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| Q: | All discussions mentioned below have been very early into the relationship, and very detailed. I have met a very nice woman that did not have a proper Christian upbringing. I faulted in putting that fact aside for my betterment. We started to like each other a lot, the marriage topic came up. Then I realized the wrong that I had put myself in, took a step back, and made it very clear that my wife would have to be Christian. We decided that from that point we would only have a friendship relationship until she decided in which spiritual direction she wanted to go. After a few conversations and Bible studies with her, she stated that she had an interest in knowing God better and started doing some "truth" searching on her own. She eventually started searching the WELS Q&A's section, I was very pleased that she chose to do this. For a while I just sat back and let her go. Recently she started searching the man and woman roles section. Up until then things were headed in the right direction, since then she has been very difficult to witness to. She considers herself VERY independant. I have made it very clear to her (in as Christian of a way as I could) that to start looking for a religious denomination that fits her unknowledged earthly beliefs is actually rejecting God and that she should continue to search for the truth. I started searching the roles topic myself so that I could better witness to her. I have read 50 of the 240+ and plan on reading them all. I have purchased, but not yet received, the WELS booklet on this topic. Now for my question. How do I witness to someone that is very independent, knows the importance of not rejecting God's Word, and still refuses to consider these roles as a "good thing"? I am very near to relizing that perhaps God is trying to tell me that I should just smoothly walk away and wait for her to come to Him. | ||||||
| A: | This may or may not help you in witnessing to the woman you say is independent. Often the roles God has given man and woman are understood in a way that man is seen as the "boss" and woman is the "slave." It is important that the man's role be understood properly. Man is to be a loving head. My head treats my body in a way that does everything that is good and helpful for my body. That is the role God has given the man, namely, he is to do everything for a woman that is for her happiness and good (not his own happiness and good) in the same way that Christ did everything for the happiness and good of the church, even giving himself into death for the church (Eph 5:25). The woman responds in the same way that we as members of Christ's church respond to Christ. We don't grumble and groan about having Christ as our head, but we gladly respond to his love honoring him as our head because of the love he showed us (Eph 5:23-24). Any man or woman who knows Christ by faith will see the roles God gave man and woman, not as a burden, but as a wonderful blessing to both. In a day and age when the society around us has little or no love for Christ, many women resent the roles God gave man and woman. But as a woman grows in her faith and love for Jesus, the Spirit can also overcome the world's attitude and lead her to see God's role as a real blessing. | ||||||
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