Two halves make a whole, sometimes.

I taught mathematics and when I taught fractions the students learned very quickly that two halves make a whole.  But is this always true?  Do two halves of a pair of scissors make a whole?  Do two halves of a day make a whole?  The answer of course is yes if the two halves are complementary.  If the two halves are the same then you do not have a pair of scissors or if the two halves of the day are both mornings then you don't have a day.  For two halves to make a whole they have to be complementary.  Left and right shoe; morning and afternoon; day and night.

God made man and women equal but not the same.  They are complementary.  The Lord made woman a help mate for man.  To be a help mate you have to complement the other half.  The woman has strengths where the man doesn't.  It does not make her less than man but complementary to man as man is complementary to woman. 

Do we dare say it?  In the church man and woman should be considered equal but distinct.  They were created differently and that was no accident.  Gender differences were not a result of the fall but the result of creation.  That will also mean that men and women will have different roles in the family and in the church.  The world does not want to recognize these differences but the church must.  When God created man and woman He didn't say "oops, that will be a problem" but rather He said that it was good.  Gender differences are good. 

Man has always tried to make things the same that God created different.  In a future post I want to talk about what happens as a result of sin to these differences but let it be sufficient to say right now that the differences is what makes completion.  Two halves do make a whole when they are complementary.