Another thing that has been brought into sharp relief as we tour around the villages and churches is the incredible honor and glory that God and true Christians give to women as compared to the attitude of the world.
In the west I’m sure that a lot of people would read that sentence and snort into their coffee, spilling it on the screen or desk, and then collapse into a fit of laughter. I know from experience how many think that conservative Christians depresses and downgrade women by having the gall to suggest that they should not be leaders in the church and that the husband is the head of the house.
In reality of course the exact opposite is true. The Bible gives greater praise and honor and glory to motherhood and women as mothers then it does to any other position, job, career, etc. Even the job of pastor, the leaders of the church, is not praised as highly in the Bible as mothers are. The greatest thing said of pastors is that it one who desires it “desires a good thing.” I can think of no passage of scripture that goes beyond that, whereas what does the Bible say about mothers?
Proverbs 12:4 4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
Proverbs 19:14 14 Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the LORD.
Proverbs 31:10 10 Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
Ephesians 5:25 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
Paul’s words of admonishment to the husband that they should cherish their wives just as dearly as Christ cherished and loved the Church shows that Paul considers women the single greatest gift from the Lord a man can ever be given. We see this again in the creation account. Having told of the creation of all things Moses finds it necessary to retell with much greater detail the events leading up to and encapsulating the creation of the woman. Surely a large part of the reason that God gives authority to men in the church and home and not the women is because He greatly wishes to allow the women to concentrate completely on being mothers exactly because it is such an important and honorable task. If I may make an analogy, how many people do you think remember with great fondness and appreciation their grade school principal? Now how many people out there have one or two or maybe even more teachers that they remember and respect and even thank as good influences on their lives? Certainly there are some in the first category, I am one of them, but there are many many more in the second. Being a teacher under the authority of a principal in no way degrades a person as less important or less capable. The teacher is the main educator, the principal is there to serve the teacher, organize, and provide in order that the teacher may have everything he or she needs to dutifully and fully administer their task. The correct biblical view of the wife – husband relationship is very similar.
Now I said the difference between this correct biblical view and a sinful worldly view comes into great focus in India. Consider the following examples:
On multiple occasions we have come across pastors who have introduced us to their daughters, explaining that these daughters were married but now once again live with their fathers. Often they are even pregnant and/or have children but were sent back to their fathers because their fathers had not yet paid all of the dowry. In India it is customary for the father to pay a dowry to the husband. In these cases the father being unable to pay everything he had promised, the husband sends the wife back saying, “I don’t have to take care of her. You haven’t paid the dowry. You take care of her.”
In comparison you have D. Paul the president of the BELC and the Martin Luther Bible School. Dave and I were talking to him about his wife. He mentioned to us that her father had never paid a single cent of the dowry that he owed him. We found out furthermore that not only had D. Paul not received the dowry, but he was also supposed to receive a good bit of her father’s land and had never received that either. Nevertheless far from ever thinking of sending her back, he greatly praised her as a wonderful wife, mother, and companion in the work of the Lord. He spoke about how she never complained or asked for gold. He spoke about how at Christmas time if he can buy her a present like a new sari she is happy, but when he cannot she is not upset. Far from thinking of giving her back, he obviously highly cherishes her as a wonderful gift from the Lord worth far more than gold or land or anything else.
I’m not trying to judge Indian cultural practices that date back for thousands of years. It is entirely possible that the giving of a dowry from the father to the husband has legitimate and good reasons. Yet if it doesn’t stem from it, it certainly promotes a view of women as an undesirable thing you have to pay someone to take off your hands. Perhaps this view is mainly limited to the villages of India, but it is certainly there. This view, also prevalent in china, is currently making headlines in the news because of the incredible problems it is causing there. As parents are faced with the restriction of only being able to have a single child, a great majority of them are purposely aborting females in favor of having a male child, leading to an incredibly disproportionate number of males and females in china.
On the other hand we have the Word of God, which not only reminds us that the value of a good wife is far beyond rubies, but in the end reminds us also that it is through the woman that the Christ would come to save fallen man.
Genesis 3:15 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.
Born of a woman though not conceived by a man, the Lord himself gives an honor to motherhood and women that he does not give to men, as those through whom He would become flesh, that He might save us from our sins. Far from oppressing, and downgrading women, the Bible and those who listen to the Word of God have always great honored women, both for their own sake and for the sake of what He has done and still does through them.
Luke 1:46-55 46 And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. 48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. 49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. 50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. 54 He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
-Pastor Matthew R. Ude
D. Paul and Family