Naked, Shame-free Unity

In the Beginning - Marriage

In the beginning God made the Universe, and as a part of that process he made man.  God made Adam as the pinnacle of his creative work, but when He had finished He for the first time decided something was flawed.  Adam was incomplete.  “For Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:20)  Thus, God made woman, not from dust, but from the side of Adam: woman, bone of man’s bone, flesh of man’s flesh, a suitable helper.  “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)  Man and woman were destined to be joined, because they were once two parts of the same whole.  I love the word “become” from the end of verse 24.  One flesh is a process in marriage, a lifelong journey, and it was for Adam and Even just as much as my wife and I today.  Man and woman are one time “joined”, but for all time “becoming” one flesh.  That word “become” is a divine promise and invitation to an eternity of growing and going deeper with another person.  In what environment was that supposed to happen?  Verse 25 tells us the answer.  “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.”  This verse is clearly referring to their physical bodies being naked, but I believe it also speaks to a larger reality.  Adam and Eve, this first man and his wife, had nothing they were hiding.  They were completely open, completely splayed for the whole world (their spouse) to see.  They were unreservedly vulnerable, and in every since of the word, naked.   And yet, the Bible says, they were not ashamed!

In the End - Marriage

This was Eden. This was perfect humanity.  It was not completed humanity, but it was flawless.  Adam and Eve, one man and one woman naked and unashamed before each other and before God.  That was God’s very good foundation for humanity, and there was absolutely nothing that could have improved upon it.  Open, naked marriage is the perfect foundation of humanity.  The world will remember that before long!  However, it is not marriage that is most fully on my heart, at least not the marriage between one man and one woman.  There is a vision for unity, God’s vision for unity in a very large sense that he has been impregnating me with over the last month or so.  I had the great honor of marrying Dylan and Debbie Svobodny last week and in the time leading up to that and since the breadth of my vision for the church has increased immensely.  God has given me some simple keys that have unlocked much of the way I understand the world and that inspire me for the future of his kingdom.  There will be a final union between a glorious bride and our glorious Lord.  We are on the journey to that union, we are in fact “becoming” one flesh with, and for Jesus Christ.  That is the church, and it is beautiful.  It is the intricacies of that reality that I want to begin tossing around on paper.

The New Sight of Sin

Do you know what happened to Adam and Eve after they ate of the forbidden fruit?  I didn’t.  Their eyes were opened!!!!  Before recently I had not realized that the Bible ever talked about eyes being opened in a negative sense.  To be blind is always the problem.  God always gives sight.  But there it is, black and white, the first thing recorded after they eat of the fruit, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”  (Genesis 3:7)  That was the downturn of all of humanity.  Our eyes were opened.  It is interesting to see that having their eyes opened didn’t alter what they saw, it changed what they knew.  “They knew that they were naked,” they knew good and evil.  In simple terms, humanities eyes were for the first time opened to see themselves through satan’s eyes.  I believe there are two lens’ through which it is possible to view every circumstance of life: the devil’s and God’s.  Those are the only two options, and for a brief period in history there was only one option.  Adam and Eve, before their encounter with the deceiver only knew what they looked like in God’s eyes.  Through His eyes they were able to stand naked and unashamed.  That is the good news of the gospel!  It was only when their eyes were opened to how their enemy saw them that they were ashamed.  This is the pattern of the fall: deception, new sight, shame, disunity.  None of these things exist in the Kingdom of God.

Broken Unity

Let’s continue to trace out the ramifications of the fall and the shame produced from the new sight of satan.  The deceiver came and for the first time humanity knew deception.  We really should go easy on Adam and Eve because the snake was the first one to lie in Eden.  They had no knowledge of or framework to understand or even expect someone to lie.  Notice though that the liar, in his lie, got Adam and Eve to believe that God could do that thing for which they had no framework, that God could lie.  They are deceived, and immediately they fall into deception.  They see, they know they are naked, they are ashamed, and they immediately try to hide from each other.  Man and woman take their first step backward in their journey of “becoming” one flesh.  For the first time they keep a part of themselves away from each other.  New sight has effectively derailed the unity between human relationships.  Once they’ve successfully hidden themselves from each other, they hear God coming.  God’s coming and I see myself through satan’s eyes, and I know I’ve got to hide, because God should punish me, hate me, destroy me, think I’m disgusting.  The new sight now separates us from God Himself.  Unity has been broken between God and man and the introduction of the drama of human history has been set.  Disunity between God and between each other is the stage upon which all of history was played, that is until the cross.

What Jesus Did

We must understand what problems the fall created, and the present status of the redemption of those problems if we are going to successfully walk in and into the Kingdom of God.   We have established that the fall brought disunity in two realms of relationship: between man and God and man and man.  The good news of the gospel is that the first has been dealt with.  God has brought complete and perfect unity between human-beings and himself.  In fact, the Bible tells us that Christ was cruficied before the foundations of the earth, so we can know that on God’s end there never was a separation. (See Rev. 13:8)  Scripture tells us that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  (See Eph. 1:20 and 2:6)  We may draw near to God with confidence because our conscious’ have been renewed and redeemed. (See Hebrews 10:19-22) Through the Love of God revealed so radically at the cross of Christ we are free from our hiding before God.  Jesus has cut off our sinful nature and made it so that we may stand pure, holy and unashamed before Him.  (See Col. 2:11 and Eph. 1:4).  God has made a covenant with His people and it is not conditional.  He will keep it.  This is what He has promised: “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.  For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)  God always keeps His word.

I am not saying here that we no longer need to worry about people’s standing with God.  Jesus said that there would be those at the end of time to whom he would say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23)  There are certainly those who are not united with God on their end, but we must know that God has done His work to unite all people to Himself.  He has made all righteous through his perfect, guilt and shame- erasing sacrifice.  Remember our text from Genesis about husband and wife.  The two are first joined and then become one flesh for the rest of forever.  The same is true with relationship with God.  God as husband has proposed to the world.  Some have outright said they will not join.  Some, like myself, have been joined to Christ and are now on the eternal adventure of “becoming” one flesh with Him.  There is also a third category, and these are those to whom Jesus speaks when He says “I never knew you.”  There are those who believe themselves to have joined, but have never actually moved in the direction of becoming one flesh with God.  The scripture makes it clear that any husband and wife will be joined and “shall” become one flesh.  There is no true initial joining if it is not naturally followed by becoming.  As James says, “Faith without works is dead.”  (See James 2:17)  I have written much that is extra here, but what we must fundamentally know is that Jesus has done a once and perfect job of redeeming humanity to Himself.  He meant it when He said, “It is finished.” (See John 19:30)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

In John 17 is recorded Jesus’ prayer for all of humanity.  He prays, “that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me.” (John 17:20)  There is debate about what exactly this prayer means, (and there are those that I respect very much that might disagree with my interpretation), but I believe Jesus is here praying for the unity of the church.  This is actually the way I had always read this prayer, and I always wished it would have said the opposite.  I always got hung up on this prayer and would ask God why he didn’t pray for us to be one with Him.  As I’ve said, some would say that that is exactly what He was praying here, but I believe he prayed for the church’s unity within itself because He was already uniting us to Himself.  I believe that through this prayer Jesus was asking for the releasing of the Holy Spirit to make all believers one.  Ephesians 1:10 defines God’s will as this, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him.”  I cannot ignore the similarity of the language in this statement to that of Jesus’ prayer.  Thus, I must conclude that God’s single driving desire and will presently and until the end of time is to see unity in His kingdom.  God is redeeming human relationship and that redemption will take place in what we call, “the body of Christ.”

