#79 - William and Kate: Dismissing "Archaic " Concepts?

You’ve probably been bombarded with more information about Friday’s royal wedding than you can digest. I know I have. But I wonder if in all that you’ve heard, you’ve come across 2 particular things that has left me deeply saddened .

First of all, did you know that they have been living together for most of the seven years since they first met. Unfortunately, we live in a time when this no longer shocks people but is actually accepted as normal by most people. Do you know that if this had been the case with Williams mother when she was married about 30 years ago that she and Prince Charles would not have been able to marry? You see, back in those “good old days,” the bride marrying the future King had to be a virgin, which at 19 Diana Spencer was. But today, that no longer is necessary because we live in a more “progressive” and not so “Puritanical” time. Yes, mankind has made so much “progress” in such a short time, has it not?

Then, just the other day, it was revealed that, like Princess Diana, Kate Middleton will not be required to say that she will “love, honor, and obey” her husband but instead, will say something like “love, honor, and RESPECT” her husband, because as one reporter said, to obey is such an archaic concept. Such a comment shows the general Biblical ignorance among English speaking people these days. Of course, it reflects the mistaken understanding of the wife being subject to the whims of her husband much as a slave would be to it’s master. People who think that don’t bother to look carefully at such passages as Ephesians 5:21-25.

First of all, verse 22 - that speaks to wives - is proceeded by verse 21 (not by coincidence) that calls ALL of us to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” In verse 22, it says wives should submit to their husbands “as to the Lord.” “It should be noted that all [the Apostle, the writer of the epistle] Paul says is written in the context of Christian marriage. He is not implying that women are inferior to men or that all women should be subject to men. The subjection, moreover, is voluntary, not forced. The Christian wife who promises to obey does so because her vow is ‘as to the Lord.” (from The Bible Expositor’s Commentary, Vol 2, p. 75) Finally, it is also overlooked that in later on in verse 25, it says “Husbands, love your wives, just Christ loves the Church and gave himself up for her …” In other words, though the husband is called to take the lead in the marriage relationship, he is called to love his wife as completely and unselfishly as Christ does, even to giving up his life for her as Christ did for His Church. The complete calling given to the husband makes it impossible for him to take advantage of his wife’s submission by placing the highest standard of love upon him.

It’s a shame that so many “modern” women tend not to understand and appreciate the true meaning of the word “obey” in a marriage. If they did, they would then know that rather than being an “archaic” concept the word “obey” points to a God-ordained definition of the marriage relationship that was meant to fully bless those who lived by its precepts.

And if they do not already, let us pray that William and Kate will one day soon each come to have a true personal relationship with Christ, without which not even an earthly King or a Queen has any hope of spending eternity with the true King of Kings.