Gender Roles in a Confused Generation

Gary Wilkerson

We live in a time when there is much confusion about the roles of men and women in the family and in the church. The church is defining gender roles based on social pressures and political correctness rather than on the Word of God. On one end of the spectrum is Hierarchal Chauvinism, which claims that men are superior to women and that all women should be submissive to all men. On the other end of the spectrum — and as a revolt against the former — we have Egalitarian Feminism, which says that men and women are completely equal, with no differences in roles. The Bible teaches Complementarianism. That is, that men and women are equal in being and standing with God, but have distinctly different roles. Our differences are from God, complement each other and are necessary for fulfilling God's will on Earth.