I have learned to speak often of the work of the Holy Spirit, and have defined that in many ways.  I have talked about miracles, healings, gifts and fruits, and revealing truth.  However, I believe that I have previously missed what is the foundational work of the Holy Ghost.  More than all else the mission statement of the Holy Spirit is to bring unity in the church.  He will answer Jesus’ prayer, and His Will will be done.  The Body of Christ will be perfected in unity before the end of time.  The Holy Spirit will make sure of that.  He is at present filling me with the fullness of His vision and passion to do just that.  The Holy Spirit does indeed bring power, and shapes character, but more than all else He is at work for unity.  The trend of the world is to unity.  At the end of time every tongue and every knee will be united in proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord, but before that happens the Holy Spirit will have formed a complete and perfected body and bride of Christ. (See Phil. 2:10-11)

One Accord

It was some time ago that the Lord began to shift my understanding of the book of Acts.  About three years ago he opened my eyes to the fullness of the power and gifts of the Spirit as displayed in this wondrous book, but of late my attention has been drawn to another reality.  We talk often about the shift that took place in the followers of Jesus after the Holy Spirit came.  Jesus had basically told them not to touch anything until  “Power” came from on high. (See Acts 1:4-8)  That “Power” came in the form of the Holy Spirit on what we now know as Pentecost.  When He came, flames stood over each believer, they spoke in exotic tongues and Peter preached with great courage.  These things we know, but do we know what scripture records about the church immediately after the actual day of Pentecost?  Many, including myself, have emphasized signs and wonders, assuming that these were the most important evidences of the Spirit’s presence in the church.  It is good that we have emphasized these things, because they must be daily happenings within the body of Christ.  However, scripture emphasizes another work of the Holy Spirit in the church.  The text reads, “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as they had need.  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:44-47)  I cannot help but notice here that the adding of numbers to the church is not connected to signs and wonders, but rather to the quality and unity of the church community.

It was their quality of being, “one accord,” that set the church apart from the rest of the world.  When this hit me I must say I felt rather stupid.  I had always assumed that it was signs and wonders that Jesus needed them to wait for.  However, the disciples had already done many signs and wonders during the ministry of Jesus. The power they received on Pentecost wasn’t to heal the sick or cast out demons.  They received that from Jesus much earlier.  The power that I believe God released on Pentecost was a vision and a heart for the culture of the body of Christ.  The phrase “one accord” is used eleven times in the book of Acts, only appearing 6 other times throughout the rest of scripture.  Interestingly, about half of the time these words are used in Acts they are used to refer to a united enemy of the church.  Jesus carried something that either made people lay down their lives to follow him or follow Him to take down his life.  The early church had that same quality.  It was called the Holy Spirit, the Presence of God, and the culture of heaven.  The Holy Spirit came and unity happened among people.  The church became one in their passion and love for the Lord, and their enemies became one in their passion and hatred of the church.  This is where we come back to the two potential worldviews seen in Genesis.  There really are only two different sets of eyes through which to see the world, God’s or the devil’s.  When the church lives through God’s eyes, the world and the church begin to look much more unified.

Peter spoke on the day of Pentecost about the day of Pentecost using prophesy from the book of Joel.  However, that was not the only Old Testament prophesy which spoke of this day.  The prophet Zephaniah also spoke of it saying,

“For then I will restore to the people a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord. . . In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer by haughty in My holy mountain.  I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.  The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.” (Zeph. 3:8,10-13)

This is a picture of the Church of Christ as prophesied thousands of years ago, and unfortunately Zephaniah had greater vision for it than do most who presently walk as members of that body.  We must get the Father’s heart and vision for unity in our day.  Acts 2 is a promise to us, a brief snapshot of the power of healthy, spirit-filled community.  Remember that the fall consisted of the breaking of unity from God and from each other.  Thus Eden, heaven, the place from which we fell, is in simplest form unity with God and with each other.  That original unity is what every heart longs for, and when heaven is radically displayed in united community God will add to the body daily, and it will not be long before Christ has a perfect bride to come back for. 

The Body of Christ

Many in the church, (from my experience especially those who deny the reality of signs and wonders) have attempted to use this Acts 2 passage as a blueprint for Christian community.  As such, there is a lifting up of the idea of selling all one’s possessions, of living together in one big place and having a completely unified pot of money.  Personally, I think such a community would be pretty cool but this was never meant to be a blueprint.  Reducing it to such will simply create another religious form without any real power.  What I wish to glean from Acts 2 is the beginnings of an understanding of God’s heartbeat for unity in His church.  To delve more into what that actually looks like I want to use Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Part of the reason that a blueprint reading of the early church won’t work is that Jesus wants a much more glorious bride than a hippy-like commune of people.  We must get  a vision for the fullness of the church.  Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know, “what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18)  We, as the church, are God’s glorious inheritance.  Remember, we are (or rather will be) the perfect bride who will be wed to Jesus. (See Rev. 19) We are, “His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all,” and as that body, “He (God) has put all things under His (our) feet.” (See Ephesians 1:22-23)  There is a destination set before us here, one which Paul best describes saying, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)  I would encourage you to simply meditate on these realities for a while.  I have been meditating on them for weeks and months and am just beginning to scratch the surface of the treasure inside.  There is a call up here that is being screamed from heaven.  Paul’s call is mine (and all of ours): “that I should preach . . .the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places . . .” (Ephesians 2:8-10)  This goes on, but basically I and we as the church are called to seek out and proclaim the mysteries of God in order that we might make them known to principalities and powers.  In other words, the angels ached to know the deep things of God, and God has given us the office of experiencing and communicating those deep things to them.  That is huge and humbling!

Church Leadership

One of the clearest disfunctions and clearest manifestations of disunity in the church today is its leadership.  I could talk about this subject for pages, but there are a few central truths I want to mull over.  First of all, the church is to be built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 2:20)  This means several things to us, including that we must make efforts to understand those offices more fully.  I personally believe that apostles and prophets are those responsible for having heavens vision, and for speaking that vision as a broad vision for the church.  It is in fact an apostolic vision for unity that I believe the Lord is birthing in me.  The beautiful thing about Paul’s description of these two offices is that he calls them the foundation.  The leaders of the church are supposed to be the solid stones upon which everyone else can build higher.  Apostles and prophets are to lay blueprints for the kingdom and empower the church to build itself.  Church leadership was never meant to be about funny, charismatic speakers wearing the cap of spiritual elite above all others.  Most of our churches are run by evangelists and because of that we have houses full of infants and are failing to disciple nations. 

Paul further depicts the system of church leadership in Ephesians 4:11-16 saying,

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

If Ephesians is the most holistic depiction of the body of Christ in scripture than these six verses may be the most holistic depiction within Ephesians.  What is written above is an Apostolic invitation to what God would like to release in His church.  Paul emphasizes that these offices are for the equipping of the saints for the ministry.  Those individuals who fill the five-fold ministry certainly minister to the saints, but it is those saints who actually carry out the major-ministry of the body.  This empowering and releasing system is necessary Paul makes clear if we are going to see the church reach its fullness, which remember God will see happen.  The church is growing into a perfect man, into the stature of the fullness of Christ, but it is only doing so as every part does its share. 

The illustrative picture Paul paints to help us understand is of a body, the Body of Christ.  He divides this body into two parts – the offices and the saints, or the joints and the parts.  The joints I believe correspond to leadership, to those in the specific offices and their function is to join and knit the body together.  The function of the five-fold leadership is simply toward unity.  It is then those parts which the joints hold together that cause the body to grow.  The focus of leadership must be the health of the body, the vision of the body, edifying the body with the vision of heaven.  The body then will naturally take care of itself, grow and thrive as bodies to when they are healthy.  And how glorious this body yet will be!

Staying Within the Walls

I must start this paragraph by clarifying that I don’t exactly believe my title to this section.  However, there is an immense move in the church at present with the slogan, “outside the church walls!”  This is beautiful and good and necessary, but in most places very incomplete.  Much of the church, much of the body is being told that church is not about church, but about getting those outside.  However, those same people being told that are being kept in positions of immaturity and childishness within the church.  The primary reason for this is that we do not have apostles and prophets at the foundation of our churches.  Apostles and prophets are those that ensure the heavenly nature of the church as I’ve said.  As such it is their responsibility to give the church vision for what it is supposed to be.  I want to make the case here that going out and winning lost souls is not God’s plan for evangelism.  It is good, and has its place, and the gospel should be carried with us, our feet ready always to take that good news.(See Ephesians 6)  However, preaching to the lost, and getting people, “saved” is not God’s strategy.  Does God want all people to come into His Kingdom?  Absolutely!  However, he is also waiting for a glorious bride.  Much of the church is welcoming members into a bride that is much less than glorious.  We have systems of becoming culturally relevant and seeker friendly in order to get the lost ones.  The problem with this is that all the while we cripple the very bride Christ is waiting for. 

