Some little girls were having a great time playing wedding.
They had a couple of bridesmaids, a bride and a maid of
honor. The mother of one of the girls observed that the
groom was conspicuous by his absence, and she asked,
"What about the groom?" One child quickly replied, "We
don't need a groom. This is just a small wedding."
There is many a wedding where the groom feels left out,
and many where he wishes he was left out, but the fact is,
there is no way to get a wedding so small that you do not
need a groom. The smallest wedding on record took place
without any attendants or guests, and there was no
preacher, but even Eve had a groom. When you have cut all
the corners possible, and you are down to the bare minimum
you still have a groom. The groom is not in limelight like the
bride, and his role is very minimal. He gets only a fraction
of the published publicity, which is not much more than the
ushers get, but he is no mere appendage which can be cut off
if necessary. You can eliminate everyone else in the list
below the bride, but the groom must remain.
God in His all wise providence ordained that every wedding
must have a groom. It is important to man's ego
that it is so, for if he was not a necessity he might very well
be ignored all together, and the fantasy of the little girls
might become fact. It is said with as much truth as humor
that some Hollywood brides keep the bouquets and throw
the groom away. But why all this rambling about the
necessity of a groom? It is because he does play second
fiddle when it comes to the wedding, and the fact is, he plays
a secondary role in the marriage.
The wife plays the leading role in marriage even though
she is to be submissive to her husband. When the biblical
view of marriage properly understood, no woman can ever
complain that she is treated unfairly. Nowhere is a woman's
role as wife and mother so exalted as it is in the Bible. The
Bible is almost like the newspaper. It magnifies and glorifies
the bride and wife, and just mentions the husband.
Proverbs 31 gives the greatest description in literature of the
role of an ideal wife and mother. Nowhere in the Bible is
there such a description of the ideal husband and father.
Peter was a husband, and he had a great opportunity to
write at length about husbands, but in our text of 7 verses of
marriage counseling he devotes 6 of them to the wife, and
only 1 to the husband. It looks like typical coverage for the
husband, and possibly 6 to 1 is even better than what he gets
in the paper. But the question is, why? When the groom is
just as essential as the bride, why does he get so much
attention? It is not only because he is less beautiful than the
bride, but also because his role is less difficult and demanding
than that of the bride. Generally speaking it is
much more difficult to be a good wife than to be a good
husband. It takes so many more virtues, and that is why the
Bible and books on marriage are filled with so much more
advice for wives than for husbands. One of the reasons is
that wives read more on improving their marriage than
husbands do. Both Peter and Paul deal with the wife before
they do the husband, and they say more about her role.
What a wife is and does determines more in a marriage
than any other factor. She is the star at the wedding, and
must go on being the star, for when she falls the sky is dark
indeed. Don't ever fall for the folly that the biblical role of
women makes her second class. If women's lib wants
freedom from the biblical role for women, then they want to
be free to be less and not more, for the biblical role makes
her the primary factor in marriage and the home. It is true
that man is dominant in business, government, war, and
politics, but when it comes to the home and marriage the
wife is the leader.
The analogies of Scripture illustrate what I am saying.
Jesus is pictured as the groom, and the church is the bride.
It is not hard for the groom to be loving and loyal to his
bride, but the bride is constantly struggling to be faithful,
and to keep unspotted from the world. The battles of the
bride is what the Christian life is all about. The brides side
of the union of God and man is the hard side. Husbands, of
course, cannot be so easily Godlike as God was with His
bride Israel, nor as easily Christlike as Christ is with His
bride the church. Nevertheless, I am convinced from
Scripture, from history, and from life, that it is easier to be
superior than it is to be submissive. The wife has the harder
role, but also the most significant. As in the relationship of
Christ and the church, it is the bride that determines the
success of the relationship. If the church fails, it is not
because Christ has not loved enough. He is the perfect
husband, but if the bride fails to be submissive and obedient,
the union is not a happy one. Spiritually and literally the
role of the wife is the key role in marriage. That is why Peter
devotes the majority of his advice on marriage to the wife.
This advice is far from being obsolete. It is becoming
more relevant everyday. Anyone who can read knows that
marriage is in big trouble today. It is not that it is less
popular, for everybody is still doing it, but the problem is
they are doing it more and enjoying it less. The quantity is
greater than ever, and people are getting married two and
three times, but the quality is sadly deficient. People look
upon marriage as an experiment, and if nothing develops
they move on to another experiment. This approach is fine
in the laboratory, for it is the scientific method, but marriage
is not designed by God to fit into the scientific method.
Marriage is closer to religion than science, and it is a matter
of faith and commitment. One must enter marriage with a
religious attitude rather than a scientific attitude to make it
work.
The world is flooded with advice for those brave
adventurers embarking on the sea of matrimony. The advice
varies according to the experience of the so-called expert
giving the advice. If some have been wrecked on the rocks
and sent to the bottom because of a stormy marriage, they
will not encourage you to believe it is a blessed blissful
journey of sailing into the sun. In fact, they will offer you
some such advice as this-
I would advise a man to pause
Before he takes a wife.
