Patriarchy Is Inevitable
Patriarchy Is Inevitable
Double dog dare you to tweet that.
This newsletter’s title is the opening sentence from the first chapter of It’s Good to Be a Man by Michael Foster and Dominic Tennant. I’ve linked to the book because I highly recommend it. I chose their statement for this title because I believe it to be true.
Patriarchy is inevitable. Why? Because God is the great Patriarch who rules over the entire cosmos. He is not our mother. He is our Father. Christ did not incarnate himself as a woman. He became a man, died a man, was raised a man, and will remain a man. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of the Father and the Son, not the spirit of the Mother and the Daughter.
Patriarchy is inevitable, but what is it?
patriarkhēs (Greek) = father rule
pater = father
arkhein = to rule
When I say patriarchy is inevitable, I mean nothing less than that all creation has been, is now, and always will be inescapably and irreversibly ruled by God. His creation may rebel against his authority and, for a time, subvert his dominion. But even the schemes of his enemies are turned toward the fulfillment of his plans. He will not be thwarted; he will not be mocked. He is the God who rules.
Now, I said above that by “patriarchy is inevitable” I mean nothing less than that creation will be ruled by God. This truth is like the foundation of a great house, upon which all else is built. But it is not the entire house. For God, in his wisdom and grace, has appointed mankind to rule under him over creation.
So we have God’s rule. And we have God’s rules, obeyed by all who love and fear him. The former is the foundation. The latter is the structure, that is, the result of his rules—his design and purpose for the world—being implemented over the course of time. The implementers are men and women who partner with God to build the structure. The name for the structure is Christendom, and it will have many iterations from age to age, from glory to glory, until the final Christendom arrives with the return of Christ and the resurrection on the last day.
The first Christendom lasted over a thousand years, and as its light flickers out the next Christendom emerges. And as with the first, so with the second—it will be thoroughly patriarchal. By this I mean that not only will God rule, but men will become strong once again and rule their families, their churches, and their societies in accordance with the character of the Father as expressed in his law, which was fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
Make Patriarchy Great Again
The only way to honor the patriarchy of God, and thereby receive the blessings of his rule, is to accept his word—all of it. Including those parts that are offensive to our feminized culture.
In the home:
But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and the head of Christ is God.
1 Cor. 11:3
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Eph. 5:22
In the church:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.
1 Tim. 2:12
In society:
My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.
Isa. 3:12
In all spheres of government, from the home to the church to the civil government, God’s word clearly establishes his divine design for men and women, and the order in which they must relate to one another. We can accept his order and be blessed, or we can kick against the goads and suffer the self-inflicted pain. There is a reason there are more broken homes and depressed men and women (especially women) today than every before. Remember—God will not be mocked.
More to Come
The next few publications will unpack the implications of restoring the patriarchy in the home, the church, and civil society. I’ll also demonstrate that the question is not whether patriarchy will win the day, but which patriarchy will win the day. After all… patriarchy is inevitable.
Until next time,
Lance
p.s. You can find the next installment of this series below.
