Note: This post is the continuation of a series, which began with the installment: The Problem with Patriarchy Part 1: Our Road to Damascus. If you have just come across this site or this post, it might be a good idea to start with Part 1. Each installment (hopefully) builds on the foundation laid in the previous entries. Thanks for reading!
In the opening passages of the Bible, we meet this woman named Eve (well, eventually we find out her name is Eve later in the story) who God brings into the world by fashioning her out of piece of flesh taken from the first human; a man the Bible calls Adam. And we learn an odd detail about this creation event – it really is a strange detail when you stop and think about it. This piece of Adam, which will be fashioned into this woman named Eve, comes from his side; and in some translations it’s called a rib. Either way, the location and the imagery of where Eve comes from is specific. Some of the oldest commentaries on this passage speak to the significance of this detail. Why? Because to speak of a rib or someone’s side is to paint a picture of equality. As these commentaries so thoughtfully point out: Eve wasn’t formed from the head so she could rule over Adam nor formed from the foot so she could be trampled on. She was formed from a rib; so their relationship could be described in terms of a partnership. Equality is the standard. In other words, in the beginning we are no better than anyone else in this world. But, we are also no worse.
No better. No worse. Not under. Not on top. Side by side. Equal. We have very few words from the Bible about how the world is supposed to be, but the implications of these two verses in Genesis about the birth of Eve are significant. There is no hierarchy. There are no rankings. She may have been born into this world second to Adam, but she is not inferior because she came from the side of the first. In the beginning, there are only two people living together in a vulnerable, open and honest way free of shame and distrust. It’s telling isn’t it? In my experience, this type of living can only happen between equals and maybe that’s the point.
To our demise; though, the world changed. Somehow, equality became an unacceptable way of being. Our insecurities and our lost sense of self-worth required us to begin creating ways of distinguishing ourselves from one another through titles, rankings, societal roles and placements, physical features, IQ’s, bank accounts and even religious rituals, to name a few. At the heart of it all was this overwhelming need to create what I will refer to as hierarchy. It’s this underlying need to know I am better than someone in something to develop any kind of sense of self-worth. I need to be bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, richer, prettier, dressier, classier, wittier, or funnier than you to know I am special or at least belong. Pick a category.
And while we’re talking about hierarchy, it’s critical we recognize this personal nature of the disease is only part of the story. There is another side and it’s the social or communal aspect of creating distinctions or categories or classes. In simple terms, it’s those places or positions which say I am in and you are out. I am a part of something exclusive. Not everyone can be included, which naturally makes those who are “in”, exceptional. We find this system in our various social networks, such as cliques or even gangs and also organizations including clubs, schools, teams, and even (dare I say it?) churches. No matter where we go, there is this constant battle in our lives to establish ourselves as something special when the truth is being the human you were born to be should be enough. It’s this constant pull for us to become someone else to “fit in” despite the fact we have always belonged whether we realized it or not. And this battle…this chase…it’s exhausting. It’s sapping the joy out of our lives, I think. It did mine and it’s still a struggle.
(As I describe this, I can’t help but think of the scene from Madagascar 2, in which King Julien reacts to Melman, the giraffe, who has invaded the first class section of this airplane the animals have somehow managed to appropriate for travel. King Julien responds to Melman’s sudden incursion by saying: “Sorry do you mind going back? This is 1st class. It’s nothing personal it’s just that we are better than you”. Sorry for that bit of an aside. I thought the scene was so funny but also so telling).
But, here’s the thing. This culture of hierarchy has ruled the world for so long we’ve become drenched in this way of thinking. We don’t even realize how it has affected the way we see ourselves or how we approach life. I think it even affected the way we read the Bible. It had to. Which brings us back to this subject of patriarchy, the issue that got me to thinking about this whole problem in the first place.
Patriarchy: recall it’s a specific form of hierarchy that sets aside certain jobs and responsibilities as the exclusive domain of men. And those jobs and responsibilities are the leadership positions; of course, which naturally carry some level of power and authority. And let’s be honest. When it comes to power and authority, human beings have a poor track record (to put it mildly). I would bet most of us would agree that creating any type of exclusivity in the area of power and authority – no matter how innocent and well-intentioned it may appear – is just a bad idea. Further, when we continue to perpetuate any form of hierarchy or exclusivity in our culture; we’re just spreading a sickness of insecurity and brokenness in our relationships. Why? Because at the core of our discussion on hierarchy, patriarchy or any other way we separate or distinguish ourselves is a conversation on the nature of relationships. Which takes us back to a discussion about the Bible. It has to.
As I mentioned to my oldest daughter the other week, no matter how you see the Bible or what others say about it, the Bible, in one very important sense, is a story about relationships. Our relationship to God, obviously. But also a book about our relationship with creation and our relationships with each other. It’s a collection of stories about how all these relationships got so twisted and the struggle it created within the human race. And if you actually read the Bible with that idea in mind, you’ll begin to see how real and insightful the Bible really is. The lives of all those characters from the Bible we admired and celebrated as children actually had lives that were just as messy as ours. Does anyone remember your childhood Sunday School teacher talking about how the story of Noah and the ark actually concludes with a scene where Noah is drunk and naked? I didn’t think so. But, we can save the story about a drunk and naked Noah for another blog entry…
For perspective, let’s consider the very first failing of the human race, which is told in Genesis 3. In this account, we are given this story of how Adam and Eve disobey God and the implications are significant, of course. Beginning in verse 14, we find God describing how the world is going to be now that we’ve decided to do this on our own. To be sure, we see God saying some pretty harsh things, but I think his words are best viewed as a lament about how a world filled with sin will be much more difficult than what God intended for creation and the human race. Life will be a struggle and full of strife and pain and we get some very specific observations as to what that will look like. For the woman, God notes her husband “shall rule over you.” Man will rule over woman. In a world full of sin, hierarchy or more specifically in this case, patriarchy will become the norm. But, it is not what God intended. Sin will cause the woman to lose her place of equality in the world; and as a result, she will be completely dependent on her husband for her well-being and perhaps even her source of identity.
Sure enough, the Bible goes on to describe a world where women are essentially property and to become a widow was to become one of the most vulnerable people in society. To lose your husband would be to lose your security and any decent or respectable means of survival. It would be common for a widow to become a prostitute. Think about it. How else is she going to obtain money to feed herself? In the ancient world, for a woman to lose her husband would be to lose her only means of maintaining her humanity. And we have to remind ourselves this is not what God wanted for the world. Maybe it should be no surprise to read in the Bible about how prophets of Israel chastise their own people when they fail to take care of the widows or how a man is to marry his brother’s wife if his brother should die. These are reminders to God’s people God is in the business of redemption and restoration and we are called – no actually commanded – to take part in it. We have a role to play. We work with God to restore each and every relationship back to the way God intended. Equality. Side by side. No hierarchy. No patriarchy. No questions about value and worth. The way it was before it all fell apart.