Blue, Pink, and Black Sharpies in Your Bible 

17 November, 2025

Men and women are different. You might be aware that this concept is curiously controversial. Yes: it is controversial in our larger culture. It is simply one more example of our present aversion to truth. (Water is wet? The sky is up? What is the point of statements like that other than perpetuating systems of colonializing patriarchal oppression?)

Sadly, this statement – the men/women one, not the water/sky bit… yet – is controversial in the church. This is because Christians have been drinking the water in which we’re swimming. Third-wave feminism and critical theory have made inroads, yes. But an equally insidious chlorinated cocktail that has been gulped in with great gusto by God’s people is the Declaration of Independence.

Okay, let me clarify: it is an loosey-goosey interpretation of that famous “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” piece. Somewhere along the line, liberty went from freedom within a worldview to freedom with no ifs, ands, or buts. This also shows a legitimate lack of reading comprehension, as the previous line clearly states that all are “endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.” Like an ungrateful child, we wave off our kind father on Christmas morning to ogle over the great gift he has given.

Much more could be said about Jefferson, Locke, Marx, and Butler. But keystrokes are more expensive than they used to be. And there is a point to be made.

By consuming the American doctrine of libertarian free will, we do our best to shed our God-given skin. Among many ways this is manifested is the ontological (categories related to the nature of being) differences between men and women.

A real hard-hitting list of such differences includes such texts as:

·       Genesis 2:18-23

·       Genesis 3:16-19

·       Matthew 19:4-5

·       1st Corinthians 11:3-16

·       1st Corinthians 14:34-35

·       Ephesians 5:22-33

·       Colossians 3:18-19

·       1st Timothy 3:1-12

Of course, passages like these have been pulled out of context and wielded sloppily to the great detriment of women, churches, and the name of Christ. That is why they must be understood properly, practiced appropriately, and taken in with other essential truths in mind:

·       The image of God is placed upon both men and women (Genesis 1:27, 6:6)

·       Salvation is graciously given to both men and women (2nd Corinthians 6:16-18, Galatians 3:28)

·       Sin is the natural inclination of both men and women (Genesis 3:6, Romans 1:21-27)

And with that metaphor- and reference-filled preamble, we reach the point promised paragraphs ago. If men and women are different, and if men and women both sin, then it is not inappropriate to assume that men and women are tempted differently by different kinds of sins. If the Bible says this, it is inappropriate to not assume it to be true.

What are some examples?

In a specific manner, women may struggle with:

·       Gossip (1st Timothy 3:11, 5:13, Titus 2:3)

·       Submission to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22, Titus 2:4-5)

·       Contempt for authority on the basis of gender (Genesis 3:16, 1st Corinthians 14:34)

In a specific manner, men may struggle with:

·       Loving their wife in a careful manner (Ephesians 5:25-29, Colossians 3:19)

·       Instigation of all manner of lust and sexual sin (Leviticus 20, etc.)

·       Abuse of authority (Matthew 23, Mark 10:42-45, 1 Peter 3:7, 5:3)

Now we need to be clear than men can love gossip, and women can be sexually depraved (Romans 1:26-32). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and in God’s economy of judgment there is no pay gap or income inequality. What cannot be missed either is that, as was already stated, the blood of Christ is applied without respect to persons (Acts 10:34).

With that paradigm-defining truth in mind, it behooves the Christian and the church to reject the silly modern notion that men and women are not different. Doing so brings a presupposed skepticism to the Biblical examples of gender-leaning temptations above. A woman might not struggle with contempt for male headship, but the Bible says that many do. A man might not lord his headship over his wife in an abusive way, but the Bible says that enough do to warrant a strong warning. Ignoring these truths is like taking a black sharpie to the scripture, striking through the gendered aspects of divine inspiration.

This doesn’t mean that we need a study bible that is broken down into advice for men only or women only (Don’t tell Zondervan…). It might not even be advisable to highlight such segments of text in blue or in pink. But a blue dot in the margin or a pink arrow to a phrase might not hurt. It is a reminder that we’ve been created male or female and God has given everything we need for life and godliness in His word (1 Peter 1:3). It is a reminder that in Christ we receive redemption, and that through His Spirit we grow closer to God as we shed those specific sins that still entangle each and every one of us.

It can guide our personal devotion. It can inform our relationship with our husband or wife. It can help us as we seek to parent our sons and daughters. It can provide Biblical parameters to how a church ministers to men and women. It is, at the end of the day, all about being faithful to God’s word above all.

Irrespective of the wind direction of culture at the moment, we’re secured to the Rock. The church ought to be about building things that can shield her people from every worldly zephyr or tempest. Putting up a sail to capture a little bit of that breeze might seem liberating or exciting. Watching it flutter may even bring with it a sense of accomplishment and wonder. But what is going to happen if you’re truly fixed to the solid ground that is Christ? Such construction is ultimately counterintuitive, unproductive, and a waste of good textiles.