From Carl F.H. Henry @ http://www.henryinstitute.org
You may have seen her when she dropped her fourth-grade son off at Vacation Bible School. Maybe she slips in to the Sunday morning worship service, and disappears right after the final Amen. Maybe she's the checkout lady you left a gospel tract with last week. Or maybe she's the head of your congregational women's ministry. And maybe you'd never know that the long-sleeve blouse in July isn't just for modesty, but to cover bruised skin.
Right now, while you're reading this, there is a woman, probably in your neighborhood, who was beaten last night by her husband or, even more likely, live-in boyfriend. And this is an abomination in the sight of a holy God.
Tougher penalties of law are necessary and overdue. Communities and neighborhoods that know one another well enough to discern when something is awry at the Jones's are essential. Most important are churches that call men to sacrificial headship, hold predatory men to account, and exalt the dignity of women.
The Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has posted online a short editorial I wrote on the question of whether biblical male headship leads to abuse. You can access it here.
Our problem is not that we have believed too much about what Scripture teaches about male headship or the godly submission of wives. The problem is that we've ignored these Spirit-given truths, and cut ourselves off from a Word of God which calls on men both to recognize women as "weaker vessels" (who can be hurt, and who need protection) and as "heirs with you of the grace of life" (1 Pet 3:7 ESV).
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