In dealing with the life and ministry of John Charles Ryle, my
hope is to clarify and commend what I mean by the value of a masculine
ministry. But before we
turn to “the frank and manly Mr. Ryle,”1 let me make some clarifying comments from the Bible.
God has revealed himself to us in the Bible pervasively as
King, not Queen, and as Father, not Mother. The second person of the
Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son. The Father and the Son created
man and woman in his image, and gave them together the name of the man, Adam (Genesis 5:2).
God appoints all the priests in Israel to be men. The Son of God comes
into the world as a man, not a woman. He chooses twelve men to be his
apostles. The apostles tell the churches that all the overseers—the
pastor/elders who teach and have authority (1 Timothy 2:12)—should
be men; and that in the home, the head who bears special responsibility
to lead, protect, and provide should be the husband (Ephesians 5:22–33).
Masculine Christianity
From all of this, I conclude that God has given Christianity a
masculine feel. And, being a God of love, he has done it for the maximum
flourishing of men and women. He did not create women to
languish, or be frustrated, or in any way to suffer or fall short of
full and lasting joy, in a masculine Christianity. She is a fellow heir
of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7).
From which I infer that the fullest flourishing of women and men takes
place in churches and families where Christianity has this God-ordained,
masculine feel. For the sake of the glory of women, and for the sake of
the security and joy of children, God has made Christianity to have a
masculine feel. He has ordained for the church a masculine ministry.
And, of course, this is liable to serious misunderstanding and
serious abuse, because there are views of masculinity that would make
such a vision repulsive. So here is more precisely what I mean. And
words are always in adequate when describing beauty. Beauty always
thrives best when she is perceived by God-given instincts rather than by
rational definitions. But we must try. What I mean by “masculine
Christianity,” or “masculine ministry,” or “Christianity with a
masculine feel,” is this: Continue at John Piper
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