking to protect it,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">jealousy and controllingly limiting your wife’s
activities so she is unable to flourish in her gifts or friendships,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">resenting and resisting your wife's desire to
be hospitable because you'd rather it just the family,</span><br /><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">What would you add?</span></span><div><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.133333px;"><br /></span></span><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">What
then is true biblical womanhood?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">To be female and like Christ,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">expressing this if married in the particular
responsibility of lovingly helping one's husband by respecting, affirming and deferring
to his oversight, nurturing any children and managing the home as the context
for that,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">contributing any creational traits inherent in godly
femaleness to wider society,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">battling against any corrupted traits inherent in fallen
femaleness, (those scripture seems to highlight are: lacking in submissiveness,
being controlling, gossiping, interfering, and immodest – Gen 3v6, 16, 1 Tim 2v9,
12, 5v13, Tit 2v3, 5)</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">and readily embracing all ministries in the service of
Christ, except that of authoritative teacher or elder in the church.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Given
the responsibility for assisting one’s husband and nurturing children, we might
add that the following scenarios that are common to women, are particularly unwomanly:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">asserting or rejoicing in a sense of
independence from men,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">refusing to ask your husband to help when
you have too much or he is better at something,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">failing to ask your husband if he is happy
with a decision you know he should be party to,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">speaking down your husband to friends,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">pushing ahead with something you know
displeases your husband,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">neglecting to see or encourage your husband
in the good things he does,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">engaging in multiple sexual relationships
rather than committing for life,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">considering same sex relationships or
dressing in a culturally male-like way,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">showing little concern to look attractive
for your husband and encourage your sexual relationship,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">being uninterested in sex rather than
delighting in your husband,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">seeking the abortion of a child rather than
to protect it,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">focusing on work, hobbies or friendships to the
detriment of your children,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">so busying yourself in home life that you
neglect your walk with the Lord or time with your children,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">leaving the spiritual input and praying for
your children wholly to your husband,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">resenting the need to serve your family or
take time out for children,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; text-indent: -18pt;">What would you add?</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">11/ In ministry to the genders, all Christlikeness that
is frowned on by boys and men should be affirmed as being truly manly, and
those frowned on by girls and women should be affirmed as truly feminine.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">12/ Likewise, all qualities especially needed in their
particular calling should be affirmed as key to what it is to be a man, and
those especially needed by women as key to what it is to be a woman.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">13/ And, particularly male traits that are ungodly should
be challenged as unmanly, and female ones as unfeminine.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">For
example, although they stand for girls and women too, in boys and men, the
following could be encouraged as particularly manly – especially when expressed
within their family under the head-helper dynamic:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">taking responsibility in oversight,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">seeking to protect and provide for people’s needs,</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">actively caring for women and children</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">showing a prayerful concern for people growing in faith</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">being moved to tears in compassion towards another, and
to action in caring for their needs</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">considering marriage only with a woman</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">intending and maintaining sexual purity before marriage
and faithfulness in marriage, out of care for one’s future/current wife and to
protect any children</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Whereas
failing to take responsibility, or using strength, size or forcefulness of
character to hurt or intimidate should be challenged as particularly unmanly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Although
they stand for boys and men too, in girls and women, the following could be
encouraged as particularly feminine – especially when expressed within their
family under the head-helper dynamic:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">submitting to the will of others in order to do good</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">seeking to nurture and organise</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">actively caring for children and the needy</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">showing a prayerful concern for people growing in faith</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">being courageous in standing for what’s right, and taking
charge of a situation when no-one else does</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">considering marriage only with a man</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">intending and maintaining sexual purity before marriage
and faithfulness in marriage, in order to honour one’s future/current husband
and protect any children</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Whereas
failing to submit when one should, or being nagging, manipulative, or immodest
in order to get one’s way should be challenged as particularly unfeminine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">14/ In raising boys and girls, it would be wise to
encourage and mentor these things, and affirm the child when they are
displayed.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Studies have shown that although
all need to be encouraged to know and image Christ, experiencing good, warm,
affectionate, nurturing, parenting from the parent of a child's own sex is
especially important for a secure sense of their own sexual identity, as is
seeing their father lead and the mother not be over-dominant. Moreover, the
high role a boy may have of leading and caring for his family, and the girl may
have of having and nurturing children, needs to be talked about, especially
when the particular traits needed in those spheres are not being shown.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Obviously both genders need growth
in all areas, but given what we’ve learnt boys might need to be especially
encouraged to be gentle and care for their mums and sisters, and girls not to
be stubborn or belittle their dad or bothers. And we should not discourage
girls play acting with dolls the idea of being married, having and
breastfeeding children, nor boys if, for example they want to make a camp for
their sister to live in, or stick up for them at school. Moreover, as they grow up we should take
opportunities to talk about “if you get married and have children you’ll find…”
as a way of preparing them for their particular role.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Particularly helpful would be
telling girls how they are just like Mum and boys just like Dad. And with that
is mentoring. So if Mum or siblings are struggling, Dad could team up with his
son to decide how they are going to ensure they are Ok, and commit together to
praying for them. And if Mum has a particular task she is doing to help Dad,
she could team up with her daughter to do that or to pray for what he does.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Particular
examples of what sons might be encouraged in include:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Asking them to organise their siblings in an activity or
be in charge as they hang out together.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">When confronting their fighting or showing of disrespect
towards their siblings or their mother, stress their role is to protect and
care for their family, and especially women and girls.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Encourage them not to be lecherous or dismissive of girls, but have a respectful attitude to them, and a readiness to seek help
from them.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Ask them to lead prayers or something from the Bible at
times.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Involve them in caring ministries.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">When they are overly rough or coarse, encourage them to
be gentle and self-controlled in action and speech, stressing this is to be
truly manly, and help them recognise that inner strength is more important than
outer strength.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Talk up why it is strong, respectful of any future wife,
and responsible to any future children, to be sexually pure and keep sex for
marriage.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">8.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Highlight that they are turning into a fantastic young
man when they do these things.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Particular
examples of what daughters might be encouraged in include:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Asking them to organise their siblings in an activity or
look after the youngest in particular.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">When confronting stubbornness or verbal manipulation of their
siblings or parents, stress their need one day to be straightforward with any
husband and defer to his will even if they disagree.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Encourage them not to mock or put boys down, but affirm the
good in them, and be helpful to them.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Ask them to lead prayers or something from the Bible at
times.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Involve them in courageous activities.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">When being excessively concerned with relationships or
looks, encourage them to be modest and restrained in action and speech, stressing
this is truly feminine, and help them to recognise that inner beauty as more
important than outer beauty.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Talk up why it is loving, respectful of any future
husband, and responsible to any future children, to be sexually pure and keep
sex for marriage.</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">8.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Highlight that they are turning into a fantastic young woman
when they do these things.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Obviously,
boys and girls might do all these things. And each will be lacking in certain
areas, which parents might want to try to address with certain activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">15/ In ministry to men and women, consideration should be
given not just to gender differences in behaviour and interest, but also its
variety.</span></b></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">Activities
for boys and men that are achievement and things-oriented will generally engage
them better than things that are nurture and people-oriented and vice versa. So,
men may favour sports, walks, quizzes, cinema trip, working parties, and “doing
something” with their children, whereas women may favour parties, meals, cafes,
simple socials, and chatting whilst their children get up to something.
However, we should guard against assumptions on the basis of stereotype. Not
all men are interested in sports as a context for meeting, nor women craft as a
context for chatting.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;">We
might say then, that t</span><span style="color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">he primary goal in ministry to Christian men
and women is to develop Christlikeness using means that best fit the ways the
different genders are engaged.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">16/ We must get beyond thinking about gender ministry
simply around ideas of authoritative teaching and eldership.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Instead,
we can consider all number of different ministries and different strengths the
differences of personality between the two genders can bring to these. We must
reject the idea that oversight or leadership ministries are somehow superior to
caring or children’s ministries. But we must also reject cultural pressure to
see the two genders as equally shaped for both. We have seen that some woman
may be well equipped to oversee some aspects of church life and some men to
engage with children. But as a generalisation, we would expect men to lean
towards the former and women the latter. I guess in all this we should just be
considering who is best fit for whatever role, given the any restrictions the
Lord has placed on it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #202124;"><b style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">17/ In all this we must both </b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.133333px;"><b>sympathise</b></span><b style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"> with and critique contemporary views of sex and gender.</b></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">In
modern language "sex" refers to the biological reality of whether one
is biologically a man or woman, whereas "gender" is said to refer to
behavioural traits or roles that are ascribed by a culture to each - men
being male and women female. So those claiming to be "non-binary" or
"fluid" in gender are rebelling (as they see it) against cultural ideas
of how they should behave or look, seeing these as no more than
constructs, and potentially damaging and alienating to those who don't
fit cultural stereotypes. They are saying they feel they blend elements
of what is understood to be classically male or female.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">But
the Bible makes no clear distinction between sex and gender in this
sort of way. Because we have been created to fulfil specific roles in
marriage, gender is more closely tied to sex (which is actually
acknowledged when those identifying with their opposite gender want to
change their sex-biology to match). In attempting a simple definition we
might say that biblically <i>"sex" is what men or women are biologically,</i> and <i>"gender" is how their sex is expressed in what they do.</i> So
there are only two genders - male, which describes the totality of what
men do, with true masculinity being Christlikeness when expressed by a
man, and especially in fulfilling the particular role God has given men
in marriage; and </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">female, which describes the totality of what women do, with true femininity </span>being
Christlikeness when expressed by a woman, and especially in fulfilling
the particular role God has given women in marriage.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> And
with both we would want to recognize (but not allot) different
behavioural leanings that in a general sense are displayed by the two
genders because they are creationally wired into their particular sex
for the purposes assigned it by God. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
is here, however, that we would want to be sympathetic with the
contemporary reaction in the area of gender. It reflects the fact that
our culture has too rigidly and </span>unbiblically<span style="font-family: inherit;"> defined how the two genders should be and act, so that (and this is a simplistic example) sensitive and emotional boys </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">or
men think they are partly feminine, and assertive or sporty women think
they are partly masculine. The fact is, that if we use "masculine" and
"feminine" as descriptors for these sort of traits, we would have to
agree - and someone might therefore say that Jesus is non-binary because
he wept over Jerusalem saying how he longed to gather the Jews like a
hen gathers her chicks (Lk 13v34), or Paul because he ministered to the
Thessalonians like a nursing mother (1 Thess 2v7). </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Understanding
this is important if Christians and non-Christians are not to talk past
each other. The reason we get so provoked at such ideas is because we
are thinking of gender differently and worried about the damage
contemporary ideas are doing. And so we must affirm that those reacting
against today's cultural </span>stereotypes<span style="font-family: inherit;"> have
a point, whilst making the case for the more minimal and liberating
Christian understanding of gender above. We should do this with
confidence that this both stops those not fitting the </span>stereotypes<span style="font-family: inherit;"> from
feeling alienated, and keeps them from an internal confusion over how
their sense of self fits with their biology. Perhaps we should say that
according to contemporary terminology we are all non-binary, but that is
no threat to men being truly men or women truly women. It simply
reflects the fact that we are all called to reflect the diversity of
what comprises the image of God, who is spir</span>it. That means that a man who feels they have more culturally feminine traits doesn't need to conclude they are a woman, rather they see that those traits are not exclusively feminine but are male traits too - and vice versa. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However<span style="font-family: inherit;">, according to a
biblical understanding, gender cannot be anything but binary, for it is
simply the expression of one's sex - of being a man or a woman. And given it is that, today's confusion in this area is serious because of
how it undermines the distinctions in role between the sexes when it
comes to marriage. This may be why the Lord so strongly requires
conformity to cultural norms of dress for one's own sex (Deut 22v5, 1
Cor 11v10), and why there may be wisdom in fostering a sense of
belonging in boys or girls amongst their peers of the same sex through
gender specific activity.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><p align="left" class="MsoNormal">
</p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;">[3] A SUMMARY.</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Bible teaches a <i>complementarian
</i>view of men and women as created equal by God, but assigned and designed
for differing roles in family life in which they operate as a team, patterning
the union and delight in each other of Christ and the church. Husbands are
called to lovingly oversee the welfare and activity of their family by taking
primary responsibility for discipling, protecting and providing for them (Eph
5v25-6v4). The compelling wisdom of this model is that that by acting in this
way, the husband frees his wife to be able to focus for however many years on
her primary responsibility for having and nurturing children if she is able,
managing the home as the environment for that, and perhaps having the option of
holding back on paid work to give more time to serving her church and community
(1 Tim 5v9-14). Although it may grate in our culture, this model spans
scripture: In Eden working to provide was impacted for man because that is his
creational thing, and the bearing of children was impacted for woman because that
is hers (Gen 3v16-19).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But it is
important to note that this is about <i>primary </i>responsibilities and
shouldn’t be understood in an overly prescriptive manner. The husband is still
to engage in the life of home, church and community, and the wife may need to
engage in paid work, possibly as the main or full-time earner, which might
enable her husband to give more time to his own acts of service (Acts 16v14-15,
Prov 31v23-24). But in such a situation, they would appreciate that this may go
against the grain of their creational instincts, leading to tension,
dissatisfaction, or increased burden as roles are confused and one or other
ends up trying to do everything. They would therefore be careful to delineate
tasks, and recognize that he continues to take ultimate responsibility as
provider through ensuring everything is viable and will grant the family what
it needs, and she continues to accept her role as nurturer by ensuring the
children are not neglected and have a sufficient amount of her time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The point is that,
with a concern not to undermine their primary callings, and with a
consideration of the needs of the children, the couple will agree a pattern for
their life together that best fits the circumstances, personalities, and
combination of gifts the Lord has given them. The husband will continually
oversee that to ensure what is best for the flourishing in life, faith and
ministry of his wife and family, just as Christ does for his church. And where
differences of opinion cannot be resolved, his wife will respectfully defer to
his will. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If a believer’s
spouse is not a Christian, however, they are simply responsible for encouraging
this model in their home as far as they are able, not resenting the degree to
which their spouse my limit it, and ensuring the needs of their children are
not neglected. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">[4] APPENDIX A</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Scientific
studies detailing gender difference</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Differences
in “personality” between men and women.</i><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities#:~:text=Taking%20this%20approach,%20the%20researchers,men%20scored%20higher%20on%20assertiveness">https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities#:~:text=Taking%20this%20approach,%20the%20researchers,men%20scored%20higher%20on%20assertiveness</a>
/ accessed 30/4/21</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">One study showed that across diverse cultures “including
Hong Kong, USA, India and Russia, women consistently rated themselves as being
warmer, friendlier and more anxious and sensitive to their feelings than did
the men. The men, meanwhile, consistently rated themselves as being more
assertive and open to new ideas. In the jargon of personality psychology, the
women had scored higher on average on Agreeableness and Neuroticism (neuroticism
comprises volatility and withdrawal) and on one facet of Openness to
Experience, while the men scored higher on one facet of Extraversion and a
different facet of Openness to Experience (extraversion comprises enthusiasm
and assertiveness).” In another study “women scored higher, on average, on
enthusiasm, compassion, politeness, orderliness, volatility, withdrawal, and
openness, while men scored higher on assertiveness, industriousness and
intellect.” Other research has “shown that the genders begin to differ in
personality very early in life…boys were rated as more active, on average, than
the girls, while the girls were rated as more shy and as having more control
over their attention and behaviour.</span> And gender differences in
personality seem to persist into the twilight years.” It was also found that “men
and women differed in average personality <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">more</em> in <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">more</em> developed and gender-egalitarian cultures,
such as in Europe and America than in cultures in Asia and Africa where there
is less gender equality.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">“These findings make sense to evolutionary
psychologists who say that our psychological traits today reflect the effect of
survival demands experienced by our distant ancestors, and further, that these
demands were different for men and women. For example, women with more
nurturing personalities would have been more likely to succeed in raising
vulnerable offspring, while men with bolder personalities would have been more
successful in competing for mates…One scientist commented that studies ““made
it clear that the true extent of sex differences in personality has been
consistently underestimated.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Differences
in “interest” between men and women.</i></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/223822/1/dp13380.pdf%20/" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/223822/1/dp13380.pdf
/</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> accessed 30/4/21</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">“There
is a considerable amount of empirical evidence, mainly from psychologists,
consistently documenting large and persistent gender differences in vocational
interests, especially along the things-versus-people dimension…This concept
classifies the task content of occupations according to the extent to which
people working in a given occupation deal with inanimate things or with other
people, respectively. Empirically, it appears that this dimension can best
discriminate between tasks men and women prefer…gender differences in
vocational interests are among the most important proximate determinants of
occupational gender segregation…male adolescents clearly tend to favour
occupations which require creating and/or manipulating objects (i.e. “things”),
while female adolescents prefer to work in occupations in which interacting
with customers or patients is important (i.e. “people”).”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">“Variation
in the task content of occupations along the things-versus-people is a very
powerful predictor of whether males or females predominantly choose an
occupation; actually, it appears that this variable is likely one of the most
important proximate predictors of occupational gender segregation...it is, for
example, larger than the effect size associated with the gender difference in
body height.” And so, “it appears obvious to us that gender differences in
these traits are absolutely key for understanding why men and women tend to
prefer to work in distinct occupations.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">[5] APPENDIX B</span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Male headship
throughout the Bible.</span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
structure of Genesis 2 as understood in Hebrew culture affirms the primacy of
Adam by order of birth, by the naming of the animals and by the presentation of
Eve to him.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">This
is confirmed by the fact that although Adam and Eve both sin, Adam is primarily
held to be responsible (Romans 5v11-32).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">It
is also confirmed by God consistently using the image of groom and bride to
describe his leadership and care of his people. The image implies that he
exercises a loving authority like that of the perfect husband.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Throughout
Israel’s history, a principle of primogeniture was also affirmed by which
inheritance would <i>usually </i>go to the
firstborn male and they would hold the ultimate authority for the family.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Furthermore,
Israel’s history is marked by the principle of the household headed up by the
father. We see this with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the nation from that
point on. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Because
the nation is a family of families, leadership develops from household heads.
So the heads of twelve tribes are Jacob’s twelve sons.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">For
this reason, elders in Israel were only male as they were the more prominent
household heads.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
Priesthood within Israel was also reserved for men only, and from one family
and one tribe.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Priests
and those who served as elders in the synagogues of Jesus’ day were therefore
men too.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">10.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Commentators
agree that the structure of the early churches was based on the synagogue with
elders taking the equivalent role of the Jewish elders.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Whatever
its application might be today, the principle of the firstborn son being given
authority is reaffirmed in the NT by scripture speaking of Christ as the
firstborn over creation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
principle of headship is also reaffirmed in speaking of Christ as head of his
bride and family, the church.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 21.25pt; text-indent: -21.25pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">13.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
apostles therefore affirm the headship of husbands on the grounds of creation
and the pattern of Christ’s relationship with the church. Both grounds
transcend culture and so teach that the principle of headship does too. It is
portrayed as bound up with God’s order of things (1 Corinthians 11v2-16,
Ephesians 5v22-33, 1 Peter 3v1-7).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">As the church is also to a large extent a family
of families meeting in family homes, it is natural for the principle of
headship that applies to biological families to be reflected in the church.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[endif]-->
</span><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Leviticus
12 does prescribe twice as long a period of purification for a mother giving
birth to a girl as opposed to a boy. But we are not told this is because of
inequality. Supporting this, is the fact that Leviticus 15 prescribes the same
period of cleansing for men and women after a “bodily discharge.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
The word the NIV translates “keep” has the sense of keeping it secure from
danger. The same word in 3v24 is translated “guard” in terms of the way to the
tree of life. The point is that Adam with Eve, were to keep what was unclean or
corrupting from the special place of God’s presence, making his failure to
tackle the serpent so serious.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 1 Timothy
2v15 makes this point in a controversial passage, by stating that women will be
“saved through childbearing.” In context, the idea is probably that a genuineness
of saving faith is proved by our willingness to submit to God’s will. So,
rather than seeking to lead in the church which is not what God has called women
to, they should give themselves to child-bearing that he has. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> See the
appendix.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> “The
essence of femininity” in <i>Recovering biblical manhood and womanhood, </i>ed.
Piper and Grudem, p466<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> This
doesn’t mean women are weaker than men in every sense. My observation is that
spiritually, psychologically and in readiness to take responsibility, women are
often stronger.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> “What
does it mean to be God’s man” in <i>Men of God, </i>ed. Archer and Thornborough,
p24<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> See the
footnote on this verse above.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> The idea
that men are the glory of God probably means that by submitting to his headship
men show God’s excellence by affirming his authority and reflecting his will.
Likewise in woman being the glory of man. But we should note that although men are
said to be the “glory and image” of God, by not saying women are the “image of
man” their equality with men in imaging God is affirmed. See also v11. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Some argue this should extend to things like girls shaving their armpits as
this is something women do. That may be wise given expectations. But because it
is not a matter of outer distinctiveness, I am not sure it is a major biblical
concern.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities#:~:text=Taking%20this%20approach,%20the%20researchers,men%20scored%20higher%20on%20assertiveness"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161011-do-men-and-women-really-have-different-personalities#:~:text=Taking%20this%20approach,%20the%20researchers,men%20scored%20higher%20on%20assertiveness</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> accessed
7/4/21<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00189/full"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00189/full</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
accessed 7/4/21<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote; text-align: left;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" style="font-family: inherit; mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s certainly possible that at the
resurrection these behavioural differences will disappear because there will be
no marriage or family t<span>hen (Matt 22v23-30).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn14" style="mso-element: footnote; text-align: left;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Understanding%20gender.docx#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn14;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span><span><a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/223822/1/dp13380.pdf">https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/223822/1/dp13380.pdf</a>
</span><span>accessed
30/4/21</span></span></p>
</div>
</div></div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-44799207745854310942021-04-26T08:59:00.002-07:002021-04-26T08:59:28.086-07:00The role of OT law<p></p><p>Development of a sermon preached Sunday 3 October 2015.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Our need of God’s law</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>It is reported that in England, 40% of girls have sex before the legal age
of 16. This is higher than in any other of the 24 European countries surveyed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>We are a country that has morally lost its bearings. A cloud of relativism
has hidden the star we should navigate by. And as happens when people walk in
the dark – our culture is profoundly broken and confused.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>We see this in the everyday things of broken relationships and dishonesty in
public life. But just think of the tidal wave of ethical debates we’ve faced in
just the last few years: Same-sex marriage, three parent babies, gender
selective abortion, trans-sexualism, assisted suicide. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>They’re all signs that our culture has lost its moorings. Everything is
suddenly uncertain. And because God’s revelation has been rejected, people have
no firm grounding for deciding these issues. So those who shout the loudest
tend to get their way. Or whatever affirms our individualism becomes the
default. Little thought is given to the impact of these decisions on community
life or its consequences elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>And so as Christian we need light for two particular reasons: First, so that
as citizens of heaven we can stand apart from this moral meltdown and live
lives that truly honour God. Second, so that as citizens of earth, we can speak
into this moral meltdown, influencing the mind of our society for good and
showing just how wise God’s ways are.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>This is why we are going to be studying the Ten Commandments this term. They
form part of what the Bible calls “God’s law.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Now we need to understand this term. We’ll see that at one level it refers
to all God requires of people. But at another, it refers to the specific
commands God have Israel through Moses. They’re recorded in the Old Testament
books of Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>You may have heard that there’s quite a diversity of material in the Mosaic
law. Sceptics often ridicule Christians as selective in applying it today. They
say we make much of what it says about things like sexuality, but ignoring what
it says about what food should be eaten.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>So we’re going to establish some basic principles for how we should read the
law – and with it the Ten Commandments.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Rules on the fridge</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>If there is one image you take away as you think about the law – I hope it
is the image of a list of rules for children on your fridge door.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Think for a moment about them. What might you include? You shall not flick
your food. You shall not burp. You shall not stand on the table. You shall not
climb out of the window.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Now this list is particular to your house isn’t it? Not every house has a
window by the table you can climb out of. And it’s particular to you as
children too. You need these strict rules when young because you’re so out of
control. But when you grow up you’re able to control yourself and your
behaviour will be much more nuanced.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>So it’s right to say the list is not applicable <i>as a whole</i> to other
families or to you as an adult. But it is still applicable in other ways. So
far as their situation is similar, families would do well to adopt it. And,
even as an adult, recalling it will remind you of its deeper concern with good
manners, and politeness, and respect for others – moving you not only to
instinctively abide by its rules, but the attitudes they reflect as well.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Well so it is with the Old Testament law. Speaking of Israel in Galatians
3v24, Paul says “the law was like a child’s guardian until Christ came.” In
other words, like rules on the fridge, as a “package” it was only temporary –
keeping Israel together so that Christ would be born. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The sense is that as Christians, Jews have become grown up. So they no
longer need this sort of regime. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. So they
are able to fulfil not only the precepts of the law but the attitude of the
heart they reflected. Galatians 5v14: <i>“For the entire law is fulfilled in
keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” If you bite and
devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.<sup> </sup>So
I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Well, let’s turn to Deuteronomy 4. Here, we see three points that we can
draw out about the law:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><b>(1)</b><b><span style="font-size: 7.0pt;">
</span>The law no longer applies as a package for anyone</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><b>(2)</b><b><span style="font-size: 7.0pt;">
</span>OT laws do still apply as a proto-types for society </b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"><b>(3)</b><b><span style="font-size: 7.0pt;">
</span>OT laws do still apply as principles for the heart</b><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">(1) The law no longer applies as a package
for anyone</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Listen to some of the laws still current in the UK that you need to be very
aware of:<b> </b>It is an offence to beat or shake any carpet rug or mat in any
street in the Metropolitan Police District, although you are allowed to shake a
doormat before 8am. It is illegal to keep a pigsty in front of your house
(unless duly hidden). It is illegal to order or permit any servant to stand on
the sill of any window to clean or paint it.<b> </b>It is an offence to be
intoxicated (drunk) and in charge of a cow in Scotland!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>We recognize that laws change according to context. It’s obvious that these
laws are ultimately concerned with orderly conduct and health and safety. These
are givens. But how they should apply at different points in history will
differ. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Well, take a look at Deuteronomy 4v5. What time is the law Moses was giving
for? For Israel’s time in the land.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><i>1) We see the law no longer applies as a package for contextual
reasons</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>We must realise God’s law wasn’t shaped for a western technological society,
but for a nation with <i>a particular calling</i> – to be God’s holy people, in
<i>a particular culture</i> – the Ancient Near East, and a<i> particular
circumstance </i>– forty years in a desert and then life possessing another
nation’s land.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>So its laws reflected this. The laws about eating certain foods were to
emphasize that Israel were to be different from the nations. Their festivals
and sacrifices reflected worship of God in an agricultural society. Their laws
on war reflected what was necessary to take Canaan.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><i>2) We see that the law no longer applies as a package for covenantal
reasons</i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>This couldn't be clearer than in Galatians 3v25: "Now that this faith
has come, we are no longer under a guardian." In their spiritual infancy,
God's people needed the rigidity of the law for two reasons. First, <i>it was
to convict Israel</i> – so that the people would see just how sinful they were,
and how in need of the saviour the sacrifices pointed to (Romans 7). Second, <i>it
was to constrain Israel</i> – so the nation could remain stable and endure
God’s special presence without his anger breaking out at them (Galatians 3v23).
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Paul's point is that the law anticipated the day when faith would be
directly placed in Christ. And now that time has come, God's people have become
spiritually mature. Now the Holy Spirit does these two things, so there is no
longer the need for such a tight regime.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>It is for this reason we must reject what’s known as a theonomic
understanding of the law. Its proponents commendably assert the relevance of
God’s law today. However they do this by stating that only its ceremonial
aspects have passed with the coming of Christ. So its moral and civil commands
apply <i>directly </i>to Christians and to the structures of society too. Not
only will theonomists therefore assert the law’s moral principles should
influence public policy, for example, on marriage; but that as a society is
Christianized it should work towards directly applying the law’s penalties too.
