Submit? To Him?

This morning begins our Christian Home Emphasis. We are taking the next six weeks to study what God has to say about living the Christian life in the Christian home.

Our beginning point is to investigate the Biblical perspective on feminism. For starters we read two texts; one makes the radical feminist beam, the other makes ¡¥em steam!

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10,

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:22

The priceless woman ¡V nobody objects, and Hallmark carries the day. Then, there is, wives, submit¡KOh boy! If ever there was a Biblical statement that sets 21st century teeth on edge! (¡Kor any other century)! But, then there has always been a very decided contrast between God¡¦s Word and what the world thinks!

To the committed radical feminist who worships at the altar of Gloria Steinem, the very idea of submitting to anyone, much less a man¡Kis like saying you enjoy dropping bricks on your own toes.

The problem with attempting to match-up radical feminist doctrine with God¡¦s plan for marriage and the home is the same as tying two cats¡¦ tails together and expecting them to live in harmony ¡V it aint gonna happen!

Proverbs 31 presents the Virtuous Woman (i.e. Superwoman) who is perfect in every way ¡V able to balance professional career, husband, 2.6 children, dog, Sunday School teaching and still keep a cheerful countenance when the telemarketer calls in the middle of fixing a gourmet dinner. Paul says (Eph 5.22) that woman is also able to submit to her husband ¡V follow his leadership.

If you combine the two you have the poster-woman for Heaven¡¦s woman of the year. You also have a woman with a bullseye on her back for the world¡¦s feminists to mock. In a sermon one pastor put the feminist movement in perspective¡K

The struggle of the battle of the sexes, men versus women started at the beginning of history when, in the Garden of Eden, Adam blamed Eve for his disobedience to God.

But, in the last 20-25 years the conflict has certainly escalated. There seems to be quite a few women out there who, if they don¡¦t hate men, they certainly have a difficult time liking them. For example, there is a professor at Boston University who refuses to let men attend her classes. In fact, she is on leave right now because one of the male students she kicked out of a class took her to court.

Of course, there are also plenty of men who are misogynists, women haters. Like Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, they say, "I¡¦d face a new edition of the Spanish Inquisition than to ever let a woman in my life." In many circles, the lines are clearly drawn. Men on one side, and women on the other.

Listen to some of the bullets which have been fired in this battle of the sexes. Char Wittman said, Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought of as half as good. Luckily this is not difficult. Lady Nancy Astor once remarked, I married beneath my level. All women do.

On the other side, there is W. C. Fields who said, Women are like elephants to me. I like to look at them, but I don¡¦t want one of them in my house.

( Dan Erickson, SermonCentral.com.....

http://www.life.1stbaptist.org/SER062099-21.htm)

There are two kinds of thinking, or measuring sticks with which to approach the very different thinking of God versus the National Organization of Women.

Inductive Thinking is spiritual/Biblical in nature. It starts with the basic thesis that God is right, and moves outward, examining whatever evidence there is in the light of Biblical revelation. For instance, God said submission is right. We start by saying ¡§Amen¡¨, and then investigating to seek God¡¦s meaning and guidance to understand.

Deductive Thinking starts without any premise, simply examining available evidence and drawing conclusions. This methodology begins with the basic premise of humanism ¡V whatever I like is good; whatever I dislike can be discarded. Submitting is uncomfortable, so I can discard that notion.

Most feminists examine human interaction on a deductive basis. In so-doing they ignore God in the equation. And, most feminists, if they¡¦re somewhat sincere and honest wind up eating their words in the long run.

Do you remember the 60¡¦s and Gloria Steinem? She began trashing the whole idea of marriage more than 30 years ago. She was a militant activist in the women¡¦s liberation movement. She wrote an article which appeared in the Washington Post, about the outcome of the women¡¦s liberation movement, feminism¡¦s god¡K

"The family system that will emerge is a great subject of anxiety. Probably there will be a variety of choices. Colleague marriages, such as young people have now, with both partners going to law-school or the Peace Corps together, is one alternative. At least they share more than the kitchen and the bedroom. Communes; marriages that are valid for the child-rearing years only ¡V there are many possibilities. The point is that Women¡¦s Liberation is not destroying the American family. It is trying to build a human compassionate alternative out of its ruins."