Paul's Passing Thoughts

The “Christian” elite rarely make headlines for anything good. They either get caught with both hands in the cookie jar or say something stupid. Last week, it was the latter via the mouth of Christian elitist Kirk Cameron. Apparently, this is what caused the uproar: “Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband’s lead, not to tell a husband how he ought to be a better husband.”

Let me propose something. At best, being your wife’s master is a matter of Christian liberty. You can cite Bible verses that make you the master of the house, and your wife may buy into it, but men are never specifically commanded in the Bible to be the lords of their household. Furthermore, if you live in Saudi Arabia or a place like that, that endeavor works really well, but in America, not so much. In America, if your wife chooses to disobey you, there is really nothing you can do about it other than divorce her or other courses of action that are against the law. For example, you grab your wife by the arm and squeeze too hard—you’re going to jail. And frankly, that’s the way it should be. And wife spanking? I know a guy who went to jail for that, and again, rightfully so.

A pity the Holy Spirit didn’t see America coming; now everything is in cultural confusion. So, when you go to the Protestant temple on Sunday to get more salvation and hear a sermon about the lordship of husbands, and your wife ends up in the isle rolling on the floor laughing (ROFL), what to do?

Let’s interpret Scripture with a big picture and in context. First of all, we must be careful because the essence of sin, according to the Bible, is a lust to control others. Like sin, power-hungry people want to control others—they like to be boss. In cultures like America, those who desire control must improvise accordingly because social caste isn’t the law. This is usually done through assassinating self-esteem. The vast majority of marriage counseling is two people with a long list describing the faults of the other mate in order to make a case for control. “My husband should listen to me and do what I say because he is stupid and here is the list that proves it” and vice versa.

Hence, we can see this very dynamic in Cameron’s statement: “Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband’s lead, not to tell a husband how he ought to be a better husband.” See it? The wife’s attempt to control; “not to tell a husband how he ought to be a better husband,” and the husband’s attempt to control: “Wives are to honor and respect and follow their husband’s lead.” Of course, Cameron’s statement, like all Protestant-speak, is full of the redefinition of words for purposes of Protestant mind control. Leadership is totally unnecessary where there is authority. Cameron could have honestly said, “Wives are to remain silent and obey their husband’s lordship.” Leadership is the art of persuasion and setting an example to follow, not a demand for subservient obedience. This particular issue is a decent example of the Protestant metaphysical shell game through the use of words: “leadership” covers for “authority,” and “follow” covers for “obey.” And “husband” covers for “lord,” and “wife” covers for “You are the women and Eve sinned first so you don’t know your right hand from your left.”

This is my personal testimony: when I caught hold of how the Bible defines all of these words and their use in context, I lost all desire to control people or tell them what to do. Seriously, I have no desire whatsoever to control anybody; not only am I poor at it to begin with, it isn’t fun anymore. It is so freeing to simply set an example and let people decide whether or not they can benefit from your example. After being a pastor in the institutional church for years and suffering through all of the control politics there are no words to explain the freedom and peace that I feel in all of this. I will give an account for my life before Christ and the example that I set for others; nothing more or less. This is the biblical definition of “love.”

Love persuades people for their own benefit and doesn’t keep a list of wrongs because the goal is not control, but cooperative unity. And unfortunately, many marriages are doomed to failure because people do not understand these biblical dynamics going into marriage. This is why Protestantism produces more marriages of slavery than any other mindset. Orthodoxy, because of the way it defines biblical words, picks a fight with common sense and creates a control war between people on many levels. And, couples are not allowed out of the war because you know; divorce is “against the law of gaaawwwd!” Amen. As a former pastor in the institutional church, I never saw more marriages of coexistence in one place.

This also goes hand in hand with the whole…”The church is the bride of Christ” thing, another orthodox refrain often espoused by Cameron. See, wives should obey husbands the way the church obeys Christ. It is a caste pecking order. The church is the wife of Christ, and He is Lord, so obviously, wives should obey their husbands the way the church obeys Christ. Again, notice that “obey” and “submit” cover for what word used specifically in the Scriptures? Right…”LOVE.” Wives are to “respect” their husbands and husbands are to “love” their wives—not lord it over them.

And remember, when it gets right down to it, Christ led, and NEVER invoked His authority. It just never happened. It will happen, but not in this age. So, there is presently an authoritative pecking order in this age? Well, in case you haven’t noticed, heaven isn’t enforcing it. If you want to know what things will look like when that happens, read the book of Revelation.

Christians are to lead quiet lives of love and edification down where we live and not be entangled in the affairs of the world where power over others is the name of the game. Because Protestantism misunderstands the difference between authority and loving leadership, conflict can be observed on every level of life. Like the world, Protestantism clamors to control the lives of people in their homes, and culturally. They believe God’s kingdom is presently on earth, and this necessarily requires authority on every level of life; what they call, “love.” Cameron even said it in the midst of the controversy: “I love all people and I have hatred toward no one. I’m also a man of conviction, and if you press me, I’ll give you my perspective on a social issue if you ask.”

Right, Protestants love everyone; that’s why you should let them rule over you for your own good. Because they love you so much. And society can also benefit from the way Protestants love their wives; that is, those wives who keep their mouths shut and “respect” (being interpreted, “obey”) their husbands.

Want a good example of how this works? Research the history of Protestantism before the American idea came along. That’s their definition of love.

paul