The Root Issue Regarding Gender
By Jonathan Teram

     I led a Bible class in Muscatine on 2 Corinthians 4.  That was a mistake, for without studying 2 Corinthians 1, 2, and 3, chapter 4 doesn’t make that much sense.  But it was fresh in my mind, so I decided to do it.  Originally, however, I planned to talk about men and women—their similarities and, more importantly, their differences.  Genesis 1 – 3 would have been my text. 

     The subject of men and women (really, masculinity and femininity) is no small matter.  I love deep subjects.  Years ago, I viewed the cross, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, the church, and other such issues as being of the utmost importance.  However, books about men and women bored me to death.  “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”?—spare me, I thought.  What was important to me was doctrine, not relationships.  Since then, however, my perspective has changed.  There are few subjects more important than what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman.

      One more thing about my former perspective: I viewed the subject of “the roles of men and women in the church” as being very important.  And to be honest, that’s about as deep as our discussions on masculinity and femininity are in the church.  Now, “the roles of men and women in the church” is a worthy subject, but it only scratches the surface of the real issue at hand.  You see, we’re living in strange times.  Ask the average person today if men and women are equal.  What will he/she say?  “Of course they’re equal!” Okay, are men and women the same?  “Well, they have different body parts but aside from that they are the same.”  But this is manifestly untrue.  Men and women are profoundly different!  But look what happens when a generation believes men and women are the same.  If men and women are the same, then it really doesn’t matter if a man marries a man or if a woman marries a woman, right?  If men and women are the same then it really doesn’t matter if the man is the protector or if the woman is the protector, right?  If men and women are the same then it’s acceptable for men to dress like women and for women to dress like men, right?  If men and women are the same then it doesn’t matter whether a child has a mother and father or two mothers or two fathers, right?  Ah, I can go on.  So you see, the root problem is not textual (“Does the Bible forbid women to…”) nor is it even cultural (“Today’s woman does this, that and the other thing…”).  No—the root issue is that many people in our society—even in the church—believe that men and women are basically the same. 

     There are two things which prove beyond any reasonable doubt that men and women are profoundly different.  The first is the Bible, which admittedly matters little to a secular world.  The second is a combination of experience and common sense.  Space will not permit me to list the differences between men and women.  I’m sure that there are more differences than I currently realize.  Elisabeth Elliot—a woman I greatly admire—has written a lot of great things about those differences.  In my opinion, the church should focus on teaching young people how men and women are different.  The “roles” issue will then settle itself.  Boys need to learn what “the mark of a man” is.  Girls need to learn what the mark of a woman is.  Men and women are of equal worth before God, but they are not the same; they are complimentary.  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27)