Moreover, any government that takes responsibilities to itself that the law
didn’t assign to government in the time of Moses is moving beyond its divine
remit. An example would be in taxing the more well-off to fund welfare schemes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The problem in all this is that it just doesn’t do justice to both the
contextual and covenantal reasons why the Mosaic law was only temporary. Its
scope may well have reflected a simplicity only necessary in such a
technologically primitive culture. Certainly, its laws had a particular
spiritual purpose for the people of Israel in preparing them for Christ, and
that is not one God has for every society. Both its laws and penalties may well
have reflected a particular importance of, say, the family in this. And
although we must affirm its penalties were entirely just and right, they would
have reflected a particular degree of accountability for wrongdoing consistent
with Israel’s privileges in having witnessed God act in her history. As is
clear throughout the scriptures, the penalties justice demands are relative to
revelation received (Lk 10v13-15, Lk 12v48).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Having said all this, a thoughtful consideration of the contextual and
covenantal particularities to OT law, of how it is viewed throughout scripture,
and of parallels with society today, does mean that its principles can
nevertheless be applied. And in a heavily Christianized society, where the
population has a high awareness of God’s acts and ways, we might see a degree
of close conformity between both its laws and penalties and those of Israel.
This takes us to our second point.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">(2) OT laws do apply as proto-types for
society </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The law was not only to convict and constrain Israel, but to commend Israel
too. Have a look from Deuteronomy 4v6-8.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>King Alfred the Great is credited as bringing the birth of our nation into
being. And part of that was a law code, called the “Doom” book. It makes much
of justice – of protecting the weak and dealing with people fairly, whether
poor or rich. And it is accepted that this had a significant impact in ensuring
subsequent British law has been just and fair.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Well there’s no surprise for guessing where Alfred got his inspiration.
Essentially he gathered and updated the laws from three other Christian Saxon
kingdoms. But he did it on the basis of God’s law. The Doom Book began with an
introduction containing the Ten Commandments in English, the Mosaic Law from
Exodus 21 to 23, Jesus’ call to do to others as you would have them do to you.
He even included a brief account of apostolic history and the growth of
Christian law among Christian nations. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Despite the way the law reflected Israel’s particular calling, culture,
circumstances and covenant, God teaches there are aspects to it that other
societies should want to emulate. More than that, they are accountable to him
if they don’t live by these things.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>So Leviticus 18v24-28 tells us the Canaanite nations were driven out by God
for sexual practices that contravened God’s laws earlier in the chapter. This
tells us that the law’s teaching on sex is different from its teaching on
foods. The teaching on foods applies only to Israel back then, because it
reflected her particular calling as a holy nation. But the teaching on sex is
more foundational, applying to other cultures and circumstances too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Isaiah implies wider application should be our default position with God’s
law if it is not geared to Israel’s special calling. Isaiah 24v5 tells us the
final judgment will come because humanity have “disobeyed the laws, violated
the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.” More positively we are told
that “righteousness exalts a nation” (Prov 14v34) and that good rule is one
that reflects God’s righteousness (Prov 8v15-21) – where righteousness what is
reflected in Israel’s laws (Deut 4v8).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The heart of God’s law is his concern that Israel are like him: “Be holy as
I am holy” he says again and again. Now he created all humanity to image him
and to rule or govern on that basis. So, it follows that the laws that are not
geared simply to Israel’s unique calling, reflect his righteous character. They
show what it looks like to image God in Israel’s context. And so, as long as we
account for legitimate changes of context, these laws can and should be applied
to any society. This is just the point Chris Wright makes so clearly in his
book “Living as the people of God.” Living in the land under God’s rule, Israel
are a paradigm of humanity in general living on the earth in accountability to
God as patterned in Eden. In his NT biblical theology Greg Beale makes the same
point, saying that by describing Israel as his son, the Lord was portraying
them as a corporate Adam, who was son of God. What follows is that their life
under the law manifested what the societal life of human beings should rightly
look like in their context – a paradigm then, for applying its principles to
any nation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>In terms of humanity’s accountability, we must recognize that the Ten
Commandments have a central place. Take a look at Deuteronomy 4v12-13.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The importance of the Ten Commandments is highlighted in two ways. First,
can you see <i>God declared them personally.</i> At Mount Sinai, the people
heard him recite them himself. Second, <i>God wrote them personally. </i>Can
you see that? Elsewhere we’re told the “finger of God” inscribed them on the
stone. Now God doesn’t have fingers – so this probably refers to some
miraculous way Moses saw the words appear.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>When you read through Israel’s laws you realize that they are basically
these Ten Commandments, but applied to Israel particular situation. And so it
is entirely fitting for us to consider ethics, by considering these
commandments – how they were applied to Israel’s society, and then how they
might therefore apply to our own.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>We have become so used to secularism that the relevance of OT law for
society, assumed by Christians in the past, is so often ignored by Christians
today. But it is an historic fact that Western Society flourishes on borrowed
capital from Christianity. This is symbolised by the fact that British monarchs
are charged at their coronation to keep "mindful of the Law and Gospel of
God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian princes."
Even Angela Merkel recognizes it, commenting that the problem with cohesion in
Europe is “not too much Islam" but "too little Christianity.” Again,
in his book "Time of Transitions" the sociologist and thinker Jurgen
Habermas writes: "Egalitarian universalism, from which sprang the ideas of
freedom and social solidarity, of an autonomous conduct of life and
emancipation, of the individual morality of conscience, human rights and
democracy, is the direct heir of the Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian
ethic of love...To this day, there is no alternative to it. And in light of the
current challenges of a postnational constellation, we continue to draw on the
substance of this heritage. Everything else is just idle postmodern talk."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>So we ignore the law of God as a society at our peril. Yet, having said
this, how we talk of the law in society is important. <i>First,</i> we should
do it <i>with realism</i> – recognizing that without the regenerating work of
the Spirit that comes through faith in Christ, people will break these laws.
And when unbelievers do, we should not act surprised, which is to imply to our
society that people are better than they are, and can actually do good. Instead
we should explain that this is the reality of sin that God’s law highlights. <i>Second,</i>
we should speak of the law <i>without moralism. </i>We must be clear that
better keeping these laws is good, but it isn’t the way to God’s favour and
acceptance because we can never keep them fully. Rather we need the forgiving
and renewing work of Christ.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">(3) OT laws do apply as principles for the
heart</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Turn now, would you, to our second reading in Matthew 5v17-20. Here we see
the change Jesus has brought. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>As elsewhere, we see his high view of the Old Testament. Verse 18: It is
accurate, authoritative and continually relevant down to the least serif used
in the Hebrew lettering. So, verse 19: Every single command of the law must
still be obeyed and taught in the church. But, there is a difference. It’s
there in verse 17.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The meaning of these words is much debated. But their sense is most probably
this: We are not called to obey and teach God’s laws as if Jesus had never
come. No we are to teach and obey it giving due weight to how his life, death
and resurrection confirm and deepen our understanding of them - of their
purpose, and of whether or not they are applicable in different contexts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Verse 17 implies Jesus fulfils the law in a similar manner to which he
fulfils the prophets. In other words, he is the point they were looking to –
their goal. Together they gave detail about God’s coming king and kingdom. So
no law is abolished in its relevance. But some are relevant in what they reveal
about God’s king and the nature of his kingdom. Whereas others are relevant in
revealing the way the subjects of that kingdom are to live.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>It’s rather like looking at light rays refracted through a prism. Every ray
or law is significant. Yet we see the particular significance of each so much
more clearly and brilliantly through the prism of Christ.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Now key here, is understanding the nature of Christ’s kingdom as opposed to
the Old Testament kingdom of Israel. Christ’s kingdom is one in which the Holy
Spirit is active, fulfilling the promise of Jeremiah 31 in “writing God’s law
on the heart” – which is described in Ephesians 4v24 as being “re-created to be
like God, in true righteousness and holiness.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The logic is this: Acting according to the law written on the heart is the
same as acting according to God’s righteous character from the heart.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The Old Testament law only applied the image of God outwardly. But by
considering the principle behind it, we are now to apply it to Christians
inwardly too. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>So in what follows Jesus immediately teaches he is not just concerned with
the outer acts of murder and adultery, but the inner acts of hatred and lust.
This deepening of God’s law to a higher standard for Christians is I think the
key to the whole chapter. But note, it’s not just what some term the “moral”
laws that Jesus says must be taught and kept. It is all God’s law. And so we
find the NT apply the principle of generous thankfulness in the OT offerings to
offering ourselves and our money to God (Rom 12v-12, Phil 4v18). It applies the
need for making an atoning sacrifice and for being cleansed by ritual washing
to our need to draw close to God on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice (Heb
10v22). It applies the command not to touch what is unclean to being set-apart
from unbelievers (2 Cor 6v17).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Perhaps more than any other, I have found Doug Moo’s understanding of the
law most helpful. But here we must part from it. He seems to join others in
speaking only of the abiding relevance of the law’s moral aspects. But he also
states that these should only be applied to the Christian where Jesus or the
apostles apply them and not in other circumstances. It is this that he says is
meant by “the law of Christ.” But we have seen that all the law applies through
Christ. And so we must see the instances where Jesus and the apostles apply it
as not exhaustive but exemplary – providing a methodology for how we should
apply other aspects of the law too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>And it is of course the standard of love that is critical here. Jesus made
this so clear by saying that love for God and neighbour sums up all the
commandments. And Paul stated that “love fulfils the law.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Personally, I think it is this that Paul means by “the law of Christ”: <b><i>The
law of Christ comprises the love principles reflected in the Old Testament law
applied to the Christian through Christ.</i> </b>So Paul speaks of the law of
Christ when urging Christians to bear each others burdens – and act of love
(Gal 6v1-2). And we should note that the only command or law Jesus declared
“new” was his command to “love one-another” (Jn 13v34). This makes much sense
as love is the essence of what it is to image God. And so we might define God's
law as "love applied" - understanding this of course by the
definition of love in scripture, not that of any society.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>As we deal with each commandment then, we’re going to consider the love
principles reflected in it, and not only apply them ethically to wider society
allowing for changes in context, but to our hearts as Christians too, allowing
for the change in covenant.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Our need of grace</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p>But in this, we must never forget it comes to us through Christ. And so we
can’t consider the law without first considering grace. We seek to obey it not
to earn or deserve our salvation, but because we have already received it.
We’ve been forgive our sins, and brought into Christ’s kingdom. We therefore
obey because we love him as our King and are filled with his own Spirit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>And so as the Ten Commandments convict us of our sin, we must do two things:
Seek Christ’s forgiveness in full confidence if we are repentant. And pray for
his help, recognizing that if we would be more faithfulness to him, we can’t do
it without the insight, energy and love for God and others only his Spirit
gives.</p><p></p>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-77499586051542031242021-04-26T04:11:00.006-07:002021-04-28T07:43:06.068-07:00Why we accept the Bible as the entirely trustworthy Word of God<p> T<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">exts to consider:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Luke
24v44-45 – Jesus teaches the OT of his day was the Hebrew scriptures that
contained the Law (first five books), Prophets (a catchall term for the history
and prophetical books), Psalms (a catchall term for wisdom literature), and
that this all looked to him.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: -18pt;">John
10v35 – Jesus teaches this OT, the scriptures of his day, is the Word of God
and authoritative for every generation.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: -18pt;">John
14v26 and 16v12-15 - Jesus promises that as the Spirit of truth his Spirit will
accurately remind his apostles of his teachings and teach them more as speech
that comes from the Father through the Son.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: -18pt;">1
Thessalonians 2v13 – the apostles teaching is therefore to be received not as
the word of men, but the Word of God.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: -18pt;">1
Peter 3v16 – Peter affirms an acceptance by the time he was writing that apostolic
letters should be categorised as scripture, and so the entirely trustworthy Word
of God.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: -18pt;">2 Timothy
3v16-4v5 – the category of scripture is one of writings expired by God and that
are to be continually taught as his authoritative means of correcting false
ideas, rebuking sinful behaviour and encouraging what is true and right, so
that people might be saved, sanctified and sustained in faith.</span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="text-indent: -24px;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">All this assumes entire trustworthiness because as the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible's authors is the Spirit "of truth." In other words, God's own character guarantees the Bible's trustworthiness. It is his Word, and because he is perfectly-good, he will not deceive. And because he is all-powerful, he is able to ensure no deceit is fed in by its authors. Indeed, for the Son of God to so affirm the scriptures as the basis for knowing truth, if God had not ensured their truth, it would raise a serious question mark over his integrity.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: -24px;">Two key questions are often put:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;">1/ If Jesus authorised the twelve apostles,
on what grounds do we accept Paul’s writings as NT scripture because he was
converted later?</span></i><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> The simple
answer is that Paul is affirmed by the apostles Jesus authorised. So, Jesus
commissioned him as his spokesman on the Damascus road (Acts 9v15), Paul then
talks of receiving what he taught by “revelation from Jesus Christ” (Gal 1v12)
and the Lord speaking to him in visions (Acts 18v9, 2 Cor 12v1-10). But we also
read of him staying with Peter for fifteen days, when no doubt Peter became confident
of what Paul taught (Gal 1v18). Years later, Paul then gained the affirmation
of the wider apostles (Gal 2v1-10). And by the time Peter wrote his second
letter near to his own death in 68AD, he could affirm Paul’s writings as scripture
(2 Pet 3v16). We can also add that there is nothing in Paul’s writings that
contradicts the writings of his initial apostles.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><i><span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;">2/ If Jesus authorised the twelve apostles,
on what grounds do we accept the other NT books not written by apostles, ie. Mark,
Luke, Acts, Hebrews, James, Jude.</span></i><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">
We see the same two criteria of what’s called “apostolicity”: Links with the
apostles, and consistency with their writings. Early church history tells us
Mark recorded his gospel from Peter, but he was also a companion of Paul (2 Tim
4v11). Similarly, the early church tells us Luke wrote Luke-Acts, which fits
with its references to him on mission with Paul (Acts 16v1-17). And Luke tells
us quite directly that he got his material from the apostles (Lk 1v1-4). Indeed,
if it was known this wasn’t the case his writings would have not gained
traction in the church. We are less sure who wrote Hebrews. It was evidently
authored by a Jewish Christian who had authority in the early church. There is
a fairly early tradition that it was Barnabus, who was also a friend of Paul
(Acts 13v1-4). Certainly he had these credentials. Moreover, the author is
clear that he had heard the message from the original apostles (Heb 2v3), and
it is entirely consistent with their teaching. The James who wrote the NT letter,
though not an apostle, was likely the leader of the Jerusalem church and Jesus’
brother (Matt 13v55, Acts 15). As such, he had regular contact with the
apostles. Jude is most likely another of Jesus’ brothers elsewhere called Judas
(Matt 13v55, Jude 1). His letter is pretty much a summary of 2 Peter, and so
entirely apostolic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Some scholars claim that other NT letters
were written in the name of apostles, but at a later date, and that this is
evidenced by different style and language between letters. This is a modern
idea based on some practices in the first century. But it can be decisively
rejected because the great concern of the early church was whether the letters
were written by apostles or not, and so early church leaders firmly condemned
any who sought to write in an apostle’s name. The differences between letters by
the same author can be easily explained by the author’s developing ideas over
the years, and the fact that sometimes they wrote themselves and at other times
used scribes (Gal 6v11, Rom 16v22).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Three further questions in brief:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><i>1/ How was the Bible received? </i>We read that Moses spoke to God "face to face" and saw his "form", whilst prophets usually heard God speak in a vision or dream when things were as if visible to the eye or audible to the ear (Num 12v6-8) - although they may have also have spoken under an irrepressible urge from the Holy Spirit. What they spoke was then written down (Jer 36v4), and Peter tells us their words in scripture are "completely reliable" even down to how they interpreted what they saw or heard (2 Pet 1v19-21). But other Bible books were written simply by the authors reflection and research. Consider the careful composition of the Psalms or Luke investigating what he put together in his gospel (Lk 1v1-4). However, the words came to be written, the authorisation of these books as the Word of God that we saw above, means that we must hold that God so oversaw and directed their writing, that what was written was exactly as he intended, and so his word.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><i>2/ How was the Bible compiled? </i>We don't truly know for the OT. Scholars have various theories. And the text itself shows a degree of editing. What we do know is that because Jesus authorised it as the Word of God, we can know that God had so governed whatever compiling went on to ensure that just the right books were included in the form that he wanted. As for the NT? We know the four gospels were in circulation by the end of the first century, and that the vast majority of the NT was accepted throughout the early church as apostolic. There was a little uncertainty in some quarters about a few of the books. But when doctrines were challenged as the years progressed, a final consideration was given as to what was truly apostolic, and the NT we have today was agreed on.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><i>3/ Does copying and translation bring error? </i>The close agreement of different copies shows how meticulous the copyists were, and the NIV Bible always puts it in a footnote where differences may suggest uncertainty. New translations always go back to re-consider the earliest copies with the benefits of the most up-to-date knowledge of their time and the original languages, so we can be confident no error can creep in there, either. The Bible is only entirely trustworthy "as originally given" through its inspired authors, but what we receive and read is almost exactly what was originally written. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Conclusion:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">When we think about what we have in our
Bibles, we must conclude that by God’s providence in shaping the personalities
of its many authors, and his Spirit in revealing his word by visions or by
guiding their reflections, the Lord superintended what they wrote so that it was
exactly as he intended. Moreover, although we are unsure exactly how the OT got
to be in the form it was by the time of Jesus, God had governed whatever
historical events led to this, in such a way that it was complete and could be
affirmed by Jesus as God’s Word. Given this, it is no leap to assume the same
with the NT. And so, we accept it in the form it is, because this is the form
God brought to universal acceptance by the early church, and because all its
writings bear the stamp of “apostolicity” in being authored by, linked to, and consistent
with those Jesus authorised. We can add too, that the more we study the NT, we
experience it as God’s Word, just as each generation has done through church history.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;">For more on the background to each book,
see: <a href="https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/">https://www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/</a></span></p><p></p>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-7500869174887956142021-03-30T08:28:00.001-07:002021-03-30T08:31:45.934-07:00The task of preaching.<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">2 Timothy 3v15-4v5
tells us it is to teach authoritatively, but with exhortation that corrects,
rebukes, and encourages, and all with the ultimate goal of people glorifying
God and doing good in his name. We are not told whether that has to be a
monologue or can involve questions. But it differs from more general teaching
in lecture or study by its exhortative nature.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The nature
of the Bible as book commends “expository” preaching in which we seek to
understand the meaning, big idea and transformational intent of a text in its
context, structure and detail, which we “expose” to the hearer, and ensure it
then governs the explanations and exhortations of the sermon. This is, I think,
what John Piper means by preaching the “reality” that lies “behind” the text,
and why he defines preaching as “expository exultation.” It is not simply to
communicate ideas, but the key reality behind those ideas in such a way that
people so feel and experience the truth of God and his ways, that they respond
with devotion and obedience.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">In achieving
this, there are two stages in preparing a sermon – baking a cake and then decorating
it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Baking
the cake.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This is
the work we do in understanding how the detail and structure of a text works to
do something in its original hearers that we want to bring home to the modern
hearer, with an eye on how that something is developed through Christ by the
rest of scripture. As someone once put it: “As far as possible we want to replicate
the rhetorical impact of the text.” So, the cake is baked when we have settled
on its big idea and transformational intent, are clear on how its structure and
detail achieves that, and how it needs to be applied through Christ to the minds,
hearts, and wills of the hearer.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Decorating
the cake.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Some write and deliver their sermon at this point. The problem is that in our weakness this is often not enough,
and the hearers go aware saying at best “that was interesting” rather than “God
really spoke to me.” So, we need to do more work to make our cake one that
people want to bite into.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">We do that
by ensuring the transformation intent drives our sermon – its introduction structure,
conclusion and what we choose to explain and apply. This is justified by the
fact that God acts through his word. There is no other purpose for it. It is
there to bring about the things of spiritual life – forming God’s people as “oaks
of righteousness” who stand firm and display his glory (Is 55v10-11, 61v1-3, John
6v63, Rom 15v4-7). As Tim Keller notes somewhere, this means our whole sermon
is application as even our explanations work towards the transformational
intent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">So, although
our introduction may grab people with a story or illustration, or perhaps with
a question the text will answer, ideal is to raise the transformational intent and
how it relates to today’s world. In this we are wording the introduction in
such a way that persuades people why it is worth listening. This is supported
by the example of the apostles. When they quote scripture it is to support a
matter already raised. That doesn’t mean we should choose texts to support our
own ideas about what needs to be said. But it does mean that when we understand
what a text is intended to do, there is precedent for setting up the matter before
our explanation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Although
the subsequent talk may be just one point, have points discovered along the way
or stated then explained, the body of the sermon will then seek to explain
whatever needs explaining in the text to show how it affirms and applies the
intent. A study of how all scripture elaborates on and applies the intent will
give much wisdom to further deepen our application. And we will then give time with
illustrations and examples to showing what this looks like in the day to day.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Just as
the preacher “corrects and rebukes” as well as “encourages,” we should particularly
consider what false ideas, feelings or actions need to be taken apart, as well
as the godly ones to be put in place. This is the “tearing down” and “building
up,” the “plucking” and “planting,” done by the prophets and apostles (Jer
1v10, 2 Cor 13v10).</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">We can note here
that the success and impact of Puritan preaching was its focus on just this
sort of thorough application. They choose only a verse or two to preach, then
as true doctors of the soul, they explained its “doctrine” before giving the
bulk of time to dispensing its medicine through numerous scripture-saturated applications.
We would be critical of dividing scripture in a way that doesn’t do justice to
its natural Spirit-inspired sections and would question people’s ability to
absorb such sermons if they are not also published, but the methodology itself
is commendable.</span></p>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-21662043186791645062021-03-18T08:28:00.012-07:002021-03-18T08:40:04.341-07:00The Christian and State Education<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span>A seminar given in 2019.</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 80%;">Further reading:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 80%;">“What are they teaching the children” ed. Lynda Rose<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 80%;">“The case for classical Christian education” by Doug
Wilson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 80%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 80%;">A danger of being critical /</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 80%;">Q: What are the
goods you want to be thankful for when it comes to your kids education?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%; text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 80%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[A]
Why we should be thankful:</span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;">opportunity, professionalism, resource</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[B] Why
we should be thoughtful:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>1/ Schools developed
from Christian foundations</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> / Our topic is something we
should as Christians be eager to think about…</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>1.1 The Christian
worldview implied it : </span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">“<em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">I can have no confidence in any system of
education which is not based on the great doctrines of religion and which does
not impart to the mind of a child a deep sense that it is an immortal and
responsible being … and that there will come a day when it must tender an
account not only of its actions but also of its thoughts." </span></em><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-style: normal; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">The Earl of Shaftesbury
debating the elementary education bill in the House of Lords, July 1870</span></em><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>1.2The Christian
worldview enables it : </span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The Oxford University coat
of arms displays the words <i>“Dominus illuminatio mea”</i> <i>(“The Lord is my
light”</i> - Ps 27v1)</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white;">Christianity gives us a sense that we are not just
serving ourselves but God and the world he has made – and so we want to be
educated so we can take responsibility for that / But it also teaches that all
truth is God’s truth – so the more we understand him and his ways, the better
educated we will become – as we will better understand his world and how to
live within it / Example – CS Lewis – we have no basis for reason without God /
<i>“</i></span><i style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #181818;">Supposing there was no intelligence behind the
universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the
purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen,
for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this
gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I
trust my own thinking to be true? It's like upsetting a milk jug and hoping
that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London.”</span></i></span></p>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2/ Schools are
wandering from their Christian foundation</span></b></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 15.75pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: transparent; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>2.1 Concern about dangers: bullying, drugs, temptation,
numbers, moral confusion</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> / We are very aware of
these concerns / and the sheer numbers make school difficult to control and
police / where else would you allow your 11 year old to join a crowd of 1500
other kids with only one adult for every 30 / the NSPCC recommends 1 for every
10 for Safeguarding purposes</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>2.2 Concern about ideology: </span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">in brief - </span><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>secularism</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> – keeping faith from public life</span><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>,
relativism</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> – treating morals as mere preferences and so
equally valid</span><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>, pluralism</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> – treating beliefs as mere preferences and so equally valid / Now you
may feel some of what I’m about to say is controversial – but I’m happy to chat
about it later on /</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>2.3 Becoming re-education camps?</span></b></span></p>
<p class="Bulletsspaced" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; padding: 0cm;">“The
protests outside a primary school in Birmingham which teaches the fact that
same-sex relationships are normal and are as loving and supportive as any
heterosexual relationship are in my view wrong.” </span></em><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-style: normal; padding: 0cm;">Nick Gibb, Minister for schools</span></em><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; padding: 0cm;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><em><span style="background: white; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-style: normal; padding: 0cm;"> / Note he accepts the primary school was teaching
homosexuality is normal and equally valid – and that it was not wrong to do so
/ but that is a reflection of someone’s beliefs and morals / and so although
people might say everything is equally valid, by teaching in that way they are
actually teaching that some views are note – such as the view that
homosexuality is not normal and is morally wrong / In fact the education
minister is quite prepared to say that / And so we’re told our schools are very
inclusive, when actually they are being used as places to re-educate our
children in whatever the state and its shapers most want to promote / That this
should not surprise us / Everyone reflects beliefs in their behaviour / So
every government will seeks to govern according to the religion that
denominates – and the religion of our day is one that worships the individual
and believes there are no real truth for all – except the command – thou shalt
not criticise another / so…</span></em></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Ofsted inspectors are to evaluate how well leaders </span><i>“promote British
values through the curriculum, assemblies, wider opportunities, visits,
discussions and literature” </i><span>and </span><i>“pupils’ understanding of the protected
characteristics”</i><span> of the equality act.</span><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black;">[3]</span></span></span></a><span> / Key
here are the following ideas / but in the hands of our secular, relativistic
and pluralistic society, although each seems like a good thing, it is actually
a wolf in sheep’s clothing…</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l7 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>Liberty – freedom
that flourishes </span></b></i><span>/ Jesus – “the truth will set you free” / </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>or freedom that enslaves </span></b><span>– the massive rise under individualism of abortion, STDs, childless
families</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l7 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>Tolerance -
respectful disagreement</span></b></i><span> / 1 Peter 3v15 – “give a
reason with gentleness and respect” /</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span> or
uncritical affirmation</span></b><span> – one of our children
telling us after writing Muhammad they must always write an abbreviation of
“peace be upon him” – but (a) that’s a prayer to a false god (b) its to affirm
a warlord who killed many</span><b><span><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l7 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>Equality – affirming
dignity </span></b></i><span>/ All made in God’s image / </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>or justifying discrimination</span></b><span> / the equality act means that it is wrong to treat anyone in a way that
they may find humiliating or offensive / And what this means is those who hold
views that are critical of others, are often silenced whilst those feeling
aggrieved are allowed to speak – and so a concern for equality discriminates </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l7 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>Anti-bullying – encouraging
kindness</span></b></i><span> – a biblical principles /</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span> or supressing thought </span></b><span>/ so what follows from above is that any disagreement about a child’s
self-designation of themselves as gay or transgender can easily be labelled an
example of bullying / and a concern for the in vogues issues of the day keeps
people from thinking through other forms of bullying over race or whatever</span><b><span><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l7 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><i>5)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></i></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><i>Sex and relationships
education</i> – promoting what is best </span></b><span>/ God’s way
protects children and marriages / </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>or celebrating
whatever is practiced</span></b><span> / [I]Vicar of church school – someone briefing
staff on relationships education / She began – the key is that “we celebrate
all forms of family” / When I questioned whether that was helpful because it
just perpetuated the social problems the school was having to struggle with – I
was silenced</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l7 level1 lfo4; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b>2.4 </b></span></span></span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[endif]--></b><b style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"><span>Lacking
educational foundations?</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"> / This is rarely thought on
/ But it’s not just the above issues / because we cannot understand the world
apart from the God who made it - the secular ideology actually undermines
education itself</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background: white; color: black;">“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only
because I see it but because by it, I see everything else.”</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> CS Lewis, the Weight of Glory</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;">Inconsistent
in thinking?</span></b></i><span style="color: #333333;"><i> </i>/ So teachers want to teach kids to
be honest – whilst encouraging them to enter into someone’s self-deception
about their gender by calling them a boy when a girl / or they affirm the
importance of biology and the environment – but teach that the fact that the
male-female sexual organs were designed for one-another, has no place in
determining the appropriate partners for sex / do you see?</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;">Limited
in perspective?</span></b></i><span style="color: #333333;"><i> </i>God’s word brings a much bigger
perspective to every subject – it teaches the defining nature of nature
discerned by science / the power and use of words / the order and wonder of
maths / the importance of nations in geography / a grasp of providence in history
/ the benefits of maths and art / the respect for the body that drives sport /
do you see?</span><b><span><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l6 level1 lfo5; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333;">Narrow
in curriculum?</span></b></i><span style="color: #333333;"><i> </i>/ The concern with just achieving
also breeds a narrowness / But the richness God’s word brings to subjects shows
how important a broad education is that doesn’t drop subject and limit options
to get the best results / it sees the importance of shaping character and faith
too, above all else</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[C] Thinking Christianly about education:</span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>1/ </span></b></span><b style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"><span>Its aim: All life
under God</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"> / We must start as we so often do – at the
beginning…</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">“So God created mankind in his own image, in
the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed
them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and
subdue it.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US">
(Gen 1v27-28)</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">“For the Christian the purpose of education is to facilitate maturation
in the image of God and thus growth into true manhood or womanhood, so that the
child might be able to fulfil his creation mandate in obedience to God’s word.
