Did God Design Patriarchy or Man?
I hope you love the products and resources I recommend here at A Little R & R. Just so you know, it is possible that I get a commission and collect income from the links on this page. Click here for more info.
The term patriarchy has come under a lot of criticism lately, even in the church.
The question is this, is patriarchy a God-designed system, or did man design it, and how should the church respond to the pushback against patriarchy?
Patriarchy is a society or structure that is governed by men.
And there is a huge push in our churches right now to overturn the long-held belief that the office of the Senior Pastor should only be occupied by a man.
I talked about this in my post: Can a Woman Biblically Teach or Preach in the Church?
Should the church do away with patriarchal systems, or is this just a cultish, domineering concept that we need to put to rest?
Did God Design Patriarchy or Man?
Looking at Scripture, we see right from the moment of the creation of mankind, that God created man first.
He gave Adam the job of naming the animals before Eve was ever created.
From then, he said that is the man who leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife.
It was through man that sin entered the world (not through woman).
God commanded Noah to build the ark.
It was through Abraham, Issac, and Jacob that God promised to make a great nation.
I could go on throughout the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament, to illustrate how God established the concept of male authority.
Yes, there is Deborah who briefly judged Israel, but only because Barak wouldn’t step into that role. Her position as judge wasn’t God’s first choice.
While patriarchy, or male authority, was designed by God from the first moment of creation, man has often misused it.
Sadly, we see many men who misuse their position of authority to intimidate, dominate, and abuse those under them.
Very often this happens in the church.
This is in direct opposition to Scripture that repeatedly commands the man to:
- Love his wife as Christ loves the church
- To lay down his life for his family
- To not exasperate his children
- To be a servant
Patriarchy does not equate to male dominance, and it certainly does not equate to intimidation and abuse.
Sadly, in our culture, we have made patriarchy and abusive authority synonymous; and they are not.
The term patriarchy is spat out distastefully as if it is a 4-letter word.
In the recent Barbie movie, the word patriarchy was used repeatedly in a negative context.
Denominational leaders are calling for the dismantling of patriarchal constructs.
This all goes hand-in-glove with the ideology that men are no longer needed in our society.
How else do you explain this lyric?
I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, talk to myself for hours, say things you don’t understand. I can take myself dancing and I can hold my own hand. Yea, I can love me better than you can.
Miley Cyrus
And since men are no longer needed, men are now becoming women.
Why not? If men are simply an unnecessary accessory, redundant, useless, and discardable, then what else are they to do?
They become women. Trans women.
What is sad is that the few godly Christian voices who are standing up for true biblical masculinity and patriarchy are being derided as misogynistic and abusive.
Dear sister, acknowledging that God created man to be the head of his home, church, and state is not misogynistic or abusive.
It is God’s design.
Just as it is not misogynistic or demeaning to say that God designed women to care for their homes and children.
The past 150-200 years of humanistic indoctrination in the church has so deeply soaked into the fabric of our church, that many women want to gloss over Titus 2 as if it doesn’t exist.
But it does.
Just as Ephesians 6, Paul’s instruction on the authority structure exists.
They are there for a purpose. When a family, church, and society function as God created for them to function, there is blessing.
What we’re seeing in our culture today is the curse being played out in full display.
When God said, “Your desire shall be for your husband…” He meant that woman would crave to dominate her husband.
The church cannot afford to backpedal on the authority structure God put in place.
To do so is to give the enemy an even greater jurisdiction in the body of Christ.
Instead, we need to bring the biblical definition of patriarchy, authority, and submission back to the church.
We need to boldly preach the truth with clarity.
We need to portray these godly, biblical standards clearly and distinctly with love, honor, and grace.
Patriarchy, authority, and submission are not archaic; they are not misogynistic; and they are not abusive.
They are protective. They are loving. They are grace-filled. They work in tandem with one another.
But most of all, they are God-ordained!
Check Out More Content Like This:
This study through the Book of Galatians really helped me to understand my freedom in Christ in a whole new way.
Freedom from the legalistic doctrines of man, and freedom to receive God’s grace to live in total obedience to His Word.
I encourage you to check out this verse-by-verse study:
Walk Free in Christ – A Study Through the Book of Galatians
Defeat the voices of condemnation with these powerful, life-changing Bible verses! These are free to download and use
Get instant access to over 100 FREE Printables today without ever having to enter your email in again! Become a member of my Printable Library on Buy Me a Coffee today!
