What’s at Stake?
With the Mission and Vision in mind, it is important for the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood to clearly state how it intends to help the church, and perhaps more importantly, why it needs to help the church.
In 1987, CBMW was established primarily to help the church defend against the accommodation of secular feminism. At this time many evangelicals were beginning to experiment with an ideology that would later become known as evangelical feminism. This was a significant departure from what the church had practiced from its beginning regarding the role of men and women in the home and local church. The effects of this departure have not been benign. As evangelical feminism continues to spread, the evangelical community needs to be aware that this debate reaches ultimately to the heart of the gospel.
1. The authority of Scripture is at stake.
The Bible clearly teaches that men and women are equal in value and dignity and have distinct and complementary roles in the home and the church. If churches disregard these teachings and accommodate to the culture, then the members of those churches and subsequent generations will be less likely to submit to God’s word in other difficult matters as well.
2. The health of the home is at stake.
If families do not structure their homes properly, in disobedience to the teachings of Ephesians 5, 1 Peter 3, and Colossians 3, then they will not have the proper foundation from which to withstand the temptations of the devil and the various onslaughts of the world. This hinders the sanctification of married couples and also introduces confusion about basic parenting issues such as raising masculine sons and feminine daughters.
3. The health of the church is at stake.
Just like the home, if the church disobeys the teachings of 1 Timothy 2, 1 Corinthians 11 and disregards the structure that God put into place for the community of faith from the beginning, then the church will be weakened. If the church is weakened in its convictions, it will be less effective in accomplishing its mission.
4. Our worship is at stake.
Increasingly, members of the evangelical community, in the name of gender equality, are advocating calling God “mother” as often as we call him “father.” God has named himself and for us to make changes to his self revelation not only undermines the written Word, but also undermines God’s authority in our lives.
5. Bible translations are at stake.
There are many who are currently advocating for Bible translations that would essentially be “gender-neutral.” These translations, in hundreds of places, remove the words he, him, his, brother, father, son, and man. Our concern is that in the name of gender equality, the Bible is undermined and the very words of God end up being revised.
6. The advance of the gospel is at stake.
Ephesians 5 calls husbands and wives to relate to one another as a picture of Christ and the church. The picture involves the humble, sacrificial leadership of the husband and the joyful, intelligent submission to that leadership by the wife. Husbands and wives who model this improperly portray a distorted and false picture of Jesus Christ, the Head and Savior of his bride, the church. Deviation from biblical teaching on manhood and womanhood hinders the advance of the gospel.