Losing my religion for equality

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/losing-my-religion-for-equality-20090714-dk0v.html?page=1


interesting

 

It would be interesting to know what happened in the 4th century to make the christian leaders begin to hate women.

 

Witches.

 

they were gay?

 

.

 

I agree with President Carter. The Bible has been twisted to portray women as inferior, when in truth it doesn't say that at all. It says women and men have different roles, but neither is superior to the other -- both are to be valued and respected equally by each other, as they are by God.

 

amen

 

Do they really have different roles? What are those roles? And if they don't abide by them, are the women then in conflict with God?

 

I did a lot of research on these questions when I wrote a Bible study on marriage a few years back. Here are some excerpts:

Chapter 4 – The Role of a Christian Husband
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”
--Ephesians 5:25 ​

...

The Succession of Leadership, not the Chain of Command

For any group of people to be successful and productive, it must have a leader. Marriages are no different. We have already learned that marriage is supposed to be the supreme example of unity between two people. Without leadership, people move in their own directions at their own pace, and unity is lost. How can people be completely united if they’re following their own agendas?
According to the Bible, the path of leadership in the home looks like this:

God à Christ à husband à wife​

“Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” --1 Corinthians 11:3

This verse is talking about leading, not commanding. The original Greek word translated as “head” in this verse is kephale (kef-ah-LAY), which literally means “head, origin, or center”, but it does not mean “authority” or “rule”. So let’s all get this straight:

The Bible does not teach that husbands are the kings of their marriages.​

What it does teach is that husbands are to be the same kind of servant leaders for their wives Christ was for us. Jesus told His disciples:

“…The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” --Matthew 20:28​

The marriage relationship is a vivid picture of teamwork in action. But the husband is not the head coach of the marriage team – he’s the team captain. Team captains are the servant leaders of the sports world. They have no real authority, but they’re critical to the overall success of the team. They help and encourage their teammates. They set the example and inspire their teammates by giving everything they’ve got to the team without thinking of themselves. They’re dedicated, passionate leaders and they follow and enforce the head coach’s will. They are also the last to take credit for the good things, and the first to take responsibility for the bad things.
As the servant leaders of our marriages, we must take responsibility for the overall condition of our relationships and the direction in which they’re headed, regardless of whose fault that condition might be. If Jesus is our new role model of manhood and servant leadership, we need to love like He loves, forgive like He forgives, and lead like He leads. This is the path He has blazed for us to follow.

 

A Christian husband gives up HIS life for her.

The opening verse of this chapter says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave His life up for her…” Now we probably won’t have to actually die for our wives like Christ died for the church (thank goodness!). But to reach that goal of absolute unity that the Bible says marriage should be, we can’t hold anything back for ourselves. Every aspect of our lives – our likes, dislikes, hobbies, quirks, skills, time, talents, riches, strength, energy, mind, hearts, and bodies – all have to be fully devoted to Christ and our marriages.


A Christian husband is not a slave.

When we look at the Bible, we see that Jesus didn’t cater to His disciples’ every whim. He didn’t spoil them or pamper them. He sacrificed Himself to give them things of lasting importance – things that would continue to benefit not only them, but others around them. He served them in ways that would make them closer to Him, and more loving toward other people. Our overall goals in leading our wives are to help them feel loved and be loving with Christ, with us, and with others.


...


Being a Christian husband is an act of faith, even if you give everything you’ve got to the relationship. The level of dedication God asks from husbands is both enormous and unconditional. Nowhere in the Bible does it say it’s okay to give less of ourselves if we feel like “she doesn’t deserve it”. (A friend of mine), put it this way:

“Giving yourself to marriage is a lot like giving yourself to God. It takes faith that you're not going to get betrayed even if you "spend" everything you have on that relationship.”8

And he’s right. The only guarantee we have is from Jesus, who tells us:

“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.” --Matthew 10:39