There are certainly places in scripture that instruct the church how to interact with and love those outside the fold.  However, the entire book of Ephesians and the majority of all instruction is actually with regards to how we ought to love each other, the culture and community that should be formed within the body itself.   Biblical vision is more for the fullness of the bride than it is how to talk with the stranger on the bus.  Talking to strangers on a bus is important, but it is much harder to get sick people to do what healthy people will naturally than it is to make people healthy and watch them live from that health.  We have gotten our focus backwards.  Remember the early church as depicted in Acts.  The Bible describes how healthy that community was and then explains that God added to their number daily.  The early church didn’t need slick slogans, or smooth-talking street evangelists.  What they had was so much of heaven that people couldn’t wait to get in.  I want vision for that kind of community.  God is raising up men and women to carry that vision and to equip the saints with it.  Unity will be brought in the body and we will grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ.  Bill Johnson, the man I consider to be my biggest role model, has a quote he says often, “Everyone wants a king like Jesus, if his body looked like Him they would want His body too.”  I believe that with all my heart.  I have a heart for the lost, but I don’t want to welcome them into a lost and confused church.  My heart for the lost drives me back into the four walls, to see a culture of heaven released in the church that would simply cause the lost to come home!

Away with Deceit

There are many biblical themes with regard to character and characteristics in the church.  These include humility, encouragement, and forgiveness, but the one that is most intriguing to me right now is that of deceit and lying.  Time and time again the bible speaks against these things, which makes since, but the repetition of it is huge, and the importance of it is becoming more and more apparent to me.  Ephesians 4:25 reads, “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another.”  That reason for not lying is incredibly important.  We are members of one another, we are one, we are united.  How can two things that are united lie to each other?  How can they have secrets, or hidden garbage?  The answer is that they can’t.  It was deception that the deceiver brought into the garden, and it was only that deception that made disunity possible.  People that are naked and unashamed before each other are by nature completely united, they are completely open with each other.  Any form of deception and hiddenness within ourselves is direct residue of the fall.   It stems from the vision of satan that says, “if you let that be seen, they will think you garbage.”  It is directly linked to shame and thus necessarily must be eradicated in the unified church.  Remember Zephaniah’s prophesy about a church that would know no shame.  That is a church without any lying, any deception, or any insecurity.  It is a vision of a church that is completely vulnerable within itself.  Another man that I respect very greatly, Todd White, makes a statement that has had a great impact on me lately.  He says, “You cannot hurt me, because I will hurt for you.”  He speaks about the fullness of the revelation of his own death with Christ and his subsequent new life in him.  He has no junk in his trunk or nakedness he would be ashamed of because that all perished with Christ on the cross.  As crucified and resurrected people we have absolutely nothing to be afraid of, no thing to hide.  We are free to be naked and unashamed!

Unity will come with Family

I do not believe it a coincidence that satan has so strongly attacked family in these last days.  Divorce rates are the highest ever, and most of our society has no idea what family is actually supposed to look like, including the church.  I believe with all my heart that God is giving the church a revelation of family, and of church as family that will bring the Kingdom of Heaven in its fullness.  I believe God is raising up men and women who will be mothers and fathers to an orphaned world, and orphans will come streaming into the church because they need mommies and daddies.  The church is the body and bride of Christ, but it is also to be a family.   Our God calls Himself Father, and calls us children.  He has set marriage up as the parallel of His relationship with the church.  God’s vision for the world is family.  The fullness of what I want to say here is also another multi-page thesis, but my heart is beginning to beat so fully for family community that I cannot contain it.  God spoke to me early one morning over a year ago now and said these words to me as an invitation, “Seek my Father heart.”  That is my life search and my life hunger now.  I want his heart to be seen through me and through the church.  God started the wooing of his bride with one father named Abram, and one family from his line.  It is families that will continue that growth, and the church as a family. 

There is an innate covenantal relationship within families.  Even incredibly broken families have a deep-rooted love for each other, a commitment to each other that is durable and unshakeable.  There are many people with whom I share much more in common and who I do more life with, but there is a loyalty that I carry towards my family that won’t be broken.  It is this covenantal, familial relationship that God wants to release in the church.  Since the beginning members of the church of Christ have called each other brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers.  However, the power of those titles has most often been lost.  Fathers and mothers have an innate heart to see their children succeed.  It is easy to champion your children, to live so as to make your ceiling their floor.  It is also easy for brothers and sisters to make sacrifices for each other, to champion each others dreams.  The roots of family run deep in the hearts of people, and no matter how frail family may look in our day there is a strong, hearty family tree that is ready to sprout.  It is the tree that those roots were meant to support, and the unified tree that will call God their Daddy, their Abba, and Jesus will be its Head.

“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one accord.  In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds in which you transgress against Me; For then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, and you shall no longer be haughty in My holy mountain.  I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.  The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness and speak no lies, Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed their flocks and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.”

Soon, and very Soon!

The Unsovereign Sovereign God

I have run into a few people lately who are in the movement of Christianity that is right now super focused on the Sovereignty of God.  As I understand it, this focus is designed to strengthen believers’ ability to trust in their God.  A God who has all things in his hands can bring great peace to an anxious heart.  The beauty of this picture of Sovereign God is that it is no longer my responsibility to figure everything out, or to fix things that are wrong.  I am only called to love Him, worship Him, and trust Him.  Unfortunately, its beauty is also its greatest weakness.  We are called to be powerful people in Christ, and those I have met who are intently focused on the sovereignty of God are unable to walk in their intended power or for that matter intimacy with God.

Sovereignty Biblical?

It is a very interesting exercise to search different Bible translations for the word, “sovereign.”  The New King James Version, which is my trusted source, never actually uses this word in the text in reference to God.  The English Standard Version only uses it three times to refer to God.  The New American Standard Bible uses it twice in reference to God.  Interestingly, the New International Version, which is another one of the top translations, uses it 297 times, almost all of which are in reference to God.  However, the reason for this is that every time the word Lord is used in the Old Testament they have decided to place sovereign before it, I presume from their understanding of what the connotation of that word was for the Jews.  Even in the NIV though only 5 of these nearly 300 come from the New Testament.  In other words, there are very few times in the original Hebrew and Greek texts when a word meaning “sovereign” is actually used to talk about God.  Sovereignty is a theological word, not a biblical one.

Sovereignty, Omnipotence, Omniscience, - superfluous words

Let me suggest that all of the words mentioned above are unnecessary in talking about God, and are in fact logical attributes of any god you could think of that created.  Any person who can come to mentally assent that a god created this universe would naturally assume these things about that god, even if they would not use these words.  The reason for this is that in order for me to make a sandwich I must have the power to do so: to cut the cheese, meat and tomatoes, and I must have the understanding or knowledge of how those things can be put together to make a sandwich.  Power and understanding are natural components of creation.  There is no reason this would be any less true of God.  In fact, in order to imagine a god that created absolutely everything one must assume these things about that being, presence, spirit, thing, or force.  The revelation of the one, true, supreme God is not that He is any of these things, though they are certainly true at least to some extent, but that He is intimate and loving in nature!  That God is sovereign is not a surprising or startling revelation of a creative being.  God is love – now that is bringing us somewhere.

