I want you to see the logic here. We are using symbols to indicate something about the way reality works. Therefore, parables are at work here, characterizations that help you organize how to think about certain questions in life. Your heart will recognize the truth. It’s not for me to convince you with my words, but to transport you to another place where your heart can discern the truth. We need to peek at reality from outside our fallen human perspective. That’s the role parables and symbols play.
Pick any human organization you like, religious or secular, as an example. I have characterized the effective work of males as those who steer the ship, who have a vision of where to go. Females are effective at keeping things stable, keeping the ship afloat. It is a vital necessity that we think in terms of sailing, because living in this fallen world means constant change. That makes shalom a moving target. You cannot just calcify your habits and expect them to work forever. The model of a sedentary existence is not for us. You have to sense what the context is saying about demonic tricks and steer the covenant community through the storms and rocks. Yet the same basic principles of reality still apply to non-covenant organizations.
If the organization is steered by men, it doesn’t matter what their agenda is, it will tend to move rather intelligently according to that agenda. In other words, it will be logical from a human standpoint, but still tend to bump into reality once in a while. The question men often handle is which of the hazards we face can we best sustain and survive.
If the organization is steered by women, it will never get anywhere. It will become doctrinaire and calcify, so that the first generation becomes the new establishment, against which the second generation must now revolt. It will always be a series of revolts, with the organization morphing again with each new generation. Yet it still never moves; it becomes sedentary.
If men are steering and no women are involved in stabilizing, it will be a high risk operation that wins big until it crashes and burns — and it always will. If men are involved trying to stabilize, the organization will be internally chaotic. Even feminized queer males are unable to truly adopt a mothering instinct; it is simply not there in the wiring. But it’s just about as bad when the females fail to exercise their motherly instincts. A queer female can never actually be a man; she cannot steer with any kind of useful risk analysis.
Men cannot fully grasp the necessity of keeping things stable in the background, without having seen it done successfully with a wise female involved in a covenant community leadership. He will then realize he cannot do it well himself, but that it must be done. Having that support will help him feel empowered to morally discern what is a real threat, and what is simply a bit rough.
Women cannot possibly understand the moral hazards and balance between what the community can handle or not. She will start from the assumption of beating down all hazards, and she’s not wired to make the awful choices to sacrifice anything precious. Her ship will be rudderless because in our fallen world, those choices must be made. She does exceedingly well when those choices are made by someone else, then encouraged to make the most of what’s left.
Yes, this model has limits. It’s not a clinical analysis, because such an analysis would always miss the point, anyway. Rather, it’s a parable that indicates something about what we should expect. It applies with or without any kind of heart-led awareness; it is wired into reality itself in a fallen world. Test this with your heart to see what God says about how you can use it.
There’s lots of danger in one party wanting what the other has. We only get a glimpse of what the “other side” does, and often what we really see from the work of the other side are the results. We don’t see the work that goes into getting those results, so we tend to think it doesn’t require a lot of effort. For sure there’s effort involved, but when folks are in their “right” place, the effort is handled well by their particular faculties and preferences.