It follows from this that the kind of education we give our children must be
one which is thoroughly grounded in the Christian worldview and which seeks to
subject every discipline to the authority of God’s word…to deny our children
such an education is to abandon our responsibilities as the covenant people of
God.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b>[4]</b></span></span></a></span></i></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>5 key lessons…</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span><i>1 Education has the
most exciting of goals</i></span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> / nothing less than serving
God in family and industry so that our world flourishes as he is honoured / far
more inspiring than being about getting a good job</span></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"><span><i>1 Education is
subject to God’s will, wisdom and word</i></span></b><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"> / it is to
image him as we relate to him / so his word must govern the manner and
boundaries of how we educate and act – giving a richer understanding of our
subject manner, and joined up thinking that relates it all to God</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span><i>1 Education should
respect creational diversity</i></span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> / because this
is to fulfil the purposes of creation, anything that goes against the order of
creation on gender, relationships or anything else is unthinking / moreover the
nature of creation recognizes some difference of activity and ability between
men and women, and between individuals with different gifts – so education
should never be a one size fits all approach</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span><i>1 Education should
be engaged in as worship</i></span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> / this is why church
schools and the Christians assemblies and prayers are so key / they remind us
that what we do in education is an offering to God – for his sake and according
to his ways / And what this means, is for the state to require Christians – and
especially Christian schools, to educate in a way that is contrary to God’s
will couldn’t be more oppressive and outrageous, as it is to require them to
worship false gods – the gods of secularism / can you see?</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><o:p>5 E</o:p></span></b><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>ducation is more
than the school curriculum</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><i> / because its about
equipping the individual for all </i>life before God – education is not just about
subjects and careers, but faith and obedience, family life as well as
vocational life, and gaining wisdom on living for God in a complex world / In
fairness, education policy does understand this to an extent / the problem is
that it has an alternate view of what this all should look like</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>2/ Its methodology: /
</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">For time I’m not going to comment on this / as it’s
the role of the experts / But I’m Christians thinkers point out the following…</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><i style="font-weight: bold;">1 Manner </i>: instruction,
practice, example</span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><b><i>2 Content </i>: </b>facts,
reasoning, presentation<i style="font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>3/ Its spheres: </span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">/ This is key / Education covers a lot – but school is not the only place
we education / The bible emphasizes the family above all / As a couple Adam and
Eve were tasked with filling the world with those who would image God and
subdue it for him / Read Proverbs, Deuteronomy 6 or Ephesians 6 / It is parents
who have the ultimate authority over the education of their children / So to it
is profoundly wrong for a government to say parents have no right to remove
their children if they disagree with what’s taught / Parents are accountable to
God if they get that wrong / but they have an authority to do it / the
government only has a right to intervene in the family if a parent is
committing a crime that corresponds with God’s law / But with family, God has
also set up the church as an educational institution – and in my mind, permits
human beings to co-ordinate education together too in schools / so the diverse
nature of education the Bible calls us to doesn’t all need to be delivered at
school / and to my mind, one way of getting around the problems of our day if
kids are required to go to a school that doesn’t reflect their religion, is
keep all issues of morality and values out of it – which is almost impossible / 3 three spheres of a Christian education then are...</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1 Family<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 Church<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3 School<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>The problem </span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">/ Here we see why in a post-Christian society we are having the problems
with education that we are…</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Q: Read
Ephesians 4v17-24: “Gentiles” here refers to non-Christians. What do these
verses tell us we might expect to see in secular education? / Teachers aren’t
thinking straight / They will shape their teaching to justify their own
morality – we are led by our hearts over our heads – by what we want and desire
rather than what is right and true / So if we want to feel accepted by our
culture and inline with the spirit of the age – we will won’t think hard enough
about the new morality that we’re being asked to promote – nor be ready to
resist it if we are uncertain about it / But incase we are too pessimistic about
education, here’s a word from John Calvin in the sixteenth century…</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But: <i>“Whenever
we come upon [matters of art or science] in secular writers, let that admirable
light of truth shining in them teach us that the mind of man, though fallen and
perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented with God’s
excellent gifts</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">…<i>Shall we say
that they are insane who developed medicine, devoting their labour to our
benefit? What shall we say of all the mathematical sciences? Shall
we consider them the ravings of madmen?”<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span>[5]</span></b></span></a></span></span></i></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The point
is that in his kindness, God enables non-Christians to discover truth in all
sorts of spheres / So of course we can learn from non-Christians / But we
should train our kids to do so cautiously, especially when it comes to matters
of belief or behaviour</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span>School options:
Consider at primary, secondary and sixth form</span></b><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> / The
three options for Christians are below / Can I say none are perfect options /
[Explain home schooling] Christian schooling is in my view the ideal because it
has the benefits of state education but protects against the downsides –
however, it’s not perfect either [explain] / Finally, I’ve called standard
state education supplementary schooling because it is only an option for Christians
if we are prepared to supplement it in the areas it lacks / And that leads us
to our final point / Most of us will end up with our children in normal state
schools / And if so, how should we engage with them…</span></span></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 680px;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 510.05pt;" valign="top" width="680">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Home Schooling<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 510.05pt;" valign="top" width="680">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pros: Can ensure a Christian education<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cons: Lack of time and preparation to do well, lack of resource and
opportunity, lack of engagement with others and the realities of society,
lack of being salt and light<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><br /><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 680px;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 510.05pt;" valign="top" width="680">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christian schooling<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 510.05pt;" valign="top" width="680">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pros: Can ensure a Christian education without the homeschooling
problems, and commending Christ to society<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Cons: Complacency that assumes all is well, being overly sheltered from
the world</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><br /><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 680px;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 510.05pt;" valign="top" width="680">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Supplementary schooling<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 510.05pt;" valign="top" width="680">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pros: Benefitting from the opportunities, professionalism and resource,
being salt and light, training for life in our society<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Cons: Susceptibility to the ideologies and dangers mentioned above.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><b style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"><span><br /></span></b><div><div style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"><span><b>[D] Engaging with
state education:</b></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; text-indent: -18pt;"><span><b><br /></b></span></span></div><p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span>Pray</span></i></b><i><span> </span></i><span>/ It’s obvious – for our kids, their teachers,
appointments, policy, influence</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span>Participate</span></i></b><span> / If you become a governor you may have a chance to influence policy –
although you will need wisdom and courage in how to do so / You will also be
upholding the biblical principles that education should be under the oversight
of parents / And if you get involved the parents groups you will be better
aware of what goes on and respected too</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span>Protect</span></i></b><i><span> </span></i><span>/ Listen, listen and listen to your kids / chat with
them about how to view and engage with things as a Christian / and if you have
concerns be prepared to graciously but firmly air them</span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span>Plunder</span></i></b><span> / This is from Exodus 12, where we read that God enabled his people to
plunder the Egyptians who gave them whatever they asked for / In God’s
providence we have an education system that gives huge opportunity / If part of
it – plunder it, so to speak / ensure you make the most of it – that your kids
get the best education and experiences it can offer<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: 84.85pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span>Polish</span></i></b><i><span> /</span></i><span> That is, polish the plunder / This is what I mean
by supplementing what is learnt / In helping our kids think Christianly about
what they learn – and filling it out with any learning that is lacking, we can
help them to serve our society well for the Lord as Joseph and Daniel did – and
by doing so by a witness to him, perhaps even at school / Well as we close,
I’ve given you an appendix giving some sense of what I think needs to be done
in this /</span></span></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Appendix: How to
supplement state education</span></b></div>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The key things lacking in my view are: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(1) Understanding the history of ideas - why
people think as they do: This is lacking because of what’s called chronological
snobbery, which assumes civilization is always progressing and so there is
little to learn from the past. Its why people talk so much of “progressive”
views.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(2) Learning the art of discernment - separating
truth from error: This lacks because of a relativism that assumes morality and
beliefs in particular matter little, and that they are just a matter of
preference in a world with no created purpose. It’s why we are so unfussed
about forming opinions with little thought.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(3) Appreciating the richness of Christianity - the
colour it brings to everything: This lacks because of the presupposition that
religion is merely a private thing with little basis and so has nothing to say
about academic subjects, careers or the goodness of things like sport or art.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some ways to supplement are:</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;">Discuss a Christian view of
education with your kids and pray with them about everything to do with school.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -18pt;">Maintain bible reading of bible
books so their mind is constantly renewed.</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo11; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Ensure your child grasps a bible
overview and some doctrine, apologetics, church history and history of
ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo11; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Encourage hobbies and
trips where the curriculum lacks: art, music, extra sport, ancient history.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo11; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Aid reading where the curriculum
lacks: history of Great Britain and the World, art books, philosophy, Christian
biographies, good literature.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo11; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Talk about everything: what's
good art, good music, how do ideas impact us today, why is study and work
enjoyable, what good or bad messages are movies, songs and ads communicating,
how does the Bible help us better appreciate each school subject, etc?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo11; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Ensure you’re continuing to
develop their faith and character at church and home.</span><span> </span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">KEY BOOKS OF THE BIBLE TO TRY TO
COVER AT SOMETIME WITH YOUR KIDS</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Genesis, Exodus, Joshua-2 Kings, Ezra-Esther, Job
beginning and end, select Psalms, Proverbs-Songs, Isaiah 40-66, Lamentations,
Daniel, Habakkuk, Haggai, Malachi, the NT</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">OTHER BOOKS TO CONSIDER READING
WITH YOUR KIDS</span></b></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span>YEARS 7-9</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - short chapters read together
regularly</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Church history : 70 great Christians -
Geoffrey Hanks<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doctrine : Rooted - Jon Hobbs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ethics : Against the flow: Seeking sense on
sexuality – Jon Hobbs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apologetics : Kids Case for Christ – Lee Strobel<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span>YEARS 10-11</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - short chapters read together regularly</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Church history : God's story: a students guide
- Brian Cosby<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doctrine : Essential truths of the Christian faith
– RC Sproul<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Bible ov</span><span>erview : </span><span style="color: #181818;">The
Junction: A Wonderful World (5 studies), Nick Margesson<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apologetics : Could it be true? - Jon Hobbs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">British history : A short history of Britain -
Jeremy Black<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span>SIXTH FORM</span></b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> – they read or a chapter to discuss
each week</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Church history : Church history in plain language –
Bruce Shelley<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doctrine : Salvation belongs to the Lord - John
Frame<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bible overview : God's big picture - Vaughan
Roberts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ideas : The universe next door - James Sire<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ethics : Love thy body - Nancy Guthrie<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apologetics : What kind of God? - Michael Ots<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">World history : A short history of the world –
Christopher Lascelles</span></p><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><!--[endif]-->
</span><div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1870/jul/25/elementary-education-bill">https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1870/jul/25/elementary-education-bill</a>,
Shatesbury was the president of the Ragged School Union, promoting education
for poor children.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/it-s-wrong-to-protest-about-the-teaching-of-gay-relationships-t0g85vxx6">https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/it-s-wrong-to-protest-about-the-teaching-of-gay-relationships-t0g85vxx6</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-eif">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-eif</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Perks, Stephen C. <i>The Christian philosophy of education explained (Whitby, England,
Avant Books, 1992), p63<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/2%20The%20state%20and%20education%20-%20notes.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> Calvin, John, <i>Institutes of Christian Religion,
Book 2, Chapter 2, Section 15</i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div></div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-24650021801483955132021-03-18T07:24:00.010-07:002021-03-18T08:09:26.397-07:00Standing for the poor and needy<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 80%;">The following are the notes from a seminar given in 2018.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 80%;">Further
reading:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 80%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; line-height: 80%;">“Mercy ministries” by Tim
Keller, “Good news for the poor” by Tim Chester.<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">[A] Why should we
be standing up for the poor and needy?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Because
we are called to godliness (Ps 82v1-4, Matt 28v18-20)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">We
were created in God’s image to rule over the creation like God. And his rule
displays a concern for justice where people are oppressed – defending and
rescuing the weak and needy (Ps 82v1-4). As those who are taught to obey
everything Jesus commanded (Matt 28v18-20), we therefore share his particular
concern for the downtrodden. And because our calling is to display God’s rule
in the spheres of life he has called us to, this concern is not limited to the
downtrodden within the church, but those we can influence through the networks
of church, family, work, charities etc.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Because
we are called to evangelism (1 Pet 2v9-12, Matt 5v14-16).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Some
argue that social action is evangelism. They say we never need to actually
share the gospel. If we just do good people will come to faith. This is
obviously false. The gospel is God’s power for salvation (Rom 1v16-17). Others
argue that social action detracts from evangelism. But this is also false. We
are called to declare to the world the excellencies of God whilst doing such
good deeds that even opponents are drawn to hear, believe, and “glorify God on
the day he visits.” (1 Pet 2v9-12). This is what Jesus meant by the church
being like “a city on a hill” lit up by his truth and goodness (Matt 5v14-16).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
example of the early church – Dickson and today – Timmis. If we stopped
objection focused events and moved to caring focused events, I wonder whether
we would see a lot more fruit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Being
honest: I wonder to some extent if we have it wrong. We run our programs and
get involved in our clubs, all of which are geared to people like us, rather
middle class and comfortable. But none reaching the truly needy. Yet if gave
this time to serving the needy, we have as many relationships with which to
share the gospel, and commend it to the middle classes who are more likely to
be drawn by that, than our middle class niceness</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">[B] Who exactly
should we be standing up for?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Christians</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother
or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that
person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions
and in truth.” (1 Jn 3v17-18)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Non-Christians</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“For the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>
your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the fatherless</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the widow</b>, and loves <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
foreigner</b> residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to
love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”
(Deut 10v17-19, also 14v28-29, 24v19-22, Jam 1v27, Act 10v31, Gal 2v10)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Q:
Who are needy because:</span></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 680px;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 134.45pt;" valign="top" width="179">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">People
groups in our area<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Individuals
you know<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 134.45pt;" valign="top" width="179">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">They lack the basic provision
that others have?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 134.45pt;" valign="top" width="179">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">They have no-one to look after
them as others do?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 134.45pt;" valign="top" width="179">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">They are more prone to being
oppressed?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 134.45pt;" valign="top" width="179">
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">They are particularly excluded or
ignored?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 187.8pt;" valign="top" width="250">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 3.0pt; margin: 3pt 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Q:
Brainstorm: What are these people’s most felt needs?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 70.5pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">[C]
How exactly might we stand up for them?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my
eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands
are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of
my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the
oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
(Is 1v15-17)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 70.5pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Advocacy:
ideas, CG letters to gov or MP<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 70.5pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Awareness:
coffee mornings, lectures, crisis collections<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo10; tab-stops: 70.5pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Action</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo11; tab-stops: 70.5pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Giving
love: for and to individuals<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo11; tab-stops: 70.5pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Giving
time: so can practically help<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo11; tab-stops: 70.5pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Giving
money: as CG to particular needs with relationship<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo11; tab-stops: 70.5pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Giving
things: foodbank, shoe box</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Biblically
speaking, where possible, our action should seek lasting transformation not
mere relief. This respects people as in God’s image and called to rule over
themselves and the world. In the OT, debt would be cancelled and land returned,
but so people could work it for themselves.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">[D] What exactly
can we do?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the
proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to
the family of believers.” (Gal 6v9-10)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Doing
good will tire us out<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Doing
good receives eternal reward<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Doing
good depends on opportunity<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Doing
good looks first to believers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Doing
good does not neglect unbelievers</span></p>
<table align="left" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 6.75pt; margin-right: 6.75pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-table-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-table-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-table-left: left; mso-table-lspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-rspace: 9.0pt; mso-table-top: -1.75pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 671px;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.2pt;" valign="top" width="148">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 143.7pt;" valign="top" width="192">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Locally<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 248.1pt;" valign="top" width="331">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Worldwide<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.2pt;" valign="top" width="148">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Christians<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 143.7pt;" valign="top" width="192">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Our church<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 248.1pt;" valign="top" width="331">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Churches in
crisis<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 111.2pt;" valign="top" width="148">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Non-Christians<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 143.7pt;" valign="top" width="192">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Our town<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 248.1pt;" valign="top" width="331">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-element-anchor-horizontal: margin; mso-element-anchor-vertical: paragraph; mso-element-frame-hspace: 9.0pt; mso-element-top: -1.75pt; mso-element-wrap: around; mso-element: frame; mso-height-rule: exactly;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Countries in
crisis<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Q: What
opportunity do we have for doing good through our church, community groups,
families, Christian friendships:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">With
the resources God has given us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">With
the gifts God has given us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Through
the networks God has given us</span></p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 84.8pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 191.4pt;" valign="top" width="255">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Locally<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 7cm;" valign="top" width="265">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Worldwide<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 84.8pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Christians<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 191.4pt;" valign="top" width="255">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 7cm;" valign="top" width="265">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 84.8pt;" valign="top" width="113">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Non-Christians<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 191.4pt;" valign="top" width="255">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 7cm;" valign="top" width="265">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">A
LTN (love thy neighbour) or Luke10 visiting scheme: For the housebound or
struggling: (Transport?), shopping, visiting, basic DIY, other help, debt
advice, relationships counselling. Just call and ask. “If we can we will.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">How
can we help those oppressed and broken by secularism? What of drop in for
non-judgmental listening ear – bereavement, regret over abortion, unwanted
pregnancy, relationship struggles etc</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Ethos:
respect the person – give time and conversation as much as action, seek their
opinion and empower their activity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Ideas from the
school</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Things
that we have to deal with mostly in our school are<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Parenting and behaviour - no
boundaries leading to difficulties managing behaviour in the home. Impact
on the family.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Alcoholism - leading to
neglect<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Divorce - impact on
split/broken/fighting families on children. Also debt associated with
divorce/large mortgages etc<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Drug abuse - leading to
chaotic households<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Mental well-being - parents
and children<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Physical abuse - sometimes
cultural<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Neglect - headlice,
clothing, food<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo4; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Children with no help from
home ie hear them read etc<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Ways to
help:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Parenting groups - self
help, behaviour chats etc [we could run this]<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Time to talk for adults and
children [non-judgmental listening ear time]<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Meditation – well-being
support<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Food vouchers [foodbank
links]<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Supporting with headlice
treatments etc [what would that involve]<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo5; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Sign posting - debt support,
drug awareness etc [money course through school?]<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">A gap.
Possible money course help as people hit by universal credit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">[E] Making it
happen</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Commit to a
simpler lifestyle – free up time and money</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink;
do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your
Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be
given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been
pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor.
Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that
will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Lk 12v29-34) “For you know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he
became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor 8v9)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Motivated
by God’s grace to us though undeserving<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l8 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">We
act in grace to those who may be undeserving</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">God has given you
what he’s given so that you might give of it to the poor.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">How
can I learn contentment with less?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">How
can I have less so I can give more? Downgrading house, car, pension payments,
phone contract. Selling possessions not really needed. Less regular or exotic
holidays. Buy second hand over new. Cut meals or coffees out by half.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">How
can I do less so I can help more? Cutting back on work hours to free up time.
Less TV or hobbies. Including needy in family life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Practice your
gifting – ensure you play any part you can play</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“We have different gifts, according to the grace given
to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with
your faith; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if it is serving</b>, then
serve; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if it is teaching</b>, then
teach; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if it is to encourage</b>, then
give encouragement; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if it is giving</b>,
then give generously; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if it is to lead</b>,
do it diligently; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">if it is to show mercy</b>,
do it cheerfully.” (Rom 12v6-8)</span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo9; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We need those who
teach (motivators), lead (organizers), give (funders), <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="left" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">serve (doers), encourage (comforters), show mercy
(carers)</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Don’t forget
hospitality – what all should do without formal organization</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“’Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to
loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the
oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the
hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked,
to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” (Is
58v6-7) “Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do
not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich
neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But
when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at
the resurrection of the righteous.’” (Luke 14v12-14)</span></p><p></p>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-31592603501578062412021-03-17T12:56:00.007-07:002021-04-26T09:02:53.357-07:00Leaders<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaiiNwVF7w6WDjTCDpvN6nwPUu4LWvOcmgX47Z1DT8mElVLDEthvS85lpQUstoQJkFUu_JLsu0xxU3bMC4dpzxK-7qrC_-Eky7DRZ1VpsFNFDCrUXVFNSIigQJrIjxQkG5RQUcK02UqQ/" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1823" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaiiNwVF7w6WDjTCDpvN6nwPUu4LWvOcmgX47Z1DT8mElVLDEthvS85lpQUstoQJkFUu_JLsu0xxU3bMC4dpzxK-7qrC_-Eky7DRZ1VpsFNFDCrUXVFNSIigQJrIjxQkG5RQUcK02UqQ/w400-h229/image.png" width="400" /></a></div>Paul told Titus that their work in Crete was "unfinished" whilst churches existed without leaders who were blameless, skilled in oversight, and able to teach (Tit 1v5-9). <p></p><p>Below are some of the materials I have developed over the years that might be helpful to others in church leadership. More will be added.</p><div><div><b>Communion with God</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.jhobbs.uk/2017/05/pray-through-day.html">+ Help for praying throughout the day</a></div><div><div><div><a href="https://www.jhobbs.uk/2020/07/the-two-year-bible-reading-program.html">+ Read the Bible in two years with notes</a></div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Training</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.jhobbs.uk/2021/03/leading-small-group.html">+ Leading a small group</a></div><div><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nqx5dkg4IyIYTwouTBDHDI4EwuDdfGyQ/view?usp=sharing">+ Course for preparing for or strengthening marriage - pdf</a> </div><div><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nqx5dkg4IyIYTwouTBDHDI4EwuDdfGyQ/view?usp=sharing">+ Course for developing parenting as a Christian - pdf</a> </div><div><div><br /></div><div><b>Corporate worship</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2011/04/learning-from-sabbath.html">+ Learning from the Sabbath</a></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/07/gathered-worship-in-early-church.html">+ Gathered worship in the early church</a> </div><div><a href="http://www.jhobbs.uk/2018/04/a-booklet-for-corporate-worship.html?dl=0">+ Booklet for leading corporate worship</a><br /><a href="http://www.jhobbs.uk/2017/11/a-checklist-for-planning-gatherings.html">+ A checklist for leading gatherings</a></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/07/is-there-still-place-for-liturgy.html">+ Is there still a place for liturgy?</a> <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Issues</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2010/04/when-baby-dies.html">+ How should we think when a baby dies</a></div><div><a href="http://www.jhobbs.uk/2017/06/two-views-on-infant-baptism.html">+ Two views on infant baptism</a></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/06/infant-baptism-12-reasons-for-it.html">+ Why baptise children</a></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/06/divorce-and-remarriage.html">+ An indepth consideration of divorce and remarriage</a><br /><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/06/women-in-ministry.html">+ Women in ministry</a></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-god-speaks-today.html">+ How God speaks today<br /></a></div><div><a href="http://www.jhobbs.uk/2017/12/a-middle-way-on-spiritual-gifts.html">+ A middle way on spiritual gifts</a></div><div><a href="https://www.jhobbs.uk/2021/04/the-role-of-ot-law.html">+ The role of OT law today</a><br /><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/EYNKVzDuuaJEtHB_FXFUC1UBuTxi1f5IX3u4D9NFNv3NbA?e=0E5YLI">+ Booklist for serving in the local church - download</a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>Resources</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.e-sword.net/">+ E-Sword: Free downloadable bible software</a></div></div></div><div><a href="https://www.bestcommentaries.com">+ https://www.bestcommentaries.com</a></div><div><a href="http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/">+ Themelios theology journal</a></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span><div><b>Streams</b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-is-evangelical.html">+ What is an Evangelical?</a></div><a href="http://on-christianity.blogspot.com/2008/07/thoughts-on-charismatic-movement.html">+ On the Charismatic Movement</a></span></div><div><span><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span><b>Groupings</b></span><br /><br /><span><a href="http://thegospelpartnerships.org.uk/">+ The Gospel Partnerships (UK)</a></span><br /><span><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/">+ The Gospel Coalition (US)</a></span><br /><span><a href="https://australia.thegospelcoalition.org/">+ The Gospel Coalition (Aus)</a></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>To come</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Structure in the local church</div><div>A proforma for pastoral conversations</div><div>A proforma for preaching I</div><div>A proforma for preaching II</div><div>Baptism and confirmation service</div><div>Baptism and confirmation explanation</div><div>Baptism booklet</div><div>Marriage booklet</div><div>Evangelism styles questionnaire</div><div>Church handbook</div><div>Giving booklet</div><div>Trainee minister application form</div><div>Spiritual health check questions</div><div><br /></div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-308101447302797302021-03-17T11:06:00.013-07:002021-03-26T03:19:21.693-07:00Coram Deo: Life in God's presence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ676ZpoJyKg15JXR_9g_NZxkNpCrpaRg4ceIpWQGOUeMWjNCVdl5N8_gBvV0i2hh5XFB_b9RzPKROf9AuHDns9MnXsSECVY9eaC2l0M2I5i7e9RdbAqnZpkp2FzRQnfceXOSFgU10t3I/s601/coram+deo.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="598" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ676ZpoJyKg15JXR_9g_NZxkNpCrpaRg4ceIpWQGOUeMWjNCVdl5N8_gBvV0i2hh5XFB_b9RzPKROf9AuHDns9MnXsSECVY9eaC2l0M2I5i7e9RdbAqnZpkp2FzRQnfceXOSFgU10t3I/w398-h400/coram+deo.png" width="398" /></a></div>There is one Latin term that is worth knowing: "Coram Deo." It refers to something being "before the face" of God. And this is how all life is to be lived.<div><br /><div><div>From the beginning believers were described as those who "walked before the LORD." (Gen 17v1, 1 Kings 2v4). This became even more intimate with Christ's promise that both Father and Son would be with and in us, by the Holy Spirit (Jn 14v23). And it meant that the apostle Paul saw his whole ministry as one with the Lord Jesus beside him (2 Tim 4v17). </div><div><br /></div><div>What this means is that fundamental to any development of conviction, character and competence as Christians, is our deepening our communion with the Lord. If there is a key to the Christian life, this is surely it. We are to live with a healthy "fear of God" - overawed by a conscious awareness of his presence, seeking to please him in all things, and learning to turn our hearts and minds to him in praise for all that's good, and in prayer whenever in need.<div> <div><b>Fostering an awareness of God's presence</b></div><div><br /><div><a href="https://www.jhobbs.uk/2019/11/christ-centred-spirituality.html">+ Four seminars on Christ-centred spirituality</a></div><div><a href="https://www.jhobbs.uk/2017/05/pray-through-day.html">+ Help for praying throughout the day</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>External links on walking with God</b></div><div><br /><a href="https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-does-coram-deo-mean/">+ RC Sproul on "Coram Deo"</a></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiritual-Disciplines-Christian-Donald-Whitney/dp/1615216170">+ Buy "Spiritual disciplines of the Christian life" by Don Whitney</a></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y195TG9/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">+ Buy "A praying life" by Paul Miller<br /></a></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-12604810062093176872021-03-17T08:35:00.008-07:002021-10-13T04:38:43.251-07:00Why people think as they do.<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">We can define
culture as: “the creative output of society.” It is matrix within which we
live, comprising what we think with our minds and produce with our hands –
whether morally good or bad.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This means
that as Christians we should be somewhat suspicious of culture. It isn’t
morally neutral. It is inherently religious in the sense that it reflects the
beliefs and values of those within it. So, we should view and assess every
aspect of our culture through the spectacles of scripture. We should thank God
for the good. And we should engage our culture in four particular ways in order
to better it: first, by encouraging the good aspects; second, by restraining any
bad ones; third, by building Christ’s alternative culture – the church that displays
the kingdom of God as a light in the darkness; and fourth, by sharing the
gospel so that more are recruited through faith in Jesus to do these same
things.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This paper
considers what are probably our own culture’s two most dominant traits: rationalism
and relativism – traits that have arisen from a change in “western” beliefs and
values over the last few hundred years. And they need to be considered so that our
faith is not unsettled by them, so that we can spot their influence on us, and
so that we might highlight the many problems with them in order to point our
friends and families to the truth that is in Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></p><p><b>Defining terms </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Our definitions
and discussion will have to be somewhat simplistic. However, we might say that <i>rationalism</i>
believes that truth is objective - it stands for all people and for all time.
