Wednesday Word of the Week

Kenegdov (adj.) -- Suitable, corresponding to. From the Hebrew root "neged," meaning "opposite," and the prefix "ke," meaning "like" or "as."

Key verse -- Genesis 2:18. "I will make him a helper suitable for him."

Thoughts on kenegdov -- Isaac Newton had it right. "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." In the original, unfallen state, Eve was not Adam's gofer or appointment secretary or personal maidservant. Nor was she his toady or lackey or mere conspirator. Eve was to be Adam's counterpart, his colleague.

What Eve provided to the created order was something none of the animals could -- balance.

God gives us two legs so that one can hold us up while the other moves. God also gives us two arms to both aid in propulsion and provide a counterweight when we walk. Also notice that when we walk, the limbs on opposite sides of our bodies move together. That's called counterbalance. That's what Newton was talking about in his third law of motion.

And that's what Eve was to be for Adam.

Ideally, this is what marriage should be, too. Partnership. Collaboration. A balance of equal and opposite persons simultaneously providing both support and propulsion.

Tangent #1 -- Notice that in the New Testament, neither Jesus nor the apostles nor the Holy Spirit ever asked anybody to do anything mission-related by themselves. Every Paul had his Barnabas or Silas or Timothy or whomever. Every Peter had his John or Thomas. We do what we do together, or not at all. All of us -- even the most fervent missionaries -- need balance.

Tangent #2 -- When you think about the design of marriage from an "equal and opposite" perspective, you begin to see just how ridiculous the very idea of "gay marriage" really is. Marriage is a partnership with someone who is fundamentally different from you. Homosexuality, be definition, seeks sameness. "Gay marriage," then, is propulsion without balance.

The fall, of course, changed the relationship between Adam and Eve. When she led the way into sin, the consequence was that from now on Adam was "in charge." But as any person in any position of authority knows, the fewer times you have to "pull rank" the more successful your endeavor.

If we will acknowledge the basic laws of relational physics -- wives realizing the authority their husbands have been given and the responsibility that comes along with it, husbands allowing their wives to be the equal-and-opposite kenegdo they were designed to be -- there's no limit to how high we can fly.