But I would have you know that the head of the woman is the man, the head of every man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God.

—1 Corinthians 11:3

One casualty of the culture’s influence in the Church is God’s appointment of the man’s headship in marriage. A husband’s headship is a controversial topic within modern Christendom, having been twisted and distorted by many to conform to the cultural cues. The word headship sits just behind submission in terms of raising blood pressure, invoking debate, splintering the body of Christ, and spoiling marriages. Many of the erred views are based on non-biblical rationalizations for explaining what headship really means and the incorrect presumption that a Christian man will abuse his headship.

I will present headship (and the other foundations) from a biblical view (sans non-biblical rationalizations) in the context of both the Old and New Testaments where teachings are no less relevant today than they were thousands of years ago. After all, we’re talking about our own fallen nature, which is no different than that of Adam and Eve.

The headship discussed in verses such as 1 Corinthians 11:3, Ephesians 5:23, 1 Corinthians 11:7–9, 1 Timothy 2:12, and many others show that God ordained the husband as the head of the marriage and, thus, the family.

The creation account in the first two chapters of Genesis provides ample evidence of this headship. God created Adam and Eve differently, in an order that cannot be assumed to be irrelevant. First, compare the difference in how the two were created. God’s breath flowed directly into Adam: "Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being" (Gen. 2:7). Scripture accounts for the creation of both his body and soul. Then from Adam came Eve: "Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man" (v. 22).

Paul affirms this order in his first letter to the Corinthians: "The man is not from the woman, but the woman from the man. The man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man" (1 Cor. 11:8–9). God presented the woman to the man, which is the origin of the custom of a father giving away his daughter as a bride. In Genesis 2, God transferred His responsibility and care for Eve to Adam, in the same way a father transfers the care of his daughter to the groom.

This transference implicated Eve in her position to both God and to Adam, even though her relationship to each was different. Transference of care implies that the one being transferred needs something they cannot provide for themselves. The receiving party assumes responsibility for the one being transferred. With that responsibility come both the position and authority that enable execution of that care. That is what took place when God "brought her to the man."

The transference in Genesis 2 and the implied relationship between the man and woman is consistent with the man’s headship and the woman’s submission, an idea reinforced throughout the rest of Scripture. God chose to beget the woman differently, taking Adam’s rib to create her. The order of their creation also affirms the man’s headship. God created Adam first and gave him dominion over the garden.

God continued to create after He created Adam, beasts of the field, birds of the air, three rivers, and planting the Garden of Eden. God not only gave Adam the task of naming every living creature, He accepted those names. Naming them was an act of dominion. Adam had the authority to name every living creature. By God’s design, Adam—not the woman—was invited to be involved in creation and given the authority to name all creatures, including the helper God brought to Adam. Adam had fellowship with God and was active in the garden (with the presence of the forbidden tree) before the woman was created. Eve had no part in creation. All of creation was complete, except for the woman. She is the last account of creation.

Let’s not overlook that before the woman’s creation God characterized Adam’s need for her identically as he did the beasts—in the King James, a "help meet" (vv. 18, 20). The Hebrew root for the term is `ezer, or "aide." This is not to equate the woman with the beasts (quite the contrary), but it emphasizes her position in relation to her husband. An aide is something or someone who provides help, support, or relief. The woman’s role is supportive. A couple antonyms for aid are hindrance and detract from. If the woman is not acting biblically in this area, she becomes a hindrance and detracts from her husband and their God-ordained relationship.

In God’s eyes, Adam held a different position than Eve. This is evidenced in how He created Adam, the authority He bestowed on him, and God creating Adam prior to Eve.

Paul reinforces the creation order as a reason for the husband’s authority over his wife: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to usurp authority over a man, but to be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, fell into sin" (1 Tim. 2:12–14).

Furthermore, Adam had the authority to name his "help meet," woman, and later, Eve. The act of naming her expresses the dominion he was given over her.

Let’s also consider Genesis 3:9–13. A larger purpose of this account is to demonstrate that God, in His Holiness, cannot and will not overlook sin. In His omnipresence, God knew what they had done. His interrogations are to provoke admission to their sins. As the Judge, and in His Holiness, guilt had to be proclaimed and justice served.

As a secondary observation of the account, notice that the dynamic demonstrates the order of hierarchy in the relationship that is respected by God Himself. After Adam and the woman fell and hid themselves from His presence, God sought and inquired first with Adam, not the woman:

"9 The Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 He said, "I heard Your voice in the garden and was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself." 11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate" (Gen 3:9–12).

God’s choice to call to the man instead of the woman was not random. The scriptural account shows that Adam is being addressed as head of the couple. It was the woman who was deceived, but it was Adam whom God sought.

