The Holy Spirit, through Paul, speaks of the interdependence between men and women, both at a general social level and in the personal relationship between husband and wife. Interdependence in sociology and social psychology refers to the mutual reliance among individuals, in which outcomes, behaviors, and emotions are shaped by interactions. Developed by Harold Kelley and John Thibaut in 1959, it assumes that social life involves interconnected lots, requiring coordination and reciprocal exchange to manage shared situations. “In the Lord,” as the Holy Spirit established before creation, man and woman are interdependent of each other. Differentiation invigorates interdependence; the very nature of things has been established.
I have some friends, both male and female, who outwardly loathed and inwardly deeply longed for interdependence, especially the women. “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you,” was the consequence of doubting God’s love. (Genesis 3:17) The two consequences are inward struggles more than outward pressure, the loathing and longing for independence.
Beauty was the design of interdependence between man and woman before the first sin. The Lord God differentiated them, one from the other, and one not continuing without the other. A woman from man. Man born of woman. Both from the other. Both unique, yet one.
The uncovering of the head while praying and prophecying was an outward sign of the inward loathing and longing struggle. The woman’s cry for independence, while longing for dependence that love fills. “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Surely our sins bewilder the beauty of differentiation invigorating interdependence.
