Have you ever asked yourself why you do things the way you do? You and I have predictable responses to certain experiences we face in life. This doesn’t mean our response isn’t genuine, it just means it’s customary, even reflexive. For example, I have friend who was raised in the southern part of the United States. Whenever I converse with him, if I ask him a question, his initial response is always “yes, sir” or “no, sir.”
That’s not something I do, so, why does he do that? He does it because he was raised in a time and place that showed respect or deference to those older than himself. I very much doubt that he consciously thinks about it before he responds, it’s just part of who he is.
In this case, it’s at least partly the culture he grew up in that shaped his responses. And all cultures have things that are unique to them, especially in the way members of that culture relate to each other. But the question remains, where do those ideas and practices come from? Though many people today would try to deny it, the best foundational principles of human relationships are given to us in Holy Scripture.
There are a couple of terms that we hear occasionally as we talk about human behavior. One of them is something called the “social contract.” This theory says that people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior. In other words, members of a society cooperate for the good of everyone involved. There is “give and take.” This is seen through both written laws and unspoken rules of behavior. And every functioning society has these rules to live by.
This social contract theory grew out of two historical philosophical movements, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. The first movement rejected divine revelation and promoted the idea that humans are basically good and with proper education can lead an ethical life apart from God. The second movement, the Enlightenment, was a logical outgrowth of the previous one. It was centered around the idea that human reason is the primary source of authority and legitimacy. It elevated individualism, skepticism, and science. It promoted the idea that science and logic would give people more knowledge and understanding than either tradition or religion.
Maybe you’re wondering why I’m taking the time to talk about these philosophical movements. I’m doing it because we’re seeing the impact of these philosophies today, even though they were birthed hundreds of years ago. They may be old, but they are still exerting a huge influence on our world today.
These ideas have led to the second term I want to mention, “social construct.” The original understanding of a social construct is something that doesn’t exist in objective reality but is formed as a result of human interaction. It exists because humans agree that it exists. For example, in my country we have the idea that pink is the color for baby girls and blue is the color for baby boys; that’s a social construct. There’s nothing objective about that. Somewhere along the line it was a custom that became established.
But today, some people are saying that our biological sex, decided in the womb, is a social construct. That’s why they use the word, gender. Boys are boys and girls are girls only because we say so. They tell us that a biological male can choose to be a female and vice versa. And if someone doesn’t want to be a boy or girl, there’s a plethora of other options available. They propose that each person gets to choose what his or her gender is. Christ-followers know that premise is false – because God created male and female in humans and in the animal kingdom. Furthermore, human beings, male and female, are made in God’s image.
In our continuing study in the book of Colossians, we’ve come to the apostle Paul’s teaching on human relationships. I’ve titl...
