There are many cliches concerning "Christian" marriage flying around. They are modern day sayings that supposedly support the hierarchy of Compism or Patriarchy.
Let's look at one today:
"Someone has to be in charge."
I'm sure most of "you have heard it said": "Someone has to be charge."
It is an incredibly common phrase. It is also incredibly false when held up against the words of Jesus in red.
Let's look at those words.
Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
Mark10:42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus *said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant;
Luke 22:24 And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.
These words of Jesus are mentioned in three out of four of the Gospels and meets the need of a matter being established by two or three witnesses.
[Matthew 18:16 BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.]
According to Jesus, whose credentials we established last week as the final word on all things, the saying that someone has to be in charge in a marriage is completely false. And in fact, whoever wants to be the boss or the leader, he (or she) must make themselves the servant. And Jesus did not mean servant leader, another off-the-wall-crazy-double-speak saying that is liberally thrown around. Jesus meant servant, as in SERVANT. Servant leader does not fit in this equation in any conceivable way without some major twisting and manipulating by people who don't want to obey Matthew 20:25-26, Mark 10:42-43, and Luke 22:24-26.
There are no loop-holes in these words in red, no matter how men want to read Peter and Paul
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5 comments:
Great post. Can I contend with one thing though?
That "matter is to be established by 2 or 3 witnesses" has been used by many to control others. I think it can easily be read as a practical commonly accepted idea, rather than a religious law.
Why? Because, if you have just one person, something is simply hearsay. If you have more than one, a story can be corroborated, and an alibi can be established. We use this idea in our justice system to great effect.
What say you?
Sounds fine to me. I just like laying it all out. If three of the four gospels contain these words, then it's probably safe to say that they were quite intentional and not some slip of the tongue or a misunderstanding of what He said.
Ah! I see what you meant there! Sorry. You can redact my comment if you want.
Nah, it's a perfectly good comment. I'm a firm believer in looking at things from as many angles as our limited understanding will allow.
It's established in the Word.
It's also a commonly accepted idea.
So who want so come and refute it?
I double dog dare ya! ;)
Okay... so what if an abusive leader is really good at confining him/herself to private actions, so that there is only ever one witness?
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