I Believe God Is All Powerful

Now, I most certainly believe that God created the universe, and he in fact did it simply by speaking and breathing things into existence.  I believe God is capable at any moment of releasing any amount of power to do anything you could possibly imagine.  I believe that God wins!  I believe that things will end up as he foresaw them ending up.  I believe he could tell us the number of atoms in our galaxy, or galaxies in the universe, or hairs on your head.  However, I believe that his character is such and his security in his sovereignty, omnipotence, and omniscience are such that he doesn’t need to appear to be any of those things.

Sovereign’s Negative Effect On Our Understanding Of God

My biggest problem with the idea of God’s sovereignty is that in order to believe it in the same way that many do you must believe that all things happen per God’s design. This is where I must clarify that I believe God has and will for eternity reigned in sovereignty.  However, this does not mean that the things we have and do experience on this Earth are all God’s will.  At the end of time, God will still sit where he has sat since the seventh day of creation.  The mess of this world has in that most real sense not altered his sovereign omnipotence one iota.  God has not changed, nor has He been distressed in the sense of losing control by the troubles of humanity.   However, the eternal, sovereign God of love when He steps into relationship with the temporal world manifests liberty to his creation.   Thus, I cannot say with others that, “Whatever comes about, God intended to come about.” (John Piper)  I believe that such an understanding is completely unbiblical and contrary to the heart and nature of God.  This understanding of God’s power can do nothing but make us believe in a distant, bi-polar God.  I cannot relate with a God who in the same moment of time might be giving one family a new child and taking away the child of another.  Such a statement also forces me to say that God intended for evil to exist.  If a good God intended for evil to exist than God’s house is most certainly divided and as Jesus said, “a divided house cannot stand.” (See Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:25 or Luke 11:14)  My God intends for unity, not division.  His Vision for His creation is, “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him.” (Ephesians 1:10)

Amen To God’s Declaration Of His Sovereignty

I know that I already questioned the biblical nature of God’s sovereignty and though I intended to do that, I do believe there is grounds for a right thinking of sovereignty.  I simply wanted to highlight that the word itself God does not use to describe Himself.  This does not mean there is not a place where we should just say, “God is God!”  I simply want to clarify the difference between when we have grown accustomed to saying that and when God says that.  For surely when speaking to Job out of the whirlwind he is more than anything saying, “Job, you are not God!  I am God!” (Job 38-42)  There is a place for this!  Let me now look at the verses from Isaiah which many, (including John Piper) use to understand God’s sovereignty.  In Isaiah 46:8-13 God says,

Remember this, and show yourselves men; recall to mind, O you transgressors, remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country.  Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed it; I will also do it.  Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness: I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger.  And I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.

I first want to note that God is not and cannot be speaking to any Christian through this passage.  He reveals in verse 12 that he is talking to those who are “far from righteousness.”  We are not far from righteousness.  Jesus Christ has come close to us to be our righteousness.  That being said, we can learn some things about God here!  Let me suggest now that beginnings and endings are important.  God begins and ends this statement by talking about things in the end, things he will in the future do.  He makes it clear that He does indeed have foreknowledge of future things, specifically the end from the beginning.  This is what I mean when I say God has never been bothered or caught off guard by the fall.   He saw the good end he would bring.  The end verses of this statement also refer to something which at this point was coming, but which has now been accomplished in Christ, salvation!  That being said, I would suggest that the context and perspective for all of this is eternal.  It is with this understanding that we read, “My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure,” and “I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass, I have purposed it; I will also do it.”  From this we can conclude that God will eternally be pleased with what happens with his creation, and that everything he has spoken and purposed he will do.  To these things I would say “Amen!”  My God wins, he will see his purposes and his word does not return void!  However, I must also clarify that it does not say “all things that come to pass, I have spoken” or, “all things that are done, I have purposed.”  Such an understanding is an inerrant reading of scripture and a detrimental position for our life in this world and with God.

The Nature Of Will And Pleasure

The nature of those things that I, or anyone, will or am pleased to do is that they are capable of and even likely to conflict.  For example, it may please a good father to go to an amusement park.  However, if his wife and children would rather go to a zoo than that good father suddenly has a conflicting will.  He wills not only to go to the amusement park, but also to please his wife and children.  In this instance there must be a dominant will or pleasure upon which action is taken.  For the good father his will to please his family must surely outweigh his pleasure in the amusement park.  What is more, after he has forsaken his desire to go to the amusement park and finished enjoying a day at the zoo with his family he is most certainly a man who would say that he has accomplished his will and pleasure.  We must be very careful not to divorce this reality from an understanding of God’s will and pleasure.  God is not a robot anymore than you and I and thus he has desires that conflict.  It is thus that we must understand his sovereignty in light of his character.  God is sovereign, but He is also good, and He is love, and He is our Father! 

In The Beginning God Spoke

The Isaiah passage we looked at earlier asks us to, “remember the former things,” it speaks of God’s, “declaring the end from the beginning,” and reads, “I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass.”  Every single one of these statements brings me back to Genesis, “In the beginning,” when, “God created the universe.” (See Genesis 1:1)  In the beginning God spoke and things began to happen.  He spoke and declared in the end that it was, “very good!” (See Genesis 1:31)  He spoke and gave humanity dominion over the earth. (See Genesis 1:28)  Here is a playground for us to understand God’s sovereignty.  First of all, the Bible, as many have said, begins, “In the Beginning God.”  God was and is and always has been.  He is wholly set apart, and this is part of His sovereignty.  God created all these things just by speaking and they were “very good.”  God is in the business of “very good.”  “Very Good” is God’s will, and thus things now that are not “very good” we can assume are not God’s will.  But as God has told us, “He has spoken it; He will bring it to pass.”  Even in a world where not all things are “very good,” we may know that a day is coming when all things will indeed be, “very good.”  The most radical revelation of God’s sovereignty however comes with the creation of humans.  God reveals his desire to make a being in His own image, and when He has done that He gives “dominion” to those beings.  A “sovereign” God makes humans in his “sovereign” image and with his sovereign authority gives them their own authority over the earth.  Our sovereign God made us to be sovereign on the earth.  With this action you begin to see the pleasure of the Father God.  His pleasure is not in being sovereign.  He simply is sovereign.  His pleasure is in His creation! 

Our “Sovereignty” On Earth

I do put this word in quotes on purpose.  This is not a word to elevate mankind to the level of God.  Remember, “In the beginning God.”  However, as part of that beginning process God, out of His good pleasure, gave us dominion over the earth.  This was a dominion that was to be founded in intimate relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords, but we were not a puppet government.  We were completely and totally in control.  We know this because when we stepped out of line with the true government we didn’t get the “reign”s ripped out of our hands!  The dominion of earth did not just return to God, it was actually given to the enemy, the devil.  Who gave it to him?  We did!  Ever since this moment God, in his sovereignty, has been reestablishing our reign in intimate relationship with Him.  This is the other problem with the false understanding of God’s sovereignty.  It not only gives God credit for things he does not want credit for, but it negates our role as reigning ones on the earth.  It assumes that God created the earth and us for Him to reign over, when in reality he created the earth for us to reign over.  Now don’t hear here what I am not saying.  I am not saying that God doesn’t reign over all things, or that He is not my King.  I am saying that even as God will always be in control over all things, we were meant to be in control of the earth. 

Things That Are Not God’s Will

I would say that there are many things that happen on this earth that are not God’s will, which means that he cannot be sovereign as so many understand him to be.  Anything that an insurance company would call an, “act of God,” I would actually argue was not God’s will.  There is a culture in much of the church that joins the world in distancing themselves from the will of God, chalking mishaps etc. as His will.  1 Cor. 2:9-10 tells us though, “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.  For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”  We are not a people who live clueless to what God is doing around us, trying to believe in an unknowable God. He shows us His will.  Hebrews 1 tells us that Jesus was a perfect representation of God.  Thus, when we see Jesus take authority over sickness, over demons, and over storms we can know that those things are not God’s will.  One of my biggest pet peeves is when Christians say things like, “that’s just life.”  Most of the time when someone says that they are accepting a less than desirable reality as a normal part of the life which God called, “very good.”  We must quit letting Satan have his way by attributing things of his will to God’s.  1 Cor. 15:26 also tells us that death is the final enemy that will be destroyed.  Death is God’s enemy, not his will.  Now this does not mean that we need to be hunting for the elixir of life or the fountain of youth so that we will never die!  However, it does mean that we don’t need to make peace with death.  Death has nothing on us!  We can pass in peace, but we should be contending for life whenever death rears its ugly head.

