What Credibility Does a Man Have?



I have to be honest with you... I have been preaching through the book of 1 Peter for some time and this week I am tackling Peter's message to wives to function within the Greco-Roman system of Household Codes in a way that brings the favor of God and may lead to the salvation of their husband. Anytime I have to teach a passage specifically geared to women, I feel a bit awkward. What qualifies me to have a voice in their life? Sure, I am their pastor, but when I try to put myself in a woman's shoes... I find that my feet do not fit.


Peter encourages wives to submit themselves to their husbands within the system of Household Codes. This could not have been easy for Peter to do as a man. Does he know what it is like to be taken advantage of by a spouse that is not pulling their weight? Does he know what it is like for his dignity to be in question every single day of his life? Certainly, the view of women within Greco-Roman Household Codes was not very favorable. They were thought of as better than slaves, but they were inferior to men. So what qualified Peter??? God did! Peter was not speaking his opinion, but rather revelation from God. So the awkwardness is tempered by the fact that I know I am teaching revelation. I can say to married women that God looks with favor on you when you allow your husband to lead your home... even if he does not know Jesus. Peter speaks within a context that he is not endorsing, but is a reallity in a Greco-Roman world... wives were treated unfairly and with less dignity. He still tells them that they should submit... why? Because the wife has the soul of her husband in mind! They put up with being treated with less dignity because they desired to see their husbands come to Christ. Obviously you can take anything to extremes, but Peter seems to be quite clear that a submissive wife is a winsome wife. We do not live under the household codes of the Greco-Roman world... they are not law and certainly not the norm; however, many of the Biblical writers do affirm that men are to be leaders of their home. Paul put it this ways... "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansingher by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Eph. 5:25-27)." Paul was actually telling men to love their wives in such a way that you lead them toward holiness and glory. To lead them in such a way that they are a radiant offering to God. He gives wives dignity... equal dignity, which was foriegn to the teachings of household codes. Basically Paul is telling them not to be like other husbands who treat their wife as an inferior. This was radical teaching in the day, but he also affirms the leadership role of the husband.


Some will use the argument of household codes and say that Scripture does not teach that men are to be leaders in their home, but that takes this too far, especially since both Peter and Paul reference examples of submission that go further back than household codes. That being said, Jesus modeled and taught a honorable way to lead... servant leadership. Husbands are called to lead their wife by serving them, a concept foreign to most. Wives are to respect the role God places on husbands for two reasons... 1. God commends it and 2. It may just win over the soul of their husband.

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