I have been meditating a lot lately on the concept of biblical headship and what exactly it means. God has been speaking to me about it all using the example of, strangely enough, trees. As an arborist, I know trees pretty well, and I feel God often bringing to my mind the concept of "co-dominant stems" as it relates to the family structure.
As trees grow, they will sometimes sprout additional "stems" that begin to compete for dominance. While they are small, this is not a big deal, but everyone who knows much about pruning knows that it is important to "establish the leader/main stem" by pruning away potential co-dominant stems as soon as possible.
Small trees can maintain a number of co-dominant stems for much of their lifespan, but if a tree grows to great size, major problems will enevetably rise. Without a clear leader, the union (that is literaly what it is called, ironicaly, but colloqually, this known as a "crotch"
) of the stems will always be a weak point because of the basic anatomy of a tree. It may be fine for a while, but as storms come along later in life, the wind will blow the separate stems around in different directions, further weakening the already compromised union.
What results is a catastrophic mess, as can be seen in the attached photo of my backyard from a few weeks ago. This is exactly what happened to this tree- if you look closely, you can see how one of the co-dominant stems broke off at the base of the union, where compromise is exhibited by the "dirty-looking wood" where the two stems never properly attach together because of their co-dominant nature.
This being said, I believe a picture of biblical headship is the picture of a structurally healthy tree: one where there is a clear "main stem", with clear branches dispersed throughout it to create a beautiful and productive canopy.
Here's the thing: a trunk (stem) by itself is nothing. It cannot photosynthesise, nor draw in water and nutrients from the ground. It is simply a structure to support the components, which are the actual producers of life. It needs the branches and leaves just as the branches and leaves need the structure of the main stem to grow strong and tall and reach toward the sun.
I think you know what I'm getting at, but let me lay it out:
Husbands: We are to be the "main stem", providing structure and stability to the family unit. We must maintain a clear headship, lest we end up like the poor tree in my backyard.
Wives: You are to be the branches: the epicenters of nutrient production of the tree. You take raw components and turn them into something beautiful. The entire organism would starve without you, and would never produce fruit (figuratively, but also literally: children).
The roots are the grounding of the entire organism in the word of God. Without it, the whole tree is compromised in every way.
I believe this is the overall structure of the healthy family, as laid out in Ephesisans 5:
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
People seem to love hammering home the "Wives submit to your husbands" part, while neglecting the fact that the passage focuses even more on husbands loving their wives. Keep in mind 1 Corinthians 7:4: For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. We are the same organism with clear roles that, when played out in a healthy way, are a fountain of life.
I believe this also speaks to biblical polygyny as well, how one main man can join with multiple women (per Genesis 2:24). The branches are united to the main stem itself, but therefore have become part of the same organism through their separate union to the same structure. Multiple unions: one organism, through the headship of the main stem.
Ok, enough about trees. Maybe go climb one today and contemplate how your role as a part of an organism needs pruning or support.
God bless, and happy Independence Day!
As trees grow, they will sometimes sprout additional "stems" that begin to compete for dominance. While they are small, this is not a big deal, but everyone who knows much about pruning knows that it is important to "establish the leader/main stem" by pruning away potential co-dominant stems as soon as possible.
Small trees can maintain a number of co-dominant stems for much of their lifespan, but if a tree grows to great size, major problems will enevetably rise. Without a clear leader, the union (that is literaly what it is called, ironicaly, but colloqually, this known as a "crotch"
) of the stems will always be a weak point because of the basic anatomy of a tree. It may be fine for a while, but as storms come along later in life, the wind will blow the separate stems around in different directions, further weakening the already compromised union.What results is a catastrophic mess, as can be seen in the attached photo of my backyard from a few weeks ago. This is exactly what happened to this tree- if you look closely, you can see how one of the co-dominant stems broke off at the base of the union, where compromise is exhibited by the "dirty-looking wood" where the two stems never properly attach together because of their co-dominant nature.
This being said, I believe a picture of biblical headship is the picture of a structurally healthy tree: one where there is a clear "main stem", with clear branches dispersed throughout it to create a beautiful and productive canopy.
Here's the thing: a trunk (stem) by itself is nothing. It cannot photosynthesise, nor draw in water and nutrients from the ground. It is simply a structure to support the components, which are the actual producers of life. It needs the branches and leaves just as the branches and leaves need the structure of the main stem to grow strong and tall and reach toward the sun.
I think you know what I'm getting at, but let me lay it out:
Husbands: We are to be the "main stem", providing structure and stability to the family unit. We must maintain a clear headship, lest we end up like the poor tree in my backyard.
Wives: You are to be the branches: the epicenters of nutrient production of the tree. You take raw components and turn them into something beautiful. The entire organism would starve without you, and would never produce fruit (figuratively, but also literally: children).
The roots are the grounding of the entire organism in the word of God. Without it, the whole tree is compromised in every way.
I believe this is the overall structure of the healthy family, as laid out in Ephesisans 5:
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
People seem to love hammering home the "Wives submit to your husbands" part, while neglecting the fact that the passage focuses even more on husbands loving their wives. Keep in mind 1 Corinthians 7:4: For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. We are the same organism with clear roles that, when played out in a healthy way, are a fountain of life.
I believe this also speaks to biblical polygyny as well, how one main man can join with multiple women (per Genesis 2:24). The branches are united to the main stem itself, but therefore have become part of the same organism through their separate union to the same structure. Multiple unions: one organism, through the headship of the main stem.
Ok, enough about trees. Maybe go climb one today and contemplate how your role as a part of an organism needs pruning or support.
God bless, and happy Independence Day!
Although I know a number of couples that this diagram might actually apply to...
this, but that could send too strong of a message. 
