IS THE NECK READY? 

I Cor.  11:3

            Many times scriptures like this and a few others leave women with a bitter taste in their mouths.  They are received as one would gravel in the mouth, or a small piece of grits way back in your mouth where your tongue can't reach it, or the remains of a popcorn kernel wedged into your gum in a hard to reach place.  This scripture for many is an aggravation.  It is received often, and maybe because it is taught this way, as demoting women to the rank of a second class person.  I am not here today to say to you that man is not the head of woman.  For this I can not say, for the Word here clearly teaches that man is to be the head of woman.  But I am here to tell you that simply because God has given a different position to woman, does not mean  the position given is inferior in any way. 

            We must remember that many times the scriptures have been wrongly taught and thereby used to hold others in bondage.  This happened with the races esp. during slavery, and has happened with the sexes.  But because man wrongly uses the scriptures says nothing about God, and his motive or intent in giving a particular scripture.  It does not say that the scripture itself is wrong. 

            What does headship really mean.  Headship means that God has instituted an order about the way things are to be done.  Look at the order. 

            1.  The Head of Christ is God.   But do we see Jesus as inferior to God?  Does Jesus see himself as inferior to God or does God see Jesus as inferior to Him?  The answer to all these questions is no. 

Phil 2: 5-8 - We are told to have the same mind as Christ did.  What was His mind?  Jesus who being in the same form, likeness and image of God, and in fact Himself being God, did not think it was robbery to be equal with God.  The word robbery here is not in the same sense that we would use it.  It means to hold on to or cling to something.   Jesus did not think that His equality with God was something he had to cling to or grasp and hold on tightly to.  Instead He left heaven and took on the form of man, humbling himself even to the death of the cross.  Now understand, God though He is the head of Christ, did not order Christ to the cross.  In fact Jesus volunteered for the job.  Even as the cross stood in his face he told Pilate in John 19 that he did not have any power of him except for that given to him by God.  He also told his disciples in John 10 that he was laying down his life.  It was not being taken from him.  He was laying it down.  His death on the cross was an act of love; love for us and love for His Father.  Though He was God and equal with God the Father, His love motivated him to humble himself and become a man.  Yet though Christ is God and equal with God, He accepts the Headship of God.  Having God as His head says nothing about the abilities of Christ, or the deity of Christ.  It does not demeanor Him in any way.

2.  The Head of Every Man is Christ.  Simply because Christ is a spirit being and God, all mankind is classed below him.  We are told in Ps. 8:5 that man was made a little lower than the angels.  But does lower necessarily mean inferior.  No especially in the sense that we generally mean when we say something is inferior.  By inferior we mean having less value or quality, or being less important.  Is man of less value than the angles? No.  In fact is man of less value than Jesus? No.  Man has great value to God.  In fact his value to God was so much that it motivated God to offer his own son as a sacrifice for man.  Though man is subject to the authority of Jesus, he is not inferior in value to Him.

3.  The Head of The Woman is The Man.  Please note the use of the definite article the in this verse.  This in no way says that all men are  head  of all women.  If all men were the head of all women, then each woman would have lots of heads.  Not every man has authority over me.  Initially the man who had authority over me was my father.  When he died, if we use the Old Testament as our guide, then headship over me should have passed to the nearest kinsman that was of age; an uncle, a grandfather, an older brother, etc.  Is a daughter of less value than a father, or a brother.  As women we generally have no problem in seeing our father as our head and even when we can take care of ourselves we still tend to respect him as our head.  But when you marry, your headship changes.  Your husband now is given authority over you.  You say, why must he be given authority over me? Well if Jesus must be accountable to God, and man must be accountable to Jesus why should you go without accountability?  There is an order established by God.  You can not mature and develop with God and buck against his established order.  If you marry, your husband will become your head.  It is a position given to him by God.  You can not take away that position.  You may choose not to honor it, as a single person might choose not to honor a Father as their head, but you can not take away the position.  It is God given. 

            But does having a man as your head mean that you are inferior or of less value than a man.  No.  As women we must see headship as a role and not as an attack on our person or our ability.  Now granted it would help us to see and accept headship in it's proper perspective if men were also properly being taught.  But all we can do in that regard is pray that God will teach them their role and entrust them to the headship of Christ.  That is why it is so important to marry a godly man.

            Now does being the head make the man any more important to God than the woman.  Does he have more value because he is the head.  No. Every human being is of equal value.  In your physical body, does your head have more value than your heart.  It has a different role than your heart, but they are both of equal value.  Can your head stand alone or complete it's role by itself.  The head is the control center for the body.  It gets all the inputs, filters the input when necessary, and makes a decision.  But can the head carry out the decision without any help from the rest of the body.  No.  In fact the head can not turn itself from the right to the left, without the neck.  The neck turns the head. It is the neck that supports the head and help it to fulfill it's role as controller.  Now if the head can not do its job without the neck, then is the neck of any less importance that the head.  In fact much of your body feels incapacitated when your neck is stiff.  The head has its role but so does the neck and both roles are equally important, with one not being able to perform without the other. 

            Our problem as women is that we have not seen our role as defined by God.  Unlike most men we have had role models in our homes.  We have had mothers and for the most part they have done an excellent job of raising and caring for us.  They have instilled some strong values in us and in many cases have developed in us the strength needed to endure some very hard times.   But because many times the male role in the home was missing, we saw our mothers assume both roles.   They became the head and took total responsibility for the family; often times doing whatever was necessary to keep the family going.  From that we have learned that we must do whatever possible to keep our families going.  This attitude in us has in some cases left our men feeling that they could shuck their responsibility for the family and still expect and believe that the family would be ok.  It is not we, the women who have the responsibility of making sure the family survives and functions as God ordained.  Our men have developed without the sense of urgency about taking care of the family.  Yes we should be willing to help when necessary.  But there is a distinct difference in feeling the need to help and feeling the responsibility to see to things getting done.  Our role is that of helper.  But we have been forced into the role of doer.  To see our role more clearly we must look at Eve.

Gen 2:15-25

            Why was the woman created.  Verse 18 says that she was created to be a companion for Adam so that he would not be alone.  She was to be a helper fit for him.  Note that it was in the mind of God that Adam have a helper.  We have no evidence in verse 18 that Adam even saw his need for a companion, a helper.  Certainly as God brought the animal kingdom before Adam He knew that there would be no helper fit for Adam among the beast of the field.   As helpers they were inferior.  They could not communicate with Adam nor provide the companionship needed for a healthy and happy life.  Can you imagine Adam as each pair of animals came before him, male and female, waiting to see one that looked like him.  But there was no mate for him found among the animals.  Adams desire for a mate is awakened, but there is no one.  He is alone and desires companionship.  He wanted a mate.  When you long for something that you can not find, you will be more likely to care for it dearly when it is presented to you.  Men today do not have to long for a mate, or anything else.  They are rarely given the time to feel lonely for a mate or a companion.  In fact many men feel that they can have all that a marriage would provide them without ever getting married.  So why get married.  Men don't have to feel committed to a relationship anymore.  They can have all the help all the companionship and all the sex they want without ever committing to anything.  We have allowed ourselves to become not a valued assets to a men, to be treasured and cherished, but rather like cheap toys, easily broken and easily replaced by a new toy when the fun has worn off.  Yes it is wrong for man to treat woman in such a way, but it is wrong also for us to allow ourselves to be treated in such a way.  Adam needed to see what he was lacking before he could cherish the gift God would give him.  For the most part today, men experience very little lack if any, and therefore they see little need to cherish the gift.  Why cherish what can be easily replaced. 

            God brought the animals to Adam, creating in him a need and a desire for a companion, a helper.  The word used here for helper is ezer.  It is also used of God in Ps. 33:20 which says God is our help and shield and in Ps 146:5 which says happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob.  So God could have been a helper for Adam.  But God did not see himself as a helper fit for Adam.  He was a helper superior to Adam.  God wanted a helper perfect for man.  The animals were helpers inferior to man.  God was a helper superior to man.  He created Eve, a helper equal man.  Now what is it that Eve was supposed to help Adam do. 

Gen. 1:27-28

            She was to help him reproduce after his own kind and replenish the earth.  She was to help him rule over the earth.  They were initially co-rulers.  They were one flesh with a common desire to carry out the charge given to them by God.  Was Adam initially to rule over Eve.  I do not believe so.  They were one with one another and one with God.  There was no need for one to rule over the other;  for they had the same mind,  the mind of God.   But in the fall there is a separation not only of God and mankind, but also of man and woman.  Adam cherished Eve so much that he went against the command of God.  Even now man has been given the authority by God to be the head of woman.  But I say again, It is the neck that turns the head.  I'm sure that it was not Eve's intention to draw Adam away from God.  She simply yielded to her curiosity.  Even today we women have a whole lot of influence over men.  A strong man, trying to do the will of God can be drawn way by the woman in his life or the women around him.  He may not completely leave God but he may certainly stumble.

I Cor. 8: 1-13

            Yes we are free in Christ, but we must be careful in what we do, lest our freedom become a stumbling block for our brother.  Now I know that they are going to see the same things in the world as they see in church.  But is not the church supposed to be different from the world.  If they see things in the world that cause them to stumble, you can not control that.  But here it says for you not to be a cause for someone stumbling.  Sometimes in our efforts to look cute, to show that we are with the latest fashions the skirt gets  too short, the split gets too high and the neckline gets to low.  Now women like to look cute and for the most part they want attention, and certainly they want to catch the eye of some eligible man.  But some of what you wear is too inviting.  And the question becomes what are you inviting him to?  You might say, I was not sending out an invitation.  Well whether you were sending one or not, one was certainly received.  Romans 14:21 says it is good not to do anything whereby they brother stumbles, or is offended or is made weak.  Now granted, I know that there must be a balance to this.  I am not suggesting that you should wear long dresses down to your ankles, or long sleeve blouses with high necks.  But I am saying that you should be modest in your dress.  What is modest.  Let's let the Holy Ghost define that for you.  As you lay your clothes out in the morning, ask the Holy Ghost to inspect them for you.  After you put them on, Ask Him again to give you a final inspection.  As women, we must be careful how we turn the heads of our men.  We do not want to be guilty, like Eve, of turning our men away from God.

Gen. 3:6-12

            After eating of the tree there is a separation between man and woman.  Now there is shame in their nakedness; a need to cover the body and hide from one another.  There is now also guilt and the casting of blame between them.  They are no longer one.  They no longer have the same mind, the same goals, or even the same desires.  They are distinct individuals, no longer connected to their God or to one another.  If we no longer have the same mind and the same goals, who then will establish which way we go? Who will lead?

Gen. 3:17-20

            Here is where the headship of man is established.  Did Eve’s role change.  No she is still the helper of Adam, his companion.  She is still to help Adam replenish the earth but now her child birth will be painful.  She is still to help him rule over the earth, but now he will have authority over her as well.  Adam was still to till the ground but now it would be much harder for him to make provision for his family.  He would now be the head, and thus be accountable to God for whatever happened.

            You see with headship comes responsibility.  I believe that God is going to raise up Christian men who understand that responsibility.  They will understand that headship does not mean dictatorship, but rather it means leadership.  They will understand that they have the ultimate responsibility of seeing that the family functions as God ordains.  When God raises up these men, will we as women be ready to embrace a strong man of God, who understands his role and is willing to accept the responsibilities and challenges of headship.  Are we as women prepared to be fit helpers for these men?  Will your head be able to count on you to be a strong neck.