Independence and Interdependence
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.
For men, the gift of independence has a tendency to become autonomy and tyranny. The female gift of interdependence always has a tendency to become dependent. In Genesis 3:17-18 after Adam and Eve rebel against God, God says to Adam, "You will sweat and work in the dust of the ground and thorns and thistles will come up." He says to Eve in Genesis 3:16, "You will have pain in childbearing and your desire will be for your husband, but he will rule over you."
When God curses humanity, He curses different aspects. When He curses Adam, He curses his work. He says, "Your need and desire to have an impact on the world, to be independent and to achieve is going to become an idol. It's going to become too important to you, and you will always be frustrated because it will never give you what you want." And He turns to the wife, and He curses her relationships. He says, "You will want your husband desperately, but your husband will rule over you."
The teaching is that the wife's interdependence gift under the influence of sin will trip her up. She will become a dependent person and will want to be taken care of. The husband whose independent gift is now under the influence of sin, instead of being an independent person, he will be a tyrant and will rule over and master her. When masculinity and femininity go bad, the independence becomes tyranny in men, and the interdependence becomes dependence in women.
The Bible teaches under the influence of sin that men will tend to oppress women, and women will tend to make it easy for them. The fact is that men and women in marriage are supposed to learn to submit to one another, and the husband is supposed to have a loving authority. The husband's independence becomes tyranny unless the wife pulls him back. A man is not to be a tyrant but to be independent, and she needs to pull him back. In the same way the wife will have a tendency to move toward dependence unless the husband in his strength pulls her back. There needs to be a completion.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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