The video of Mark Driscoll and his wife answering a question about stay-at-home dads is not new, but it has started a new round on some blogs I read. You can watch the video here:
If you want a better understanding of what woking @ home or a exegesis 1 Tim 5:16 then check out this article:
What Does "Workers at Home" Really Mean?
I am a stay-at-home dad, and after watching Driscoll I feel no need to repent. From that you likely know my stance on Driscoll's statements.
What I want to explore is how we see the Bible. Why does Driscoll feel the need to take a passage so obviously out of context to defend his world view.
"Who says life doesn't come with an instruction manual? I have one and it's called the Holy Bible."
A lot of Christians see the Bible as God's instructional manual for life. Have an issue, check the instruction manual. Don't know if something is right, check the instructional manual.
This is where we get into trouble.
The Bible has been canonized and it's not like God could forget something, so if the Bible is life's instructional manual then everything has to be in there. God cannot be silent on a subject. But if you look up "stay-at-home dad" in your concordance it's not there.
So what to do.
It's time for God's great scavenger hunt. Going through verses of the Bible to answer your question. Most often what we do is we go to the Bible to find passages that support our point of view.
I'm sure that Driscoll thinks that SAHDs are lazy and weak. But it can't be just his opinion. He needs it to be God's view as well so he goes to the Bible and for verses to back his point of view. No matter if he is jamming a a square peg into a round hole. Because the answer has to be in the Bible.
And Driscoll is the pastor, the answer man. He cannot reply, "I don't know." He is the leader. The one to instruct his followers. He has the knowledge and connection to God that you cannot, so he will tell you what you can do and what you cannot. He will tell you what books you can read and which ones you cannot. He will decipher the Bible for you so you know what is a sin and what is not.
The problem with pastors like Driscoll is not that they are not fans of SAHDs. The problem is they try to convince other people that their thoughts are also God's thoughts.
5 comments:
I didn't know you had a blog, Chad.
I'll go ahead and subscribe.
It has been abandoned for a while. My wife and I shared a blog for a while. Just decided to get back into it.
To be fair, I am about as agnostic as they come, but Holy Bullshit, Batman. I just want to know who defines "provide" for your family? My husband being at home IS providing for my family. And someone please explain "Gracie's" comments about how mom's are built to see physical needs in their kids. I didn't get the special "mom-only specs" in the delivery room.
@Hossmom - thanks for stopping by. As a Christian let me first apologize for the times any of us take our own views and prejudices and try to make them God's by sprinkling them with the magic fairy dust of Bible verses.
If you haven't read it the link in this post "What Does "Workers at Home" Really Mean?" is a great read.
I think if there is any truth to Gracie's comments they have less to do with genitalia than with time. I tend to be able to understand my kids and know what they need easier than my wife not because she is not a good mother, not because she missed out on some "special gift from the almighty" but because I spend a lot more time around them. Since in the past that was primarily mothers I think some people have assigned that as a gender role rather than just the fact that mothers tended to be the ones spending a lot more time with their kids.
Thanks again for sharing your perspective.
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