There are many ideas competing in the minds of men and women as to what makes them equal in a marriage. The overwhelming view is one of mutual respect for the inherent talents, gifts and abilities that men and women possess. The home government is essentially meant to function as a mini democracy where intelligence, skill and ability will lead both husband and wife to the right decisions in their marriage.
The strength of this view with an emphasis on equality by inherent ability and mutual respect has almost completely eroded the Biblical concepts of Male headship within the home. The result of this erosion is the gradual disappearance of competent and eligible men. See my sermon The Downward path for more on this.
When we reject our Heavenly Father's nuturing commands - even a little bit, we we begin a downward slide that will lead the the destruction of society. Isaiah Chapters 1 to 3 detail that downward path. 1) The formalisation of religion 2) The lowered standard of leaders 3) Embracing of worldly ideas 4) Removal of good male leadership and emerging of weak childish leaders. 5) Disrespect for leadership 6) Feminisation of leadership 7) Immodesty and external focus of women. This process will destroy God's channel of blessing given through a Father. Proverbs 17:6 . The position of of Pastor/Elder is given in scripture to preserve this channel of blessing. Current trends within the church to feminise pastoral/eldership roles indictates how far down the downward path we have travelled. If we continue down this path we will become resistant to the call of Elijah to turn the hearts of the Fathers to the children and children to the fathers. The well being of the church, the community, the nation depends on home influences. Adventist Home P 15
It is interesting that the democratic values that were spawned from the leopard like beast of Greece are not really about true equality that can maintain harmony in a universe where there is one God who is the source of all things. Democracy offers many benefits when we live in this system while worshipping a God that reveals true values of headship, submission and equality through relationships, but when the God we worship is based on the inherent powers of omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence then Democracy begins to erode the blessing of headship in marriage and the society must ultimately fail.
The God of the Bible presents to us true equality in the relation of the Father and His Son. Since the Son of God has received everything from His Father, there is no need to place value in equality by power, it is all inherited. The Father blessed His Son and made Him equal by decree through the inheritance. Since the Father and Son relationship is the primary and most cornerstone relationship in the universe. Our perception of it translates directly into how we perceive equality between men and women and especially in marriage.
A worship of the Trinity of three co-equal beings must ultimately lead to the destruction of Male headship in the home other than a label even as the terms Father and Son are labels for functions that do not necessarily represent those individuals outside the need to demonstrate something to the universe. Therefore the worship of the Trinity as expressed in Adventism will ultimately lead to the destruction of the family as Biblically constituted.
I invite you to consider these points carefully: How we determine equality between members of the Godhead is ultimately how we will perceive equality in out our sphere for by beholding we become changed.
Said the angel, "Think ye that the Father yielded up His dearly beloved Son without a struggle? No, no." It was even a struggle with the God of heaven, whether to let guilty man perish, or to give His darling Son to die for them.? EW 127 (1882)