It also believes that such truth can be found by human reason alone, without
any need of God. Truth in other words is what humanity establishes is right. By
contrast, <i>relativism</i> believes that truth is subjective - it is true only
to me. In this relativism believes that truth is found by human intuition alone,
without the need for God. Truth is what “seems” or “feels” right.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">In matters of
religion, the famous atheist, Richard Dawkins, is a rationalist. He argues that
there is no scientific evidence for a God and so asserts that whether people
believe in God or not, they are wrong. God does not exist.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">An example of
a relativist, might be the average non-Christian friend. Many are just not
thinking in this sort of way. As far as they are concerned, Christianity is
true “for you.” They assume that we just cannot know whether Jesus really is or
isn’t the Son of God. If believing he is helps us, then that’s right for us.
But if someone feels he is not, then that’s right for them. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>Changing rooms<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Now in making
things simple, we can liken changes in culture to changing the interior
decoration of someone’s lounge. In the recent history of Western culture we
hear the terms “modernism” and “postmodernism” thrown around a lot. Rationalism
is said to be a mark of modernism, and relativism the mark of postmodernism. People
talk about them as if our society was once decorated – if you like – with
modernist wallpaper. That was then stripped off, and society was re-decorated with
postmodernist wallpaper. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This idea can
be illustrated by considering two series of Star Trek. The initial series,
filmed in the sixties, could be said to reflect modernism – with Doctor Spock’s
reason and logic being relied upon, and humanity’s emotion to some extent being
frowned upon. Star Trek: The Next Generation, filmed some thirty years later,
could then be said to reflect postmodernism. In it Doctor Spock is replaced by
Counsellor Troy and Data. Counsellor Troy’s gift is that she has a subjective
sense as to people’s moods. And Data’s ambition is to experience human emotion.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The thing is, culture
doesn’t change quite so neatly. Changes in culture are less akin to stripping
and re-wallpapering a room, than they are to painting another colour on top of
the previous colour. The traits of the previous culture are still there, but
intermix with new traits to form the culture of the day. So it is that we must
consider where culture has come from as well as where it is now. If you like, we
must consider the various colours with which our society has previously been
decorated if we are to properly understand the colour it now displays. So it is
that we must consider rationalism before we consider relativism.<o:p></o:p></p><p><b>God and knowledge</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Before all
else, however, we must recognize that all truth is dependent on the Lord
himself: <i>First, </i>he <i>unifies knowledge. </i>It is only in knowing
we have a creator, that we can be confident that our world is ordered and so
coherent, because it reflects his power and nature (Romans 1:20). It is this that
means we can understand reality and establish what is true – that A does not
equal B, that 2 plus 2 is not 5, that believing the earth is round and believing
the earth is flat are not equally valid views. <i>Second, </i>God <i>governs knowledge</i>.
As Deuteronomy 29:29 puts it: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God,
but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” So we are
not at liberty to decide what is and what isn’t. The nature of things is defined
by God’s creation. The morality of things is defined by God’s character
expressed in that creation. And God’s revelation about these things in the
Bible must therefore correct and deepen whatever understanding we might have of
them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>Hearts and
minds<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">In pursuing
truth, however, we must not only engage our brains, but be aware of our hearts.
Our sinful nature makes our minds unreliable in establishing truth. As Romans
1v18-32 makes clear, we suppress what can be known of God in the creation and so
are prone to error in our attempts to understand all sorts of things. The most
obvious example in our day, is how our culture suppresses the biologically
evident truth about human sexuality and gender in order to follow what people
want to do or be, or to fuel pride in being seen as “approving” of them. Nevertheless,
the Christian is being renewed in his mind and so should be more able to think
or reason more clearly.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The important
truth to understand here, is what’s called <i>total depravity</i>. It means
that sin has made the totality of our being untrustworthy. Our reason, emotion
and will are all affected by it. Because our wills want to sin, we suppress
God’s truth with our reason and delight in what is evil with our emotions. So,
whenever we are faced with God’s truth, there is a danger that we will reject or
twist it, in order to suit our own ends.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-pagination: none;">It’s important then,
to understand that a society’s beliefs do not arrive in a vacuum. Nor are they
formed by pure reason. They are the logical working out of certain presuppositions
which are formed by fallible minds so often driven by pride, self-confidence
and a desire to live independently from God - as was the case in Eden. Of
course, if those presuppositions are wrong, so will the resulting beliefs be. And
in the history of ideas, that leads us first to rationalism.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; mso-pagination: none;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">1/ Rationalism</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">In his book
“Escape from reason” Francis Schaeffer describes how humanity’s “epistemology,”
that is our theory of how we know what we know, changed from the thirteenth
century on with a Christian Theologian named Thomas Aquinas. Although Aquinas
believed that God unifies and governs knowledge, he also believed that human beings
did not need God’s revelation to discern it. He believed that by human reason
alone – alone being the important word – we could discern what is and what
isn’t (although he accepted the Bible helps us grasp more).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Well there are
no prizes for guessing that this led to God being side-lined. Thinkers effectively
made their own reason God, assuming that it could establish what God is like,
what is right and wrong, and in what sense humanity needs salvation. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The evils done
in the name of Christianity during the time of the reformation and English civil
war only encouraged this view. They switched people off the idea of holding
firmly to revealed truth. The achievements of science in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries then increased people’s confidence in reason as an alternative.
The discovery of medicine such as penicillin gave confidence that by reason
alone we could eradicate sickness. The theory of evolution gave confidence that
we would progress by our reason to an increasingly perfect state. And a related
focus on education gave confidence that by mere instruction we could fully
counter our tendency towards evil.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">Where then did this increasing
confidence in reason lead? Initially it led</span><i style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </i>to an intellectual movement known as <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Deism</i>. Deists still believed in a
Creator, but held that he was rather like a watchmaker. He designed the world
but then left it to tick on by itself without his intervention. This view
essentially holds that God unifies knowledge but doesn’t speak and so govern
knowledge. It’s a view that many of our friends hold. God exists, but he is
unknowable and uninvolved. We must therefore decide our own way to live and
solve our own problems.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">It is here
that we must mention a hugely influential 18<sup>th</sup> century thinker called
Emmanuel Kant. He taught that any knowledge we can glean is limited to the
realm we can perceive through our senses. Failing to do justice to the fact
that God has revealed himself in space-time-history, he then placed God in a
different realm, and so beyond all scientific enquiry. By this, he was saying
that you can believe in a God by faith, but you can’t really <i>know </i>whether
a God exists or what they are like. This is why many today assume that the
existence of God cannot be proved or disproved, and that faith is about blind
belief without evidence.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">In this
cultural context, Deism inevitably led to <i>Atheism</i>,
the conviction that there is actually no God at all. You see, though God’s reality
is evident in the creation, because in our sin we don’t want to face up to
that, we need the clearer evidence of his existence revealed in Jesus and
recorded in the Bible. Yet the deists rejected any notion that God had revealed
himself in this way, and Kant had added that what we perceive in the natural
realm can tell us nothing about what is in the divine realm anyway. And so, it has
become common to assume that there is no good reason to believe that there is a
God at all.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">There is
however a problem for the atheists in all this, that is rarely acknowledged. You
see they not only get rid of the one who governs knowledge, but the one who
unifies knowledge as well. The likes of Richard Dawkins therefore attack belief
in God by inconsistently relying on what only belief in God can guarantee – that
our world is rational and ordered, and that we are not just a random collection
of atoms and so we do actually have reason and can use it to understand our
world. Without God we can have no confidence that we are not simply deceiving
ourselves about reality, like the insane person who thinks he is Frodo Baggins
living in Middle Earth. CS Lewis writes that scientific atheism, <i>“gave us a
theory which explained everything else in the whole universe but which made it
impossible to believe that our thinking was valid.”</i> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>The impact of rationalism today<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The signs that
rationalism remains are all around us. But as we consider them we must remember
two things: <i>First, </i>that because
culture has developed somewhat from the days of rationalism, these things are not
assumed quite as strongly as they were a few decades ago. <i>Second, </i>that as is so often the case, rationalism does contain some
truth. The examples I give of how it shows itself are not therefore to be
totally rejected.<o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>1/ Scientism</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This is perhaps
the most obvious consequence. The word moves beyond science to seeing science
as the solution of all things, as all there is to help us solve our problems. Rationalism
has led to what’s called a “closed view” of the universe. This is the
assumption that there is no God “outside” our universe who ever enters in and operates
within it. Much modern science is ironically therefore based on religious faith.
It is based on the “belief” either that there is no God or that God does not
influence our universe. It therefore defines science in such a way that excludes
God as a factor in any theory that seeks to understand our world or our origins.
It believes in the virgin birth of the universe with neither mother or father!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>2/ Anti-supernaturalism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This is inherent
in this modern view of science and led to the rise of liberal theology in the
late eighteenth century. If there is a God, he is not involved in our universe,
it reasons, and so miracles just cannot happen. The Bible is not therefore
inspired, but contains only the reflections of religiously minded people. Jesus
is not God incarnate, but just a good moral teacher. And the resurrection
didn’t happen, but was just an idea intending to portray ideas of a new start. What
then of the miracles recorded in the Bible? They are myths, the liberals say, created
by those early believers to portray their ideas about God. One wonders whether
this lack of conviction about the activity of God in our universe lies behind
the lack of prayerfulness and faith even among genuine believers today.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>3/ Determinism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">By sidelining
God, rationalism leaves humanity purely at the whim of natural processes. It
has therefore led to the assumption that we are determined in all we do by our
biological makeup – nature, and by the environment in which we live – nurture. We
see this particularly in some modern psychology that assumes evil to simply be
the result of our genetic imperfections, a bad birth experience or a dysfunctional
family. Ultimately it removes the idea that we are free and responsible beings.<b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>4/ Humanism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-pagination: none;">The flip side of this is the assumption that humanity is essentially good
and so destined in time to evolve more and more into a morally and physically
pure and sophisticated state. By reason it is assumed we will one day eradicate
our genetic and social imperfections, and that sufficient science, medicine,
therapy and education will bring about a Utopia – a sort of heaven on earth. Humanism
is therefore a kind of non-religious religion, in which humanity is god,
effecting its own plan of salvation. This explains why law and education increasingly
seeks to control even how we think and feel. It is not merely trying to maintain
order and equip for life, but to attain a world where there is no disharmony at
all. Of course, this becomes increasingly oppressive, because sin is a reality and
won’t be removed, leading to more laws and more invasive education. Humanism
also explains why the main aim of people today is fulfilling their own potential.
Everything is about development. The irony in this, is that it becomes very
self-absorbed and so works against true moral progress. A sense of being “unfulfilled”
moves people to leave their marriages to the harm of their spouse and children,
or turn down jobs that might do much good. Indeed, even when good is done it is
often done primarily to make the one doing it feel better about themselves and
develop as a human being. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><b><i>5/ Secularism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-pagination: none;">This is the view that religious conviction should be kept out of public
life – whether politics or education. If there is no God involved in our world,
it is reasoned, then people’s religious convictions have no weight, are without
foundation, and so have no right to shape how our society governs it life. Religion
should therefore be removed from its structures. But by not acknowledging the huge
leaps of faith implicit within deism and atheism, secularism is like a dishonest
security guard manning the metal detector at customs. It seeks to keep all
religion out of public life whilst covertly admitting its own!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>6/ Forumalaeism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">At a more
general level, the reliance on reason and science, and the assumptions of
determinism, lead the every-day person to believe that if only they adopt the right
rational process or formula, they can achieve pretty much anything. Our book
shelves are therefore full of “self-help” books promising “seven steps to
success.” And even in our churches, we find ourselves relying on formula rather
than God for our numerical growth or in fostering a sense of his presence. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>7/ Nihilism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This refers to
the sense of purposelessness and meaninglessness that many feel today. And it surely
the logical consequence of rationalism. Listen to how the atheist Richard
Dawkins writes: <i>“The universe we observe has precisely the properties we
should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no
good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Courses/Think360/Month%202/Why%20people%20think%20as%20they%20do.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></i> Another
atheist, Bertrand Russell, puts it this way: <i>“Man is the product of causes
which had no prevision of the end they were achieving… his origin, his growth, his
hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs are but the outcome of accidental
collocations of atoms.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Courses/Think360/Month%202/Why%20people%20think%20as%20they%20do.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The consistent
rationalist can only end up in drowning in despair. If this random universe is
all there is, then we have no significance. Scientifically we are worth no more
than a blade of grass, because we simply boil down to our DNA. Ethically, we have
no grounds for deciding one way of acting is better than another, because our
preferences are simply the result of how the world has fallen together to this
point. Morally, we have no real grounds for caring when one human being suffers,
because that is just part of the way things are. And judicially, we have no
ground therefore for a justice system in which people are punished, because
they only do what they do because they have been conditioned to be that way. Evil is just what human animals do, just as wolves hunt
down deer. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Few live as
consistent nihilists, but its assumptions are very present – perhaps most
clearly in arguments for abortion or euthanasia. It is assumed individuals are
just atoms and cells that are here by accident. So, if they serve no purpose
and may in fact hinder the humanistic dream, there is no reason not to terminate
them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>Worldviews
under construction<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Here it is
worth pausing to note that without the Bible to ground us, belief systems develop
as their implications are worked out. Humanity sort of make it up as they go
along. So, a Christian theism that held too high a view of reason led to deism
where what was believed about God had to conform to reason. That in turn led to
atheism, as the Bible as the great proof of God was no longer held to as reliable.
And that then developed into humanism with its confidence that by reason we can
save the world ourselves, and nihilism with its recognition that if we are to
live consistently without a God, there is no rhyme or reason to try to do that!
And it is here that relativism has tried to come to the rescue.<o:p></o:p></p><p>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">2/ Relativism</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Relativism is built upon the assumption that
because there is no God to unify or govern knowledge, when it comes to ideas
there is no real truth at all that applies to everyone – there is just what
different people think. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Two types of relativism have been acknowledged:
<i>Cultural relativism </i>is the view that truth is therefore relative
to a community or society. In other words, the aborigines may have a certain
set of beliefs and values which are true for them, the Third Reich another set
that are right for them, and the Western Democracies another set that are right
for them.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Courses/Think360/Month%202/Why%20people%20think%20as%20they%20do.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <i>Personal
relativism </i>is the form of relativism we are perhaps most aware of. We hear it
whenever a friend labels our faith as “fine for you.” Because there is no
objective truth as to beliefs or values, each individual just chooses whatever is
true <i>for them. </i>It is subjective.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>The rise of relativism<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Now relativism
in many ways developed as a reaction to rationalism, and in three particular
ways. <o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>1/ Reaction
to the implications of rationalism</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The 18<sup>th</sup>
century saw a reaction against what was seen as the destruction of nature and
suppression of true humanity brought about by science through the Industrial
Revolution. These reactionaries were known as <i>Romantics. </i>They urged a
return to an idealised natural state, but combined that with a rejection of
religious truth, particularly in the area of sex, because they saw it as restrictive
in restraining people’s natural instincts.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Others reacted
against the deterministic view that our decisions are <i>simply </i>the result
of our genes and environment. Those in the 19<sup>th</sup> century are sometimes
known as <i>Bohemians</i>, and they asserted a radical freedom to do absolutely
anything, living unconventional lives and embracing free love. This began to
mean a stress not on what was right or wrong for everyone, but what was right
or wrong <i>for me.<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Two characters
from the late 19<sup>th</sup> and early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries need special
mention here because their ideas reflected the same sense that inherited norms
were holding back or supressing humanity: Karl Marx held that societal (and so religious)
structures were holding back the economic development of everyday people and so
should be thrown off. And Sigmund Freud held that traditional (and so
religious) values were supressing the expression of our true sexual self which
was fundamental to happiness and fulfilment. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Others in both
the 19<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup> centuries reacted against the nihilistic
view that we are simply a chance collection of atoms and so have no real
purpose. Their worldview is known as <i>existentialism</i>. Rather than face the
despair that is the logical result of rationalism, they simply took a blind
leap of faith that there is meaning and significance, and that it is to be
found in living “authentically.” In other words, we are to define our own
meaning in life by being and becoming whoever we want to be – in modern speak “being
true to our self.” This struck a cord with both Bohemian and Romantic thought.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Existentialism
lies behind the controversy over gender dysphoria. It is assumed that if someone
“feels” a different gender, that’s who they really are. And because matter is
only as it is by chance - and forever changing, there is no reason why that
person should not change their body accordingly. In fact, they should do,
because that is more “authentic.” It could be argued existentialism also fuels our
modern concern with having a cause to fight for – whether one of the various
rights movements or environmentalism. Having lost our sense of significance as
those created to image and serve God, we seek to create our own significance by
finding something to make our lives matter. The irony is that in a world without
God, there is no way of arguing that is a good or worthy thing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">So it was that
at the beginning of the twentieth century there was already a tendency towards
truth depending on me rather than on revelation, tradition or a community, and
on truth being established by my intuition or feeling rather than my reason. Moreover,
the seeds of thought that would lead to seeing my sexual feelings as
fundamental to what is most true for me were there in Freud, and the mindset
that sees any challenge to what I feel as oppressive and to be thrown off, is
there in Marx.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>2/ Reaction
to the failures of rationalism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">In the first
half of the twentieth century, the hopes tied to rationalism then took a direct
hit in the unfolding of incredible evil. It was the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
who had first suggested that all claims to truth were attempts to gain and exert
power over others. Well so it seemed to be. Under Hitler, the fascists used the
so-called truth they held to as justification for worldwide bloodshed and the
extermination of 5 million Jews. And under Stalin, the Marxists used theirs to
kill what is estimated to be over 10 million people.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Faced with
such wickedness, people began to realise that humanity was not necessarily good
and not necessarily evolving to the perfect utopia that was hoped for. More
than that, it was recognised that progress in science and reason meant progress
in the extent to which humanity can harm itself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Perhaps more
than anything else this led to an increasing suspicion of what’s known as
meta-narratives or grand-stories: a rejection of any claim to overarching and
objective truth, whether it was political or even religious. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This is why
many of our friends now assume that to claim that my truth must be your truth,
will inevitably lead to my oppressing you in order to force you to accept my
truth. It’s why there is such a readiness to label those a religion critiques
as victims. Just consider how readily people reject Christianity with the
phrase “all religion causes war,” or claim that all Christians are “hateful and
intolerant.” This is particularly ironic when you consider that both Fascism
and Marxism were atheistic. They caused the greatest wars and displayed the
greatest intolerance, but people don’t reject atheism because of this, nor tar every
atheist with the same brush.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>3/ Reaction
to the successes of rationalism</i></b><i><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">We noted earlier
that rationalism remains despite all this. Its greatest accomplishments are
perhaps in the area of technology. And there are two by-products of technology
that have had a huge influence on how we view truth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The first, is <i>the access we have to information</i>. We
now live in a global village: We can enter and experience the culture and
religion of any country in the world within 24 hours. And if we can’t go
abroad, we can taste something of these cultures through our TV’s and on the
net, or even outside our doors as the ease of travel means that we now live in
a multi-cultural society.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Just consider
the impact that has had on how we understand truth. Faced with so many different
beliefs, values and cultures, it seems arrogant to claim that I have found
objective truth to which others need to conform. After all, what makes me so
qualified to find what is true and not the next person. Surely, people say, my
beliefs, values and customs are simply the result of my being born where I have
been born.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The second, is
<i>the means by which we are exposed to
information</i>. The internet in particular means that we are facing an
information overload. And just as with overeating, this leaves us unable to
digest the information we receive. We just don’t have time in our busy schedules
to do the work necessary to establish whether what was said in that blog or
magazine was actually true. Moreover, our desire for easy stimulation, leans us
away from what is thoughtful and weighty towards what is comic and lite,
leading to the infantilization of our culture where so many lack any
seriousness about life and reality.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This is only
enhanced by our surrogate mother - the TV. Consider how it has raised us as its
children to think. First, it is image based. This means that much of what it
portrays is ambiguous, because images can so easily be read any number of ways.
And this leaves us prone to prefer the same medium, and be uncomfortable with
lectures or books that may portray truth more ably. Second, TV is quick moving.
This means that it is difficult without rewinding things to actually pause and
reflect discerningly on what has just been said. And so we find discernment
something that is far from instinctive to us in other areas too. Third, TV
programming is diverse. This means that we can watch a news reel of children
starving in Darfur, and move immediately to our favourite episode of
Eastenders. This leaves us blurring what is real in our own lives, living out
fantasies, and trivialising what is serious. The right response to starving
children is to stop, pray and act. But instead we flip channels to our
favourite show. Fourth, TV is ratings driven. This means that the content of
what is shown has to relate to what we want to see. And our hearts will always
tend towards what is depraved or entertaining rather than pure and personally
challenging. So it is that even news reports and documentaries twist the facts
in order to engage the viewer, leaving us all less concerned for accuracy and less
confident we can ever really know “the truth.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>Whose authority?<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">A whole raft
of factors therefore contribute to the relativistic rejection of objective
truth: An emphasis on personal freedom and so personal truth, a downplaying of
reason in order to escape despair, a subsequent reliance on intuition, a
scepticism of objective truth claims as oppressive, a feeling that they are
inherently arrogant, and a general training of our brains to be undiscerning
and unconcerned about matters of truth at all.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">What you may
have spotted in all this, is a change in what we look to as our authority in
what we believe. No longer is it <i>religion</i> – God speaking in his word, <i>tradition</i>
– what we have received from history, <i>community</i> – what we inherit from
our families, or even <i>ideology</i> – what is taught by a system like
communism. Now it is very much the individual who only buys into any of these
things if it seems true for them at this time. This should not surprise us,
because relativism is built on rationalism’s confidence in the individual.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Of course, some
still talk of the authority behind cultural relativism being the majority
opinion of religion, tradition, community or ideology. But, the fact, is that
in the west there is no received consensus as to truth, but only an ever-changing
mass of individuals and their ever-changing convictions. This is why our society’s
views can change so rapidly as has been in seen in matters of sexuality and
gender under the influence of the LGBT lobby. If the individual can be made to
feel something is more true to them than something else, they will shift and
embrace it with little thought as to what might be said by any of the authorities
appealed to in the past. And in an entertainment culture, they may make this
move on the basis of little more than a three minute youtube clip that has been
carefully crafted to appeal to their emotions. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">What this all means
is that the “truth” most embraced by a western culture tends to reflect that embraced
by its most vocal and influential members – especially if they can control the
media. In other words, its cultural relativism reflects the changing winds of
personal relativism. And there are five related authorities that tend to govern
this: <i>Emotion </i>determines truth by what “moves me.” So, a moving documentary
telling how a gay couple met and faced opposition, leans us towards acceptance
of their relationship without consideration of what it is really like, of its
impact on others, or its acceptability to God. <i>Intuition </i>determines
truth by what “I sense.” Things are accepted or rejected by whether they instinctively
feel right or wrong, without thought of how our instincts are themselves shaped
by our ideas and environment. A lady I knew was convinced she was a reincarnated
Abbess because she visited an Abbey and sensed she’d been there before. <i>Preference
</i>determines truth by what “I like.” Harder truths about God and his purposes
are therefore rejected with the words “I like to think of God like this,” as if
that really makes a difference! <i>Experience </i>determines truth by what “I perceive.”
Those raised in broken homes may therefore reject marriage as an institution
because of their bad experience of it. <i>Pragmatism </i>determines truth by
what “works for me.” If being a Christian, Buddhist, Environmentalist, or non-Binary
gender-fluid millennial gives a sense of belonging, identity and wellbeing, it
is adopted. But when it stops doing so it is rejected.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>The impact of relativism today<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">As we will
see, none of these authorities are wrong in themselves. But it is not hard to
see how uncertain, limited and prone to error they are. Whereas rationalism majors
on what is <i>thought, </i>and so engages our critical faculties, relativism majors
on what is <i>felt, </i>which is much more immediate and so potentially undiscerning.
