The Proper form of Male Headship

I see that once again, and no doubt much against his will, Pastor Mark Driscoll has been dragged into the limelight for a sober, biblical and godly analysis of the relationship between men and women.

To be fair, this verse in Proverbs is one that it is easy to lampoon. Eileen, the self-styled Archdruid next door, has a habit of turning it round it as "the average husband is a drip". And in referring to a nagging wife as a dripping "faucet", Pastor Mark is clearly quoting from an Ishmael song, not even the Nearly Inspired Version, and not from the true Scripture which renders it as "...the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping."

But I do believe it is important that we establish the ground rules of a marital relationship based on Biblical principles. That is why I have always been clear with Marjory that I am the one who is in the place of God in our marriage, and she in the place of the obedient, pure and hard-working Bride.

And so we have come to the proper order of hierarchy and obedience. I make the really important decisions - which form of Dispensationalism to believe in; whether the Fall was inevitable; who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews; the best ways to calculate the Age of the Earth from the king lists of Judah and Israel. While Marjory is allowed to make the secondary decisions, those which do not impinge on our immortal souls - where to go on holiday; financial investments; the amount of the Bogwulf Baptists' tithes that should go to me (as pastor) and Marjory (as Church Secretary and Treasurer - an important but, clearly, secondary post). Likewise, because our bodies are temples, it is important that I keep the house tidy, do the cooking and washing up - these cannot be delegated because our very health depends on them being carried out correctly.

I am pleased to say that, with very few complaints, which we resolved by agreeing I was right, Marjory has been prepared to fall in with these arrangements. And, I should add, suggested that, on the same basis, the removal of household rubbish and unblocking of the plumbing is so important it needs a man to do it as well. It is good for a woman to know her limitations.