Enforcing God’s Will

The biggest thing I want to emphasize here is our responsibility as the God-designated authority on Earth to enforce His will here.   Sovereignty means that there will be a day when everything God desired will be.  However, that day is not here, and we have been commissioned not only to walk in the Kingdom, but to speed its coming (See 2 Peter 3:12).  There is sickness all around us which God does not want to exist.  There are demons that have had all their power taken from them, demons that Jesus publically humiliated, that we are allowing to terrorize the lives of those around and among us.  There are storms and natural disasters that are killing and destroying (always the work of satan) that we are not only not praying against, but are actually in some circles attributing to God’s judgment.  Any idea of sovereignty that makes me a lethargic, helpless church-goer is not biblical.  We have been promised greater things than what Jesus saw in his lifetime.  We have been promised that the kingdom of darkness will not overcome us.  We have been given a great commission that we are actually expected to be able to accomplish.  Here is God’s sovereign will:  His beloved children reigning on the Earth He created for them, while walking with Him in intimacy!   

Women and Marriage in Ministry

THE ISSUE

Our God has redeemed all things.  It is done. Before the foundations of the world it was done, but he is still helping us understand and own that redemption.  The oppression of women within the church and the world is a part of redemption that must still be owned.  God is doing that in our day.  There is a glorious vision of men and women living and reigning together that God will give to us in the last days.  In different parts of the world, the oppression of women is quite clear whether it be a lack of voting rights, sexual exploitation, or unequal rights in the marketplace.  Most of our country and most of the church in this country own these issues.  However, there are issues of oppression in our churches that are directly from the heart of the enemy, but that we lack the eyes to see.  In fact, there are many circles in which this oppression is declared as a theological position.  The Lord will see this changed.  Women must be championed, empowered, and set free.

The gospel if it is nothing else is freedom, and yet the church is not a place of freedom for women.  Jesus declared as central to his ministry the bringing of liberty to the captives.  (See Luke 4)  Women are captive in the Body and Jesus is setting them free, for “if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.” (John 8:36)  My heart with this issue is for men.  The problem rests with us.  The scheme has been the enemies, but we have all too often been the willing administrators of oppression.  These issues run deep in the traditions of the church, and they are imbedded deep within the world schema of most men.  I myself have held most, if not all, of the patterns and characteristics I feel called to call out and change in the hearts of men.  Our God has a heart for his bride, and a heart for his brides, and it is time for we men to own both his mind and heart when it comes to loving our women.  He is our standard, and when we recognize that as a culture of men, women will be set free.

The battle being waged here is not centrally one of women in ministry.  Ministerial positions are simply a subtopic.  Women are called to be teachers just as they are called to fulfill every office of the church, but there is no Title IX program in the Kingdom of God.  The fight is for hearts.  In fact, I believe the main problem is a lack of understanding of the grace of God.  A more full revelation in men of the grace we have received will inherently stir us up to lavish that same grace upon our brides.  God’s vision and intention is not for women to be over and above men, but to in reality be co-laborers with them.   Many of us have talked about women laboring with men and championed equality, but I have not seen a place where this issue is gone.  The Body of Christ has not received redemption in this area, so even if you think you are a champion for women I can guarantee there are new depths God wants to call you to.  The problem here is cultural and it runs much closer to the heart of our understanding of God than we know.  It is not a secondary topic, one that can be compromised on, or avoided all together.  The Body of Christ cannot be healthy until men and women are restored to unity.  Half of a body is not what Christ has asked to marry, nor will half a body effectively overwhelm the kingdom of darkness.  Men and women reigning together – that is God’s original vision and He has not changed His mind!

WHAT ABOUT PAUL?

I hate bickering about scripture, but there are many people in the church who know how to do little else.  I also understand that if there is resistance in anyone to what I have said so far, it is rooted in a particular reading of scripture.  I also understand that in order for any aspect of what I have to say to take hold, this wall must be broken down with the help of the Holy Spirit.  If you don’t like what I’ve said so far, these are the weapons you are preparing to wield: 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Cor. 14:34-35, and 1 Cor. 11:3-16.  There are certainly other passages you could attempt to bludgeon me into submission with but these are the ones I would like to address.  I know this way of thinking because I’ve owned it, and thus I know the method for wielding it.  I subsequently believe I can effectively cripple it, or at least soften the sting.  Before we begin looking specifically at these texts, I will open the sparring.  Galatians 3:28 reads, “There is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  The same Paul who writes this also writes the passages we will be discussing.  I would suggest to you before starting that the clubs listed above all come from Paul speaking about a particular issue in a specific church.  The weapon I carry is rather a central, heart-issue to our understanding of the gospel, and of our God!  Another way to think about it is that one speaks of a heavenly reality, while the others address earthly realities.  I am thus coming to this subject with the understanding that we are to pray and live in order to see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven.

Here are the texts:

“Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.  And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.  For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression.  Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” – 1 Timothy 2:11-15

“Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.  And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.” 1 Cor. 14:34-35

“But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.  Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head.  But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.  For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn.  But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.  For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.  For man is not from woman, but woman from man.  Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.  For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.  Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord.  For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.  Judge among yourselves.  Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?  Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?  But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.  But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.”  1 Cor. 11:3-16

Let us take the first two texts together.  I want to suggest that most of us who would use these texts to argue for keeping women out of ministry or something of the like really don’t agree with the majority of what is being said.  It is more the spirit behind these texts that is used to make a case.  Look at the Timothy text.  I believe most people would only want to take one phrase from this selection, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to be in authority over a man.”  The problem you will run into at this point is that if you want to take this and make it a conclusive statement about women’s position in the church than I am going to make you take the whole thing.  Thus, if you want to say women can’t teach than I want you to know that Paul in the same breath, the same sentence even, also commands them to be silent and tells us that women are saved through childbirth and that only if their kids turn out well.  In other words, if you want to use this text, I want to tell you that if I come to your church I’d better not hear any women talking, and in fact, I’d better hear you preaching two different messages.  You can preach to the men that their salvation was purchased by the cross of Christ, and then tell women that they are in danger of going to hell if they don’t have kids and raise them well.  The reason I include the Corinthians 14 text with this one is simply that I believe if you read it there may be nothing within it (besides perhaps a reference to submission) that you can literally take as a direction without banning women from ever uttering a noise in church.  A further problem with this thinking is that in many churches where women are still restricted there is also a huge push to go, “outside the walls.”  The American church is beginning to own the understanding that the church is not a building but people, everywhere that they go.  Thus, these churches should literally be telling their women that they must be mute the rest of their lives, because they are always in the church, but are not permitted to speak in the church!   You can see the predicament here!

Now with regards to the chapter 11 text I could use a similar approach and ask why Christian women everywhere aren’t running around with shawls over their head (I do realize that in some places they are).  However, I would like to dig a little deeper into this text.  The popular part of this passage is, “the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”  Though I don’t necessarily believe this is true as most people understand it, I would like to run with the assumption that it is completely accurate.  When we do this we see that God is head of Jesus as Jesus is head of men as men are head of women.  Philippians 2:9 tells us that God as the head of Jesus, “has exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”  (See also Ephesians 1:20)  Ephesians 2:6 then tells us that Jesus as the head of men (in reality this is true of men and women), “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  I think it is clear here to see the pattern of headship in God’s understanding.  Headship is about lifting up that which you are head over.  Paul even writes similar things in this very passage saying, “woman is the glory of man.”  Since when does it make sense to minimize and downplay the significance and role of that which is your glory?