And this leads to a number of traits that mark our relativistic society.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>1/ Individualism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">At its heart,
Western society is individualistic. It is concerned with the freedom of the
individual to act as they please – so far as this doesn’t encroach too severely
on the freedom of others. And this does follow, if truth is ultimately a matter
of individual preference. Laws today therefore seem less concerned with
restraining wrongdoing in areas that are objectively wrong, than protecting
people’s right to act as they wish. However, individual freedom always impacts
the community. A woman’s right to abort her foetus, impacts not only the foetus,
but the way wider society sees (and teaches its children to see) the unborn, the
role of women, and the nature of personhood itself.<o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>2/ Pluralism</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Many of our
friends will regard all beliefs or views as equally valid. Assuming that God
hasn’t revealed himself, they look on the numerous cultures and convictions in our
world and consider it impossible to establish whether one is more true than another,
and arrogant to suggest ours is right. This is exacerbated by the fact that what
is felt is given such authority. Everyone’s feelings seem to point in different
directions. And sifting their beliefs or views with our reason is seen as intolerant
because rejecting certain ideas is assumed to be a rejection of those who hold
them, which <i>feels</i> negative, uncaring and so wrong. God is therefore whatever
you believe him/her/it to be – and morality is what you want it to be too.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>3/ Tolerance<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">This is obviously
the buzz word of our culture. But it is not the old tolerance where we debate
in a gentle manner and agree to disagree. The new tolerance is one where we
effectively patronize one-another by saying each other’s beliefs or views are
“fine for you,” even when they are mutually inconsistent and perhaps downright
evil. It has the veneer of being caring, but doesn’t care at all.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>4/ Liberalism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">If truth is
what is right for me, then every individual is free to do as he pleases irrespective
of the consequences to others. This is radical liberalism, but its roots are
there throughout our culture and even politics. Just consider the lack of response
when someone commits adultery. “I fell out of love with my wife” seems to be adequate
justification. There is no outcry over the appalling damage inflicted on the wife
and children, or the husband’s failure to keep his promises.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>5/ Hedonism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Hedonists seek
pleasure above all else. This is certainly a mark of our culture. Relativism leans
people towards being unconcerned about injustice in the world or responsibility
at home. All can live as they please, ignore the weighty things in life, and
wallow instead in entertainment and the pursuit of personal happiness. Perhaps
the massive use of pornography in our day best illustrates this. It is enjoyed now
in the mainstream, irrespective of how it supports the sex trade or displays an
unfaithfulness towards one’s spouse.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>6/ Deconstructionism<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Because truth
is what I want it to be, some have gone as far as removing meaning from words
altogether. At an extreme level this is said to mean that communication itself
is impossible, because my own context will always mean I interpret things in my
way. At a milder level this is seen to mean that I can establish my truth from
a book irrespective of what the author intended. And this has led some to
readily reinterpret history to assert their own particular agenda – whether by
denying the holocaust, or reading homosexual relationships into history where they
may not have actually been present.<o:p></o:p></p><p><b><i>7/ Nihilism</i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Ultimately
relativism brings us to the same place as rationalism. Rationalism leaves us
without meaning or morality because it tells us we are just a chance collection
of atoms without accountability. Relativism leaves us without meaning or morality
because it concludes, therefore, that there is no over-aching truth to live for
or live by. Either way, if these worldviews were lived out consistently, they
would end in utter chaos, purposelessness and evil.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>The problem with relativism<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">It’s not a pretty picture. And the fallout of
relativism is all around us. But there are three particular problems with it that
we need to be aware of as we engage with our culture and teach our children to
be discerning.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>1/ Relativism’s
inconsistency<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The fact is that
relativism is self-refuting. The relativist claims there are no absolutes, but
by doing so they make an absolute statement. They claim all views are equally
valid, except the view that all views are not equally valid. They hold that
everything must be tolerated, but are intolerant of intolerance. You can see
the point. The fact that there is objective truth is proved by the very claim
that there is no objective truth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>2/ Relativism’s
circularity<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">In his book “The righteous mind” Jonathan
Haidt notes how western more “liberal” cultures tend to decide matters on the
basis of how caring, fair and free of oppression something seems, whereas more “conservative”
non-western cultures also have a concern for loyalty to the community, outside
authority, and the idea of things having a sanctity. What is striking is how
the more liberal basis for decision-making is therefore particularly focused on
the individual and their feelings. We’ve seen this is a quite logical outworking
of the relativism that will inevitably mark a more atheistic society. The problem,
however, is that our feelings or instincts themselves are a product of our
cultural environment. And so, this way of deciding matters is self-reinforcing:
Culture tends to reflect the instincts of the majority, that in turn shapes the
instincts of any others within it, which in turn strengthens the culture’s
sense that what it holds to is obvious. This is why people cannot conceive Christianity
even being worth consideration. So much of it goes against their feelings and instincts,
which have been crafted by the culture from the moment they were born. Ironically,
the only thing that might challenge this is a word from outside of themselves and
their culture, like a revelation from God!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><i>3/ Relativism’s
implications<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Very few of
our friends will live as consistent relativists. They will hold objective truth
in matters of science, history, and to some extent, morality too. We need to
show them that, in this, they cannot have their cake and eat it. If there is no
objective truth then they should end up as nihilists, where anything goes. We
must show them that relativism ultimately leads to there being no grounds for <i>law
or justice</i> – because there is no fixed morality, no <i>integrity </i>–
because I can change my views and values at my personal whim, no <i>humility</i>
– because I ultimately see myself as the absolute centre of the universe, and
no <i>dignity, worth or significance, </i>because everything is just a meaningless
and ever changing collection of atoms, that can be treated and thought of in
whatever manner one feels they want to. In short, we must show them that
despite its claims to be caring, fair and a challenge to oppression, relativism
ultimately ends in tyranny, because the strongest and most powerful are given
the grounds to do just what feels right for them – often manipulating others to
get them on side. By showing our friends where relativism leads we hopefully
begin to wake them up to the fact that it is unliveable, and that it doesn’t actually
resonate with their instincts after all.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b>Borrowing
capital from Christianity<o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">Of course, it
is one thing to say this, but quite another to convince people of it. They will
appeal to certain ideas and values being self evident and not in need of
justification – perhaps arguing that rationalism and relativism have left us
with a fantastic legacy of concern for equality and rights. However, in his
book “Dominion,” non-Christian author Tom Holland has convincingly shown that
this is because our society has borrowed from the Christian society which
preceded it, but without realising that. In other words, it still shows something
of the colours it was painted with before it was painted with rationalism and relativism.
In an interview touching on just this point Holland says: “That is the course
that, by and large, the west has taken. It has [said] ‘We’ll take over
Christian morals and ethics thank you very much, but we’re not actually going
to bother with any of the mumbo jumbo that requires us to go to church.’ The question
that is posed by that, of course, is whether or not you can continue to have
the bloom if the roots have been pulled up. And we don’t know the answer to
that as a society.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Courses/Think360/Month%202/Why%20people%20think%20as%20they%20do.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">The thing is, we
have seen that without the root the bloom is fading. Foundational ideas of the
sanctity of life, the nature of marriage and gender, and the gracious tolerance
of those we disagree with are rapidly being re-written, with law becoming increasingly
invasive in an attempt to assert the new morality or deal with the fallout from
it. Without the Christian truth that all are equal and to be cherished in bearing
the image of God, and called to live according to his design and purpose,
rationalism and relativism will only further lead us from what is good and
beneficial.<o:p></o:p></p><p>
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">3/ Revelation – the third R</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">There is some
truth in every deception. So, as Christians we would not want to reject
everything within rationalism. Our reason is God-given and important. The problem
is a failure to recognize that it is corrupted and controlled by our sinful
nature. It’s the same with our feelings, which are so significant with
relativism. They too are God-given and important. We should be moved by things
that matter. But we should not let our reason or feelings dominate in establishing
what’s true.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">In short, we must
reject both <i>rationalism</i> – with its emphasis on objective truth found by
reason alone, and <i>relativism</i> – with its emphasis on subjective truth established
by feeling alone. Instead, we must look to <i>revelation </i>– that is, objective
truth from God, humbly understood and subjectively believed.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">You can understand it
with this triangle:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOsOPM8CBqWp4qAo4b2sJadscYdRSf3k_aLvN-gCuyXOg8nDmxiLeP4bVPpiRKyJ4e8DC8a2YM6z6BWcRP-nehTiWz6GfBxFssi01Hz1_zdns0bAq5avXDpM-P_6_qiHmk_mv1XqWdDo/s499/truth.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="499" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOsOPM8CBqWp4qAo4b2sJadscYdRSf3k_aLvN-gCuyXOg8nDmxiLeP4bVPpiRKyJ4e8DC8a2YM6z6BWcRP-nehTiWz6GfBxFssi01Hz1_zdns0bAq5avXDpM-P_6_qiHmk_mv1XqWdDo/w320-h234/truth.png" width="320" /></a></div>Scripture,
reason and feeling all enable us to grasp what is true. Each informs the other,
but only scripture is entirely trustworthy. When our reason is in error, our feelings
may awaken us to it. We may have a sense that we’re thinking wrongly. But scripture
will clarify whether that is the case. Likewise, when our feelings are in error,
our reason may highlight it. A pause for thought will suggest our instincts are
out. But scripture will clarify whether that is the case too. And both our reason
and feeling may also give us new insight into scripture, not over-riding or
correcting it, but helping us look deeper and so grasp it more fully.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">But we must remember
that the key presupposition lying behind both rationalism and relativism is that
there is no such thing as revelation (scripture) – that there is no personal
God making himself known in our universe. We’ve seen that this presupposition
is without foundation, but simply reflects the historical development of ideas.
We’ve also seen that rationalism and relativism are both positions of faith
themselves, and ones that have nihilistic, terrible and unliveable consequences
that few could ever accept. In other words, the Christian worldview is a much
better fit for what people instinctively know, than the secular worldview that they
embrace so inconsistently and unthinkingly. Put another way, Christianity is
actually a much better fit with both our reason and our feelings - when they
are rightly considered.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">But Christianity
also has the firmest of foundations in all Christ said and did. And so it can
be helpful to ask a rationalist or relativist to live for a moment in the land of
“if.” Without attempting to totally dissuade them from their presuppositions,
you simply ask them to imagine for a moment that there is a personal God active
in our universe. You then ask whether they would accept that <i>“if”</i> that
is the case, that this God could give good reasons to believe and ensure the
existence of objective truth. If they say yes, you can at least then ask them
to read the gospels for themselves before dismissing Jesus because of their
presuppositions.<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Courses/Think360/Month%202/Why%20people%20think%20as%20they%20do.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"> <b>Richard Dawkins</b>, <i>River Out of Eden: A Darwinian
View of Life</i> (1995), quoted from <a href="http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/stenger.htm" target="quotext">Victor
J Stenger</a>, <i>Has Science Found God?</i> (2001)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Courses/Think360/Month%202/Why%20people%20think%20as%20they%20do.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"> How now shall we live, p.253<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Teaching/Courses/Think360/Month%202/Why%20people%20think%20as%20they%20do.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 8.0pt;"> We see this view in the suggestion in the media that
although execution is wrong “for us” it is somehow right for the Iraqis to have
executed Saddam Hussein. Now either it is morally right or wrong to take
someone’s life as punishment for a crime. This is not something that depends on
consensus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-51153607723975037522021-03-17T06:33:00.003-07:002021-03-17T06:33:16.816-07:00The almost Christian: A sermon by George Whitefield (1714-1770)<p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Acts 26:28 - "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."</b></i></p><p>The chapter, out of which the text is taken, contains an admirable account which the great St. Paul gave of his wonderful conversion from Judaism to Christianity, when he was called to make his defense before Festus a Gentile governor, and king Agrippa. Our blessed Lord had long since foretold, that when the Son of man should be lifted up, "his disciples should be brought before kings and rulers, for his name's sake, for a testimony unto them." And very good was the design of infinite wisdom in thus ordaining it; for Christianity being, from the beginning, a doctrine of the Cross, the princes and rulers of the earth thought themselves too high to be instructed by such mean teachers, or too happy to be disturbed b such unwelcome truths; and therefore would have always continued strangers to Jesus Christ, and him crucified, had not the apostles, by being arraigned before them, gained opportunities of preaching to them "Jesus and the resurrection." St. Paul knew full well that this was the main reason, why his blessed Master permitted his enemies at this time to arraign him at a public bar; and therefore, in compliance with the divine will, thinks it not sufficient, barely to make his defense, but endeavors at the same time to convert his judges. And this he did with such demonstration of the spirit, and of power, that Festus, unwilling to be convinced by the strongest evidence, cries out with a loud voice, "Paul, much earning doth make thee mad." To which the brave apostle (like a true follower of the holy Jesus) meekly replies, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness." But in all probability, seeing king Agrippa more affected with his discourse, and observing in him an inclination to know the truth, he applies himself more particularly to him. "The king knoweth of these things; before whom also I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him." And then, that if possible he might complete his wished-for conversion, he with an inimitable strain of oratory, addresses himself still more closely, "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest them." At which the passions of the king began to work so strongly, that he was obliged in open court, to own himself affected by the prisoner's preaching, and ingenuously to cry out, "Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."</p><p>Which words, taken with the context, afford us a lively representation of the different reception, which the doctrine of Christ's ministers, who come in the power and spirit of St. Paul, meets with now-a-days in the minds of men. For notwithstanding they, like this great apostle, "speak forth the words of truth and soberness;" and with such energy and power, that all their adversaries cannot justly gainsay or resist; yet, too many, with the noble Festus before-mentioned, being like him, either too proud to be taught, or too sensual, too careless, or too worldly-minded to live up to the doctrine, in order to excuse themselves, cry out, that "much learning, much study, or, what is more unaccountable, much piety, hath made them mad." And though, blessed be God! All do not thus disbelieve our report; yet amongst those who gladly receive the word, and confess that we speak the words of truth and soberness, there are so few, who arrive at any higher degree of piety than that of Agrippa, or are any farther persuaded than to be almost Christians, that I cannot but think it highly necessary to warn my dear hearers of the danger of such a state. And therefore, from the words of the text, shall endeavor to show these three things:</p><p>FIRST, What is meant by an almost-Christian.</p><p>SECONDLY, What are the chief reasons, why so many are no more than almost Christians.</p><p>THIRDLY, I shall consider the ineffectualness, danger, absurdity, and uneasiness which attends those who are but almost Christians; and then conclude with a general exhortation, to set all upon striving not only be almost, but altogether Christians.</p><p>I. And, FIRST, I am to consider what is meant by an almost Christians.</p><p>An almost Christian, if we consider him in respect to his duty to God, is one that halts between two opinions; that wavers between Christ and the world; that would reconcile God and Mammon, light and darkness, Christ and Belial. It is true, he has an inclination to religion, but then he is very cautious how he goes too far in it: his false heart is always crying out, Spare thyself, do thyself no harm. He prays indeed, that "God's will may be done on earth, as it is in heaven." But notwithstanding, he is very partial in his obedience, and fondly hopes that God will not be extreme to mark every thing that he willfully does amiss; though an inspired apostle has told him, that "he who offends in one point is guilty of all." But chiefly, he is one that depends much on outward ordinances, and on that account looks upon himself as righteous, and despises others; though at the same time he is as great a stranger to the divine life as any other person whatsoever. In short, he is fond of the form, but never experiences the power of godliness in his heart. He goes on year after year, attending on the means of grace, but then, like Pharaoh's lean kine [cow?], he is never the better, but rather the worse for them.</p><p>If you consider him in respect to his neighbor, he is one that is strictly just to all; but then this does not proceed from any love to God or regard to man, but only through a principle of self-love: because he knows dishonesty will spoil his reputation, and consequently hinder his thriving in the world.</p><p>He is one that depends much upon being negatively good, and contents himself with the consciousness of having done no one any harm; though he reads in the gospel, that "the unprofitable servant was cast into outer darkness," and the barren fig-tree was cursed and dried up from the roots, not for bearing bad, but no fruit.</p><p>He is no enemy to charitable contributions in public, if not too frequently recommended: but then he is unacquainted with the kind offices of visiting the sick and imprisoned, clothing the naked, and relieving the hungry in a private manner. He thinks that these things belong only to the clergy, though his own false heart tells him, that nothing but pride keeps him from exercising these acts of humility; and that Jesus Christ, in the 25th chapter of St. Matthew, condemns persons to everlasting punishment, not merely for being fornicators, drunkards, or extortioners, but for neglecting these charitable offices, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, he shall set the sheep on his right-hand, and the goats on his left. And then shall he say unto them on his left hand, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also say, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or a-thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not unto me: and these shall go away into everlasting punishment unto me: and these shall go away into everlasting punishment." I thought proper to give you this whole passage of scripture at large, because our Savior lays such a particular stress upon it; and yet it is so little regarded, that were we to judge by the practice of Christians, one should be tempted to think there were no such verses in the Bible.</p><p>But to proceed in the character of an ALMOST CHRISTIAN: If we consider him in respect of himself; as we said he was strictly honest to his neighbor, so he is likewise strictly sober in himself: but then both his honesty and sobriety proceed from the same principle of a false self-love. It is true, he runs not into the same excess of riot with other men; but then it is not out of obedience to the laws of God, but either because his constitution will not away with intemperance; or rather because he is cautious of forfeiting his reputation, or unfitting himself for temporal business. But though he is so prudent as to avoid intemperance and excess, for the reasons before-mentioned; yet he always goes to the extremity of what is lawful. It is true, he is no drunkard; but then he has no CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. He cannot think our Savior to be so austere a Master, as to deny us to indulge ourselves in some particulars: and so by this means he is destitute of a sense of true religion, as much as if he lived in debauchery, or any other crime whatever. As to settling his principles as well as practice, he is guided more by the world, than by the word of God: for his part, he cannot think the way to heaven so narrow as some would make it; and therefore considers not so much what scripture requires, as what such and such a good man does, or what will best suit his own corrupt inclinations. Upon this account, he is not only very cautious himself, but likewise very careful of young converts, whose faces are set heavenward; and therefore is always acting the devil's part, and bidding them spare themselves, though they are doing no more than what the scripture strictly requires them to do: The consequence of which is, that "he suffers not himself to enter into the kingdom of God, and those that are entering in he hinders."</p><p>Thus lives the almost Christian: not that I can say, I have fully described him to you; but from these outlines and sketches of his character, if your consciences have done their proper office, and made a particular application of what has been said to your own hearts, I cannot but fear that some of you may observe some features in his picture, odious as it is, to near resembling your own; and therefore I cannot but hope, that you will join with the apostle in the words immediately following the text, and wish yourselves "to be not only almost, but altogether Christians."</p><p>II. I proceed to the second general thing proposed; to consider the reasons why so many are no more than almost Christians.</p><p>1. And the first reason I shall mention is, because so many set out with false notions of religion; though they live in a Christian country, yet they know not what Christianity is. This perhaps may be esteemed a hard saying, but experience sadly evinces the truth of it; for some place religion in being of this or that communion; more in morality; most in a round of duties, and a model of performances; and few, very few acknowledge it to be, what it really is, a thorough inward change of nature, a divine life, a vital participation of Jesus Christ, an union of the soul with God; which the apostle expresses by saying, "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." Hence it happens, that so many, even of the most knowing professors, when you come to converse with them concerning the essence, the life, the soul of religion, I mean our new birth in Jesus Christ, confess themselves quite ignorant of the matter, and cry out with Nicodemus, "How can this thing be?" And no wonder then, that so many are only almost Christians, when so many know not what Christianity is: no marvel, that so many take up with the form, when they are quite strangers to the power of godliness; or content themselves with the shadow, when they know so little about the substance of it. And this is one cause why so many are almost, and so few are altogether Christians.</p><p>2. A second reason that may be assigned why so many are no more than almost Christians, is a servile fear of man: multitudes there are and have been, who, though awakened to a sense of the divine life, and have tasted and felt the powers of the world to come; yet out of a base sinful fear of being counted singular, or contemned by men, have suffered all those good impressions to wear off. It is true, they have some esteem for Jesus Christ; but then, like Nicodemus, they would come to him only by night: they are willing to serve him; but then they would do it secretly, for fear of the Jews: they have a mind to see Jesus, but then they cannot come to him because of the press, and for fear of being laughed at, and ridiculed by those with whom they used to sit at meat. But well did our Savior prophesy of such persons, "How can ye love me, who receive honor one of another?" Alas! have they never read, that "the friendship of this world is enmity with God;" and that our Lord himself has threatened, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me or of my words, in this wicked and adulterous generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father and of his holy angels?" No wonder that so many are no more than almost Christians, since so many "love the praise of men more than the honor which cometh of God."</p><p>3. A third reason why so many are no more than almost Christians, is a reigning love of money. This was the pitiable case of that forward young man in the gospel, who came running to our blessed Lord, and kneeling before him, inquired "what he must do to inherit eternal life;" to whom our blessed Master replied, "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal:" To which the young man replied, "All these have I kept from my youth." But when our Lord proceeded to tell him, "Yet lackest thou one thing; Go sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor; he was grieved at that saying, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions!" Poor youth! He had a good mind to be a Christian, and to inherit eternal life, but thought it too dear, if it could be purchased at no less an expense than of his estate! And thus many, both young and old, now-a-days, come running to worship our blessed Lord in public, and kneel before him in private, and inquire at his gospel, what they must do to inherit eternal life: but when they find they must renounce the self- enjoyment of riches, and forsake all in affection to follow him, they cry, "The Lord pardon us in this thing! We pray thee, have us excused."</p><p>But is heaven so small a trifle in men's esteem, as not to be worth a little gilded earth? Is eternal life so mean a purchase, as not to deserve the temporary renunciation of a few transitory riches? Surely it is. But however inconsistent such a behavior may be, this inordinate love of money is too evidently the common and fatal cause, why so many are no more than almost Christians.</p><p>4. Nor is the love of pleasure a less uncommon, or a less fatal cause why so many are no more than almost Christians. Thousands and ten thousands there are, who despise riches, and would willingly be true disciples of Jesus Christ, if parting with their money would make them so; but when they are told that our blessed Lord has said, "Whosoever will come after him must deny himself;" like the pitiable young man before-mentioned, "they go away sorrowful"" for they have too great a love for sensual pleasures. They will perhaps send for the ministers of Christ, as Herod did for John, and hear them gladly: but touch them in their Herodias, tell them they must part with such or such a darling pleasure; and with wicked Ahab they cry out, "Hast thou found us, O our enemy?" Tell them of the necessity of mortification and self-denial, and it is as difficult for them to hear, as if you was to bid them "cut off a right-hand, or pluck out a right-eye." They cannot think our blessed Lord requires so much at their hands, though an inspired apostle has commanded us to "mortify our members which are upon earth." And who himself, even after he had converted thousands, and was very near arrived to the end of his race, yet professed that it was his daily practice to "keep under his body, and bring it into subjection, lest after he had preached to others, he himself should be a cast-away!"</p><p>But some men would be wiser than this great apostle, and chalk out to us what they falsely imagine an easier way to happiness. They would flatter us, we may go to heaven without offering violence to our sensual appetites; and enter into the strait gate without striving against our carnal inclinations. And this is another reason why so many are only almost, and not altogether Christians.</p><p>5. The fifth and last reason I shall assign why so many are only almost Christians, is a fickleness and instability of temper.</p><p>It has been, no doubt, a misfortune that many a minister and sincere Christian has met with, to weep and wail over numbers of promising converts, who seemingly began in the Spirit, but after a while fell away, and basely ended in the flesh; and this not for want of right notions in religion, nor out of a servile fear of man, nor from the love of money, or of sensual pleasure, but through an instability and fickleness of temper. They looked upon religion merely for novelty, as something which pleased them for a while; but after their curiosity was satisfied, they laid it aside again: like the young man that came to see Jesus with a linen cloth about his naked body, they have followed him for a season, but when temptations came to take hold on them, for want of a little more resolution, they have been stripped of all their good intentions, and fled away naked. They at first, like a tree planted by the water-side, grew up and flourished for a while; but having no root in themselves, no inward principle of holiness and piety, like Jonah's gourd, they were soon dried up and withered. Their good intentions are too like the violent motions of the animal spirits of a body newly beheaded, which, though impetuous, are not lasting. In short, they set out well in their journey to heaven, but finding the way either narrower or longer than they expected, through an unsteadiness of temper, they have made an eternal halt, and so "returned like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the more!"</p><p>But I tremble to pronounce the fate of such unstable professors, who having put their hands to the plough, for want of a little more resolution, shamefully look back. How shall I repeat to them that dreadful threatening, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him:" And again, "It is impossible (that is, exceeding difficult at least) for those that have been once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and the powers of the world to come, if they should fall away, to be renewed again unto repentance." But notwithstanding the gospel is so severe against apostates, yet many that begun well, through a fickleness of temper, (O that none of us here present may ever be such) have been by this means of the number of those that turn back unto perdition. And this is the fifth, and the last reason I shall give, why so many are only almost, and not altogether Christians.</p><p>III. Proceed we now to the general thing proposed, namely, to consider the folly of being no more than an almost Christian.</p><p>1. And the FIRST proof I shall give of the folly of such a proceeding is, that it is ineffectual to salvation. It is true, such men are almost good; but almost to hit the mark, is really to miss it. God requires us "to love him with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our strength." He loves us too well to admit any rival; because, so far as our hearts are empty of God, so far must they be unhappy. The devil, indeed, like the false mother that came before Solomon, would have our hearts divided, as she would have had the child; but God, like the true mother, will have all or none. "My Son, give me thy heart," thy whole heart, is the general call to all: and if this be not done, we never can expect the divine mercy.</p><p>Persons may play the hypocrite; but God at the great day will strike them dead, (as he did Ananias and Sapphira by the mouth of his servant Peter) for pretending to offer him all their hearts, when they keep back from him the greatest part. They may perhaps impose upon their fellow- creatures for a while; but he that enabled Elijah to cry out, "Come in thou wife of Jeroboam," when she came disguised to inquire about he sick son, will also discover them through their most artful dissimulations; and if their hearts are not wholly with him, appoint them their portion with hypocrites and unbelievers.</p><p>2. But, SECONDLY, What renders an half-way-piety more inexcusable is, that it is not only insufficient to our own salvation, but also very prejudicial to that of others.</p><p>An almost Christian is one of the most hurtful creatures in the world; he is a wolf in sheep's clothing: he is one of those false prophets, our blessed Lord bids us beware of in his sermon on the mount, who would persuade men, that the way to heaven is broader than it really is; and thereby, as it was observed before, "enter not into the kingdom of God themselves, and those that are entering in they hinder." These, these are the men that turn the world into a luke-warm Laodicean spirit; that hang out false lights, and so shipwreck unthinking benighted souls in their voyage to the haven of eternity. These are they who are greater enemies to the cross of Christ, than infidels themselves: for of an unbeliever every one will be aware; but an almost Christian, through his subtle hypocrisy, draws away many after him; and therefore must expect to receive the greater damnation.</p><p>3. But, THIRDLY, As it is most prejudicial to ourselves and hurtful to others, so it is the greatest instance of ingratitude we can express towards our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. For did he come down from heaven, and shed his precious blood, to purchase these hearts of ours, and shall we only give him half of them? O how can we say we love him, when our hearts are not wholly with him? How can we call him our Savior, when we will not endeavor sincerely to approve ourselves to him, and so let him see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied!</p><p>Had any of us purchased a slave at a most expensive rate, and who was before involved in the utmost miseries and torments, and so must have continued for ever, had we shut up our bowels of compassion from him; and was this slave afterwards to grow rebellious, or deny giving us but half his service; how, how should we exclaim against his base ingratitude! And yet this base ungrateful slave thou art, O man, who acknowledgest thyself to be redeemed from infinite unavoidable misery and punishment by the death of Jesus Christ, and yet wilt not give thyself wholly to him. But shall we deal with God our Maker in a manner we would not be dealt with by a man like ourselves? God forbid! No. Suffer me, therefore,</p><p>To add a word or two of exhortation to you, to excite you to be not only almost, but altogether Christians. O let us scorn all base and treacherous treatment of our King and Savior, of our God and Creator. Let us not take some pains all our lives to go to haven, and yet plunge ourselves into hell as last. Let us give to God our whole hearts, and no longer halt between two opinions: if the world be God, let us serve that; if pleasure be a God, let us serve that; but if the Lord he be God, let us, O let us serve him alone. Alas! why, why should we stand out any longer? Why should we be so in love with slavery, as not wholly to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil, which, like so many spiritual chains, bind down our souls, and hinder them from flying up to God. Alas! what are we afraid of? Is not God able to reward our entire obedience? If he is, as the almost Christian's lame way of serving him, seems to grant, why then will we not serve him entirely? For the same reason we do so much, why do we not do more? Or do you think that being only half religious will make you happy, but that going farther, will render you miserable and uneasy? Alas! this, my brethren, is delusion all over: for what is it but this half piety, this wavering between God and the world, that makes so many, that are seemingly well disposed, such utter strangers to the comforts of religion? They choose just so much of religion as will disturb them in their lusts, and follow their lusts so far as to deprive themselves of the comforts of religion. Whereas on the contrary, would they sincerely leave all in affection, and give their hearts wholly to God, they would then (and they cannot till then) experience the unspeakable pleasure of having a mind at unity with itself, and enjoy such a peace of God, which even in this life passes all understanding, and which they were entire strangers to before. It is true, it we will devote ourselves entirely to God, we must meet with contempt; but then it is because contempt is necessary to heal our pride. We must renounce some sensual pleasures, but then it is because those unfit us for spiritual ones, which are infinitely better. We must renounce the love of the world; but then it is that we may be filled with the love of God: and when that has once enlarged our hearts, we shall, like Jacob when he served for his beloved Rachel, think nothing too difficult to undergo, no hardships too tedious to endure, because of the love we shall then have for our dear Redeemer. Thus easy, thus delightful will be the ways of God even in this life: but when once we throw off these bodies, and our souls are filled with all the fullness of God, O! what heart can conceive, what tongue can express, with what unspeakable joy and consolation shall we then look back on our past sincere and hearty services. Think you then, my dear hearers, we shall repent we had done too much; or rather think you not, we shall be ashamed that we did no more; and blush we were so backward to give up all to God; when he intended hereafter to give us himself?</p><p>Let me therefore, to conclude, exhort you, my brethren, to have always before you the unspeakable happiness of enjoying God. And think withal, that every degree of holiness you neglect, every act of piety you omit, is a jewel taken out of your crown, a degree of blessedness lost in the vision of God. O! do but always think and act thus, and you will no longer be laboring to compound matters between God and the world; but, on the contrary, be daily endeavoring to give up yourselves more and more unto him; you will be always watching, always praying, always aspiring after farther degrees of purity and love, and consequently always preparing yourselves for a fuller sight and enjoyment of that God, in whose presence there is fullness of joy, and at whose right-hand there are pleasures for ever more. Amen! Amen!