Piper and the Bride of Christ

John Piper, a hierarchical theologian, is convinced that men aren't called to lead because they are more competent. They are just, well, called to lead. And while it is true that the gift of leading is a charisma, a spiritual gift, and given to members of the Body of Christ solely at the discretion of God (1 Cor 12), should we assume that the gift doesn't come with some level of competence? Do people perform miracles without having the ability to perform miracles?

Yet, Piper is absolutely convinced that men should lead simply because they feel the need to lead:

"At the heart of mature manhood is the God-given sense (disposition, inclination) that the primary responsibility (not sole responsibility) lies with him when it comes to leadership-initiative, provision, and protection. And at the heart of mature womanhood is the God-given sense (disposition, inclination) that none of this implies her inferiority, but that it will be a beautiful thing to come alongside such a man and gladly affirm and receive this kind of leadership and provision and protection."

(Read the whole article at, http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/god-created-man-male-and-female-what-does-it-mean-to-be-complementarian)

Now this leads us to the egalitarian argument that men claim they have a divine right to exclude women because of Genesis 3. Just consider it: men shouldn't lead because they are better, wiser, more competent; they should lead because they have a "sense" that they should lead, an "inclination" to lead, a "disposition" to lead.

All humans have an inclination and disposition to sin. Does it mean God has called us to sin? Heaven forbid.

The concepts of masculinity and femininity are based on observations. What do men really like, what do women prefer? A pink bicycle? A sports car? A woman may like a sports car just as much as a man may prefer to buy a pink bicycle - unless their culture tells them that there is something wrong with their choices, in which case they may decline and follow the cultural cues.

Because Piper is convinced that God has called men to lead, he does his best to find these "inclinations" in the Bible.

“Let’s look first at a text dealing with marriage and then one dealing very briefly with the church. In both texts, Christ-like, humble, loving, sacrificial men are to take primary responsibility for leadership, provision and protection. And women are called to come alongside these men, support that leadership, and advance the kingdom Christ with the full range of her gifts in the paths laid out in Scripture.”

But what if a man isn't humble, loving, and sacrificial? Who tells him that he is disqualified from leadership

In other words, it is about competence.

If only those who are mature and able to lead, because they exhibit all the necessary traits (which is Paul's view in 1 Timothy 3), should lead, why does Piper say men were called to lead whether they are competent or not? Not even Luther was so foolish as to say that incompetent men should be part of ecclesiastical leadership. 

Piper continues:

“In this drama, the husband takes his cues from Christ and the wife takes her cues from God's will for the church. Verse 25: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Verse 22: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church.””

This begs the question: isn’t the church the one who preaches, teaches, baptizes, and imitates all the things that Jesus did when he was on earth? If the church should imitate Jesus in all things, why shouldn't the wife imitate her husband in all things?

Suddenly Piper does something interesting. He equates leading with sacrifice:

“So the primary responsibility for initiative and leadership in the home is to come from the husband who is taking his cues from Christ, the head. And it is clear that this is not about rights and power, but about responsibility and sacrifice. Verse 25: “As Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.”  No abuse. No bossiness. No authoritarianism. No arrogance. Here is a man whose pride has been broken by his own need for a Savior, and he is willing to bear the burden of leadership given to him by his Master, no matter how heavy the load. Godly women see this and are glad.”

Yet, Ephesians 5:1-2 tells all Christians to imitate Christ who loved the church and gave himself for her. We should all live the life of love. This does not give husbands any extra responsibilities.
 
Piper needs to tie the home to the church because of his argument that all men are called to lead, but when he attempts this fusion, he breaks his own argument in a way that he cannot later fix.

 “We don’t have time to develop the arguments for how this applies to the church. So I will just make some summary comments so you can know how we as complementarians see it. In 1 Timothy 2:12 Paul says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.” In the context we take that to mean: the primary responsibility for governance and teaching in the church should be carried by spiritual men. These are the two functions that distinguish elders from deacons: governing (1 Timothy 5:17) and teaching (1 Timothy 3:2). So the clearest way we apply this passage is to say that the elders of the church should be spiritual men.”

Because husbands are men, and women shouldn't exercise authority over men, overseers should be men. Case closed -  except that it isn't. This argument begs the same question we already mention above: if women should take their cue from the church, should they not be the ones who teach and govern the way the church does?

Piper tries to fix what he has broken, but alas, it's too late:

“In other words, since the church is the family of God, the realities of headship and submission that we saw in marriage (Ephesians 5:22ff) have their counterparts in the church.

• “Authority” (in 1 Timothy 2:12) refers to the divine calling of spiritual, gifted men to take primary responsibility as elders for Christlike, servant-leadership and teaching in the church.
• And “submission” refers to the divine calling of the rest of the church, both men and women, to honor and affirm the leadership and teaching of the elders and to be equipped by them for the hundreds and hundreds of various ministries available to men and women in the service of Christ.”

All men should lead in the home because the husband is likened to Christ, and overseers should lead because the church is the family of God. Yet, this begs the question: who is the husband of the church? Jesus. Who is the bride of Christ? The Church. If the bride of Christ, the church, has the divine calling to teach and lead both men and women, why doesn't the bride of every man?

Source: 

Karant-Nunn Susan C. and Wiesner-Hanks Merry E., Luther on Women, A Sourcebook [Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003], 75.