by John Piper as quoted from ‘Ask Pastor John’ from the website Housewife Theologian – John Piper’s Advice For Women In The Work Force

Editor’s note: So according to Piper if the influence of a woman on men is ‘non-personal’ and ‘non-directive’ and it’s for the good of everyone then it’s not wrong. But the second you enter the directive realm, like his example of a female drill sergeant, you’re sinning. Another example of a evangelical cultural enforcer adding dos and don’ts to the Bible. At least we know he’s not having a problem with womens voices on GPS under this mental/moral game of Twister.

A woman who is a civil engineer may design a traffic pattern in a city so that she is deciding which streets are one-way and, therefore, she is influencing, indeed controlling, in one sense, all the male drivers all day long. But this influence is so non-personal that it seems to me the feminine masculine dynamic is utterly negligible in this kind of relationship. On the other hand, the husband-and-wife relationship is very personal and, hence, the clear teaching of the New Testament that the man should give leadership in the home and that she give a glad partnership in supporting and helping that leadership come into its own.

On the other hand, some influence is very directive and some is non-directive. For example, a drill sergeant might epitomize directive influence over the privates in the platoon. And it would be hard for me to see how a woman could be a drill sergeant — hut two, right face, left face, keep your mouth shut, private — over men without violating their sense of manhood and her sense of womanhood.

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