</p><hr /><p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Whitefield Collection" by:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>Tony Capoccia<br />Bible Bulletin Board<br />Box 119<br />Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022<br />Our websites: <a href="http://www.biblebb.com/">www.biblebb.com</a> and <a href="http://www.gospelgems.com/">www.gospelgems.com</a><br />Email: <a href="mailto:tony@biblebb.com">tony@biblebb.com</a><br />Online since 1986</b></span></p>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-72045799229808715132021-03-17T05:08:00.007-07:002021-03-17T05:08:58.587-07:00An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle<p><i>"An Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle" was written and endorsed by the International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle, held at Hoddesdon, England on March 17-21, 1980. The Consultation was sponsored by the Lausanne Committee on World Evangelization s Lausanne Theology and Education Group and the World Evangelical Fellowship's Theological Commission's Unit on Ethics and Society. Forfurther information and additional copies, write to Unit on Ethics and Society, World Evangelical Fellowship, 300 W. Apsley St., Philadelphia, PA 19144.</i></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /><span style="color: black;">From: <i>JASA </i>32<i> </i>(December1980): 242-244.</span></span><p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><i><b>Preamble</b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></i></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-large;">F</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">or four days we have been together, 85 Christians from 27 countries, to consider the resolve expressed in the Lausanne Covenant (1974) to "develop a simple lifestyle." We have tried to listen to the voice of God, through the pages of the Bible, through the cries of the hungry poor, and through each other. And we believe that God has spoken to us.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We thank God for his great salvation through Jesus Christ, for his revelation in Scripture which is a light for our path, and for the Holy Spirit's power to make us witnesses and servants in the world.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We are disturbed by the injustice of the world, concerned for its victims, and moved to repentance for our complicity in it. We have also been stirred to fresh resolves, which we express in this Commitment.<br /><br /></span><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">1. Creation</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br />We worship God as the Creator of all things, and we celebrate the goodness of his creation. In his generosity he has given us everything to enjoy, and we receive it from his hands with humble thanksgiving (I Timothy 4:4, 6:17). God's creation is marked by rich abundance and diversity, and he intends its resources to be husbanded and shared for the benefit of all.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We therefore denounce environmental destruction, wastefulness and hoarding. We deplore the misery of the poor who suffer as a result of these evils. We also disagree with the drabness of the ascetic. For all these deny the Creator's goodness and reflect the tragedy of the fall. We recognize our own involvement in them, and we repent.</span></p><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">2. Stewardship</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">When God made man, male and female, in his own image, he gave them dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). He made them stewards of its resources, and they became responsible to him as Creator, to the earth which they were to develop, and to their fellow human beings with whom they were to share its riches. So fundamental are these truths that authentic human fulfillment depends on a right relationship to God, neighbor and the earth with all its resources. People's humanity is diminished if they have no just share in those resources.</span><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">By unfaithful stewardship, in which we fail to conserve the earth's finite resources, to develop them fully, or to distribute them justly, we both disobey God and alienate people from his purpose for them. We are determined, therefore, to honor God as the owner of all things, to remember that we are stewards and not proprietors of any land or property that we may have, to use them in the service of others, and to seek justice with the poor who are exploited and powerless to defend themselves.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We look forward to "the restoration of all things" at Christ's return (Acts 3:21). At that time our full humanness will be restored; so we must promote human dignity today.</span></p><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">3. Poverty and Wealth</span></i><p align="JUSTIFY"><i></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We affirm that involuntary poverty is an offense against the goodness of God. It is related in the Bible to powerlessness, for the poor cannot protect themselves. God's call to rulers is to use their power to defend the poor, not to exploit them. The church must stand with God and the poor against injustice, suffer with them and call on rulers to fulfill their God-appointed role.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We have struggled to open our minds and hearts to the uncomfortable words of Jesus about wealth. "Beware of covetousness" he said, and "a person's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). We have listened to his warnings about the danger of riches. For wealth brings worry, vanity and false security, the oppression of the weak and indifference to the sufferings of the needy. So it is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23), and the greed will be excluded from it. The kingdom is a free gift offered to all, but it is especially good news for the poor because they benefit most from the changes it brings.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We believe that Jesus still calls some people (perhaps even us) to follow him in a lifestyle of total, voluntary poverty. He calls all his followers to an inner freedom from the seduction of riches (for it is impossible to serve God and money) and to sacrificial generosity ("to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share"-I Timothy 6:18). Indeed, the motivation and model for Christian generosity are nothing less than the example of Jesus Christ himself, who, though rich, became poor that through his poverty we might become rich (11 Corinthians 8:9). It was a costly, purposeful self-sacrifice; we mean to seek his grace to follow him. We resolve to get to know poor and oppressed people, to learn issues of injustice from them, to seek to relieve their suffering, and to include them regularly in our prayers.</span></p><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">4. The New Community</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br />We rejoice that the church is the new community of the new age, whose members enjoy a new life and a new lifestyle. The earliest Christian church, constituted in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, was characterized by a quality of fellowship unknown before. Those Spirit-filled believers loved one another to such an extent that they sold and shared their possessions. Although their selling and giving were voluntary, and some private property was retained (Acts 5:4), it was made subservient to the needs of the community. "None of them said that anything he had was his own" (Acts 4:32). That is, they were free from the selfish assertion of proprietary rights. And as a result of their transformed economic relationships, "there was not a needy person among them" (Acts 4:34).</span><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">This principle of generous and sacrificial sharing, expressed in holding ourselves and our goods available for people in need, is an indispensable characteristic of every Spirit-filled church. So those of us who are affluent in any part of the world, are determined to do more to relieve the needs of less privileged believers. Otherwise, we shall be like those rich Christians in Corinth who ate and drank too much while their poor brothers and sisters were left hungry, and we shall deserve the stinging rebuke Paul gave them for despising God's church and desecrating Christ's body (I Corinthians 11:20-24). Instead, we determine to resemble them at a later stage when Paul urged thein out of their abundance to give to the impoverished Christians of Judea "that there may be equality" (II Corinthians 8:10-15). It was a beautiful demonstration of caring love and of Gentile-Jewish solidarity in Christ.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">In this same spirit, we must seek ways to transact the church's corporate business together with minimum expenditure on travel, food and accommodation. We call on churches and parachurch agencies in their planning to be acutely aware of the need for integrity in corporate lifestyle and witness.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Christ calls us to be the world's salt and light, in order to hinder its social decay and illumine its darkness. But our light must shine and our salt must retain its saltness. It is when the new community is most obviously distinct from the world-in its values, standards and lifestyle-that it presents the world with a radically attractive alternative and so exercises its greatest influence for Christ. We commit ourselves to pray and work for the renewal of our churches.</span></p><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">5. Personal Lifestyle</span></i><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Jesus our Lord summons us to holiness, humility, simplicity and contentment. He also promises us his rest. We confess, however, that we have often allowed unholy desires to disturb our inner tranquility. So without the constant renewal of Christ's peace in our hearts, our emphasis on simple living will be one-sided.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Our Christian obedience demands a simple lifestyle, irrespective of the needs of others. Nevertheless, the facts that 800 million people are destitute and that about 10,000 die of starvation every day make any other lifestyle indefensible.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">While some of us have been called to live among the poor, and others to open our homes to the needy, all of us are determined to develop a simpler lifestyle. We intend to reexamine our income and expenditure, in order to manage on less and give away more. We lay down no rules or regulations, for either ourselves or others. Yet we resolve to renounce waste and oppose extravagance in personal living, clothing and housing, travel and church buildings. We also accept the distinction between necessities and luxuries, creative hobbies and empty status symbols, modesty and vanity, occasional celebrations and normal routine, and between the service of God and slavery to fashion. Where to draw the line requires conscientious thought and decision by us, together with members of our family. Those of us who belong to the West need the help of our Third World brothers and sisters in evaluating our standards of spending. Those of us who live in the Third World acknowledge that we too are exposed to the temptation to covetousness. So we need each other's understanding, encouragement and prayers.</span></p><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">6. International Development</span></i><p align="JUSTIFY"><i></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We echo the words of the Lausanne Covenant: "We are shocked by the poverty of millions, and disturbed by the injustices which cause it." One quarter of the world's population enjoys unparalleled prosperity, while another quarter endures grinding poverty. This gross disparity is an intolerable injustice; we refuse to acquiesce in it. The call for a New International Economic Order expresses the justified frustration of the Third World.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We have come to understand more clearly the connection between resources, income and consumption: people often starve because they cannot afford to buy food, because they have no income, because they have no opportunity to produce, and because they have no access to power. We therefore applaud the growing emphasis of Christian agencies on development rather than aid. For the transfer of personnel and appropriate technology can enable people to make good use of their own resources, while at the same time respecting their dignity. We resolve to contribute more generously to human development projects. Where people's lives are at stake, there should never be a shortage of funds.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">But the action of governments is essential. Those of us who live in the affluent nations are ashamed that our governments have mostly failed to meet their targets for official development assistance, to maintain emergency food stocks or to liberalize their trade policy.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We have come to believe that in many cases multi-national corporations reduce local initiative in the countries where they work, and tend to oppose any fundamental change in government. We are convinced that they should become more subject to controls and more accountable.</span></p><i><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">7. Justice and Politics</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br />We are also convinced that the present situation of social injustice is so abhorrent to God that a large measure of change is necessary. Not that we believe in an earthly utopia. But neither are we pessimists. Change can come, although not through commitment to simple lifestyle or human development projects alone.</span><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Poverty and excessive wealth, militarism and the arms industry, and the unjust distribution of capital, land and resources are issues of power and powerlessness. Without a shift of power through structural change these problems cannot be solved.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The Christian church, along with the rest of society, is inevitably involved in politics which is "the art of living in community." Servants of Christ must express his lordship in their political, social and economic commitments and their love for their neighbors by taking part in the political process. How, then, can we contribute to change?</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">First, we will pray for peace and justice, as God commands. Secondly, we will seek to educate Christian people in the moral and political issues involved, and so clarify their vision and raise their expectations. Thirdly, we will take action. Some Christians are called to special tasks in government, economics or development. All Christians must participate in the active struggle to create a just and responsible society. In some situations obedience to God demands resistance to an unjust established order. Fourthly, we must be ready to suffer. As followers of Jesus, the Suffering Servant, we know that service always involves suffering.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">While personal commitment to change our lifestyle without political action to change systems of injustice lacks effectiveness, political action without personal commitment lacks integrity.</span></p><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">8. Evangelism<br /></span></i><p align="JUSTIFY"><i></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We are deeply concerned for the vast millions of unevangelized people in the world. Nothing that has been said about lifestyle or justice diminishes the urgency of developing evangelistic strategies appropriate to different cultural environments. We must not cease to proclaim Christ as Savior and Lord throughout the world . The church is not yet taking seriously its commission to be his witnesses "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">So the call to a responsible lifestyle must not be divorced front the call to responsible witness. For the credibility of our message is seriously diminished whenever we contradict it by our lives. It is impossible with integrity to proclaim Christ's salvation if he has evidently not saved us from greed, or his lordship if we are not good stewards of our possessions, or his love if we close our hearts against the needy. When Christians care for each other and for the deprived, Jesus Christ becomes more visibly attractive.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">In contrast to this, the affluent lifestyle of some Western evangelists when they visit the Third World is understandably offensive to many.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We believe that simple living by Christians generally would release considerable resources of finance and personnel for evangelism as well as development. So by our commitment to a simple lifestyle we recommit ourselves wholeheartedly to world evangelization.</span></p><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">9. The Lord's Return</span></i><p align="JUSTIFY"><i></i><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The Old Testament prophets both denounced the idolatries and injustices of God's people and warned of his coming judgment. Similar denunciations and warnings are found in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus is coming back soon to judge, to save and to reign. His judgment will fall upon the greedy (who are idolaters) and upon all oppressors. For on that day the King will sit upon his throne and separate the saved from the lost. Those who have ministered to him by ministering to one of the least of his needy brothers and sisters will be saved, for the reality of saving faith is exhibited in serving love. But those who are persistently indifferent to the plight of the needy, and so to Christ in them, will be irretrievably lost (Matthew 25: 31-46). All of us need to hear again this solemn warning of Jesus, and resolve afresh to serve him in the deprived. We therefore call on our fellow Christians everywhere to do the same.</span></p><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><i>Our Resolve<br /></i><br />So then, having been freed by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, in obedience to his call, in heartfelt compassion for the poor, in concern for evangelism, development and justice, and in solemn anticipation of the Day of Judgment, we humbly commit ourselves to develop a just and simple lifestyle, to support one another in it and to encourage others to join us in this commitment.</span><p align="JUSTIFY"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">We know that we shall need time to work out its implications and that the task will not be easy. May Almighty God give us his grace to be faithful! Amen.</span></p><hr /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-27318234409493803222021-03-17T02:14:00.007-07:002021-03-17T02:14:41.041-07:00The scientific evidence on homosexuality and gender dysphoria<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">I have been doing some study on transgender issues and been pointed to</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/number-50-fall-2016" style="font-size: 10pt;">an edition of “The New Atlantis” journal,</a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">which outlines some of the scientific conclusions to date on both gender and sexuality. It is a non-partisan and non-religious journal that seeks to make public up-to-date research so that people are properly informed.</span></p><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Because there is so much misunderstanding fed to us through media and social media, I’ve included the entire executive summary below. It only takes a few minutes to read, but is important for us to be aware of for when our views as Christians are challenged, or when we have to talk about these things with our children.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Obviously the issues themselves are incredibly complex and should be handled with extreme compassion, but whilst acknowledging things aren’t always as cut and dried as below, the science is important.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">You will note that the three great myths on these issues are without basis:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">1)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The first myth is that people are born with a homosexual orientation or gender disconnect. </span></i><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">This is often given as a reason why such feelings should be accepted and embraced, but this assumption is “not supported by scientific evidence.” <o:p></o:p></span><span face="Tahoma, sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -18pt;">(That's not to say there aren't elements of non-biological causation that might influence someone's development from an early age).</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">2)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The second myth is that people’s feelings in these areas are fixed. </span></i><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">This is also given as a reason why such feelings should be seen as defining and embraced. Otherwise, we are told, people will never be able to experience intimate relationships or be their true self. In truth, both experiences are to some degree fluid, with many (I should stress not all) children growing out of them as they get older. This means that the way many children in particular are encouraged to act on such feelings is deeply concerning. Ironically, it is that which could work against their proper development and identity.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">3)<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The third myth is that those experiencing homosexual orientation or gender dysmorphia will only be fulfilled if they embrace their sense of who they are</span></i><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">. The fact is that both groups are far more likely to experience mental health issues, depression and suicide. So this is not necessarily the case at all. Again, this shows how serious it is when children are encouraged to make these things so defining.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><b><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">The Executive Summary<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Some key findings:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span class="subhead"><b><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Part One: Sexual Orientation</span></b></span><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● The understanding of sexual orientation as an innate, biologically fixed property of human beings — the idea that people are “born that way” — is not supported by scientific evidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● While there is evidence that biological factors such as genes and hormones are associated with sexual behaviors and attractions, there are no compelling causal biological explanations for human sexual orientation. While minor differences in the brain structures and brain activity between homosexual and heterosexual individuals have been identified by researchers, such neurobiological findings do not demonstrate whether these differences are innate or are the result of environmental and psychological factors.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Longitudinal studies of adolescents suggest that sexual orientation may be quite fluid over the life course for some people, with one study estimating that as many as 80% of male adolescents who report same-sex attractions no longer do so as adults (although the extent to which this figure reflects actual changes in same-sex attractions and not just artifacts of the survey process has been contested by some researchers).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Compared to heterosexuals, non-heterosexuals are about two to three times as likely to have experienced childhood sexual abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span class="subhead"><b><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Part Two: Sexuality, Mental Health Outcomes, and Social Stress</span></b></span><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Compared to the general population, non-heterosexual subpopulations are at an elevated risk for a variety of adverse health and mental health outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Members of the non-heterosexual population are estimated to have about 1.5 times higher risk of experiencing anxiety disorders than members of the heterosexual population, as well as roughly double the risk of depression, 1.5 times the risk of substance abuse, and nearly 2.5 times the risk of suicide.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Members of the transgender population are also at higher risk of a variety of mental health problems compared to members of the non-transgender population. Especially alarmingly, the rate of lifetime suicide attempts across all ages of transgender individuals is estimated at 41%, compared to under 5% in the overall U.S. population.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● There is evidence, albeit limited, that social stressors such as discrimination and stigma contribute to the elevated risk of poor mental health outcomes for non-heterosexual and transgender populations. More high-quality longitudinal studies are necessary for the “social stress model” to be a useful tool for understanding public health concerns.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span class="subhead"><b><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">Part Three: Gender Identity</span></b></span><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● The hypothesis that gender identity is an innate, fixed property of human beings that is independent of biological sex — that a person might be “a man trapped in a woman’s body” or “a woman trapped in a man’s body” — is not supported by scientific evidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● According to a recent estimate, about 0.6% of U.S. adults identify as a gender that does not correspond to their biological sex.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Studies comparing the brain structures of transgender and non-transgender individuals have demonstrated weak correlations between brain structure and cross-gender identification. These correlations do not provide any evidence for a neurobiological basis for cross-gender identification.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Compared to the general population, adults who have undergone sex-reassignment surgery continue to have a higher risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes. One study found that, compared to controls, sex-reassigned individuals were about 5 times more likely to attempt suicide and about 19 times more likely to die by suicide.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● Children are a special case when addressing transgender issues. Only a minority of children who experience cross-gender identification will continue to do so into adolescence or adulthood.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 16.5pt; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 15pt;"><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;">● There is little scientific evidence for the therapeutic value of interventions that delay puberty or modify the secondary sex characteristics of adolescents, although some children may have improved psychological well-being if they are encouraged and supported in their cross-gender identification. There is no evidence that all children who express gender-atypical thoughts or behavior should be encouraged to become transgender.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><span face=""tahoma" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-33827472364049163242021-03-17T01:49:00.004-07:002023-02-09T09:31:54.736-08:00Grace and truth in considering homosexuality<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt;">An overview.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"><b>Identity and fulfilment.</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">It is particularly hard writing on this
subject in our day for two reasons. <i>First,</i> in matters of identity, we
have been told that our sexuality is fundamental to it; <i>second,</i> in terms
of purpose, we are told that peace, contentment and significance are found in
expressing who we feel we are. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">This means that anything which implies there are
aspects of who we are that are not as they should be is seen as an attack on
our very self that seeks to keep us from ever finding fulfilment in life. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">However, when it comes to our sense of self,
Christians have always held that because each one of us has turned from God,
none of us are what we should be. And so, we need Christ, to renew us inwardly
now, and one day raise us from death to be our true selves in the world to
come. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Moreover, fulfilment in life is not therefore
found in expressing who we feel we are, which is inevitably broken, confused
and rebellious. Rather, it is found in living as those we are called to be -
denying our selves to find joy in following Christ as children of God who are
being reconstructed into his image. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">We could say we are each like a car with the
tracking out, constantly veering off the road God has laid down for us. As
Christians, Christ gives us strength to turn against the drift. But we still
await our full realignment. And in terms of sexual desire, this means that in
this life every one of us will have feelings we have to suppress and not act on
for his sake. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Now all this really is good news. But because it
goes against the grain of our culture it is often perceived to be far from
that. This means that many come to any discussion of sexuality with their guard
up, presuming that what they will hear is hateful as it doesn't just accept
people's sense of who they are, and challenges what they think is the path to
fulfilment. But promoting the Bible's teaching is not hateful at all. It is
simply to be convinced that God's way is the best way, and to be concerned that
none miss out on that. In that sense it is loving.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>Sex as God's gift.</b><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">We must begin by asking what exactly the purpose
of sex is - what does it mean to remain on God's road in this area? And the
teaching of the Bible is that sex is given by God for <i>procreation</i> -
having children, <i>delight</i> - enjoying each other, and <i>union</i> -
deepening togetherness.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">The problem that has recently arisen with
respect to this, is that contraception has enabled society to separate sex from
procreation, and so from its biological context of male-female relations. It is
therefore assumed that for the purposes of enjoyment and togetherness, everyone
has a right to sex even if of the same sex. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">But what is missed, is that in God's design what
seem to be three purposes to sex are in fact one purpose. They cannot be
divided. The reason God has given sex to unite a couple in mutual delight is
for the purpose of sticking together so that they can have and raise children
to know and love God. As Malachi puts it in speaking of marriage: <i>"Did
he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was
the one God seeking? Godly offspring."</i> (Malachi 2v15)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Sex is therefore by nature heterosexual, as is
evident in its basic biology. It is all about the complementarity of the sexes
- uniting their differences in the great privilege of raising human beings, if
the couple is able. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">In this, it is to be expressed only in the
commitment of marriage between one man and one woman because this protects the
couple and any children against the devastation of splitting, so enabling them
to fulfil this calling. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">But it is more than that. It is to be expressed
in marriage supremely because marriage is a picture and pointer to Christ's own
relationship with the church, which the Bible calls his "bride." And
that relationship is one of spiritual union and mutual delight, as Christ and
the church work together in multiplying children of God through his message. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">At its most basic, this is why the Bible teaches
that all sex outside of heterosexual marriage is wrong. In some sense, it is
like being gifted an expensive and so precious car, and not just drifting off
the road, but happily driving it into the sea. It is to engage in sex in an
environment it was not made for, without a concern for the one who has given
it. And just as salt water ruins a car, so we see all around us how this has
led to sex, marriage, and the complementarity of the genders being degraded.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.133333px;"><b>But what about...?</b><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">Of course, people will ask how those who are
same sex attracted or single can experience the joy and togetherness sex brings? And the answer is that unless their feelings or circumstances change (as they do for some), they can't experience these things through sex, because it is for heterosexual
marriage. But that doesn't mean they must lead a sort of sub-life. Sex is not
everything. Christ was the most fulfilled and happy man without it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">We mustn’t be naive and join our culture
idolizing sex as the “must have.” Outside of marriage it often leads to greater
heartache and emotional devastation when couples split. And in marriage the joy
and togetherness it is intended to foster is often lacking because of human
selfishness. Indeed, even when these are there, they can to some extent be negated
by the sheer exhaustion and stress of raising children.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">The fact is, those who are unmarried can usually
give more than married couples can to finding a sense of joy and togetherness
in friendship, and as Christians in their relationship with Christ. As Paul
writes in 1 Corinthians 7v33-34: <i>"I want you to be free from anxieties.
The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the
Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his
wife, and his interests are divided." </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">In our day we need to recover a recognition that
marriage and so sex is not for everyone. That friendship and singleness can
offer an alternative path to what can be found in the best of marriages. And
this is God's path for those who are same-sex attracted or who don't marry. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #202124; letter-spacing: 0.1pt;">It is against this backdrop that we can now
consider the issue of homosexuality more fully. </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">What follows is based on talks given in 2013. I would
encourage you to take 15 minutes to read it all so that you can properly
consider the issues raised. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><b>A fuller </b></span><span style="font-size: 26.6667px;"><b>consideration</b></span><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><b>.</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[1] Approaching the issue</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l18 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">We must come humbly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l18 level1 lfo13; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">We must come lovingly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[2] The Bible’s teaching</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l11 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus teaches that the creation account
defines what is acceptable for sex. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l11 level1 lfo15; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus teaches that the Old Testament laws
on sexual relationships still stand.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[3] Objections considered</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l14 level1 lfo17; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Isn’t this to ask the homosexual
person to deny who God has made them to be?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l14 level1 lfo17; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Doesn’t this condemn the
homosexual person to a loveless life?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">[4] Engaging the world</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo19; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We are to display grace<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt 36pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo19; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We are to seek repentance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt;">[1] Approaching the issue<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">A while ago a
non-Christian friend raised the debate about sexuality within the Church of England:
“I thought the church was supposed to be a check on culture rather than just go
with it.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Of course, there
is much more to the church than that. But he spoke truth. The church is not
intended to follow culture, but speak to it – sometimes commending it and
sometimes critiquing it. That’s why John the Baptist spoke out about Herod’s
relationship with his brother’s wife. That’s why Jesus spoke out about the
permanence of marriage.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">And so it is that
we come to this contentious subject. I have to say that I come to it rather
reluctantly. I would rather spend the time on other things. But our society is
somewhat obsessed with sex. It therefore feels that this particular issue is
being pushed at us from almost every quarter. That’s why we must think it
through.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">But as we do, I
want to acknowledge from the start that some who read this may themselves
experience feelings of same-sex attraction. Certainly, many of us will know and
love those who do. Well, I hope you pick up that what is written here is
written out of a desire to follow Christ in offering genuine welcome and
acceptance as the context for considering what he has to say.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, if you
would value meeting personally to talk further about struggles you may yourself
have – whether with same-sex attraction or with what follows, please do get in
touch.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">For now, let’s
consider two attitudes as we come.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">1) We must come humbly<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">No matter what our
instincts on this question, we must recognize our own fallibility. We are
creatures or our own culture, and with all sorts of motives driving our
opinions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">So, <b><i>as human beings we must first humble
ourselves before history.</i> </b>Homosexuality has always been around. But as
far as I am aware, no other culture and no religion throughout history has ever
seen it as normative in the way we are being encouraged to. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Now this should
give massive pause for thought. It reminds us that views on this issue flow
from entire belief systems.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">The historic one that
still prevails through much of the world is that there is a God who has
designed us to live in certain ways that to a large extent correspond to our
biological makeup. Christians add that the reason we nevertheless veer from
those ways is down to a combination of three things: <i>First, sin,</i> which means
that because humanity has turned from God, we are all born with an inherent tendency
to embrace wrong desires and actions in order to satisfy self, rather than
trust God or what seems to be pointed to by the created order and our consciences.
