Anyhoo…
Robert, what is your perspective on wives working outside the home and/or husbands working inside the home?

You should read my site more! :-) The post immediately before this one was about some atheist gay protesters.

what is your perspective on wives working outside the home and/or husbands working inside the home?

The Biblical norm is for a husband to provide for his wife and family, and for the woman to “get married, bear children, keep house” (1 Tim 5:14). There are lots of reasons for this, having to do with the created order and the Biblical commission given to Adam (he was put in the Garden to keep it, then Eve was given to him as a helper), honoring a wife as a weaker vessel (rather than requiring her to endure the stresses and chaos of the workplace), family roles in general (a husband as the head of the family has a responsibility to lead in this area), and so on. We know from Proverbs 31 and other places that a woman is not forbidden from working outside the home, but at least in Proverbs she appears to be engaged in a home-based business of some sort.

All that is to say that the norm is for a husband to provide financially for his family, and for a wife to keep the house. But I believe there are cases for deviating from this norm. It’s maybe not a question of right and wrong so much as good and best. If a husband is disabled, or can’t get a job, or whatever, then naturally it’s most important that the family be provided for, whatever sacrifices and abnormal situations that might require. I know that if I lost my job, my wife (a certified teacher) could get a job with little difficulty, although I’d have to completely exhaust all my options before that happened.

I believe that a family with such reversed roles will face many challenges in maintaining the Biblical order for families. The spheres in which a man and woman ought to normally function are a complement to the position God ordained each to (leader or helper) and the fundamental attributes of men and women. When we function in a different sphere, by a woman working outside the home or a man being a full-time homemaker, rather than complementing and reinforcing these things, it will strain against them and naturally cause problems.

I believe that working outside the home tends to make one more aggressive. I’ve also observed that when a woman earns an income, sometimes it causes her to believe she has an unbiblical level of control over financial matters, challenging her husband’s authority. I believe that staying at home will tend to encourage a man’s “softer” side and diminish his aggressiveness and leadership (not that a man shouldn’t be “soft” sometimes, but you know what I mean). I have observed (in unsaved families) that sometimes in these circumstances a wife will not respect her husband, but despise him instead, and he will lose all confidence and even desire to lead his family.

Deviating from God’s norm is always going to cause problems (or at least challenges). But in exceptional cases it might be the only option, and in those cases it will take a very mature couple and lots of grace to avoid the negative consequences.