CCT 28-1_LR

looking inward

« SHANNAE ANDERSON, PH.D.

Rebellion of a Different Sort: How Trauma History Affects Our View of God

the world, and the assault on mas culinity began. Adam abdicated his leadership role to Eve by comply ing with her enticement to sin. As a result, she was cursed with a desire to rule over and dominate her hus band. The sin that caused the fall and has attempted to destroy the roles of men and women is one of rebellion against the supreme order of the uni verse and the One who created it. As my pastor often notes, “There is a God, and you are not Him.” Submission recognizes that anoth er has headship over you. The enemy of our souls has twisted this defini tion to emphasize power, control, and dominance over another. We see this frequently in trauma. When some one experiences a traumatic event, something or someone inflicts distress and suffering on them that is out of your control. Whether it is a natural disaster, a mass shooting, or years of child abuse, the experience is one of powerlessness. Statistically, since most perpe trators of violence are men, this has caused an onslaught of attacks on a core trait of masculinity: strength and power. In a poor attempt to equal ize the power differential inherent in trauma, the enemy has attempt ed to flip this power dynamic and usurp man’s intrinsic nature by labeling masculinity as toxic. In so doing, instead of leveling the power structure, it has labeled men as per petrators in a trauma-based narrative, leaving women and those who are less masculine as victims. This has created a culture that is rooted in victim ization, where masculinity is viewed as dangerous. That was never God’s intention.

W e are living in a world where the definition of womanhood is debated, and men are branded with the label of toxic mas culinity. We have strayed far from the biblical definitions of male and female, and our culture is collaps ing as a result. It is time to reclaim the true meaning of masculinity as described in God’s Word. When God created man, He made

him in His own image. He then placed man in the garden to work and watch over it, fashioning him to perform such duties. God made man strong enough to tend to the garden and powerful enough to rule over all other creatures. He then formed a woman from Adam as his perfect helpmate. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of Knowl edge of Good and Evil, sin entered

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christian counseling today VOL. 28 NO. 1