In fact, I see no earthly cause
He should not pause for life.
All to often the negative attitude dominates even in the
Christian mind. He begins to think like Elijah, and feel that
he is the only one left. In spite of the fact that marriage
failure is a major social problem, there are still millions of
happy marriages where the mates have not bowed the knee
to Baal, and the other idols that break up the marriage duet.
For them, marriage is a joyful journey, and not a tragic trip.
The sun may not always shine, but they know it is always
there even if the clouds are covering it for a time. They can
appreciate the truth of what Middleton writes concerning
marriage.
The Treasures of the deep are not so precious,
As are the conceal'd comforts of a man
Lock'd up in woman's love. I scent the air
Of blessings, when I come but near the house;
What a delicious breathe marriage sends forth.
The violet-bed's not sweeter.
Honest wedlockIs like the banqueting-house built in a garden
On which the spring's chaste flowers take delight.
To cast their modest odors.
Marriage can be so wonderful that it even smells good. It
can be all that God intended it to be if we obey the principles
He gives us. Making marriage marvelous is a matter of
making sure the ingredients that Peter mentions in our text
are mixed well into the relationship. As we inspect these
ingredients take note of any that you lack, and do some
shopping soon in the supermarket of God's abundant grace.
Keep them on your prayer shopping list until you are well
supplied. We want to concentrate on the ingredients which
the wife is to add to the recipe for a marvelous marriage.
One is a matter of external action, and the other is a matter
of internal attraction. The visible and the invisible are both
important. Let's look first at-
I. EXTERNAL ACTION.
Peter says that what you do as a wife is far more
important than what you say. A woman's behavior has a
powerful impact on a man even if he is an unbeliever. Peter
knows he is writing to many women who are married to men
who are not Christians. He says that by beautiful behavior
they can win their husbands even without saying a word.
Nowhere is it more true than in marriage that actions speak
louder than words. So often wives try and convince their
husbands by argument that the Bible is true. They are very
seldom successful because it is hard for any man to admit
that his wife has more good sense than himself. He will not
be overly impressed if a religious experience changes his
wife's vocabulary, but he will be impressed if it changes his
behavior.
Many women do not like the action and behavior that
Peter recommends, but when it is understood it is not hard
to swallow. Submissiveness frightens a lot of women. They
often think this is degrading for a wife. It seems to deny her
equality, and it makes her a slave to the male chauvinist.
This is a total misunderstanding of the principle involved.
Jesus did not grasp at equality with the Father. He humbled
Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant. He
was obedient even unto the death of the cross. The result
was that God highly exalted Him, and gave Him a name
above all names that at His name every knee should bow.
The way of submission is the way to sublime exaltation. The
wife who fulfills God's role, and is submissive to her husband
will soon be on a pedestal of admiration. He will not treat
her as mere equal, but as a precious gift far superior to what
he is worthy to possess.
The principle of submissiveness is far more effective than
the strategy of women's lib. Peter says that even a
non-Christian husband will find it hard to remain an
unbeliever if his wife lives with him in submissiveness. Peter
is not guilty of a blind and unrealistic optimism. He does
not say this is fool proof and will work in every case. He says
wives should so live that some may be won by this means.
Paul was all things to all men that by all means he might winsome.
Not all are saved because Christ died for all, and not
will be won even if Christian wives obey Peter's advice, but
the Christian wife is obligated to try.
It is of interest to note that Peter does not say anything
about husbands with non-Christian wives. The implication is
clear that right from the start it was easier for women to
become Christians than for men. Women can respond to the
Gospel on the basis of hearing. Faith comes by hearing to the
feminine mind, but men are more skeptical and demand
evidence more than women, and that is why the actions of
Christian women are such a vital part of evangelism. Satan
knew that the best way to influence a man was through a
woman, and that is why he went to Eve first. In God's plan
women are also leaders who influence men to follow Christ
by being living examples of the power that comes through
yielding to His lordship.
Jesus said that the servant is the greatest of all, and if
women could only see that submission is the means by which
they take first place they would not resist the role that makes
them the key to God's best. The more the church, as the
bride of Christ, submits to Christ, the more power she has to
fulfill the will of God. The call to submission is not to
degrade but to enrich and exalt. This same principle
operates in marriage. Of course there are abusive husbands
where submission can be a participation in their evils, but
this is not to make the normal marriage be one where this
principle is neglected, for it is the way to victory. A wife is
not to strive for mere equality, but to aim for a much higher
goal where she is exalted because of her submission. When
she is pleasing to her husband by her actions which make
him happy, he will exalt her and follow her leading even into
the kingdom of God. Shakespeare's Katherine, who was the
tamed shrew, finally came to this realization and said,
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace,
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
The idea of obey rubs women the wrong way, but it is
only because of the false image of a master and slave. This is
not the image of the Bible. Jesus did not obey the Father out
of necessity as one who was bound to do what He did not
want to do. He chose to obey the Father, and we are to
choose to obey Christ, and the wife is to choose to obey the
husband as an act of love. There are many exceptions where
the wife ought never to obey the husband when he wants her
to disobey God, or her own conscience. We are dealing here
with the issue of cooperation where the wife gladly goes
along with the husbands goals and seeks to be a helpmate.