We could continue deconstructing things, but the point to be made here is that we must be careful to understand our presuppositions with regard to scripture.  They are very often illogical and even ludicrous.  The Bible is a tool with which God has designed to reveal to us His heart, but once we understand his heart it is to be read through the lens of that heart.  Thus any interpretation of scripture that takes away the freedom of one of God’s children is sure to be incorrect, and can be discarded.  The Bible whether we want to admit it or not has a context, it is a document wrapped up in time, even if it has eternal significance and authority.  Our God on the other hand is unchanging, eternal, and the Living Word that must be the final authority in all we think and do.  It is more important to ask the Father what he thinks than it is to try and figure out what Paul did.

IN THE BEGINNING

Jesus has redeemed us from a fall, which means the place from which we fell was a good one.  “In the beginning,” things were very good.  Thus, “in the beginning” is a perfect place to start in determining our destination.  “In the beginning,” God created man and it was not good for man to be alone. (Genesis 2:18) Man had no suitable “helper,” which is a word that is used most often in reference to God.  Man did not need an assistant, God could have used dogs for that.  Man needed a partner, a best friend, a soulmate, a lover.  It was then that God put man to sleep, removed his rib, and made woman out of it.  Woman, the one who could fulfill the role of walking side by side with Adam, was made from his side.  Then, and only then, did God bless them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  Dominion was given by God to men and women together.  Man did not just receive it, nor did they receive it separately, in different roles, or different increments.  Power from God is given to unified man and woman.  They were both naked and not ashamed because they were one flesh! (See Genesis 2:24-25)

THE RAMIFICATIONS OF CURSES

Unfortunately this beautiful unified Eden was destroyed by Satan’s deception of Eve and Adam’s subsequent disobedience.  I would point out here that when God spoke of not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge only Adam was around.  Eve knows about this rule, but only from her husband, thus Eve’s deception was to heed the voice of Satan over that of her husband but Adam’s disobedience was to heed the voice of Eve over the voice of God. (See Genesis 3:17)  I am not saying here that men are eternally more guilty than women, but that this account in Genesis and Paul’s attestation of the gospel both indicate that sin came into the world through Adam. (See Romans 5:12)  Either way, humanity fell, and there were consequences of that fall; that is natural consequences which affected the relationship between man and woman.  After they eat, they are suddenly ashamed to be naked around each other.  Satan has wedged a bar of separation between Adam and Eve.  The fall destroys relationship, relationship with God and with people, but God has redeemed the fall.  Relationship has been restored, now me must walk in restored relationships.  I believe we see the beginning of the seeds of oppression of women in Genesis 3:12.  Adam says, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”  At that moment man first violated covenant with his wife.  Adam stepped out from a position of love and unity with his wife, distanced her from himself, and attempted to place the guilt and shame he felt in himself on top of his wife.  We men have been doing this on a mass scale ever since!

These are the ramifications of the fall that we see happen just from the course of eating the fruit, but there are also curses issued by God.  Woman’s curse places her in the sole role of mother and wife, a motherhood that is painful and a marriage that makes her a second-class citizen. (See Genesis 3:16)  Man on the other hand is cursed to produce and gather food that will resist him in being gathered. (See genesis 3:17-19) Here in these curses we see the first hint of a separation of duties between men and women.  Here for the first time we see the format for men in the marketplace and women at home.  Here for the first time we see a painful, divided existence for both man and woman.  It is the curse that brings men and women different roles, and the curse that puts man over woman.  Praise be to God we have been redeemed from the curse! (See Galatians 3:13)  The church has for too long claimed Jesus’ defeat of other curses that were over humanity while neglecting these ones.  While we have championed men being over women and having separate functions in life, God has been saying that He died so as to set us free from this curse.  We are free to return to the unified co-reigning world of Eden.  Revelation 22:3 shows us the beautiful picture of the place where, “ . . . there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it . . .”  What does this practically mean for us?  As I see it, it means that men are not to rule over their wives, we are not in a position above them in any regard.  Secondly, it means that we can no longer cop out of this issue by saying that women are called to be good moms and men are called to minister in the church.  It is not true, and such concepts have destroyed both the family and the church.  We are free to be unified!

There is another curse that we sometimes forget about, and one that I do not believe has been broken.  It is the curse over satan and it reads, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)  The main curse over satan is women!  Many times we read this text as kind of a neutral description of spiritual warfare as mankind battles satan.  It is not neutral, and it never was a curse for men or women, it was the curse for satan.  I believe that with this declaration God gave spiritual authority specifically to women to destroy the works of the devil.  Remember that Eve was deceived.  In my experience with deception, there is little that makes a person so angry as being tricked.  I believe there is a seed of righteous wrath within women that makes them an enemy to our enemy that men will never be.  It is thus that I believe satan has so intentionally attacked and oppressed them.  I mentioned before a plan of the enemy that men have been the pawns to carry out.  This is it, and it most certainly is a strategic plan.  Satan is a lot of things, but dumb is not one of them.  Women are the ones destined to destroy him, the ones declared to be his chief enemy, and thus he has done everything in his power to keep them from walking in their rightful authority over him.  It is time for this curse to be fulfilled as women are released into the fullness of their destiny!

MEN – COVENANT LEADERS

I want to make a distinction here with regard to the roles of men and women.  I am not saying that men and women are completely identical; I am saying that many of the ways we have thought about those roles are serving to disempower women.  The common understanding of marriage in the church is that women are to submit and men are to lead.  I would not completely disagree with this, but I would certainly argue that we do not understand at all what this means, and that some of our language should be set aside.  Women are indeed told to submit to their husbands in Ephesians 5:22 and elsewhere.  However, it must be noted that immediately before Paul tells women to submit to their husbands, he tells all believers to submit to each other (see Eph. 5:21).  “All believers” would tend to include husbands submitting to wives.  Now is there truth to women submission?  I think so, but our understanding of this has been far too simplistic and very often inaccurate.  Very often submission of the wife has led to foolish ideas of God’s desire to direct a family through the husband, as in, where the man wants to go everybody goes.  It has led people to talk about things like “master, mission, mate,” an idea that says that for men the mission should be more important than their mate, but for women the opposite should be true.  This is completely untrue and unbiblical.  This is not what it means for a woman to submit!  How do I know?  Because it is not what it looks like for a man to love as Christ.

There was a standard set for men in Genesis 2:24, way back, “In the beginning,” (which if you remember is a good place to go for answers), that has been forgotten and abandoned by Christian men.  The standard reads, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to this wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  This verse tells us how the union of man and woman is supposed to happen.  Fundamentally it says, a man is supposed to leave his former life to be joined to his wife.  That is the divine precedent for the marriage covenant but for all of human history the opposite has been practiced.  Women have been expected to leave all to join their husbands.  In different times and places that has meant leaving their families, but at present in the church it means leaving their dreams and desires.  Women are told that submission looks like putting their dreams and vision under that of their husband.  I am telling you that the Bible says the opposite!  Men are to put aside that which they have known, including their dreams and vision,  when they come into union with their wives. 

Thus, I want to say that men are indeed leaders in the marriage relationship.  Men are to lead the way in covenant!   A covenant is an agreement I make with someone wherein their behavior does not effect my commitment to the agreement.  God is the originator of covenant, and never once does a covenant between God and humanity happen without God establishing it.  The one time David tried to do it with his temple idea God actually got kind of offended, and turned the tables on David! (See 2 Samuel 7)  When we start thinking about covenant we start getting close to God’s heart for men and husbands.

