Direction to Husbands

November 26, 2008

I Peter 3:7

“The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don’t run aground.” (The Message)

“Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honor to the woman as the weaker sex, since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life—so that nothing may hinder your prayers.” (NRSV)

Blub, blub, blub . . . that was the sound my blood getting its boil going as I read this in the NRSV translation. I was getting agitated such that I had to walk out to Peggy, our administrative assistant, simply to express with almost childlike anger that I don’t like Peter! With that, in her gentle way, she called me back to center. “Isn’t this one of those times when you have to consider the context?” she said.

Yep! It sure is. So what was the context then? Unlike the previous verses, Peter is now shifting to talk to the men who are Christian and are in marital relationships with women who are also Christian. This Message translation is actually more accurate to the Greek understanding in its paraphrase than the NRSV appears to be. Peter is calling husbands to treat their wives, who have less physical strength than they, with respect and honor. The word for honor is the same word used as the honor that one would pay the king. This is a call not just to the practice of mutual submission but to equality in marriage. It implies that the perspectives and social rankings of this life are irrelevant in the spiritual world. When we understand ourselves as spiritual beings we must understand ourselves as being on equal footing before God.

Early church tradition understood that one’s behavior had a direct effect on one’s prayers. So if the men wanted their prayers to be heard, they needed to treat their wives as equals.

Peter wants the men to understand that the direction of life when properly lived is not theirs to steer on behalf of their wives, nor is it for the wife to steer on behalf of the husband. It is the responsibility of every person to render his or her life to God such that God is the one who steers the direction of our lives. There is no more equal footing then that, when we all bow in submission to our God. May we seek to do just that in our living! Amen.