DIFFERENT: Chapter 6

Strong Enough to Serve. Wise Enough to Build.

What does biblical masculinity look like? What does biblical femininity look like?

For many of us, those questions aren't simply theological—they're personal. We all carry stories about the men and women who shaped us. Some of those stories are beautiful. Others include absence, disappointment, unhealthy expectations, control, hurt, or confusion.

So in this message, Pastor Abe approaches the conversation with grace—not through cultural stereotypes, but by looking at Jesus and Scripture.

In 1 Kings 2:1–3, David tells Solomon, “Be strong, act like a man,” and immediately connects that strength to obedience to God. Biblical masculinity is strength connected to character and submitted to God. Ephesians 5:25–29 and Mark 10:45 then point us toward Jesus, who shows us strength expressed through service, sacrifice, love and care.

Different Masculinity is Strong Enough to Serve.

Then we turn to Proverbs 31:10–31, where Scripture gives us a remarkable picture of a woman who is anything but passive. She works, provides, considers, buys, plants, creates, serves, speaks, teaches and builds. Proverbs describes her as clothed with “strength and dignity,” while Proverbs 24:3–4 reminds us that “by wisdom a house is built.”

Different Femininity is Wise Enough to Build.

And underneath it all is something even more important:

Different does not mean competing.

Genesis 1:27 tells us that men and women both bear the image of God—equal dignity, equal worth, equal need for grace and equal access to Jesus. Galatians 3:28 reminds us that we are one in Christ.

Imagine a church where men and women aren't controlling, diminishing, stereotyping or competing with one another—but serving Jesus, honouring one another, celebrating one another, learning from one another and building together.

Different Masculinity: Strong Enough to Serve.

Different Femininity: Wise Enough to Build.

Men and women becoming more and more like Jesus. That's DIFFERENT.