Husband's Leadership Role

Ephesians 5:22-24 is a passage that many people nowadays take issue with because it seems so contrary to our egalitarian philosophy. Here's what it says: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 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. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”

God, in his wisdom, knew that sometimes families go through treacherous territory and when those situations arise, there needs to be a designated leader. And God appointed the husband. Submission has little to do with who's the most capable or who's the most intelligent, but it has everything to do with acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus Christ and desiring his will for your family. And when people chafe under this direction, it reveals an insecure or a rebellious spirit toward God's ultimate authority. 

Verse 21 in this chapter says we are to submit to one another. There are times when the husband, leading gently like Christ, acknowledges his wife's giftedness and ask her to lead. It would be foolish not to take advantage of a wife’s talents and allow her to lead in certain situations. But the Christian family acknowledges that God has delegated leadership in the home to the husband, who is to be submissive to Christ. 

Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” One of the most important values in a lasting marriage is this ability not just to forgive, but to overlook faults and be patient with one another as we grow and mature. 

Discussion/Reflection Question: Why do you think society rejects this passage so adamantly nowadays? How does this passage mean something different than what it might appear on the surface to others in our society?