Home Team

Men and women were created to complement each other. Men and women cannot be friends. Both of these statements get tossed back and forth like a tennis game.

Maybe we’re landing at the wrong stances because we’re not asking the right questions. For instance, can men and women be friends is a wrong place to start. As believers of Jesus, we can ask does God care how men and women get along. That’s a far better question to ask because the Bible directly answers that.

Home Team is another way of referring to the question presented in the book of Joshua when the military captain stepped forward into the scene. Are you on my side or on their side? was the question Joshua asked. The answer he received confused him much like some of our current day answers stumble us. The captain said I’m not here to choose sides, I’m here to takeover.

As creator of this universe, God has a side. Anybody who’s against God is his opponent. So it’s not always clear cut to decipher who’s on God’s side or who’s his antagonist. Which means it’s possible for believers of Jesus to be his opponent. In fact, looking at history gives us ample amounts of examples of who’s against God.

Sometimes we think those who come out as victors are on the side of right. But that would be foolish thinking. Just like we think those who come out as losers are obviously against the side of right. Again….foolish thinking.

It is also possible to consider how someone could begin a quest for something on the side of right and then make some decisions that leave them on the other side, and vice versa. If Israel as a geopolitical entity could find themselves going against God as told in the Bible, it’s wise to make room for any other political county with an army to land at the same spot.

So back to the question. Does God care how men and women get along? Absolutely. How can I (as author) and you (as reader) be sure? Great question. Look at the book of Genesis and see what lengths the writer goes to lay out how Adam and Eve are to work in tandem in their garden work and population dominion. Go on to see how much God cares for how siblings are to treat each other in the Cain and Abel story. Read on further to see how man and animals are to relate in the story of Noah. I’m talking far beyond who gets to be on the ark.

You’ll see this question and answer theme pop up over and over again throughout the rest of the Old Testament into the New. For example, Abraham don’t mistreat Hagar and listen to Sarah. Sons listen to your mother and consider what she says as precious to the point of binding her words around your neck. Boaz followed a Jewish custom to care for Ruth as she gleaned the fields to care for her mother-in-law. Peter tells husbands that properly caring for their wives matters. Matter is the minimum in this case (and in other scenarios). To know her, understand her, listen to her, bend your ear to her words, incline your heart towards her, and treat her in sacrificial ways is part of what Peter is getting at. Punishment for failing to do this is wrapped up in the result that his prayers will fall on deaf ears of the very creator of man and woman.

Still question if God cares how man and woman relate?

So yes, men and women can be friends in all the senses that don’t involve friends with benefits, or a married man having a single female friend. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – that oldie but goodie golden rule. This demands that people created with dignity get treated as such regardless of their societal stations in life.

Part of being on the Home Team means believers of Jesus pushing back against the world and culture’s set terms with a large helping of fluidity on the side waiting to be mixed in. Now we can play smarter tennis games because we can operate with better questions that lead us to answers.