Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

1 Corinthians 11:11,12 and Genesis 2:18-25

The pendulum has swung back. In the twenty first century it is okay to admit that men and women are not the same. Many of us can recall back in the twentieth century when this statement seemed blasphemous. During the early stages of the women’s movement it seemed as though the only way women could gain the respect they deserved was to prove they were the same as men. No differences. Exactly the same.

Remember when we pretended that boys and girls would turn out the same if we simply removed the cultural gender biases? If we encouraged the boys to play with dolls and girls to play war games, then the future adults would have no gender differences. It didn’t work. When sociologists piled up children’s toys and gave boys and girls, who had been reared without any gender bias, the choice of which toys they wanted, the girls usually chose dolls and cooperated in their games. Boys mostly chose guns and competed.

By the end of the twentieth century research studies showed that there were clear differences between women and men. Baby boys sleep less than baby girls do. If you lean over a crib and hold an object over the baby, most boys will focus on the object, while most girls focus on the face. Women remember faces better than men do. Women have better manual dexterity than men do.

Brain studies reveal that females have a thicker connecting tissue between the hemispheres of the brain than men do. When a woman is asked a question, she considers the answer by using both sides of the brain. A man, when asked the same question, thinks with only one part of his brain.

The results of these studies remind us that God created men and women to be different. Some of the differences we see in society are the natural result of inherent gender differences. However, unfortunately, sin has pushed us beyond the normal God-given differences into unhealthy, hurtful treatment of men and women. For instance, women get honked at more than men. Men do more of the honking. Men tend not to ask for directions. Women stop and ask for help. Men get faster service on the phone than women making the same request. How do we explain these social differences? Is this the way God intended it in the Garden of Eden? Is this the way it will be in heaven? Or is this the result of sin?

Let’s be honest, sexism is a form of prejudice. It is just as sinful and damaging as racism or any other form of discrimination. Let’s explore God’s original intent for women and men.

Read Genesis 2: 18-25.

Shortly after World War II, a man walked into a restaurant and was seated next to an Asian man. As he ordered a kosher meal, the man then turned to the Asian and said, “I want to make it perfectly clear that I would not be sitting next to you if there were any other seat available. I am Jewish and I can’t stand what you people did at Pearl Harbor. If I had my way, they would ship all you people back to your own land.”

The Asian responded calmly, “I’m afraid you are mistaken. It was the Japanese who bombed Pearl Harbor. I’m Chinese.” The Jewish man answered, “Chinese, Japanese, it’s all the same thing.”

The two were quiet for a while and then the Asian broke the uncomfortable silence. “Well, if you are going to start an argument over race, then let me tell you that I wish they would send all you Jews back to your homeland. After what you did to the Titanic. Sinking that beautiful ship was terrible!”

The Jew asked, “What are you talking about? The Titanic was sunk by an iceberg.”

The Asian responded, “Iceberg, Goldberg. It’s all the same thing.”

Prejudice makes us stupid! This weekend, as we pause to remember the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. it is appropriate to review God’s intention that people who are different treat each other with respect. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that the civil rights movement had its foundation in the historic documents of our nation’s past. In an article that he wrote for a Christian magazine he reminded his readers that the Supreme Court guaranteed equality for different races in America in a decision made in 1896. What was intended to help blacks, however, turned into a new form of racism. Let me quote King.

“Then in 1896 … the Supreme Court of the nation established the doctrine of “separate but equal” as the law of the land. Very soon it was discovered that the concrete result of this doctrine was strict enforcement of the “separate,” without the slightest intention to abide by the “equal.”

When our family lived in a native village in Alaska we learned about racism. A Tlinget man once told me about his first experiences with racism. He was not allowed to attend the all white school. However, the missionary school for native children taught him to speak and read English. Thus, he learned to read the signs in the downtown stores of Juneau. He recalled the first sign he ever read as a boy newly able to sound out the words. It was a sign posted on many of the downtown stores and restaurants. He read, “No dogs or Indians allowed.”

