"Act Like Men! Be Strong!" (Despite the Feminization Trend of the Church)

A recent N.Y. Post story was recently released with a most unexpected title (for a secular news organization)- Feminism Has Destabilized the American Family.  Despite such admissions, Christian feminism has made a resurgence within conservative evangelical camps- from the PCA to Southern Baptist to non-denominational churches. 

A Pastor-friend of mine summarized the biblical view of manhood and womanhood as follows: The woman was created from the man TO SHOW THE MAN that he is to cherish his wife as he does his own flesh.

The woman was not created from his head TO SHOW HER that she is not to usurp his authority as her head.

But the woman was also not created from his feet TO SHOW HIM that she is not to be trampled and walked upon as if she does not also bear the image and dignity of God.

The woman is created not from the head or the feet of man, but from his rib, from his side, and close to his heart. She is his companion. She complements him; completes him.  In the great mystery of Divinely instituted marriage the two become one.

Man and woman are "joined at the hip". They flourish in the world when they join one another in showcasing their distinctions. In this God is glorified and the gospel put on effective and full display.

Today's post by Pastor Buice goes along with a series of articles on Troubling Trends Influencing the Christian Church.

"Satan delights in denigrating what God created as good. It has always been God’s plan for his Church to possess a certain masculinity in leadership and that masculinity flows into the general membership as well. One of the depressing realities of our modern culture is the assault upon masculinity as if it’s somehow a bad thing. While we can all certainly agree that male dominance is not God’s plan for his Church—the plan to extract male leadership and characteristics from God’s Church is certainly not healthy—in fact it’s downright sinful.

When Paul was closing out his letter to the church in the city of Corinth, he wrote these words in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” We must recall that Paul was writing to a church that was in desperate need of theological and practical correction. The apostle took a firm stance against their sin, and then pointed them to the proper means of living out the gospel of Christ. Apparently one of their struggles was centered on love and their lack of manliness. William Robertson Nicoll observes that these exhortations are “directed respectively against the heedlessness, fickleness, childishness, and moral enervation of the” church at Corinth. [1]

Stand Firm!

After nine years of church revitalization work in a previous ministry context I can personally affirm the points Charles Spurgeon drives home in his short address on "Standing Firm."

As was noted in a previous article the three major Trojan Horses that are sneaking into the Bible-believing Church right now are: 1) Thin Complementarianism ("Christian feminism" is en vogue again); 2) A modified view of sexuality (note Same Sex Attraction teaching), 3) A left leaning understanding of racial justice (i.e. a Christianized version of critical race theory/cultural Marxism).  Because conservative evangelicals have been swept away in the "Celebrity Culture" the Church today as at risk of making subtle compromises.  Have you noticed how if well known church leaders ("experts") from the Gospel Coalition or _____ promotes something how the masses seem to almost blindly follow?  Sola Scriptura is affirmed on paper but is often not fleshed out in daily life and in church ministry.  Now more than ever, do we need courageous believers who are willing to flesh out the implications of 1 Corinthians 16:13 and to stand firm (regardless of the cost)!