<i>Second, confusion,</i> because this leads to societies that normalize such
things, resulting in people presuming that what may be wrong is in fact right,
and vice-versa. <i>Third, brokenness, </i>as the fallout with each generation
passes is not just one of moral confusion, but internal struggle and
instability.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">The alternate belief
system is much more modern. It believes there is no God (or no God who is involved),
and so everything is in flux, and there are no givens as to how to live. And so,
it is assumed that people can live as they please, and that individual freedom
is the paramount value to be protected. This system of belief maintains a limit
on freedom if others are hurt, but even this is often set-aside if it is felt
the actor is acting according to who they feel they are deep down, or according
to what will bring them true happiness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">The problem we
face in Western culture is that each of these belief systems feels it is
helping people to find their true self, and can therefore be hostile to the
other for opposing or undermining that. Nevertheless, in comparing them we must
ask whether we really want to be so bold as to declare that what has been seen
as self evident for pretty much the entirety of human history in matters of sexuality
is wrong, and that the view of our particular culture in this short moment of
history must be right? When we consider that our culture is so defined by
individualism and moral relativism, we have to ask whether it is these traits
rather than a new enlightenment that is driving things.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Second, <b><i>as Christians we must humble ourselves
before scripture</i>.</b> In the last decade or so a number of churches in the
UK have come to adopt an accepting view of homosexual relationships. And in
feeling a discomfort over the traditional Christian teaching, it is very easy
to assume that this means the Bible is not clear on the issue. But I am struck
in reading scholars who critique the historic Christian view, that they readily
accept the Bible teaches it. They simply state that the Bible has it wrong. For
example, Walter Wink writes: “<i>Where the
Bible mentions homosexual behavior at all, it clearly condemns it. I freely
grant that. The issue is precisely whether that biblical judgment is correct.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></b></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">As we will see,
the Bible is not unclear. And if we call ourselves Christians, we cannot accept
that, yet say it has got it wrong. We believe that Jesus is the Word of God who
claimed to be “the truth.” We must therefore accept his teaching. And because
he authorizes the Old Testament and his apostles, we must accept theirs too
(John 10v35, 14v26). How else can we say that we are truly disciples, which
means pupils of Jesus?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Indeed, if Jesus
and the wider Bible are wrong on this issue, they could be wrong on any number
of issues. In which case we can be certain of nothing about our faith and would
be wise to give up on it altogether.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">2) We must come lovingly<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">So often engaging
this issue is considered unloving. In reality, the Christian engages with it
out of love of their neighbour.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">First,</span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> <i>we are to love the
homosexual community</i>.</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">
I hope you can accept the logic that if God has revealed that homosexual sex is
wrong, then it must also detrimental. To use anything in a way that is not
intended eventually breaks it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Of course the media
wouldn’t dare publish it, but in his book “Straight and Narrow” Thomas Schmidt
documents the medical truth about homosexual sex. Not only can it cause painful
physical damage to those engaging in it, but it means a much higher risk of STDs.
Indeed, the American College of Paediatricians notes: “<i><span style="background: white;">Violence between
same-sex partners is two to three times more common than among married
heterosexual couples. Same-sex partnerships are significantly more prone to
dissolution than heterosexual marriages with the average same-sex relationship
lasting only two to three years.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Homosexual
men and women are reported to be promiscuous, with serial sex partners, even within
what are loosely-termed committed relationships.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Individuals who practice a homosexual
lifestyle are more likely than heterosexuals to experience mental illness,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>substance abuse, suicidal tendencies<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and shortened life spans.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Although some would claim that these
dysfunctions are a result of societal pressures in America, the same
dysfunctions exist at inordinately high levels among homosexuals in cultures
where the practice is more widely accepted.</span>”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></b></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">The squeaky clean
picture we are fed about homosexuality is not the true one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Consider now
Jesus’ words in John 8v31-32: <i>“If you
hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth
and the truth will set you free.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">This has two
implications for all of us. First, Jesus’ promise to those who obey his
teaching in this area is that they will experience freedom. Now this doesn’t mean
that their desire to live as they have done will disappear. But it does mean
that in choosing to live Jesus’ way they will experience a far greater
wholeness of being.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> So
our motive in questioning the increasingly received view is a caring one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Second, we must
note that Jesus calls us to repent – that is to turn from living as we wish to
follow his teaching. And remember he says that it is only those who do who are
truly his disciples. As he says elsewhere, only those who <i>deny themselves</i> for him, will therefore be saved (Matt 16v24-27). This
means that it couldn’t be more serious and uncaring to teach that someone
doesn’t need to turn from a certain lifestyle when Jesus teaches they do.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Second,</span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> <i>we are to love
our wider society</i>. </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">The
past decade has shown only too clearly that this issue is not simply about what
two people do in private. Homosexuality is being seen as acceptable as
heterosexuality, rather like being left handed is as acceptable as being right
handed. And month by month we are witnessing the logical conclusion of that: For
holding a view that was the majority view of our parents, good foster parents
have been rejected, adoption agencies closed, B&B owners prosecuted,
registrars, counselors and politicians struck off, and nurses and teachers put
under increasing pressure.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Bit by bit, we are
therefore seeing Christians unable to enter numerous professions. And I am in
no doubt that these issues will very soon mean church ministers will be
prosecuted for refusing ceremonies that affirm same-sex relationships, or for
even speaking or writing as I am here.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">But I have to say,
my greatest concern is for what all this is going to mean for children. Again,
the American College of Paediatricians writes: <i>“C<span style="background: white;">hildren reared in same-sex
households are more likely to experience sexual confusion, engage in risky sexual
experimentation, and later adopt a same-sex identity.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>This is concerning since adolescents
and young adults who adopt the homosexual lifestyle are at increased risk for
mental health problems, including major depression, anxiety disorders, conduct
disorders, substance dependence, and especially suicidal ideation and suicide
attempts.<sup><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;"> </span></sup>Recent studies confirm that children reared by
same-sex couples fare worse in a multitude of outcome categories than those
reared by heterosexual, married couples.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">[4]</span></b></span></span></a></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;">But our own children and grandchildren
will also be affected. Y</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">ou see
if homosexuality is as equally valid as heterosexuality, then both should be
portrayed in children’s films and programs, and both should be taught as valid
options in our primary schools.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">I have seen
material from the East Sussex education authority that recommends subjects such
as anal sex are taught to 7 year olds and homosexual relationships to 9 year
olds.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
It is not hard to imagine how all this could confuse and even define our children
and grandchildren as they experience a right affection and love for friends of
the same sex, and as they pass through the sexual confusion that often comes
with puberty.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">In 2015 it was reported that 49% of 18-23 year olds identify
themselves as something other than 100% heterosexual, compared to 23% of the
wider population; and 3.3% of 16-23 year olds identified as lesbian, gay or
bisexual compared to 1.7% of the rest of the UK.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
That's double the numbers. Whilst it may be true that more are “coming out,”
the statistics may also reflect the fact that under the influence of this new
ideology, many children and young people are being encouraged to consider and
develop a sexual trajectory that they would not have done in a previous
generation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">We really cannot
shut our eyes to these things. If we establish that the historic Christian view
on sexuality is correct, we have a responsibility to graciously enter the
debate with our peers and to make our voices heard with our MPs. I for one do
not want history or Christ himself to look back on this time and declare that I
was silent.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">The question
before us is important then. We are going to consider the Bible’s basic
teaching, and then some of the questions it raises and how we should engage
with those who experience same-sex attraction with genuine love.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt;">[2] The Bible’s
teaching<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">We start by
considering the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 19:3-11. Now, homosexuality is not
explicitly mentioned here. But there is much on the topic that we can glean.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">1) Jesus teaches that the creation account defines what
is acceptable for sex.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">We must recognize
that Jesus would have been aware of homosexuality – and not just from its being
mentioned in the Old Testament. Israel was surrounded and influenced by
Greco-Roman culture, where both transient and committed homosexual
relationships were known. There is even some hint of occasional same-sex
marriages. Now consider verses 4-6. Being asked when divorce is permissible,
Jesus quotes Genesis 2v24:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="woj"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">“Haven’t you read,”</span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> he replied, </span></i></span><span class="woj"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">“that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and
female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and
be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? <b><sup> </sup></b>So
they are no longer two, but one flesh.” </span></i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus reaffirms
the core text on which Israel’s law on sex and relationships was built.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">“One flesh”
describes the oneness brought about by sex. Jesus’<span style="display: none; mso-hide: all;">Jesus’</span> point is that by God’s act of creation, marriage is
to be between a man and a woman, and it is in this context that sex is to take
place.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">And on what
authority does he teach this? Merely that of whoever wrote Genesis? No, Jesus
tells us that it was the Creator himself who declared the nature of marriage.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">I hope you can see
the point? The debate today is often said to be about commitment. So promiscuity
is said to be wrong, but loving and faithful homosexual relationships right.
But Jesus cuts right through that here. The issue is not one of commitment but
creation. The issue is about whether we are conducting our marital
relationships and enjoying sex according to the male-female order of things:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">“</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">So God created
mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female
he created them. <sup> </sup>God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen 1v27-28)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">This raises a key question
to raise when engaging people on this issue: What is sexuality for? If we think
it is for play and pleasure, then of course we will assume we can have sex with
anyone. But the fallout from living this way, bears a tragic testimony that there
is a problem with this view.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">No, these verses tell
us that our sexuality is a profound and sacred thing. It is for the uniting of
difference through mutual delight, and in order to fulfil the God-imaging role
of giving life through the raising of children, and serving the world by ordering
it for good. In this it looks us forward to the uniting of difference in the
union and mutual delight between Christ and the church, and in their role of
bringing people to eternal life and one day reigning over this world made new
(Eph 5v22-33). And this makes our sexuality precious - something to be
protected, cherished, enjoyed, and used rightly. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Of course, we
might say this feels rather exclusive. What about those who find themselves not
inclined to such a heterosexual relationship? Well, the disciples say that the
permanence of such marriage makes it better not to marry at all. Jesus’ reply
is then striking. From Matthew 19 verse 11:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="woj"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;">“Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it
has been given.</span></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;"> <span class="woj">For there are eunuchs who were born
that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there
are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Now a “eunuch” is
someone who is castrated. But Jesus is clearly using it in a figurative sense
for those not able to enjoy a marital and so sexual relationship, because he
talks about people who make themselves like that in service of God. For our
purposes we just need to note that for Jesus, the only alternative to
heterosexual marriage is celibacy. And he acknowledges that although some may
choose that route, others will have had no choice, but are destined to celibacy
by nature – they were born that way, or nurture – they were made that way.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">We will think more
on that later on.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">2) Jesus teaches that the Old Testament laws on sexual
relationships still stand.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Now we see this at
numerous points. It is implied in what he has already said about creation. It
is stated in Matthew 5v19 when he affirms that the law’s commandments should be
taught and not broken.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">But it is most
explicit in his use of one particular word. It is “porneia” from which words
such as pornography stem today, and is usually translated “sexual immorality.” So,
Matthew 15v19:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">“Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder,
adultery, SEXUAL IMMORALITY, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what
make a man unclean.”</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Now imagine you
are a Jew in Jesus’ day. From birth you have been raised to know the law of the
Old Testament. It governs the laws of your society and the ethics of your
community. It therefore defines what you understand to be moral and immoral. When
Jesus makes a statement like that, what content would you give to the phrase
“sexual immorality?” Would it be how we understand immorality today? Or would
it be how your religion and society define it?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">The answer’s
obvious isn’t it? And it is an important one. You see, people often say that
Jesus never mentioned homosexuality, or that it is only condemned by the
apostles Paul and in just a few verses. But “sexual immorality” is critiqued, at
my count, on 24 separate occasions and by all four gospel writers. And this is
a critique of the sexual practices forbidden by the Old Testament law.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Only now then, can
we consider that Old Testament teaching as it is found in Leviticus 18v22-30. By
affirming the view of sexual immorality in his day, Jesus is affirming the
truths of this passage. And it is striking to consider in the light of what we
have learnt.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">First, Leviticus
18 focuses not on the type of commitment but on the male-female order of relationships:
</span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Do not have sexual relations with a man as
one does with a woman; that is detestable.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> (v22). </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Second, it links it with uncleanliness,
which is to be unfit for God’s presence: <i>“Do
not defile yourself in any of these ways.”</i> (v24) Third, there is at least a
hint to sexual sin being a fracturing of the created order itself. <i>“</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">If
you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that
were before you.”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> (v28).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">This last verse is
intended to shock in order to help us consider the seriousness of the issue.
The sense is of the land sort of rejecting those who sin sexually like the body
rejecting a food that it is not intended to digest. This may be to emphasize
that such actions are against the created order.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Fourth, we are
told that this law applies to all humanity and not just to Israel. <i>“</i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Do
not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations
that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.” (v</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">24)</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">This is
particularly important to note. If you’ve listened to anything on the debate
around homosexuality within the Church of England, you will have heard people dismiss
the relevance of texts like this. The argument is as follows: The OT law
teaches that we should not eat certain foods. Christians don’t feel they have
to obey that. So, they are just being selective in saying we should obey its
teaching on sex.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">I have to say this
is a slight of hand, and these people really should know better. No-one
questions that some of what we read in the law applied directly to Israel only
for a time. But in establishing what applies directly to us today, there are
two very obvious questions to ask:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Are
there any hints that the law applied more broadly than to Israel itself?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l5 level1 lfo9; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Is it
reaffirmed in anyway by Christ and the apostles?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">And as we have
seen, with regard to homosexuality the answer is yes on both counts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 20pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">[3] Objections considered.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In my
experience the Bible’s teaching raises two key objections.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1) Isn’t this to ask the
homosexual person to deny who God has made them to be?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I have
to say this is a huge assumption. And it is one that strangely puts more weight
on the fact that someone has experienced homosexual feelings since childhood
than the obvious fact that biologically God hasn’t created people for sex with
those of the same gender. We just cannot therefore say that God has made people
this way.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But
this isn’t to say that there is no genetic factor that might play a part in
homosexual orientation. In 2002 a gene was found that disposes particular people
to violence. It was reported that when it is combined with an abusive
childhood, it makes the individual highly likely to be a violent adult. But
does this mean that God has made this person violent? Does it mean that they
have no choice but to be violent? Of course not. Lying and stubbornness feel
very natural to me. But if I engage in them, you would rightly call me out.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This
raises a great irony in the argument that we should just follow what feels
natural to us sexually. It is often assumed that what this would lead to is a peaceful
world of committed couples – whether gay or straight. But let’s be honest, if we
all followed our sexual desires consistently, our society would filled with the
pain resulting from unbridled sexual activity, abuse, and worse. Just consider
the sexual abuse of children and slaves in Roman society, or that which arises when
people can get away with it in times of war.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">One
assumes that like the rest of us, those who are same-sex attracted are
supressing their darker desires in all sorts of ways. So, if we are to define
our identity by our sexual feelings, “gay” and “straight” really aren’t honest
enough terms. Surely, we should be saying “I am a promiscuous adulterer” or
something else. And this reveals the whole problem with assuming our inner feelings
should govern our identity and morality. No, we all accept that we shouldn’t
just act on sexual desire with the argument that this is how we are made. What
we differ on, is over which desires should be supressed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Here
we need to think again about the Bible’s teaching on sin. You see, it actually
teaches that because our race has rebelled against God, from conception all of
us experience sinful desires in all sorts of ways. In other words, something has
gone wrong with our nature. And if we find out that it is expressed at the
genetic level, that should not surprise us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Having
said this, we should not simply accept the media’s presentation of
homosexuality as something people are born with. In September 2016 some ground-breaking
research was published in the New Atlantis scientific journal that concluded
that there is “<i>no scientific evidence”</i> that sexual orientation is </span><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">"an innate, biologically fixed property of
human beings” </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">rather than <i>“the
result of environmental factors that influenced both psychological and neurobiological
traits."<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">[7]</span></b></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Indeed, the
biggest study to date has recently concluded that the effect of genes on homosexual
behaviour is less than 1%. Its authors add: <i>“There is certainly no single
genetic determinant - sometimes referred to as the "gay gene” in the media.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></b></span></span></a></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">Peter
Tatchell, a leading “gay rights activist” pretty much accepts this. He writes: </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-size: 14pt;">“Who we are attracted to largely derives from a combination
of social experience and ideology... Of course, there may be biological factors,
such as genes and hormones, which also influence sexual orientation. However,
the available psychological and anthropological evidence suggests that these
biological influences are not as significant as social factors.”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">[9]</span></b></span></span></a></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">W</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">hatever the case, all can
choose not to live according to desires they have. People say this is for
people to deny who they really are. But the Christian accepts that “who we are”
now is broken, confused and suffering all sorts of sinful passions. No, who we truly
are is the “us” that will be when raised from the dead in perfect humanity. As
Jesus puts it, whoever would be his disciple is to “deny” themselves, or as
Paul put it “put the old self to death” and “put on the new.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">2) Doesn’t that therefore condemn
the homosexual person to a loveless life?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Well,
here we do need sensitivity, but also clear thinking. Jesus’ call to follow him
is a call to sacrifice for him recognizing he sacrificed everything for us. It
is to put his will first, and it can mean giving up all sorts of things for the
short span of this life. The Muslim convert may face a life without their
family, even a life in fear of death.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Here
we must recognise that we do not have a right to a sexual relationship. Jesus
didn’t have one. Nor do we need a sexual relationship to be fulfilled or happy.
We all know some who are married who are less fulfilled and happy than they
might be single. Moreover, we should not underestimate the contentment that
comes from knowing we are pleasing God and from being part of his church:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus
replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father
or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred
times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children
and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.’”</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> (Mark 10v29-30)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I have
to say, these words are a particular challenge to the church not to be the sort
of community where only couples feel they belong. In scripture and church history
there has been a very high view of the benefits of singleness, and the sort of
church family life in which singles are so included that they do not feel
lonely, other, or unfulfilled. We need to be sharing our day to day lives with Christians
who, for whatever reasons, are single.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Having
said that, I want to cautiously say that we shouldn’t necessarily assume that
there can be no change of sexual orientation for those who come to Christ. Heterosexual
marriage may therefore be an option for them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We should
certainly be very sceptical of Christians who speak of instant healing. Homosexual
desire is like all sexual desire. And it’s not normal for the Christian with a
strong desire for promiscuity to be instantaneously healed. Rather we expect
that through prayer, self-discipline, removal from temptation and involvement
in a positive environment, their desires will change.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And
do we really think that God cannot do this in the realm of homosexuality? It is
already acknowledged that because of the influence of environment on our sexual
desire and orientation, it often alters as we grow up and have different experiences.</span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 3pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">The non-partisan New Atlantis scientific journal notes: “</span><i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Longitudinal studies of adolescents suggest that
sexual orientation may be quite fluid over the life course for some people,
with one study estimating that as many as 80% of male adolescents who report
same-sex attractions no longer do so as adults (although the extent to which
this figure reflects actual changes in same-sex attractions and not just
artifacts of the survey process has been contested by some researchers).”<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">[10]</span></b></span></span></a></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Consider
a friend of mine called Andy. He speaks of how after becoming a Christian he
began to experience heterosexual feelings as well as his old homosexual ones. Now
as a Christian, he knew that these were the ones to embrace. And this led to
him being happily married with children. Of course, his wife knows about his past,
and Andy is not naïve. He is clear that he will always have a degree of
homosexual desire. But the point is that with Christ there is hope for change
in all of us. We are new creations being transformed bit by bit by the Holy
Spirit (2 Cor 3v18, 5v17).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We
really must reject the determinism our society foists at us in areas of
sexuality – the tendency to define people by their desires as if that is who
they really are. We constantly change in all sorts of ways as we face different
circumstances and make different choices.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Obeying
Christ’s call to repentance may mean that the homosexual person never has a sexual
relationship. But it does not necessarily mean that. As with every Christian, they
are called to trust him and so submit to his will.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20pt;">[4] Engaging the world<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Here
Jesus’ interaction in John 8v1-11 is enlightening. It’s uncertain whether this
was in the original John’s gospel, but it is consistent with Jesus’ teaching
elsewhere. And </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Jesus’ example gives </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">two simple lessons in engaging any and all in a
Christ-like way:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Display
grace<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Seek
repentance</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">There
are two extremes when it comes to relating to others over the issue of homosexuality.
One is a sort of self-righteous abhorrence. I have to say I’ve rarely come
across this in our country. But it is there. And if you sense in your heart a
hostility to those who are homosexual, then you need to listen hard to the
first of these points.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">On
the other hand, there are those who display an all-accepting libertarianism.
This is much more common. Well, if in your heart you sense a hostility to the
Bible’s teaching on this issue, then you need to listen hard to the second
point.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">1) We are to display grace. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That
means we are to show we do not condemn others for their sin.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Jesus
is masterful in dealing with the Pharisees. They bring an adulteress to him, no
doubt to test him because of his reputation of accepting sinners. They are
ready to condemn her, to have her stoned to death in punishment. But Jesus isn’t.
Instead, he points out that her condemners are sinners too. </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the
first to throw a stone at her.’” </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(v7)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Interestingly,
they are convicted and disperse. And then Jesus speaks to the woman: </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’
‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you…’” </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(v10-11)</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Now
we need to think carefully about what it means not to condemn here. It doesn’t
mean that we cannot ever think or say that someone is guilty of doing wrong.
Nor does it mean that we should never encourage them to turn from their sin. No
in verse 11, Jesus is quite prepared to do all these things.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That
means it is not wrong for Christians to influence law on moral issues because
we feel it will be good for our society. Nor is it wrong to gently and wisely
suggest a friend’s lifestyle is not the best one for them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">No,
not condemning someone actually assumes they are guilty of sin. But it refuses
to pass sentence on them. It refuses to suggest that they are beyond God’s
care. It refuses to punish them for their sin by excluding them from company,
or by talking them down or scoffing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Now
it is true that Jesus and Paul did say there does come a time when Christians
may need to distance themselves from other Christians that are persistent in
certain sin. This is an act of love, to show them how serious that sin is. But
Paul explicitly states that this doesn’t apply to how we relate to
non-Christians (1 Cor 5v12-13).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So
not condemning others is not so much about how we view them as about how we
treat them. We are to treat them with grace.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Well
in doing this Jesus here urges two things on us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">First,
we are to<b><i> examine ourselves. </i></b><i>“Let
him who is without sin, cast the first stone.” </i>We must constantly realise
that we live each day only by the grace of God. If God were to treat us as we
deserve, we know where we would be. So how can we possibly condemn others?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And
just think: If we had lived in different circumstances, who knows what other
sins we might have committed or might find ourselves struggling with.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Out of
all people it is Christians who should understand the power of sinful desire.
Out of all people it is us who know how ingrained it is. Out of all people it
is us who should sympathise with people’s failings.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Could
it be that our tendency to condemn is because we don’t have a deep enough grasp
of sin? Only by constant self-examination and confession will we ever begin to
see ourselves in a true light and so be more understanding towards others.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Second, we are to <b><i>emulate Christ. </i></b>What is striking
about Jesus is that he did not just state all this, he went out of his way to
show it. Consider Zacchaeus and Levi. Both were tax-collectors. In Jesus day
that meant they were immoral money swindlers and agents of the corrupt Roman
State. Yet Jesus took the initiative with Zacchaeus by inviting himself to his
house – to the man’s amazement. And he accepted Levi’s invitation to a party
where there were very obviously all sorts of disreputable types – and this to
the outrage of religious people!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Well,
it leaves us asking whether we are doing the same with those we may consider
“sinners,” and especially within the homosexual community. When you consider
how, like Zacchaeus and Levi, they are likely to assume Christians condemn
them, how wonderful it would be for us to make a point of prioritising them so
that they see in us Christ’s readiness to come to all.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We have
a very close friend. We’ll call him Jo. We have always known that he has lived
a homosexual lifestyle. A while ago, however, he actually told us, and showed
us some pictures of his partner.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I was
impressed that he did talk to us about it. It must have been very hard for him.
And as I drove him to the station later on, I felt I wanted to acknowledge the
fact that he knew our views on the matter. So I basically said something like
this: “Jo, you know as Christians we don’t agree with your lifestyle. But I
want you to know that it will not affect our friendship.” He acknowledged that
and we drove on.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And
it is important now that it doesn’t affect our friendship. It is important that
we go out of our way to show Jo that we do not condemn him. And this can be challenging.
Jo is a very close friend. Our children call him their uncle and might be confused
by his relationship. But we should not hold back from having him and his
partner around socially. And we have enjoyed time as a family with them both.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In the
same way, if you are known as a Christian at work, Christ’s model suggests it
is important for you to make an extra effort to spend time with any homosexual
colleagues in order to show that you do not condemn them – to show that you
don’t consider yourself any better, and that disagreeing with their lifestyle
doesn’t mean you don’t feel genuine love and affection for them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This
is an increasingly important principle to get right in our workplaces because
equality legislation prohibits discrimination against people because of their
sexuality. We do need to realise that the day may soon come when this requires
Christians to affirm or support the promotion of practices that in conscience they
can’t. At that time, we will need much strength from the Lord to graciously but
firmly state that, even if it risks our losing our jobs. However, what we can do
now is not only ensure that we are free from discrimination in all legitimate
areas – but show in less formal ways that we genuinely value all people as
human beings, irrespective of their actions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">2) We are to seek repentance. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Having
said all this, we should not compromise the need to turn from what is against
God’s will. We must note that in verse 11 Jesus did say to the woman: <i>“Go now and leave your life of sin.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Consider
the following words from 1 Corinthians 6v9-11: </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“Or
do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who
have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor
swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">These
verses are hard for us to read in our current cultural climate. But they are
clear that only those who repent, who turn from sin, including homosexuality,
will inherit the kingdom of God. And the reason is that we are saved through
faith in Christ. And faith in Christ is proved by submission to him as Lord –
to bring our lives in-line with his will.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Yet
there is great encouragement in these verses too. Since the first days of Christianity
those classed as homosexual have come to Christ and turned from their previous
lifestyle. And those who do gain a fresh start. They are fully accepted by God.
They are cleansed from any wrongdoing. And they begin a new life in which God’s
Spirit forms in them the person God intends them to be.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Our
greatest concern with all our friends, homosexual or not, is not therefore to
speak to them about their lifestyle, but speak to them about Jesus. But when
they start to draw towards him, the subject of their lifestyle will need to be
raised if they are to receive all he has for them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p>
</p><div><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span>Wink, Walter. “Homosexuality
and the Bible”<i> </i>in <i>Homosexuality and Christian faith: Questions
of conscience for the churches,</i> Ausburg Fortress, 1999, p47.<i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><a href="https://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/parenting-issues/homosexual-parenting-is-it-time-for-change">https://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/parenting-issues/homosexual-parenting-is-it-time-for-change</a>,
accessed 7/2/2017.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span>This four minute video
from Sam Allberry, who experiences same-sex attraction helpfully explains this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0bL0oAk7QE<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt;"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;"><a href="https://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/parenting-issues/homosexual-parenting-is-it-time-for-change">https://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/parenting-issues/homosexual-parenting-is-it-time-for-change</a>,
accessed 7/2/2017. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9pt;">See also
Sociologist Patricia Morgan’s book, “Children as trophies?” She considers 144
academic papers including 50 on same-sex parenting.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span>Supplied by the
Christian Institute.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;"> <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/08/16/half-young-not-heterosexual">https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/08/16/half-young-not-heterosexual</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">; </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt;"><a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/sexuality/bulletins/sexualidentityuk/2015">https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/sexuality/bulletins/sexualidentityuk/2015</a></span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn7">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/same-sex-marriage/new-study-challenges-claims-about-human-sexuality<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn8">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7407123/Scientists-homosexuality-caused-combination-environmental-genetic-factors.html">https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7407123/Scientists-homosexuality-caused-combination-environmental-genetic-factors.html</a>,
accessed 4/9/2019</span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn9">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> <span style="background: white;">http://www.petertatchell.net/lgbt_rights/equality_not_enough/beyond_
equality.htm</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div id="ftn10">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Backups/Older%20docs/zJon's%20docs%202000-2011/Teaching/Talks/Issues/On%20sexuality.doc#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span lang="EN-US"> http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/executive-summary-sexuality-and-gender<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
</div>
</div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-10336817325027658172021-03-17T01:19:00.004-07:002021-03-17T01:19:33.294-07:00Some careful steps towards understanding suffering<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is a brief overview of the Bible’s
teaching on suffering. As such, it can’t come with the sensitivity to people’s
own circumstances and the horror of suffering that is warranted. It is rather
an attempt to provide some pegs for our thinking – and, with it, confidence as
to the end of all suffering in Christ. It is intended for mature Christians who
have already considered these things to some degree, are used to coming to the
Bible for answers, and already have some sense of the majesty and mystery of
God’s ways.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Suffering must in some sense be part of
God’s purpose in history.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">1) God created humanity to enjoy an
everlasting life free from sin, disease, disability, disaster and death. This
is our start in Genesis 2 and our end in Revelation 22. This is the context for
all else. This is God's ultimate intent in human history.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">2) God's intent in creation is however
broader than this. He chose us before the creation of the world to be
recipients of his grace through Christ, who will one day reign over all things.
