Musing – Are Modern Roles of Men and Women becoming Non-Biblical?

 

   Hebraic Musing – Are Modern Roles of Men and Women becoming Non-Biblical?

Women have traditionally fulfilled and gained joy in supportive roles in serving the church, they also get their sense of accomplishment from being wives and mothers.  Has the feminist movement influenced many women to abandon these divinely ordained roles?  Is that trend becoming evident in the Church?  Unfortunately, has this trend also been creating confusion in families and homes as well?

What happened at Creation?   “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Gen 1:27 NIV   So the Bible begins with the equality of the sexes. As persons, as spiritual beings standing before God, men and women are absolutely equal.  But then Chapter 2 reveals differences in their God-given functions and responsibilities.  God did not create the man and the woman at the same time, but rather He created Eve later for the specific purpose of being Adam’s helper.  BTW, God also refers to Himself as a Helper.  “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.”  Ps. 33:20   Eve was equal to Adam, but she was given the role and duty of submitting to him as helper.  The responsibility of wives to submit to their husbands, then, was part of God’s plan from creation.   

Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God’s command resulted in a consequence.  “To the woman he said, … Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Gen. 3:16   As a result, marriages throughout history face an ongoing struggle, with women seeking control and men seeking dominance.

Women in the Old Testament were active in the religious life of Israel, but generally they were not leaders.  No woman had an ongoing prophetic ministry, or was a priest, or a queen ruling Israel.  And no woman wrote an OT or NT book.  Greek, Roman, Jewish cultures and many countries today view women almost as possessions, while Jesus showed love and respect for women.  He also taught Mary and, when admonished by Martha, He had to point out the priority of learning spiritual truth even over “womanly” responsibilities like serving guests in one’s home (see Luke 10:38-41).

In the Epistles, the two principles of equality and submission for women exist side by side. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28   This points to their equality.  The way of salvation is the same for both and they have equal standing in the body of Christ.

Christian marriage involves mutual love and submission between two believers.  “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”  And then, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.” Eph. 5:21-22  And there are three more NT verses expressly giving wives the responsibility to submit to their husbands; -- Col. 3:18; Titus 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:1.  This voluntary submission of one equal to another is an expression of love for God and a desire to follow His design as revealed in His Word.  It is never pictured as demeaning or in any way diminishing the wife’s equality or importance.  In fact, the husband is called to love his wife sacrificially.  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Eph. 5:25.

The husbands and fathers are given the primary responsibility for the leadership of their children.  “He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.” 1 Tim. 3:4   Meanwhile, wives and mothers are urged to be “workers at home”; “to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.” Titus 2:5.   Their home and their children are to be their priority.  Is this in contrast to today’s emphasis on careers and full-time jobs for women outside the home?  Did women in the workplace became normalized after WWII?

The Apostle Paul respected women and worked side by side with them.   “help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel,” Phil. 4:3, but he appointed no female elders or pastors.  In his letters, he urged that men were to be the leaders in the church and that women were not to teach or exercise authority over men.  They are to be silent in church, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man;” 1 Tim. 2:12.  Therefore, although women are spiritual equals with men and the ministry of women is essential to the body of Christ, women were, or are, excluded from leadership over men in the church.

SUMMARY:  Women are mentioned as fulfilling many vital roles in the Church but not one of them is leadership.  The apostles were all men who did the chief missionary activity, wrote the New Testament, and lead the churches.  The Church was entrusted to Men.  I’ve heard it said - “Only in obedience to Him and His design will both men and women truly be able, in the fullest sense, to give glory to God!”   But what should the men be doing?  Or not doing?

Points to ponder

Have you seen a Biblical example of a Husband/Wife working relationship? 
And what kind of family is the result?

Are roles of women in other countries/cultures different than in America?  Are they more Biblical?

Biggest question - Are American men fulfilling their role as Spiritual Heads of the Households?

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

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                             October 20, 2026
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Additional Books on this topic:          Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs
                                                            Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray