1 Corinthians 11 gives us a few key teachings from Paul. He begins this chapter saying “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”. Here we have the basis for discipleship. Paul wants others to follow him. How about you? If someone follows you, where will they end up? Will it be at the Cross of Jesus? As Christ Followers it would seem to make sense that following you or me would lead someone to Jesus. That is how we ought to live. That is our mission – to lead people to the Savior as they follow our example. Simple words – but the consequences can be eternal!
Paul goes on to make sure we understand the hierarchy of God’s creation:
– “the head of every man is Christ
– the head of a wife is her husband
– the head of Christ is God”
A lot of people struggle with that middle bullet point. It isn’t a typo, and scripture tells us that many times. Husbands are given the role of being head of the wife. Husbands are to be the spiritual leader in the home. Husbands are to set the example for the family to follow. There is a huge responsibility assigned to husbands. SO the question is – how are you doing as the spiritual leader? Do you lead at all? Or do you just expect your wife and kids to pick it up somehow. Is it “do as I say and not as I do”? That is not leadership. That is wrong. God assigned husbands with a critical task and many of us fail miserably here. We want to be in charge when it comes to bossing our wives around regarding the house, money, the kids and definitely sex. Right? But when it comes to what matters – understanding that headship means responsibility and not so much focus on authority – we head for the TV or man cave and don’t want anything to do with that.
Guys – God has tasked us to lead. That leadership means servanthood. It means we serve our wife and kids and show them the way to Jesus. It means we put them first and get over ourselves. It means we love like Jesus did – sacrificial and complete – not focused on what we want – but what they need and deserve from us. Being the “head” is not all that glamorous when you consider what it truly requires and means. But it is God’s design and plan. And it is definitely our responsibility.
Paul goes on to call out the fact that “I hear that there are divisions among you…..there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized”. So are divisions all bad? No – they don’t have to be bad. It depends on how we handle them. If we realize that we are all people who think differently and celebrate the fact God created us that way – divisions aren’t necessarily bad. It is when we focus on what divides that causes us to fall off the wagon. And that seems to be what a lot of us want to do. We may agree with 90 – 95 – 99 percent of life – but we focus on that small percentage where we are different. It is particularly true of the church. We all have the same Savior – there is only One. We all serve the same God – there is only One. We all read the same Bible – ok there are a few different versions of this Book – but you get the point. The issue is that we want to focus on what divides rather than what unites. We do it in our marriages and families too. We focus on the things that cause struggle rather than the covenant of our marriage. We point out what bothers us – over and over and over – rather than focusing on the blessing of our vows. We need to get our heads on straight. We will never agree with anyone on everything. That is not the problem. It is what we do with that reality that matters!
Arlin Sorensen's Thoughts on Scripture 