Shameless borrowing
It is painful to me how much of the way I live is derived from other sources. Then again, the "original" thoughts that come to me have a tendency to be a little more than annoying (or dangerous when it comes to the games my boys and I play) to most people. But every once and a while the pain of derivation is lessened somewhat when I think of a new way to combine what has been said or written to bring clarity to my all-too-little world. Yesterday was an example of this.
It is hard for me to explain the concept of "roles" that, especially, my wife and I have been given when it comes to our position in the family unit. I am the head of the family as Christ is head of the church and called to continually love and "out-sacrifice" my wife (as Christ did for the church). Submitting to her needs I am to be an example of the servant leader that he was for us. My wife's role in the family is to lovingly submit to me (as the church does to Christ) and be my eyes, ears, hands, and feet as she faithfully helps me as I lead. As humans we naturally prescribe a pecking order and look to the "greater" role (mine) as the one that is to be desired and valued. Anything less is strictly patriarchal and more than a little cruel.
Paul would have bristled at this illusion for he saw that the delivery of the letter to the Colossians by Tychicus (not expressly stated but strongly implied) to be as important as the words he had written. In fact he called Tychicus a fellow servant and knew the importance of the role that God gave to him. What good would it have been if the words he wrote were to lie on the floor of the prison he penned them from? So, from now on, I will explain the relationship that my wife and I have to the family unit thusly: we are fellow servants of Christ that have been given different roles to play (or different roles to fill - we'll see which phrase come sout of my mouth when the time comes).
It is hard for me to explain the concept of "roles" that, especially, my wife and I have been given when it comes to our position in the family unit. I am the head of the family as Christ is head of the church and called to continually love and "out-sacrifice" my wife (as Christ did for the church). Submitting to her needs I am to be an example of the servant leader that he was for us. My wife's role in the family is to lovingly submit to me (as the church does to Christ) and be my eyes, ears, hands, and feet as she faithfully helps me as I lead. As humans we naturally prescribe a pecking order and look to the "greater" role (mine) as the one that is to be desired and valued. Anything less is strictly patriarchal and more than a little cruel.
Paul would have bristled at this illusion for he saw that the delivery of the letter to the Colossians by Tychicus (not expressly stated but strongly implied) to be as important as the words he had written. In fact he called Tychicus a fellow servant and knew the importance of the role that God gave to him. What good would it have been if the words he wrote were to lie on the floor of the prison he penned them from? So, from now on, I will explain the relationship that my wife and I have to the family unit thusly: we are fellow servants of Christ that have been given different roles to play (or different roles to fill - we'll see which phrase come sout of my mouth when the time comes).
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