balance

This month, for Wives Book Club, we're reading one of the most intriguing books yet on Marriage. Intimate Allies by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman looks at five different marriage scenarios, and then "brings them back to Eden" to look at what Scripture says about God's intent for marriage. Part Three especially addresses what is unique in male/female reflection of the image of God. Man, in his strength, embraces the characteristics of holiness, order out of chaos, truth, and justice. Woman, in her nurturing, embodies mystery, grace, and mercy. In the book's words, "one without the other is a grave distortion of God. Order without mercy is authoritarian; mystery without form is hedonism. Male and female operate in the precarious balance between life and death".I can't help but wonder about the parallels in our Christian world. In the recent past, "masculine" traits of God were the primary emphasis--truth, order, justice--yet sometimes failed to balance out with the more feminine side of grace. Yet the pendulum now swings to highlight a more "feminine" side of God with the emphasis on grace, mercy, nurturing, with a downplaying of His masculine traits of absolute truth and holiness. A preference for either side without a true wonder of appreciation and need for balance of the other creates a distortion of the glory of God in His people. To fail to equally value both sides of God creates chaos out of what the Lord intended as harmony. May we know You in your fullness, Oh Lord, and our need for all perspectives in the body of Christ.
Labels: truth and grace
draft
9:33:00 AM
by Carley Wecks
Delete
1 – 1 of 1