Wednesday, 25 June 2008

• God's purpose for Christian Men: a High Bar

  by mr. oak

  I was reading le_meme_chose's post about God's Purpose for Christian Women and began to think about God's purpose for Christian Men.  First of all - I always found the word 'feminist' to be a funny word cause of male alternative - 'masculinist.'  Masculinist just sounds like a type of magician and ventroliquist mashed together. 

  Any event - I've heard a bunch of parochial statements from my jovial Christian brothers saying that men should be the head of the household, that all final decisions are for the man, and the remote control (symbol of all control in the household) is forever attached to the man's hand.  But after I got married - this is far from the truth.  Let's back up a little here and check out the Bible (which i affectionately think really stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth). 

  The ever so famous verse that comes to mind says this:  "Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave him himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with the water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkles or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."

  I have to say I've read this countless times and just nodded my head and moved on - but brothers, really read this.  I mean carefully.  Check out how high the standards are!  Love your wife as much as Christ loved the church.... uh...could the bar be any higher?  It's like how I would bring a test with an A home and my Asian parents would ask "Why not A+?"  And let's not forget the giving yourself up, making her holy (I have trouble making myself remotely holy!), cleansing her with the Word, etc etc etc. 

  And this is where I am - once I got married I realized the burden is on me - that my decision to marry my beautiful wife is also a calling to uphold her to the highest, to respect her, to love her fully.  In ways, I began to realize that I'm called to be her servant - to be the Jesus that got down on his knees to wash his disciples' feet.  So in ways - some of my brothers were right.  We are called  to be leaders of our household, but not in the way we would normally think - but how Jesus lead.  Through complete giving, sacrifice, and pure love.  *Sigh* - still a long ways to go, but working at it. 

  I think one of the best ways to put it was when Spider-Man's aunt said 'a man has to be understanding and put his wife before himself.'  Thanks Aunt May.

  What do you think it means for man to be the leader of the household?

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