#18 Submit to One Another pt 1

Submission. When we hear that word submission it is loaded with meaning. When we think of the word submissive we often think in terms greater than and less than. We think in terms of authority and power. You don’t have to look very hard to see that this idea of Power and who has it permeates our Society. From the accusations of Patriarchy to White Privilege, to the LGBTQ Rights agenda and even our political leaders from all parties, our society is obsessed with Power and authority. In this obsession we see once again that the sinful world in which we live is once again trying to redefine God’s decree’s and the Bibles clear teaching on the subject. We will spend the next couple of weeks exploring submission and what the Bible has to teach us on the subject.

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Sumbission

This passage is often overlooked or misunderstood. When Paul says we are to submit to one another I want to make it clear from the outset that Submission has nothing to do with the order of authority, but rather governs the operation of authority, how it is given and how it is recieved.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). ()

A Biblical Perspective

The concept of “submission” is used by biblical writers to describe a variety of Christian relationships. Paul exhorted all Christians (both men and women) to “submit to one another” (). Peter exhorted young men to “be submissive to those who are older” (). All members of Christ’s body are exhorted to “obey” their “leaders and submit to their authority” (). Servants are instructed to submit to their masters (; ; ; )—which applies when serving either Christian or non-Christian masters. Children are admonished to obey and submit to their parents (; ). Furthermore, Christians are also instructed to submit to other authority figures in their lives who are not Christians—particularly those who are leaders in government (; ).

Servant Leadership

The Bible makes it clear that Christians who are in positions of authority must also function with a submissive attitude. Husbands are directed to love their wives “just as Christ loved the church” (). We cannot love like Christ without being servants, and we cannot be servants without being submissive. This may sound paradoxical but this is what Christ did for us when He became flesh and dwelt among us!

Fathers are to deal sensitively with their children, understanding and meeting their needs (; ). This we cannot do without serving them.

Elders or pastors are commissioned to be “servants.” As leaders, we are to be “eager to serve” (). We are not to lord it over other Christians, using our position as a means of unjust gain—either financially, psychologically, or socially ().

Christian masters are to treat their servants fairly and sensitively just as Christ treated us when He gave Himself for us (; ). In Christ, these people were not only slaves but brothers in Christ. When they were treated this way, the slavery system in the New Testament church eventually disappeared. Slave holders saw that this social disease was incompatible with Christianity. It is interesting that Paul didn’t attack slavery per se but actually destroyed it by teaching masters to love their slaves as Christ loved them. Not surprisingly, this approach also changed women’s marital status in the Roman world—both among Gentiles and Jews. How could a Christian husband treat his wife as inferior when he believed she was his spiritual equal in Christ (). This also demonstrates it is possible to maintain our position of authority, both in the family and in the church, and yet be a servant.

Mutual Submission

Often Jesus tried to teach his disciples to not seek to become greater at someone else’s expense. Unfortunately, they failed to learn the lesson, and even at the Last Supper they were arguing over who is the greatest among them. “A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” These men had spent three years with Jesus learning and ministering with him and they still did not get what Jesus was telling them, so Jesus had to once again set them straight. By washing their feet, He taught them that the greatest is the person who uses his authority to build up people. Jesus was exhorting them to not be like the Pharisees, who sought to build up their own authority and make themselves important. As Christians we need to heed this lesson and view others as more important than ourselves (, ).

Being able to submit to one another no matter what our position of authority is a distinct concept made possible by Jesus Christ. Christianity is unique. When Christ came into this world, He brought into being a whole new approach to functional relationships between people. In the “Gentile world,” as Jesus called it, there was no such thing as mutual submission. Even acts of obedience and submission became a means to selfish ends. But, in Christ, all believers have the potential to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Christ’s Example

This is what Jesus Christ demonstrated for us, when He, the Lord of the universe, became a servant to all men. He, “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing” (). Paul made it clear that all Christians—even those in authority—are to follow Christ’s example. We are to love as Christ loved. We are to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than ourselves.” We are to “look not only to [our] own interests, but also to the interests of others” (). We are to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” ()—the One who set the perfect example. Our attitude “should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” ().

Biblical Guidelines

Paul made it very clear that submission to other Christians should not be based on subjective impulses and reactions. If they are, we can be responding selfishly. Rather, the guidelines for mutual submission are rooted in the authority of Jesus Christ and His Word. Thus, in a parallel passage, Paul exhorted the Colossians:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus ().

No Christian has the right to request something of another Christian that is not based in the Word of God. When we are asked to violate the will of God, we must obey God rather than men (; ). However, when we resist because we’re being asked to do something that is wrong, we must do so with respect. Oftentimes, God honors our attitude and softens the heart of the person who is trying to cause us to violate our relationship with Jesus Christ.

There are Christians, however, who are in authority who will continue to put pressure on others to violate the will of God. When this happens, we must understand that we can appeal to a higher authority in the church—namely, our spiritual leaders. This applies to wives whose husbands are abusive or unethical or immoral. If husbands do not respond to loving exhortations from their spouses, the offended parties (their wives) have the right to seek help from their spiritual leaders, following the procedure outlined by Jesus Christ (). In this sense, a wife must be viewed as a “sister in Christ” as well as a spouse. She has biblical rights and values that should not be violated by her husband—also her “brother in Christ.” Then, if she is being subjective and rationalizing her own lack of submission, this too will be discovered by mature spiritual leaders in the church who can sensitively exhort and guide her in her relationship with her husband.