She is a helper and not one who hinders his goals, and the
result is he is happy with her, and will honor her for this
role. Jesus was not degraded by His obedience to God, and
we are not degraded by obedience to Christ, and any idea
that a wife is somehow degraded by obeying her husband is
contrary to all that the Bible means by obedience. To obey is
to be exalted, and that is the only kind of obedience the
Word of God expects of a wife. Any obedience and submission
that degrades her is not God's will.
Peter holds up Sarah as an example of a submissive wife.
She was married to Abraham who was a very godly man,
but it was not easy. He pulled up stakes often and was a
wandering man. He got her involved in some foolish lies to
protect himself and almost had her ending up in another
man's harem. He did some foolish things, but still became a
great man because of having a submissive wife. The facts of
history make it clear that most great men of God are that
because of the partnership they have with submissive wives.
We can paraphrase the well known poem and say,
Wives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Take Emma Revell Moody for example. Who ever heard
of her? Her husband was D. L. Moody who turned both
England and America upside down for Christ. People all
over the world know of and read the works of Moody the
great evangelist. But what would he have been without his
partner Emma? He met her when she was just 17, and she
became a Sunday School teacher in a mission he was
starting. She got a good education and was a public school
teacher. Moody never finished his education, however, and
had handicaps because of it. His wife was a major helper
and instructed him all his life. They had three children, and
one of the two sons paid her this tribute: "To you, father
owed such an education as no one else could have given
him." The other son, who was a Presbyterian pastor wrote,
"My father's admiration for her was as boundless as his love
for her. Till the day of his death he never ceased to wonder
two things-the use God had made of him despite what he
considered his handicaps, and the miracle of having won the
love of a woman he considered so completely his superior."
She did everything for Moody. She wrote all of his letters,
and handled all his money. She paid the bills and dozens of
things that he might be free to do what God called him to do.
Her submission to her husband's authority and goals, even
though she was superior to him in many ways, did not
degrade her, but made her one of the greatest influences in
Christian history. She made her marriage a marvelous tool
for the kingdom of God, and millions were added to the
kingdom because of her submission.
Submission is not always easy even with a godly man, and
it can be near torture with an ungodly man, but the
principle is universal. The hope for a happy marriage lies in
a wife's ability to be a good vice-president. Sometimes a
president is absent, sick, or unable to function, and the
vice-president has to be able to take over the duties of the
president. The vice-president has to be equal with the
president, and be ready to take over, but also have the added
virtue of being a servant of the president. Such is the role of
the wife in marriage. She is capable of being president, but
her primary task is to help the president be successful in his
task, and her submissive behavior is the means to this end.
To be equal and yet submissive is exactly what we see in
Christ. This means the wife has the most Christlike role in
marriage. Lets look briefly at the second point which is-
II. INTERNAL ATTRACTION.
Peter urges wives to focus on the inner beauty of a quiet
and gentle spirit. To be gentle and quiet rather than
aggressive and loud is to be submissive. But where is the
power in that to change life for the better? Gary Smalley in
his book The Joy Of Committed Love tells of Mike and Gail.
Their only competition was who hates who the most. They
had no love for each other, or their two children. Mike went
to a bar after work, and spent his night with other women.
He came home late at night drunk, and he and Gail would
have violent fights. Gail's only dream was to save up enough
money to leave him.
A friend got hold of Gail and showed her this idea of
Peter's about a gentle and quiet spirit. She was persuaded to
try it. The first week nothing happened, but the second week
she saw Mike begin to change in response to her radical
change in behavior. They began to fall in love all over again.
And now for over two decades they have helped many
hundreds of other couples make the same discovery of the
power of gentleness and quietness. These feminine qualities
of life are not weak, but very powerful. Submission can
conquer where aggression can never win. It is the tool by
which a wife becomes a queen and not a slave. Submission is
power, and it is folly to avoid it by thinking it is a form of weakness.
It is the very power that is the basis for our salvation.
Jesus taught that the one who wants to be the greatest
will need to learn how to be a servant. The wife who learns
the power of submission and service will be the greatest
leader in the marriage. All the ideas that make this issue of
submission negative to women are a distortion. It is simply
being Christlike in a way that will lead to exaltation. When
seen in relation to Christ's spirit of submission it becomes
the noblest of virtues. If a husband does not respond to a
wife's submission by exalting her and making her delighted
to submit, then he is the one failing to fulfill his role as a
husband. He is in the place of God the Father in the
relationship, and just as God exalted Jesus for His
submission and obedience, so the husband is to do for the
wife. If he does this, he fulfills his role and makes the
marriage marvelous. If your marriage is not marvelous, one
of you, or both of you, are not playing the role that God has
ordained. Each partner doing their part, as Peter
commands, will be daily making their marriage marvelous.
