It is said that everything rises or falls on leadership. Whether in church, business, or politics this truth has been played out in every sector of life and society. But leadership failure is not, itself, the problem. It is the failure of men to demonstrate genuine and God-like leadership that is haunting and destroying society at all levels.
In the garden we see the story of mankind's trouble. It is not in Eve's eating of the fruit, nor is the slithering serpent that invades the garden. Those were contributing factors, but the real culprit was Adam's inability to be and act as God had designed and commanded him. He was God's vice-regent. he was to behave in the garden like God by showing dominion and rule. Nothing was over him and, therefore, was under his subjection and authority. The garden showed a slip - an abdication - of this role such that what opposed the rule of God was able to deceive His creation.
While I will speak of the serpent later it must be noted that the serpent came to the woman, first. There may be all sorts of reasons given for this but one, if not the chief, reason is that he understood that going straight to Adam would end up in failure. So, he went to Eve and the process of deception began. It was, I believe, a process and not as instantaneous as we might think from the text itself. The aim of Genesis 3 is to tell the story of the fall not so much to describe the process in which it took place. Nonetheless, the serpent went to the woman and, after the process of deception was complete, she at and gave to her husband (Genesis 3:6).
She gave to her husband who, it is rightly assumed, was nearby as this process was taking place. The fact that she gave, and he took, itself shows a reversal of positions and, sadly, the giving away of God-given leadership by Adam. Here is where the problem began and how the woman was deceived: Adam was silent the entire time. He stood in the garden, not simply as the man, but as God's priest - the go between - between God and mankind. Yet, when the enemy slipped in Adam failed in his position. As a priest he was to represent the Lord but also to pray for and protect Eve. He did not protect and therefore he did not lead. This defection was passed down to all man while the position of leader remained the demand and design of God.
Now, sin impacts and infects our leadership such that man, even today, models and reflects the sin of Adam: silence. By silence I do not mean being loud or even speaking. I mean defending and protecting that which he is called to stand for. Every man is a leader. Every man is to stand as a protector of family, friends, community, church, etc. We are to protect the honor of all people, especially our families, Where Adam should have spoken, he did not. He watched and listened to the serpent flirt with the eternal destiny of Eve and, instead of fighting for and protecting and defending her, he was silent. Sin (chaos) was the result.
The chaos of homes and society is directly the responsibility and problem of weakened male leadership due to sin. Chaos is the problem of men who do not speak but when, and if, they do it is only to blame (Genesis 3:12). Responsibility and accountability are foreign to weakened men. They not only fail to know their role, but they fight for the right to follow and not lead. They become responders as opposed to leaders and, where they should stand in the role of teacher and instructor of those they are designed to lead, they allow for the reversal of this God-given design and become receivers of truth.
Adam should have always been teaching Eve but, we are told she gave him the fruit indicating that she was now leading all things. This is why God, in handing out the punishment for Adam's disobedience says, "And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;" (Genesis 3:17). There it is: Adam was silent because he listened to Eve's voice and followed her leadership.
It is not that man should never listen to a woman or his wife. That is nonsensical. However, what it does mean is that man is called to provide spiritual leadership and authority in the home and in the church. All voices can and should be heard, but the leadership position is that of the man. Not as dominance, but of protection, care, love, and intercession. What we are witnessing in society is the rejection of the biblical design and, since chaos came from this breakdown in Genesis 3, do we need ask where the chaos in our homes, and society comes from?