Gender issues remain a talking point within today’s society, and the blurring of gender roles can be of great concern to Christians today. As we reflect on the Creation account, we may want to ponder what it means to be made in God’s image, ‘male and female’ (see Gen 1:27-28, Gen 2:20-25, 1 Cor 11:8-12). How is this reflected nowadays? Lis Goddard says of 1 Cor 11:2-16, ‘The key thing to take from this passage is the importance of gender differences and how we honour one another within the kingdom of God.’ (Lis Goddard, ‘The Gender Agenda’) We cannot deny the differences between male and female. We need to acknowledge that whilst both male and female are made in the image of God and are equal in terms of worth and value, ‘equal’ does not necessarily mean ‘the same’: ‘We can see that in the different ways in which they are created: Adam from the dust and Eve from Adam, and they are given different names and roles.’ (Clare Hendry, ‘The Gender Agenda’) Gender equality is the view that all genders should receive equal treatment and not be discriminated against based on their gender,’ but it is necessary also to understand the different functions God has given to both male and female; ‘While women and men are clearly created equal in worth, they are created to be distinct in function.’ (Clare Hendry, ‘The Gender Agenda’)

Paul, in this passage from 1 Cor 11:2-16, echoes the Creation account: ‘man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man’ (1 Cor 11:8), going on to stress the interdependence of the genders:  Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.’ (1 Cor 11:11-12) So often, women have been seen as subservient to (less important than) men and it has to be admitted that Biblical texts have been used to propagate male domination. Nonetheless, in today’s society, some feel that the pendulum has swung the other way and, with a blurring of roles, that we forget sometimes to celebrate the unique differences of the sexes. We do well to reflect on the wonder of being created in God’s image, male and female, and to seek to serve each other in love, for just as the Son is co-equal with the Father but chose to submit Himself to the Father’s will (Heb 10:6-10, John 6:38, Luke 22:42), so we are called to understand that submission does not imply superiority or inferiority or greater or lesser worth, but is part of a divine order which shows us we must seek to love God and others with all our heart, to serve and not be served. (Mark 10:42-45)

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