Was this God’s intention in the Garden of Eden? Do we believe this is the way it will be for eternity in heaven? Do we see heaven as a place where people are separated according to their culture or race? Of course not! The Bible is clear that racism is a result of sin. Revelation describes our eternity with Jesus as a crowd of “people from every tribe and tongue and nation” (Revelation 5:9). It is relatively easy to identify racism as sinful and wrong.

For some reason, however, sexism seems to be a more subtle form of prejudice. When it comes to the differences between men and women we have a tendency to accept unfair treatment under the idea that this is really the way God intended it. Where did we get the idea that men are expected to rule and women to submit? How did we exclude women from decision-making levels for so many years?

Did you catch the recent New York Times article about former President Jimmy Carter’s speech to the Parliament of World Religions last month? Carter reminded the religious leaders that unfortunately the religions have often been the main reason for continued oppression of women around the world. “The belief that women are inferior human beings in the eyes of God gives excuses to the brutal husband who beats his wife…, the employer who has a lower pay scale for women…, or parents who decide to abort a female embryo.”

He’s right. Christianity must share some of the guilt on this. There has been a terrible misunderstanding of one word in the Garden of Eden story. It is the word “helper.” In Genesis 2:18 God recognized that it is not good for the man to be alone. So God determined to make a helper for Adam. Eve was created to be Adam’s helper. What does this mean?

The word “helper” has the connotation of being someone who is an assistant. The carpenter is busy fashioning a beautiful cabinet. The carpenter turns to the helper and asks for a tool. The helper is less capable and so assists. The surgeon needs a clamp to stop the internal bleeding, so the nurse is expected to hand the clamp to the doctor. The nurse is the helper for the doctor. If women are created as helpers for men, then doesn’t it mean that men are the capable ones while women are simply intended to assist?

This is an entirely wrong understanding of that Hebrew word. “Helper,” in the Hebrew language, does not carry this common connotation. In fact, the Hebrew word for helper is used often to describe God. Psalm 121 says “I lift my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come?” The answer? “My helper is the Lord God Almighty.” Another Psalm says, “The Lord is my helper; the Lord is my strength and my salvation.” Do we think of God as our less capable assistant? Of course not!

The Bible had some shocking things to say to a traditionally paternalistic culture. The Garden of Eden story includes these words after Adam and Eve were created, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife.” What a contrast to the norms of patriarchal society! Normally the woman would be expected to leave her family in order to become part of her husband’s family. Instead of the woman leaving her family, God spoke of the man leaving in order to cleave to his wife.

Jesus must have shocked his contemporaries in the way he treated women. He honored women and appreciated their gifts. Were Paul’s words surprising in his day? - “For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God.” (1 Corinthians 11:12)

So what do we do about sexism? The same thing we had to do with racism. We begin by calling it what it is: sin. Prejudice is not God’s will. However, we need to realize the important truth about prejudice that is often attributed to President Abraham Lincoln. “You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer."

Years ago I heard the Reverend John Perkins, a black preacher, describe some of his experiences. He recalled the night he was arrested and thrown into jail in a small southern town. In the middle of the night the jail cell door opened and two white policemen entered. They proceeded to beat him up, kicking him, hitting his head, breaking some bones, and leaving severe bruises. They did not know him at all. They simply hated him because he was black.

He told the audience that it was a night that changed his life. For the first time he realized what was wrong. The Lord showed him why they were treating him the way they were. He realized the problem was not with his skin color, it was with them. They were so down on themselves, they thought of themselves as worthless. They felt so bad about their own lives and so insecure, that the only way they knew to feel better was to beat somebody up so that they felt important. I remember his exact words, “As I lay there I felt sorry for them.” The Lord told him to pray for them. He knew that he was a child of God but they didn’t.

How do we pray for each other in the midst of the sin of sexism? Maybe we can pray that God uses all of us, women and men, who belong to Jesus.

[1] Anne Moir and David Jessel, Brain Sex: The Real Difference Between Men and Women (New York: Carol Publishing, 1991).

[2] Martin Luther King, Jr. A Testament of Hope: the Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986), 6.