I only love God because He loved me; I only honor Him because He has shown me honor; I am only able to submit myself to Him because He submitted Himself under my destiny of destruction on the cross.  It is with this understanding that we must understand the leadership of men.  Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.” (Ephesians 5:25)  The question for all men: have I given myself, have I left myself behind?   If you have spent any time obeying the culture of the church, the answer is no!  All over the church, women’s dreams are being undervalued; God-given destinies are being minimized in the name of submission.  Men who are supposed to give themselves so as to lift up their wives have put their agendas ahead of their wives in the name of leadership!  Let us remember Jesus who was, “in the form of God,” with God from before the beginning of time, with angels ministering to him continually, and he left it behind to “come in the likeness of men.” (See Philippians 2:5-7)  Jesus gave up heaven for his bride, and husbands in the church can’t seem to find it in them to give up their ministry plan!  We do not have the heart of Christ as Groom.  The heart of Christ as Groom endured the cross for the joy set before Him, which was His bride (Hebrews 12:2).  Men must catch the vision of the joy set before them.  This joy is the fullness of unity with their brides, the fullness of co-reigning men with women, the fullness of Eden.   Men looking for wives in the church often ask questions that look like, “What woman would be most effective in helping me with my ministry?”  Instead we ought to be on the watch for the woman for whom we can gladly set aside our life, our dreams, and our passions so as to fuel hers!

Perfect love casts out fear, and perfect love is covenantal in nature.  Covenant casts out fear and breeds freedom.  When God makes a covenant with mankind, men are set free to be who they were all along.  Jesus came to testify to the truth!  In other words, he came to tell us what was already a reality; he came to show us the glory of who we were.  This is the responsibility of men of God!  By leading the way in covenant we are called to cast out fear and breed freedom in all of our relationships, primarily with our wives.  The beautiful truth of covenant though is that it is not about having a pity party or being the martyr.  Just as much as we don’t need men leading their wives from above neither do we need them leading from below.  God’s heart is not for the current situation to switch, but for women to be released into their destinies as “co-reigners” with their husbands.

SHARING AUTHORITY

The reality of the world presently is that men own the authority.   God gave them that authority in a curse, and though it has been broken, men have still not learned how to give it away.  However, authority and power most definitely lies with men in our present world.  This means that in order for women to walk in authority with men, it must be given to them by men.  Much of what has happened in churches who have a heart to empower women is to state an openness to women in ministry, but not to give them the actual authority to be successful.  Thus, we end up with women who either just get stuck in rote responsibilities, or women who force themselves into positions of leadership only to fail.  The giving of responsibility without authority only sets women up for a collision with an institutional ceiling.  Women are either forced to accept a compromised position or force their way into places of influence by becoming something they are not. This issue reaches further than just women and is rooted in a twisted understanding of leadership. We must change the culture of contention for authority in the church.  Authority is meant to be given away.  God is looking for men, and men as leaders, who will pray this prayer: “God, I want to give my authority away, and if you give me more, I will give that away too!”  Only a culture of empowerment will see women set free to succeed and to offer what God has given them to the betterment of the Kingdom.

I can say all of this, and it sounds very nice, but there are practical barriers that give us negative experiences that can often skew our heart on this issue.  For example, I used to believe that women shouldn’t teach because every woman teacher I had ever heard was horrible.  Praise God, I have now seen and heard women at their best, but I had used those experiences to confirm my presupposition that women weren’t supposed to be in those positions.  Another thing that often gets used to resist the empowerment of women is that many women don’t want authority or certain positions within the church.  I have heard countless men say that they would empower women if women weren’t scared of it.  My response to this is, “Of course they are scared of it!”  Much of what they have ever seen of women stepping into leadership is pain and shame, and we expect them to want to step into it. 

I want to take some time to paint a picture of what life in the church has been for many women.  Imagine for a moment a football team.  The coach comes to his team at the beginning of the season and declares his great optimism with regard to the season.  He praises those he sees as star players and expresses his belief that the team has the best starting line-up in the league.  He then makes some side comments with regards to the bench players. He tells them that they are still vitally important to the success of the team, but that they shouldn’t expect any playing time.  The season continues and his prediction of no playing time for the bench holds true.  The stars continue to get more and more attention.  They are first in line for help from the trainers, first in line for all of the equipping drills, and first in line for one-on-one time with the coach.  Meanwhile, the bench can get all of these benefits if and only if there are time and resources left over after the others get through with them.  Imagine now that you are one of these bench players, under-appreciated, under-equipped and armed only with powerless, empty praise and you are called on to go in and win a game.  How likely are you to succeed in that position, how excited are you to go in that game?!  Now, I know there are some rare gems who would be able to be the underdog, seize the moment, and defy all odds, but they are the exception. We do have a handful of women who have successfully navigated the mine-field of church leadership and entered positions of true authority.  However, most of our wives and daughters are not those women.  Women are meant to reign with men and if they are unable to do that, regardless of the situation, it is men’s responsibility to make that a possibility.

I’ve said it, but I will say it again, authority was meant to be given away.  Peter was given authority as the “Rock”of the church, and was then commissioned by Jesus to feed that authority to His sheep. (See Matthew 16:18 and John 21:15-19)  If you have authority your assumption should be that you are called to give it away.  Like many things in the kingdom the more we give authority the more we get.  It is for this reason that empowering women doesn’t look like reversing roles, if men give authority they won’t lose it, they will only get more.   In fact, I believe that the reality of the world right now is that women have more honor and authority in heaven than do men, even if that is not true on earth.  1 Peter 3:7 commands men to honor their wives, “that your prayers may not be hindered.”  In other words God is saying, if you don’t give your authority to your wife you forfeit your authority with Me.  I have always wondered why so many more women consider themselves to be intercessors than do men.  The reason for this I believe is that God has had to raise up the women in His church to pray because He won’t listen to the prayers of His men. This is a very scary and humbling reality for us men.  I don’t care what position you have in ministry, if you aren’t fully honoring your wife it may very well be in response to your wife’s prayers that God is pouring blessing onto you andyou’re your own.  When I was in prayer over this and received this revelation it broke my heart for the present church, and gave me great hope for the church once the prayers of men are no longer being hindered.  It is interesting to see that because of its nature as “behind-the-scenes,” intercession has been one area where women have been left to flourish.  It is time that men learned to honor women by sharing authority with them.  It is for a shared dominion that we were created.

I want to take some time here to honor the faithfulness of women!  As a group of people through history women have been far more successful in walking faithfully with God than have men.  They have been told by authority figures that to submit to their husbands means to relinquish their dreams.  They have been told by authority figures that they aren’t supposed to have authority.  They have been told that their ministry should be in the house and their husband’s out in the world.  They have been told all this and have said, “Whatever is pleasing to God!”  Oh the humble heart of women, the heart that knows not what it is to be tainted by striving.  Unfortunately, due to men’s inability to give authority and the forced nature of the feminine movement, many women are beginning to learn what it looks like to strive and compete for everything.  The kingdom is not a place of self-preservation though, and women have as a group shown that better than anyone!  Women have submitted themselves to the authority of men, and it is time they get what’s coming to them.  God says to us, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)  He says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up!”  (James 4:10.)  Humility in the Kingdom of God is supposed to be followed by exaltation.  Such has not been the case with regards to women submitting to men.  The verse that God used to change my life and shift completely my paradigms for understanding women was John 14:12 in which Jesus tells his disciples that they will do greater things than Him.  I have claimed that verse as a mantra for my life, that Jesus has loved me, empowered, and released me to do greater things than Him.  However, until one day while walking through the mountains of Montana I had never thought to do that for my bride.  My conversation with the Lord that day looked something like this:

Jesus: Andrew, I have empowered you, as my bride, to do greater things than I did on earth, right? 

Me:  Yes  

Jesus: Have you been doing that with your bride? 

My world was turned upside down.  Men, our women have been more faithful to us than we have been to Christ, and it is time for us to share authority with them, ask them to forgive us, and lead the way into united covenant living for the Kingdom of God. 

