Playing Your Role (part 1 of 2)
“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree… cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life… In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…”
—Genesis 3:17-19
I knew who the actor was, and I knew that his character on the weekly primetime sitcom was a sleazy, with-a-different-woman-every-week womanizer. Though I had never seen the television program (nor do I intend to), what little I had caught from commercials during Sunday afternoon football had brought me to these obvious conclusions. Then a bombshell was dropped on me: the actor was actually a homosexual! The role he was playing for the sitcom did not reflect the person he was. (Incidentally, his homosexuality does not reflect the person God made him either.)
The Fact of Distinct Roles
God intends for what you are to be clearly connected to what you do. That male and female are to play different roles in God’s Creation was evident from the beginning. The fact that there were two parties involved in fulfilling the Creation mandate points to the fact that each had a part to play. For example, the command “be fruitful, and multiply,” coupled with the fact that standing there were a male and a female, requires that each play a different, distinct role in order to fulfill that command. One would “father” a child; one would bear the child. These roles are different yet equally important in God’s Creation.
What are the roles that God intended, and intends, for male and female?
The Function of Distinct Roles: Male
The masculine role, as God intended it, can be summed up in two words: leader and provider.
Male as the Leader
God’s intention for male headship (role as leader) is confirmed by several important facts.
First, the entire human race was named man. “And God said, Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26, emphasis added). This statement is also repeated in Genesis 5:1. Then, Genesis 5:2 takes the case even further by stating:
“Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”—Genesis 5:2 [emphasis added]
By identifying the entire human race with the title “man,” and by recognizing the male/female relationship with Adam’s name, God showed that He intended the male to be the head, especially in relationship with the woman.
Second, the man named the woman.
“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”.—Genesis 2:23
Adam had previously exercised his role as head of God’s Creation by naming all the animals. As the woman, who unlike the animals was a suitable helper, stands before him, he exercises that naming authority with her. This was an expression of Adam’s sense of his role as leader. Not only that, but Adam’s first act of obedience after the curse (a result of his forfeiting his headship) was to reclaim his role as leader by renaming his wife Eve in light of God’s new promise of a coming “seed” (Genesis 3:20).
Third, Adam bears the blame for the whole calamity of sin.
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”—Romans 5:12
When God returned to the garden, He called for Adam (Genesis 3:9). And though the woman receives a curse because of sin, a reason for Adam’s curse is plainly stated: “because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife” (Genesis 3:17). Adam surrendered his rightful role as leader, allowing disobedience to God’s command. He bore the responsibility of sin because he bore the responsibility to lead.
Fourth, the New Testament reaffirms the intent of Creation that the man should lead.
“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”—I Corinthians 11:3
“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.”—I Timothy 2:12-13
These passages deal with authority in the church, not marriage. What is especially clear from the First Corinthians passage is that the leadership role does not equal superiority, but authority. God the Father occupies a “higher” position of authority than the Son, just as the man occupies a place of authority “higher” than the woman. The issue is not superiority versus inferiority; it is simply a matter of position in an authority structure. In First Timothy, Paul sees the role of a teacher as a position of authority. Therefore it would be contradictory to God’s original intent (since “Adam was first formed”) for the woman to occupy that position over a man. Creative order signifies Creative intent.
Male as the Provider
Working in order to provide was built into the male role from the beginning.
“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”—Genesis 2:15
The work of tending the garden was rewarded with the enjoyment of partaking of the garden. In his partaking of the garden, Adam would have no doubt shared with his wife and children. Work was not a result of the curse, difficulty was.
Together, Genesis 2:15 and Genesis 3:18 make clear that the Genesis 1:28 command to “subdue” the earth was specifically meant for the male. This is not to say that a woman working outside the home is unbiblical, nor does it question a woman’s ability to work. But it cannot be disputed that the role most responsible for the work, provision, and protection for the family was intended to be the man.
This leader/provider role is God’s original intent for the male gender, especially in relation to a female. Any mistreatment of women or children would be a direct violation of God’s intent for the male role. Age and marital status will dictate its practical expression, but any man seeking to fulfill his God-given responsibilities must take this role seriously.