So, God’s purpose in creation was that he would have a people who have experienced
redemption from sin and its consequences, and so praise him for his glorious
grace. Therefore sin, and the suffering that followed it, must have always been
part of his ultimate purpose - and in this sense intended by him (Eph 1v3-12).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">3) Sin or evil is not however created by or
pleasing to God. It is the opposite of his righteous and good character. For
his ultimate ends, he creates a world and allows the circumstances in which
moral beings choose such things, but it is they who choose them. So, sin and
evil are created in every decision to rebel against God, as Satan, Eve and Adam
did. In this sense God does not intend sin or its consequences. We might say
they are a reluctant necessity in the fulfilment of his overall purposes (Gen
3v1-6, Lam 3v32-33).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Talking of God willing suffering nevertheless
needs careful thought.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">4) The penalty for sin, is to be handed
over to a world of suffering, sickness and sinful desire. These things must
also therefore have been intended in the sense that they are necessary to the
ultimate fulfilment of God’s purposes, but not in the sense that they please
him. They result from God's general judgment on all humanity because of the sin
of Adam and Eve that we share in and perpetuate. From conception every human
being therefore enters into a world of evil, death and the toil, hardship, aging
and sickness that goes with it (Gen 3v22-24, 5v1-32, Rom 1v18-32, 5v12-14). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">5) The randomness of suffering may find
some explanation here, as it displays a world shut off from the order that God
brings. We may find an explanation for the viciousness of animals here too.
Although there is nothing inherently bad about carnivorism (Ps 104v21), in our
more literal translations Genesis 6 speaks of “all flesh” becoming “corrupt”
after the fall, in a context where “all flesh” refers to all creatures (Gen
6v9-17). This is why it was fitting to destroy creatures in the flood too. Our
struggles with the callous way that animals toy with their prey therefore find
some resolution in understanding the fall.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">6) Revelation 6v7-8 presents the risen and
reigning Jesus unlocking death in the form of sword, famine, plague and wild
animals, with a heavenly being calling it out, and the inference that God has
given these things power until Christ returns. Although we cannot in confidence
say that a specific war, drought, disease or accident is a specific judgment of
God for certain sins, we can say that they reflect his general judgment on
humanity for its sin. Indeed, we must say that this general judgment is now an
expression of Christ's current rule, and must be held in our minds alongside
his evident compassion at those who suffer these things. He exercises judgment,
but does it through tears (<st1:bible reference="Bible.Re6-7" w:st="on">Rev 6-7</st1:bible>).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">7) This general judgment of God is
expressed in numerous ways – and here there is much mystery and the need of
much faith. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Occasionally God
does cause someone to suffer, be sick, or die as a specific punishment for their
sin (Acts 5v1-11, 1 Cor 11v29-32). So, it is entirely appropriate if we suffer
acutely to examine ourselves and ensure we have truly repented (Jam 5v14-16, Rev
2v22, 9v20).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Sickness should
not, however, be seen that way all the time (Jn 9v1-3). Usually, it is just a
reflection of life in this present age.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Nevertheless, God
does sustain the biological processes that keep people active and that carry
disease and disability, when he does not have to. He could direct them in a different
way or instantaneously heal those who are sick (Heb 1v3). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">d)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">God also allows
Satan a degree of power in the world – though constraining him too. And where
Satan might seek to attack someone by bringing sickness or suffering on them, or
tempt someone to do evil, God shows that he may permit or even direct Satan’s
actions when he doesn’t have to, and for reasons that could remain unknown to any
victims (Job 1-2, 42).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">e)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Moreover, God
presents his own interaction with human evil as one where he permits people to
do what’s wrong by following their own inclinations, whilst he at times limits
or orders them. However, he also reveals that at times he provokes people to
evil acts for the sake of certain goods he wants to achieve. A river flows of
its own accord, but only as the skilled landscaper determines, whether by
permitting or directing its natural course. In a similar way, human beings are
responsible for all they do, but do only as God in this sense determines. All this
should be factored in to our understanding of human acts contributing to sin,
sickness or suffering (Gen 50v20, Is 45v1-7, Acts 4v27-28, Prov 20v24, 21v1).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">f)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When we read that
every aspect of every life is ordained or decreed by God in advance, we
shouldn’t therefore think this means God is directing us at every moment like
puppets. It’s much more complex. Knowing all things, he has chosen and so
ordained exactly what will be, but he has done this knowing how we would
exercise our own choices in every circumstance we face – circumstances that he
will either allow or direct into being, and choices that he will permit, limit
or even provoke. This means that our experience of freedom and
self-determination is a real one, as is our interaction with God (Ps 139v16,
Eph 1v11).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">g)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Everything
mentioned in (a)-(f) above must be consider in understanding some bold
declarations God makes about himself. He doesn’t hesitate to say that he is the
one who has made the deaf deaf and blind blind (Ex 4v11), who brings “both
calamities and good things” (Lam 3v38), and who brings “prosperity and creates
disaster” (Is 45v7). Although they are hard, we really have to include these truths
in our knowledge of God if it is not to be an idolatrous sentimentalizing of
who he actually is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">h)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Most especially
however, we must be clear that he takes no delight in such things (Ezek 18v32).
Jesus showed so clearly that God feels deep compassion for those who suffer. In
this sense he doesn’t bring suffering about “willingly” (Lam 3v33). But the
verses above show that he is quite prepared to say that he does nevertheless bring
it about. He is totally sovereign. So, nothing happens apart from his “intent”
or “purpose” - given the careful nuance and understanding we’ve sought to
outline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">i)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">We must remember
too, that in Jesus God the Son experienced the most severe suffering, and God
the Father in giving him to it. They are therefore not removed from our
personal suffering, but can empathise with us, and grant us by the Holy Spirit
what we need to endure it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 28.4pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 28.4pt; text-indent: -14.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">j)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Moreover, God
entered into this suffering in order to redeem us from suffering. So, suffering
is in no way his ultimate purpose for his people. Nevertheless, we must accept
that Jesus teaches a degree of suffering beyond death for unbelievers in hell,
that is proportional to their sin. This is most hard to consider, and can only
be held to when mindful of his care and action for those who suffer, his
readiness to act for their salvation, and how much greater the wisdom of our
creator must be to any understanding we can aspire to. Jesus wept over the
refusal of the Jews to embrace him because of the judgment it meant he would
have to bring on them, yet he could have opened their eyes so that they repented
instead (Lk 19v41-44, Mat 11v27).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">God brings immense hope in and through
suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">8) It is only an acceptance of this
absolute rule of God, even over such terrible things, that enables us to be
certain that they are never arbitrary or lacking some sense of purpose in God’s
mind. And he is clear that his purpose in suffering and so sickness is not
confined to judgement. In mercy, he also intends it to bring people to
repentance (Rev 9v2). Here, Ecclesiastes 3v1-14 seems to imply that God brings
people through good and bad seasons so that they feel their own lack of control
over life and “fear him.” This may explain a purpose in the apparent randomness
of suffering and fact that even Christians suffer horrors. It keeps everyone on
their toes. As C S Lewis so famously put it: Suffering is “God’s megaphone to
rouse a deaf world.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">9) God also gives grace to all people,
whether they love or hate him, by making humanity in his image, and so with
skill in medicine and government, and a conscience that urges them to use these
things to tackle sickness. We should not underestimate quite how much sickness
God has providentially relieved by this means throughout history, and to an
increasing degree as Christ now reigns over all things. We should add that all
without exception deserve not one day of happiness on earth because of sin, but
should rightly pass straight to judgment. Hard as it may be to see, even those
who suffer therefore experience many blessings from God in the everyday things
of life. We therefore have no right to blame him for our lot, but should rather
give thanks that it is not much worse.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">10) Most supremely, however, in Christ God
has decisively dealt with the curse of Eden, enabling a full redemption from
all its effects, including resurrection in new immortal bodies to fullness of
life, free from evil, disability, disease and death, in a renewed world (<st1:bible reference="Bible.1Co15" w:st="on">1 Cor 15</st1:bible>, <st1:bible reference="Bible.Re21-22" w:st="on">Rev 21-22</st1:bible>). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">11) Healing is therefore available for the
Christian in a similar way that sanctification is. They have been freed from
both sin and death, and so are no longer subject to them as elements of
condemnation. Nevertheless, while the Christian still inhabits their current
body, they are still bound to this world and so impacted by the fall of Adam
and Eve. They are no longer enslaved to sin, but will struggle with it until
their bodies are done away with (Rom 6v6). Similarly, they may experience
healing from sickness, but will continue to experience the sufferings of this
world, including sickness, until their mortal bodies die and they are raised to
life. Life free from sin, sickness and suffering is therefore described as “hope”
– and something we “do not yet have” but “wait for patiently” (Rom
8v18-23). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">God’s has great purpose for suffering in
the Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">12) The difference for the Christian,
however, is that there is now no sense of judgement at all in their suffering or
sickness, as Christ has paid the penalty for their sin (Rom 8v1). They are not
being punished when they suffer. Instead, God uses suffering in other ways: to
hone their character and build their longing for their future hope (Rom 5v3-4);
to prove and display their faith, bringing them assurance and drawing others to
praise God (1 Pet 1v6-7); and to display his power in their weakness (2 Cor
12v9). This is the way of the “the crucified God.” And some have noted that
this pattern seems written into the creation that was made “through him.”
Throughout nature we see how death serves the purpose of life.<a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Brief%20overview%20of%20suffering%20and%20sickness.doc#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">14) It is critical to understand that
suffering was used in Christ’s life in these same ways. His obedience to the
father was drawn out and displayed more acutely because of what he had to
suffer (Heb 2v10). It displayed God’s power at work in him, causing us to
marvel and praise God for it. Suffering in its various forms is therefore a key
part of what it means to be a disciple who follows the way of the cross through
a life of suffering to glory. It is God’s discipline to train not punish; a
necessary aspect of being children that he as Father is developing (Heb
12v7-11). And it is something the Christian undergoes knowing that God
understands, having experienced it himself in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">15) Life until the return of Christ is
therefore lived with this tension between suffering and glory. The Christian’s
focus is on what will be when Christ returns, and they rejoice to be filled with
the Holy Spirit who is the life and power of the world to come. Yet they
recognize that they are called to live and serve for a time in this present
age, displaying the resurrection power of Christ in how they cope with its
trials and hardships. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">God is ready and able to heal on
occasion from suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">16) This tension means that the Christian
cannot presume that God will heal them from sickness because he may have some
purpose in it for them - or for others through them. And this purpose may
remain unknown to them as it did Job. Like Paul, in suffering they would want to
say: “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be
ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be
exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Phil 1v20).</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">17) Nevertheless, knowing that Christ has
redeemed them from death and granted them access to the Father, encourages the
Christian to boldly pray for healing, recognizing Jesus has the power to heal
them, and that, although he has purpose in suffering, God hears his people’s
prayers, which are powerful and effective.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">18) Prayer for healing might be from the
individual or church community, but God especially commends asking elders of
the church to pray, or looking to those he may have given a particular gift of
healing to (Jam 5v13-18, 1 Cor 12v9).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">19) And if Jesus does heal, it may simply be
because he has compassion on the Christian’s predicament. However, his own
ministry implies it should also be seen as a sign of the sickness-free kingdom
he has established, and that will soon be displayed in fullness (Acts 2v19,
22). It is therefore something to share with others as a witness to the
truth of the gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">20) It is this gospel purpose that makes it
especially appropriate to pray for healing for non-Christians too – provided
this is done sensitively and without presumption.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">God displays the heights of his love in
the depths of suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">21)
What follows from all this, is that the worse the evil and suffering
experienced in the world the more serious we recognise humanity’s sin to be,
and the more justified and weighty God’s justice and anger at it. We are
appalled at God permitting or bringing such things on human beings, rather than
at how bad sin must be for him to do so. We blame God, when we should blame
ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">22)
Yet the more serious sin is and the more extreme God’s reaction to it, the more
incredible it is that he is willing to forgive and do so by sending his only
Son to suffer that evil and suffering. We conclude then that the worse the evil
and suffering in the world, the more God’s love is ultimately magnified because
the degree of suffering reflects the seriousness of sin and the extremity of
his anger that he is willing to overcome.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">23)
Moreover, whatever other higher purposes God may have in evil and suffering,
one purpose certainly is that it displays the glory of his justice and by
consequence his mercy (Rom 11v30-32). As Paul again puts it, all is therefore
“to the praise of his glorious grace” (<st1:bible reference="Bible.Eph1" w:st="on">Eph
1</st1:bible>). Without evil and suffering we would never see or experience
God’s justice and mercy. But because of it we will forever take joy in praising
him for them, knowing just how much we have been saved from.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">24)
What follows is that although it would take a strong faith and clear biblical
understanding, when we ourselves endure horrific evil and suffering, a key way
of processing it, is to reflect on the fact that, although it is not a direct
punishment on the Christian, it does bring home to us the seriousness of our
sin and that of others, the weight of God’s justice and anger, and so the
wonders of God’s love displayed in Christ that deals with all that. It
therefore humbles us, and keeps us from trivialising sin or becoming complacent
about God’s grace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">25)
Moreover, not to teach all this for fear of offending others, is to prevent
perhaps the key purpose God has in evil and suffering – for it to lead people
to wonder at his mercy. To keep quiet then is to hide God’s glory, and give the
sense that there is a total pointlessness to our pain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">26)
Of course, there are instances of such extreme evil and suffering, that all
this hard to accept. But we must remember there is just so much we don’t know
when it comes to God’s purpose. However, we do know God. We know his wisdom,
his power, his goodness and compassion, seen most especially in Jesus. And so,
we can acknowledge the limits to our understanding, and echo Paul's words in
Rom 11v33-36:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 1.0cm; margin-right: 1.0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">"Oh, the depth of the riches of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths
beyond tracing out! </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been
his counselor?</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Who has ever given to
God, that God should repay them?</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For from him and through him and for him are
all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a href="https://gracesussex-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jon_gracesussex_onmicrosoft_com/Documents/Writings/Brief%20overview%20of%20suffering%20and%20sickness.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> If, as many hold, death
and so suffering occurred even before the fall in a world declared “very good”
(Gen 1v31), then we must conclude God’s means of shaping his creation and creatures
into their final state has always been through suffering – just as we see creatures
adapted by their environment. Romans 8v19-22 may hint at this. The “bondage to
decay” the creation has been subjected to is described as birth pangs – the
necessary precursor to the joy of the new life. And the sense is that when
humanity bear the glory of God’s image, the whole creation will experience the
freedom it would have experienced if Adam and Eve’s descendants had filled and
subdued it without sinning. Indeed, it is striking Paul speaks of all creation
being “subjected” to decay by God as opposed to being “subject” to humanity.
However, <st1:bible reference="Bible.Ge3" w:st="on">Genesis 3</st1:bible> doesn’t
include the subjection of all creation in its curses. So, Paul could well be
referring to the natural order of things as created by God in anticipation of
the redemption he would work in Christ.<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-88855123825590297042021-03-16T13:14:00.005-07:002021-03-17T01:27:49.757-07:00Why we are here - the royal priesthood<b>God’s purpose in creation. </b><div><br /></div><div>From the beginning humanity were called to fill and subdue the world in a way that images God (Gen 1v26-28). They were to display his likeness as they engaged in family life, raising children who would know and image him too. And they were to cultivate nature so that it truly flourished, and bring good order to all God had made through the structures of society – whether their communities, workplaces, politics or wider contribution to culture (Gen 1v28, 2v15, 4v20-22). </div><div><br /></div><div>God’s kingdom was to encompass the entire world as people embraced his rule in all areas and devoted their gifts and efforts to his purposes. They were to rule the creation as mini-kings under him as King of kings. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is in this sense that humanity was created to be a <i>royal priesthood</i>, overseeing the world as the place (like the temple) where God would live with them (Gen 3v8).
Shining for Christ in the world. </div><div><br /></div><div>We’ve seen how the devil overturned this. Every area of life is now corrupted by sin. To various degrees they express the rule of the “kingdom of darkness.” But through Christ things are changing. As those of all nations respond to him, they are renewed into God’s image. Their endeavours are therefore brought back under God’s rule and become expressions of his “kingdom of light.” </div><div><br /></div><div>So, Jesus is the perfect second Adam – the head of a new humanity that is increasingly filling the earth and starting to subdue it as God intended.
However, he was clear that until his return the kingdoms of light and darkness will remain in conflict (Matt 13v36-43). Only then, when he subdues and casts out all evil will “the kingdom of the world” become the “kingdom of our Lord and his Christ” (Rev 11v15). Now we are to express the reign of his kingdom in our hearts and lives. Then we will finally enter it as a realm that will encompass all things – in our resurrection bodies, filling and perfectly subduing this world made new. </div><div><br /></div><div>All this explains why Christians are to be at the forefront of environmental concern. But it also explains why they are to engage in every legitimate vocation – shaping them as far as they can to the Bible’s teaching. Whether as a bin man or banker, this benefits culture to the good of all. But it also expresses Christ’s reign, providing a foretaste and pointer (though imperfect) to the “culture” he will establish at his return.
That’s why your study or work is so important. In it you serve and point to Jesus. </div><div><br /></div><div>We declare that in being slain he is worthy “to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and praise” (Rev 5v12). Our station in life, our resources, our skills and our efforts, are all to be devoted to him and so exercised in a way that honours him. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Whole life Christianity. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit as “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5v22). These attributes are to be displayed in our service of Jesus. But there is more. God promised that the Holy Spirit would “write his laws” on our hearts and minds. The Ten Commandments (CS) are their essence. And so, we are to apply their principles to every sphere of life - to our own engagement with family, community, workplace, politics and culture. </div><div><br /></div><div>In all these areas the Christian encourages true worship and reverence of God, and the restraint of busyness so that people can rest, remember him, enjoy his creation, and give it some rest too (CS1-4). They commend honouring and caring for parents and the raising of children in the faith (C5). They hold life as sacred, respecting all, and serving and speaking up for those who are oppressed – for the unborn, the elderly, the disabled, the immigrant, the poor, the ostracised, and any who struggle or are treated badly (C6). In what they do, think on and watch, they turn from violence, hatred and sexual immorality, affirming the importance of true marriage and sexual purity (CS6-7). They are law-abiding and honest, even in the little things, and so far as they are able, they seek to promote legal justice (CS8-9). And they have learnt contentment, being happy with a simplicity and moderation in terms of their belongings, that enables them to be generous to all (CS8-10). </div><div><br /></div><div>Such whole life Christianity gets noticed, repelling some, but attracting others (Jn 3v20-21). It is why Jesus called the church a “city on a hill.” The light of God’s glory displayed in its members is intended to draw people to it, and so to God (Is 60, Matt 5v14-16). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Speaking of Christ to the world. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Our second priestly work is therefore to share the gospel as we live out this life, so that those we engage with can be saved and serve Jesus too. We call this evangelism as the Greek word for gospel is “evangelion.” </div><div><br /></div><div>It really couldn’t be more important that we speak of Christ to others and teach our children the faith. So, we should pray for opportunities to naturally do so - and actively make opportunities where we can – as churches and individuals.
You might share you’re a Christian and prompt conversation by asking whether someone has had much experience of church. You might tell of something God has done for you, or describe how and why you came to faith. And it is good to follow up every spiritual conversation, however brief: Pray for God to be at work, give away a book, offer to chat further, read a gospel or book one to one, or invite the person to church or a course. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Saved to serve. </b></div><div><br /></div><div>Many miss that we’re saved in order to serve (Lk 1v74-75, 1 Pet 1v9, Rev 22v3). Priests oversaw the workings of the temple and taught the people God’s word. As a royal priesthood we are therefore to image God by doing good in his world-temple and speak of Christ as we do. And in doing so, like priests offering sacrifices, we offer ourselves and others to God. </div><div><br /></div><div>Because Jesus will only return when the full number have come to faith (2 Pet 3v9), this is the only reason you are still here! It is the highest and most privileged of callings. And it is to be your life’s work. It is your mission. </div><div><br /></div><div>To consider for discussion: </div><div>1. What does this teach a Christian view of society should be? </div><div>2. Of the environment? </div><div>3. Of the family? </div><div>4. Of work?
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin: 1pt 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin: 1pt 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin: 1pt 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 1.0pt; margin: 1pt 0cm 6pt 36pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></p></div>Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-76540626858766753562021-03-16T12:49:00.002-07:002021-03-16T12:49:40.614-07:00An overview of Christian belief<p>1. There is one God, absolutely good, pure, loving, and just, who eternally exists in three distinct persons: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.[1]</p>2. God is the supreme ruler of the universe, governing all matters of creation, revelation, redemption and final judgement according to the faultless purpose of his will.[2]<br /><br />3. The Bible, as originally given, is the inspired and so entirely trustworthy word of God, the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behaviour.[3]<br /><br />4. The Law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government. It is binding on all, yet to be obeyed not to merit salvation, but as the fruit of true faith. The essence of the law is love for God and neighbour, including a rejection of all false religion, blasphemy, hatred, extra-marital or homosexual sex, dishonesty, slander, greed, and drunkenness.[4]<br /><br />5. Since the fall, all humankind has disobeyed God’s law and is sinful and guilty, so that everyone is subject to God's wrath and condemnation.[5]<br /><br />6. The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s incarnate Son, fully God yet born of a virgin, fully man yet without sin. He died on the cross, was raised bodily from death, and is now reigning over heaven and earth.[6]<br /><br />7. Sinful human beings are freed from the guilt, penalty and power of sin only through the sacrificial death once and for all time of Jesus Christ, the only mediator between humanity and God. On the cross Jesus bore sin’s punishment as a substitute for all who would put their trust in him.[7]<br /><br />8. Those who repent and believe in Jesus are pardoned all their sins and accepted in God’s sight only because the righteousness of Christ is then counted as their own. This justification is God’s act of undeserved mercy, or grace, received solely by trusting him for it, and not on the grounds of moral or religious effort.[8]<br /><br />9. The Holy Spirit alone applies the work of Christ to individual sinners, enabling them to understand and accept God’s word, turn to him from their sin, and trust in his Son Jesus.[9]<br /><br />10. The Holy Spirit lives in all those he regenerates in this way, writing the law on their hearts, making them increasingly Christ-like in character and behaviour, and giving them power and gifts for witness in the world and service of the church.[10]<br /><br />11. The one holy universal church is the Body of Christ comprising all true believers. Its local expression is the primary means by which God builds up his people and extends his kingdom.[11]<br /><br />12. The Lord Jesus will return in person, to raise and judge all humanity, justly sentencing those who have not repented to everlasting destruction in hell, and mercifully receiving the redeemed to everlasting glory in a new heaven and earth.[12]<br /><br />[1] Exodus 34:6-7, Isaiah 44-45, Matthew 28:19, John 14-16<br /><br />[2] Ephesians 1:1-14, Hebrews 1:1-4, Revelation 20:11-15<br /><br />[3] Matthew 5:17-20, Mark 7:5-16, John 5:37-40, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, 2 Peter 3:15-16<br /><br />[4] Matthew 5:17-48, 7:15-23, 22:34-40, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Ephesians 4:17-5:20, James 2:14-19<br /><br />[5] John 3:17-21, Romans 1-3, 5:12-21, Ephesians 2:1-3<br /><br />[6] Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Luke 1:26-38, John 5:16-23, Acts 2:22-36, Hebrews 1:1-4, 1 Peter 3:18<br /><br />[7] Isaiah 53:4-6, Romans 3:21-26, 5:12-21, 10:14-15, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 9-10<br /><br />[8] Romans 3:21-4:25, 5:12-21, 9:30-10:13, Galatians 2:11-4:7<br /><br />[9] Matthew 11:25-27, John 6:35-47, 65, Acts 16:14, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, Ephesians 1:15-2:10<br /><br />[10] Luke 11:11-14, Acts 1:8, 4:23-31, Romans 8:5-8, 1 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Galatians 5:16-25, Ephesians 2:10<br /><br />[11] Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Corinthians 12-14, Ephesians 2:11-4:16, Hebrews 10:24-25<br /><br />[12] Matthew 25:31-46, Mark 10:42-48, John 5:19-30, Romans 8:17-39, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, Revelation 20:11-22:21Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-59804453325537973692021-03-16T12:47:00.004-07:002021-03-16T12:47:30.547-07:00If Christianity is so true, why don’t more believe?<p>We shouldn’t underestimate the millions who have, but we must also acknowledge that we aren’t quite as rational as we like to think. Why do so many ignore the warning signs plastered across cigarette ads and smoke anyway? Because they like to, and so suppress the truth in order to justify what they want. Likewise we suppress the truth about Jesus in order to live as we want rather than as God wants. We ignore, tame, look down on, or even ridicule Christianity – all out of a desire to sidestep its implications.</p>(John 3:19-21)<br />Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6867370538202321928.post-86080526654321395482021-03-16T12:46:00.000-07:002021-03-16T12:46:27.308-07:00What about abortion?<p>Human beings are given great dignity in the Bible. They are those created in God’s image – that is, they are to be like God in caring for the world and emulating his character. It is the fact that we are in God’s image that makes all human life supremely precious - and taking of it sin (except perhaps in enforcing justice).</p>The key question in terms of abortion is “when is life truly human?” Well, because God’s purpose stands for every human being from conception, so the Bible sees us as human beings from conception too: From that point on, its writers regard themselves as personal, known by God, and intended by him for life. Indeed, we only need to consider it a possibility that we are truly human from conception to regard abortion as wrong, because no-one would perform an act that might possibly be akin to the killing of another human being. Far better then to have the baby and, if really necessary, offer it for adoption.<br /><br />The inconsistencies surrounding abortion in modern society are huge. Even slight distress at having a baby can be seen as sufficient grounds for abortion, and this has led to a consumerist attitude to childbirth in which we see ourselves, rather than God, as the determiners of when life should or should not be allowed to develop. Moreover, technology enables us to keep children alive who are born before the date when some abortions are still allowed. Thus, we effectively choose to regard children of the same age as human when outside the womb, but not within it. Recent scan images have also shown babies expressing emotion from extremely early, moving some politicians to call for the term when abortions are allowed to be reduced. Yet in doing so, no-one seems to face the implication that in reducing the date we are effectively acknowledging that all children who have been aborted past that date should not have been.<br /><br />This whole area is an emotive one for all. If you have had an abortion yourself, it is good to remember that God is a God of immense forgiveness, and one who loving heals us from feelings of guilt and regret. It would be worth you talking your situation through with a pastor.<br /><br />(Genesis 9:6, Psalm 51:5, Psalm 139:13-18)Jon Hobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14649829489605127810noreply@blogger.com