Ephesians 5:22-33
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.[a] 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
At the In the Image of God: Love and Marriage conference, while listening to one of the main plenary speakers Christopher West, a thought occurred to me. Paul in Ephesians is presenting us a view of marriage that is wholly rooted in our understanding of Christ and the church. We take the step of applying the sacrificial life of Christ to the intended sacrificial life of husbands. We apply the life of the wife to the submissive life of the church to the will of God.
What would happen if we took Paul’s logic one step further? What would happen if we considered all our family decisions and practice in light of this reality? A number of ethical dilemmas come to light. Would the bride of Christ, the church say to her husband “You know, honey… our house is getting a bit cramped, the money is running short, you’re not home enough, I’m too busy…. let’s stop having children, let’s be voluntarily sterile so that we can focus on the children we have, let’s not consume our earth’s resources, the world really is too full.” Can you imagine the church fundamentally denying her mission of birthing new lives through baptism? Can you see the church turning away souls from her door because of space, time, money, or resources?
This seems an interesting short circuit in our logic of applying this text. What do you think?
(p.s. It appears I have broken my theological posting fast! :) )
Related posts:
- thinking-out-loud: The Marriage and Family of God
- Cyberstones: What the Teacher Wants
- Sexual Formation
- Married Women Happiest in a Blend of Modern and Traditional
- Begger’s All: Ethics and Family Planning
(p.s. It appears I have broken my theological posting fast! )
Woo, hoo!!!!!
=)