I encourage you to be like a dolphin in the sea of our egalitarian, gender-leveling culture. Don’t be like a jellyfish. The ocean of secularism that we swim in (including much of the church) drifts toward minimizing serious differences between manhood and womanhood. The culture swings back and forth as to whether women are mainly sex objects or senior vice presidents. But rarely does it ponder the biblical vision that men are called to humbly lead and protect and provide, and women are called to come in alongside with their unique gifts and strengths and help the men carry through the vision.
- John Piper (Pursue Mature Manhood and Womanhood)
One of the privileges/responsibilities that the Elders of Missio Dei Church have is to shepherd our church (1 Peter 5:2; Jeremiah 3:15). Shepherding requires us to be watching and listening to the cultural tides that seems to always infiltrate the church. We are charged with praying and studying Scripture, leading the vision of the church, caring for the people of the church, teaching, living lives that are exemplary, protecting the people of the church from false doctrine and teachers, and developing other leaders.
Living in a culture that seems to long to eliminate or minimize God-given gender distinctions and role, we believe that it was important to better equip our church about the importance of God's gracious design for women and men or complementarianism.
Why highlight this topic and not another? It could be said that someone’s view of gender roles in fact reveals much of their theology, including their view of God, the Bible as God’s Word, and how the Bible is to be interpreted. According to Ligon Duncan, "The denial of complementarianism undermines the church's practical embrace of the authority of Scripture (thus eventually and inevitably harming the church's witness to the Gospel)."
We long to be found faithful in all that we do. So towards that end, as your shepherds, we commend these resources to you.
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Biblical Complementarity in the Church
- Missio Dei Church's Position Paper: Created and Redeemed as Male and Female (pdf)
- Freedom and Boundaries: A Pastoral Primer on the Role of Women in the Church by Kevin De Young (Amazon)
- Danvers Statement (website)
Biblical Manhood
- The Dude's Guide to Manhood: Finding True Manliness in a World of Counterfeits by Darrin Patrick (Amazon)
- Family Shepherds: Calling and Equipping Men to Lead Their Homes by
Voddie Baucham Jr. (Amazon) - Fatherless Generation: Redeeming the Story by John Sowers (Amazon)
- A Guide to Biblical Manhood by Randy Stinson (Amazon)
- Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole by Eric Mason (Amazon)
- The Shepherd Leader at Home: Knowing, Leading, Protecting, and Providing for Your Family
Timothy Z. Witmer (Amazon)
Biblical Womanhood
- Becoming God's True Woman by Nancy Leigh DeMoss (Amazon)
- By His Wounds You Are Healed: how the message of Ephesians transforms a woman's identity by Wendy Horger Alsup (Amazon)
- Girls Gone Wise by Mary Kassian (Amazon)
- True Woman (website)
- Women’s Ministry in the Local Church (free pdf book)
- Practical Theology for Women (website)
- Practical Theology for Women: How Knowing God Makes a Difference in Our Daily Lives by Wendy Horger Alsup (Amazon)
Marriage
- Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas (Amazon)
- The Godly Home by Richard Baxter (Amazon)
- The Meaning of Marriage by Tim and Kathy Keller (Amazon)
- This Momentary Marriage by John Piper (free pdf book)
- When Sinners Say "I Do": Discovering the Power of the Gospel for Marriage by Dave Harvey (Amazon)
Parenting
- Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God by Voddie Baucham Jr. (Amazon)
General Resources
- Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem (free pdf book)
- The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhoo (website)
- What's the Difference?: Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible by John Piper (free pdf book)
- 50 Crucial Questions About Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem (free pdf book)