VISION FOR MARRIAGE MINISTRY

As I’ve caught God’s heart for these things there have needed to be some very practical, very real actions taken on my part to free my wife.  Everyone’s story is different, but I believe that most husbands in the church have a wife who has been wounded in the area of dreams.  My wife, for example, wanted throughout high school and into college when we met, to go to South America as a missionary.  Even as we met, dated, and got married that desire was very much still an integral part of her.  Unfortunately though, it was not a desire that I shared, and it was assumed by the culture of the church when we got married that my dreams were God’s dreams for us.  She thus attempted to relinquish her dream of missions and we began trying to live and dream together.  However, there has until recently been some sense of disunity with regards to where that would take us.  It has definitely felt like I’ve been dictating big decisions and that is because, despite my best efforts to be united, I was.  My wife was so wounded by unfulfilled dreams that she struggled to be free enough to dream again.  The pain of losing dreams was something akin to watching a part of her die, and the effect was crippling.  Her past experience told her that her dreams were less important than mine.  Thus, even when I encouraged her to dream the nagging fear always existed that if our dreams failed to match hers would take a backseat once again.

One of those big decisions we just made was to move to Minneapolis in order to start ministry.  In this move, she most definitely expressed that it was her desire to move and be here.  Though in hindsight, things didn’t feel right, I simply decided to take her word for it.  That is, until one day recently when my wife and I were driving and talking in the car about empowering women.  As we talked, I was very strongly moved by the Holy Spirit to tell her that all she needed to do was say “go” and we would move to South America to do missions.  After wrestling with the Lord on this for about two silent minutes in my head, I realized that I could offer this to her and mean it.  I wanted to empower her dream in that way.  Upon doing this, some interesting things happened. This pronouncement was somewhat stunning to her.  Not surprisingly such a position of power with regards to our future was even intimidating for her.  However as the two of us sought the Lord over the next couple of days God worked on my heart a real passion and interest in South America and worked in hers the revelation of her lack of closure with regards to this dream.  There was regret she had lived with and couldn’t release even with a husband, beautiful baby boy, and much blessing from God where we were.  On top of this, she carried shame in even thinking about her regrets.  Until she was freed by my words to discover her heart with regards to this dream she was unable to move on, let alone to dream again.  God revealed to her that although South America was still a desire for her, it wasn’t any longer her dream to go there now or to live there for an extended time.  This freedom between her and the Lord in regards to mission and dreams has now allowed her to own more fully what is becoming our dream for Minneapolis in a way that submission to me as husband never could.  So, just as I was feeling ready to pack my bags and get out of the snow, God brought us into a position of newly passionate unity in our ministry and life here in Minnesota.  Now I, for maybe the first time, have a free “helper” in what God has called us to do and what fun it promises to be.  This is the kind of vulnerability it will take for men to lead the way in covenant and to share their authority.  We must help pull the dreams out of the women in our lives because all too often they have been concealed by wounds.  Some times calling out their dreams may mean being willing to lay ours down.

When husbands begin to lay down their lives and leave their pasts behind for their wives they will begin to see for the first time the fullness of “one flesh.”  God has placed beautiful, dreaming hearts in men and women and He desires to see all people fulfilled in their dreams.  Thus, there is a divine and mystical exchange that is designed to happen in marriage called, “one flesh.”  This is not only a sexual reference, or a reference to the intimate ways in which you grow to know a spouse, but actually the miraculous truth that two messy, complicated people are knit together as one.  Not only that, but this one will always be greater than the two.  Involved in this exchange are dreams, vision, and hopes for the future.  When two people are willing to authentically submit their everything to each other the result will always be an increase.  The dreams my wife and I are currently developing and walking out for our future are greater than anything we would have dreamed apart.  I had to lay down my dreams, as did she, but in the end we are both finding our hearts coming alive with new and incredible vision that we now have a committed partner to share in.  Any area of our marriages where half of what should be the “one flesh” is dictating the direction and substance of what defines the couple there is a problem.  God is not into the business of natural contracts where there is compromise, but supernatural covenants where we receive all and then some.

I know Paul said he would prefer people to be single, but he didn’t take that up with God first.  God doesn’t mind people being single, and he in fact, as Paul accurately says, gives people a gift for singleness on occasion.(See 1 Cor. 7)   However, unless you are given a special gift God’s design is for you to be married.  That means that God desires for most of the men in the world to be married to women and vice-versa.  This is a revelation the church as a whole owns pretty well, but the revelation they don’t own is that married people are not designed to do ministry without their spouse.  When we are married, the two become one flesh.  In fact, we men are missing a part of us that was taken out to make our wives.  Without each other we are not whole people.  Thus, any strategy or structure for church leadership that showcases half a person as a leader cannot be completely effective. The church will not step into the fullness purchased by Christ until women are properly honored.  The same verse that warns men that their prayers will not be answered if they do not honor their wives refers to women as heirs with their husbands of the grace of life.  As I was reading that a while back God told me that he wouldn’t give me my inheritance apart from my wife.  We will not be given the grace needed to step into our destinies as long as the team that was meant to be one is divided in two.  It is a symptom of the illness of the church that the leaders we can name, whether men or women, seldom are associated with their same leading spouse.  I am encouraged though to see that many big names in the world of worship are married couples making music together.  I believe this is a prophetic promise from God of what is to come in every facet and arena of the church.

Men Coming Alive in the Home

When I say every facet I must include the home.  Something I need to make clear is that despite my emphasis of men’s need to give authority to women in the church, the opposite is also true.  As documented in Genesis 3, in the same way that women were cursed to have men rule over them, they were also given authority and dominion over the house and children.  The separation which came as a result of the fall led not only to men gaining power and authority in the world, but also women gaining those same things within the household.  This too is an authority that needs to be shared in equity!  Just as much as women are being under-empowered in the workings of the church, men are still being under-empowered in the workings of the family.  I constantly find myself talking to men in and out of the church who are very passionate about being good fathers, very sincere in their efforts to be husbands, but feel ill-equipped and insecure in their abilities to do so.  There are many fathers in our churches that have it as a theological position that the thing they are to offer is financial security for their families.  Just as women have been talked to like bench players in church authority, many men are just trying to eek out a passing grade as a father and husband.  It is even more acceptable for women to joke and make fun of men’s inability as fathers and caretakers in the home than it is for men to make jokes of the same nature with regards to women’s roles outside the home.  I myself, who am a man that would think himself very equipped to cook, clean, raise kids, and love my wife, (I actually taught my wife how to cook) have realized my own lack of authority in the home.  When it comes to caring for our infant son the two of us are very close to equals.  I do all the same things she does besides breastfeeding, but I have noticed a tendency in myself to ask for a form of permission and approval as to what needs to be done.  For example, before changing his clothes or diaper, putting him to bed, or down for a nap I have caught myself asking her what to do or whether she thinks I should do something, even when I know exactly what I want to do and what needs to be done.  This has been a subtle tendency in me, and something I have for the most part overlooked but the Lord has revealed to me the roots of insecurity and lack of authority which lay under such behavior.  Women too must catch a vision for lending authority to their husbands.  When this happens not only will the church step into greater fullness, but broken families will be healed, and trends of divorce, missing fathers, and workaholic dads will be halted.

Family Ministry

I will thus end with a glimpse into an even bigger aspect of God’s vision for the church.  For as much as I must champion marriage ministry, I do so because God’s heart is in the end for “family ministry.”  I mentioned the lie earlier of men needing to be most concerned about mission and outward church things, while women need to be focused on mate and inward family things.  I will say here that women, like Mary, have chosen the better part.  God’s vision for life is nowhere Master, Mission, Mate.  Contrary, it is always Master, Mate, Mission for every person, every where.  God’s command to mankind was first to be fruitful and multiply, followed by instruction to have dominion over the world.  Men and women together are to be in covenant first with God, second with family, and lastly with outward community.  We must honor outside relationships and God is calling his children to realize what honor and faithfulness mean in regard to community, but we must first honor our families.  Honor flows from heaven and it is meant to have a trickle down within families from generation to generation.  There is a reason the first church was comprised of many homes, and I believe God is restoring homes as churches.  Men have been given the honor of leading the way in covenant in their homes and as that happens entire families will be equipped and set free as Kingdom carrying men and women reigning and co-reigning with each other and God.