Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Colossians 3:18-25
Having described the Christians’ lives as “hidden in Christ” in the previous verses, Paul now shows what this looks like in family relationships. Christians’ lives should demonstrate two basic truths: First, living as new people starts at home. Our families should be the first to see our new life in Christ. Sometimes, it can be harder to be Christ-like toward them than others. Second, Jesus’ disciples are called to die to self in all our relationships. As Paul addresses wives, husbands, and children in today’s verses, his words are strange to our culture, for the notion of a wife’s submission to her husband is rejected as outdated, and, to some, it seems that obeying one’s parents is optional. Even some of those Christians, who look to biblical leadership, are uncomfortable with these verses, saying it was a “temporary” rule adopted to make Christianity palatable to first-century Romans or some even call the text oppressive and deny its divine authority. Christian men must recognize that female oppression has been among humanity far too long. Women carry the same divine image of God as do men. Misusing this Scripture to condemn oppression does not mean Paul’s rules were temporary. Paul’s guide for families here has Christian ideas, love, pleasing the Lord, not discouraging children. Paul, who is NOT a man pleaser but a God pleaser, is not shaping his ethics to make Christianity more acceptable to non-Christians. The triune God defines equality differently than our culture, and His Word judges us, not the culture! Paul shows us that equality and submission are not mutually exclusive. The Father and the Son are coequal in deity and dignity, but the Son submits Himself to the Father. Similarly, husbands and wives are of equal value, though wives submit themselves to their own husbands. Paul expands on male and female roles in Ephesians. Submission need not mean some household chores belong exclusively to wives and others to husbands. A proper interpretation of Scripture’s view of marital roles is Godly and should not be thought of as archaic or improper.
Source: S C Ball February 29, 2024
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