Only after He interrogates Adam does God interrogate the woman to call out her admission of guilt: 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What have you done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate" (Gen 3:9–13). It is important to note that God held her accountable to her own sin. In this sense, women have agency; they are responsible for their own sins and are accountable to God for them. The husband is not responsible for her sins any more than she is responsible for his.

If Adam holds a different position in God’s eyes, why wouldn’t Eve also hold Adam in esteem? Why don’t many Christian women hold their husbands in the same esteem as God? Why are many pastors ignoring and denying this critical dynamic? Why promote equality of the husband and wife by ignoring or denying the man’s position in the relationship?

Yes, men, like women, are sinners. Outside of Christ, there has never been perfection. A good-willed man who repents is as good as it gets in this world. Scripture does not put his headship at risk due to his sins. A man’s sin’s do not nullify God’s command for his wife to submit and hold him in reverence.

Why is headship in marriage important? The simple answer: because God decreed it. Like many other things in our Christian beliefs we are called to obedience, regardless of human rationalizations. Christ Himself was called to obedience. The more complex answer to the question provides a parallel whereby the marriage is modeled. "For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head and Savior of the church, which is His body" (Eph. 5:23). Christ is the "head" of those who are believers—the Church. He is not head of those who, in rebellion, are not part of His Church. This again implicates the wife to be one with her husband and not in rebellion.

As the head of the relationship, the man is to help his wife avoid the error to which she is predisposed. Namely, her inclination to follow Satan’s deceptions and to do his bidding by rationalizing the choices she makes that oppose her husband, or even God. Eve rationalized eating the forbidden fruit. Genesis 3:6 calls out her three reasons for taking and eating it: "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate."

Women today are susceptible to the same temptations and rationalization. Of course, feminism has taken this to a new level by claiming abortion as their right to control their own bodies. On the same spectrum, a woman can rationalize why her husband is not deserving of his headship and, thus, her submission. Regardless of the example, such reasoning stems from the great deceiver. Like Eve, women today are also predisposed to taking in Satan’s lies. Paul explicitly cites this in his letter to Timothy: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being deceived, fell into sin" (1 Tim. 2:14). And just as God faulted Adam for listening to his wife, He gave the husband the position and authority to help protect his wife from Satan’s lies. As the head (the center of reason), that is part of his headship—to resist listening to his wife’s improper rationalizations and correct her when she crosses the threshold of deception.

The man’s headship and position are further evidenced in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: "For since death came by man, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:21–22). Note in verse 22 that it is Adam whom God holds accountable, not Eve. Christ is the new Adam, not the new Eve. It is Eve who triggered the events that led to the fall, but Adam is held accountable. That could not happen if Adam were not head of the relationship before the fall and continued to be the head after the fall. With headship comes responsibility and position, as outlined in 1 Corinthians 15:21–22. Adam could not be held accountable if he did not hold position and responsibility as the head of the relationship. The implications on the woman are also clear: she is to submit to her husband and hold to her relative position to him, in all she says and does.

Pastors and Christian leaders should uphold the husband’s position as head in the relationship. However, the recent trend is to follow cultural cues by undermining the man’s headship and mischaracterizing his position in the marital relationship. Contemporary Christian writing and teaching is fixated on the man’s supposed shortcomings to love his wife. There seems to be an underlying assumption that it is the man who is not holding to a biblical standard, and that the woman naturally loves, holds her proper position and disposition, and is always faithful to her duties as prescribed by Scripture. The man is presumed to be the one who falters on his obligations in the relationship and, therefore, is the one who is often the target of admonishment. This pervasive prejudice undermines the man’s headship.

Pastors and leaders extend exaggerated pre-suppositions on men while simultaneously sidestepping admonishment of women. Extending presupposed guilt on all men not only plays to a feminist anti-patriarchal worldview, it is bearing false witness; it is not truthful. Combine improper presuppositions with the avoidance of holding women biblically accountable and you have a recipe for bias that plays directly into the progressive-feminist agenda. It is difficult to hold in esteem as head of the marriage an individual whose role is misrepresented and undermined.

So, what does this headship mean in day-to-day life? Headship in the marriage is no different than any other relationship where such position is designated. The appointment is as much a signal to those under the headship as it is for the head. In fact, as far as the marriage relationship, Scripture speaks more frequently to those under the headship of the husband (the wife) than the husband. There is an inherent obligation of the wife toward her husband that is every bit as affirming of his position as head in the relationship as his actions—or lack of them. It could be argued that the husband has no headship without the woman’s part of being the help meet—the aide—that God says she is to be. It is the wife’s burden to create a submissive relationship and thus a relationship where her husband is head. You cannot have a "head" in marriage where there is rebellion. Therefore, the foundation in the next chapter forms the other half of the man’s headship.