Contrary to what culture tells us today, being a man and not a woman is not simply about physical characteristics, or about whether we feel we are male or female.

In the Genesis creation account, men are commanded by God to lead in love, provide, and protect the family.

• In Genesis 2:15-17, before Eve is created, Adam is put in charge of the garden, and given a moral code to follow: not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• In Genesis 2:19-21, God creates Eve, from a rib of Adam, as a “helper fit for him.”
• Satan attacks Eve, doing an “end run” around Adam to undermine God’s authority structure. Adam not only did not protect Eve from Satan’s lies, but was also misled indirectly by Satan through Eve.   
• Despite Eve being the one who initially broke the moral code, God holds Adam accountable for his failed leadership, and Adam deflects responsibility for his failure by, among other things, blaming God for Eve’s sin as Eve’s creator.

We also see in Genesis and throughout scripture that being a leader does not imply that men are superior and women are inferior.  On the contrary, it is clear that both men and women are created in the image of God, and are equal in worth, value, and dignity. 

Because God has called us to be leaders, we ARE leaders.  But the question is, what kind of leader will we be? Will we follow Jesus as the ultimate servant leader, who “loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20)? Or will we stumble between the two extremes of failed male leadership, either lazy and passive as Adam was, or domineering and abusive?