The Oppressive Regime
Hello dear friends. I have been thinking lately about a few items I feel need to be cleared up. Let me begin by posing a hypothetic scenario: Let's say that you had a VERY honorable and wealthy father. Before you were born his name was respected everywhere. You had never heard anything bad about him nor had you witnessed him ever having broken a promise or conducting his affairs in an unacceptable manner. But then a few powerful business men decided that he was worth too much. So out of spite and jealousy they decided to devise a scheme to bring him down by slandering his good name, forging documents, and conspiring with all the others who despised his state of existence as well. Soon, they were getting the upper hand. You knew this well because as his name grew less honorable, so did yours! This kept happening until you basically couldn't even be seen in public. You were cussed at, made fun of, called a liar, thrown at, and even made death threats against.......... all because of a few spiteful, hateful people. So one day, despite all of this unfairness, you are faced with a decision: "Do I retaliate, or do I remain calmly firm?"
Just as you are pondering your situation, you find yourself upon the side of the road looking at a man who appears to be drowning. As it so happens, it is winter and the water is almost freezing. But since you are a good man (of the same honor and character as your father), you run to save the drowning man anyway knowing full well the risk. As you approach the water you realize that it was one of the people who despised you and your father. However, you see the sheer terror in his eyes and his total helplessness. Without even a thought for what he has done against you, you jump in to save him.
Meanwhile, your father is at home as a friend frantically knocks at the door, "Please open up! Please! I have a horrible message for you!"
As your father opens the door, he realizes by the look in his friend's eye just what has happened. The friend brings news of your drowning while saving another man's life. The father, although in despair, is filled with joy in the fact that he raised his only son to be of such a noble and selfless character-----even to those who hate him.
Soon all the people in the land hear of this great deed and little by little the word gets out. After a while your father's name is cleared because of the man who's life you saved. The saved man testified even to his own friends that you died for him.
Does this story sound familiar? To any Christian it aught to. It parallels Jesus' and God's relationship to each other on many levels. But there still remains a struggle to resolve and a question to answer. The question is: Would you do the same for someone who insulted you and your family out of spite? The struggle is: We are charged to strive to attain the perfection of God. In other words: We MUST try to attain even THAT level of agape love and forgiveness in our lives........ so much that we should even die to SAVE another.
But that was all just a precursor. Remember, I entitled this blog (or "sermon" if you will) "The Oppressive Regime" You might ask, "What does God and Jesus have to do with an Oppressive Regime?"
The answer is that God and Jesus ARE NOT part of ANY oppressive regime. Read your Bible. It says that God lets the sun shine on the good and the wicked. Matthew 11:30 says "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light". It says too in Genesis that God gave us all FREE WILL. In other words: God WILL NOT FORCE a decision upon us. It says that: " 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) It also says that God loved the world so much that He gave His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) Would YOU give your only son to die at the hands of your enemies? But God IS THAT GOOD. **Please remember all these things as I now arrive at the main point of this blog.
The main point of this blog is about how some so-called "godly men" choose to run their household.... their "regime". Let's first start off with what roles the Bible says men and women play respectively within the holy marriage. Ephesians 5:22-24 says: "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." Before we go on, let's tear this text apart. All three sentences are analogies comparing the man's role to Jesus' role and the woman's role as the church's. But what IS the role of Christ? We all know what the role of the church is. But how many times do we REALLY question what the role of Christ is? Well, we KNOW that Jesus and God are as one and that the only way to God is through Christ. So you must ask yourself: "How would Jesus behave as the head of a regime?" As God, does He FORCE us to do certain things? Nope. We have free will. Does He get angry at every little thing that we mess up? Nope. Do you? Does He love His people unconditionally? YES! If husbands are to be like the Lord then they must ACT like the Lord!
Now let us read on.... Ephesians 5:25-28 says: "25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." Wow. That's pretty self-explanatory. Except, why is it that most "men" stop at verse 24?. These verses CONFIRM what I JUST explained! (**remember what I said in the last part of paragraph 8?)
Ok, now let's take verse 33 in the same chapter: "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." Do you HATE yourself? Do you boss YOURSELF around? Do you disbelieve YOURSELF? Then why is it alright to do that with your wife? You just read the Bible chapters.
Now let's take 1 Peter 3:1-6......."1Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 5For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear." What does this say? Well, it firstly says that the wife's ACTIONS are most important (as everyone's ACTIONS are). It says that if a husband does not believe what his wife says, that he soon will because of how she CONDUCTS herself. It says that a true womanly beauty comes from the INNER SELF being of gentle spirit and worshipping God FIRST (as in NOT you first). Notice also how it says "if you DO WHAT IS RIGHT and do not give way to FEAR."
Now let's look at 1 Peter 3:7........"7Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.." Notice how it says "IN THE SAME WAY be considerate........ " Let me ask you something: is being bossy, irritable, unbelieving, disrespectful being considerate? Are you being any way like God? Colossians 3:19 also says: "Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them."
Ask yourselves: "Have I conducted myself wrongly towards my wife? Have I been forceful? Have I been unbelieving? Have I been non encouraging? Have I despised her? Have I treated her disrespectfully?" If you answer yes to even one of these, you are NOT following the way scripture tells us to act. You are to be like Christ. Christ was full of love. Christ did not force people to do things. Christ was not inconsiderate. Christ uplifted people and healed them and forgave them. Is that what you are doing or are you the head of an "Oppressive Regime"?
Their are a couple small issues I need to address before I end my blog. One is that their may be arguments as to the difference between Agape love and spousal love. Well, you would be right. BUT, only to the extent that they do differ. Agape love is the highest form of love and it overshadows and is the absolute ruler and standard above all other types of love. Agape love is to the other loves as the Greatest Commandment is to the Ten Commandments. So, if you use your spousal love as an excuse to treat your wife badly, you are yielding to a lower love and using it as an excuse to bastardize the Agape love that should rule over it.
Also, I do not claim to be perfect. None of us are. But I am driven by the Holy Spirit to let these truths be known. I think that a lot of otherwise good Christian men are being duped by their own sense of pride into thinking that "head of the household" means "dictator". Did David or Solomon "dictate"? NO! It said that they were loved because of HOW THEY RULED. This meant that they were fair and loving kings who took good care of their kingdoms. They did not demand too much and they gave plenty in return. READ IT. It's right in your Bible. Is God a "dictator"? NO! He convicts us gently through the Holy Spirit.
One last point: Men, you are challenged to SHOW YOUR TRUE STRENGTH AND MANHOOD by letting the woman you love KNOW IT. Apologize to her if you have treated her badly. BE OBSERVANT! Don't forget things that are important to her. The only thing that could keep you from apologizing and accepting responsibility would be PRIDE. After all, "men" don't do that sort of thing. right? Come on. Is it so hard to admit that you are wrong?
Are you the head of an "Oppressive Regime"?
Thanks......................................................................................... Jon Wilson
P.S. This is NOT directed at all men. Only to the ones who disobey and use the "wife should submit to her husband" thing as an excuse to conduct himself in a dishonorable manner.