I once casually asked a young Minister why he was pursuing a particular course of action in his church. It wasn’t a do-or-die course of action by any means, but he was a nervous character, and the conversation escalated quickly. Frustrated by my question, he lifted his hands above his head and cried, “Why can’t you just submit to my authority?” To which I thought to myself, why would I do a thing like that?
Submission is an inescapable concept. The question is not whether we will submit but to who and what we will submit.
On the other hand, while submission is inescapable, it is not automatic.
Jesus has absolute authority over His body, the church, and He governs that body through the ministry of the Word. But the government of the church by the ministry of the Word does not mean the government of the church by the ministers of the Word.
A minister, as a minister of the Word, may direct me with full authority to raise my children in the fear and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), and I am under obligation to obey. He may ask that I give my daughter to his son in marriage, and, hmmm, let me think about it. He may not ask me to help him diddle the church finances. And if he does, I’m under no obligation to submit to such a request.
A husband can, with full authority, call upon his wife to manage the home and children (Titus 2:4-5). He may not demand that she bear arms at the gate, and she has no authority to insist he put on a pair of mango espadrilles.
A woman shall not wear a man’s garment (literally, ‘military garb’), nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)
Submission, then, is not innate but derived. The authority does not lie in the man but in the message. A minister of the Word may only ask of me what the Word asks of me. A husband may only ask of his wife what the Word asks of his wife.
The same holds true for civil government.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God… for he is God’s servant for your good (Romans 13:1, 4)
God has appointed civil government to administer justice – for our good.
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good (1 Peter 2:13-14)
“Good”, that is, as defined by God and not by the civil government. Husbands, ministers and civil government do not get to fill in the blanks.
And this is why Peter could, with a clean conscience, command us to submit to the governing authorities on the one hand while also committing an illegal jailbreak (Acts 12:3–19) and refusing to obey the local rulers and elders on the other (Acts 4:19-20).
Well then, you might ask, who takes out the garbage and who mops the church pews?
In the first instance, these things are done by negotiation and mutual agreement. But they are still subject to the Word of God. Specifically, the commandment to love our neighbour and to labour and serve for his good.
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15)
Not only is submission an inescapable concept governed by the Word of God, it is also an essential characteristic of joy (Psalm 100:2) and love (Galatians 5:13-14).
Obey those who rule over you and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17)
An elder’s joy is tied to his submission to God in ministering the Word of God to you. Moaning and groaning under the ministry of that Word is no good for you and a miserable burden for him.
The same principle holds true in marriage.
All things being equal, and headaches notwithstanding, the wife who consistently refuses to submit to the tender touch of her husband is robbing herself of his love. And the woman who objects to any man opening the front door for her is robbing him of sacrificial joy.
If you flick through the verses of scripture that talk about submission, you will consistently find that the motivation is not the arbitrary demands of others, but a recognition of God in whom rests all authority.
And so, the Bible calls us to serve one another and submit to one another in the fear of the Lord. It calls us to share one another’s burdens in the name of Christ. It calls us to submit to those who must give an account. In other words, all true submission is a glad and joyful response to the commandments of God. In this case, the commandment of God to love our neighbour.
A love that is defined and directed by God’s Word, and when rendered unto God via our submission to others, is a glad and joyful submission to God Himself. Submission motivated by a love for God.
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