Education Insights • 2024 • Volume 2 • Issue 1 24 Definitions The following definitions of key terms are used in this article: Complementarianism: Complementarianism refers to the view that God created men and women equal but different.12 While men and women are both equal in value, they have different roles within the home and the church. God gives the responsibility of spiritual leadership within the home to men. Egalitarianism: Egalitarianism refers to the view that men and women are equal in all aspects, even in regard to roles within the home and the church. Egalitarians believe that “there is no unique leadership role that belongs to the husband in marriage, and that all governing and teaching roles in the church should be open to both men and women alike.”13 Family worship: In this article, I employ Donald S. Whitney’s description of family worship. He says family worship entails three basic components: “read the Bible, pray, and sing.”14 Family worship brings to mind a formal liturgy akin to corporate church gatherings. However, in the home, the simplicity of gathering together as a family around God’s Word, praying together and singing praises to God is the goal. Families need to hear from the Word, which will challenge and encourage the family. Family worship should also include prayer that models dependence upon God via open dialogue in normal vernacular. The final element is spending time singing the truths of Scripture. Consistency and brevity should be sought. Shepherd: To shepherd a family biblically means that a man rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, and expects the greater reward.15 Fathers must choose to engage with their spouse, children, and church to provide spiritual and social direction. God has given fathers the responsibility to love their wives, teach their children, and work diligently in all endeavors. Pastor and author Robert Lewis writes, “Men were created to lead. Leadership demands that men have the courage to master their passions and bridle themselves with the principle of truth…. Christ embraced His responsibilities—a will to obey, a work to do, a woman to love—because He anticipated the reward in it all.”16 Men who follow Christ have likewise been given a task by a Holy God. Men should look to Christ and His complete obedience as they seek to shepherd their families that the Lord has entrusted to them. The words of Hebrews 12:1-2 12 Wayne A. Grudem, “The Key Issues in the Manhood-Womanhood Controversy,” in Building Strong Families, ed. Dennis Rainey (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002), 29-58. 13 Wayne A. Grudem, Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More than One Hundred Disputed Questions (2004; repr., Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 17. 14 Donald S. Whitney, Family Worship (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016), 44. 15 Robert Lewis, Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father’s Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2007), 60-61. 16 Lewis, Raising a Modern-Day Knight, 57-58.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=