Women at home

But in the very next breath (5:22 & cf Colossians 3:18) he talks to wives, says the same thing, and women for centuries have been up in arms over it. Well, some women. Especially in our generation, and our part of the world. Suddenly it doesn't seem right to "submit." Suddenly it's a sexist thing, or even a woman-hater-Paul thing (Ever heard that one?).

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." Here Paul stops to explain what he is talking about, and once more we need to listen. First he says that this submission is "as to the Lord." It's that same submission we have been talking about. My husband must be seen as the Lord Himself standing before me. How would I treat the Lord Jesus Christ? In fact the Lord Jesus Christ lives in my (Christian) husband. Should I not reverence such a one?

So far, nothing different is being said about this type of submission. The government, the church, the close friend in Christ, all are manifestations of Jesus in some measure or other, and we must submit to them all. And just as Paul carefully explained why we must submit to "the local police", he explains here why it is crucial for a wife to submit to a husband, in case a woman wants to know why:

The husband is by nature the head of the wife in the same sense that Christ is the head of the church. In authority. In love. In appearance. In place. Here is given to us a perfect picture of the Church, and it is incumbent on men and women to play out their roles guided by the Spirit of God. Jesus/husbands leading by love and instruction. The church/wives following the lead and the love of their Lord. It works that way. It doesn't work the other way, except for outward appearance. People can "stay married" without God's order. But they can't be this picture they were intended to be unless there is submission.

Greek for a married woman is "upandros." There's "upo" again, and the whole word means "under a man." The very meaning of marriage for a woman is submission. This is the norm. This is the nature of things in God's real world. Today's un-submitted females are totally out of place, totally unnatural.

Peter gives another reason (I Peter 3:1-5) for women to submit to their husbands: It's a great evangelistic tool! Submission is attractive. Godly men, and even the ungodly, recognize true submission to Christ as a quality that is rare and precious. It makes them think. It makes them, in some cases, repent. Not a bad reward for a little killing of self.

Women at church

I Timothy 2:11 brings the woman's responsibility from home to church, and the imagery remains the same. Women do not change in their relation to their own husbands when they enter the church fellowship. Paul says here that a woman is to be submitted, in silence, in the church, never thinking of teaching or ruling a man in public. Paul considers this behavior to be shameful because of the history of the Garden of Eden. In Christ, a loving husband makes submission much easier, and even the pain of childbirth is spoken of in language that allows us to know that a godly woman will be able to endure anything she has to endure. But submission is still the norm.

Children

I Timothy 3:4 reminds us that, though the woman may be carrying the load at home, in terms of the work associated with a house and children, ultimately the responsibility for those things is Dad's. There must be no question at home as to the authority of the father, who stands there again, in the place of Jesus Christ. He is to be honored, revered, admired, respected. He is literally the lord of his home. A man who is incapable of leading his family in this way, says Paul, has no business taking authority in the church.

But we were speaking of submission. Children here and elsewhere are expected to give freely to Dad the honor he deserves because of the Christ in him.

Church leadership

In Hebrews 13:17, the entire church is taught to surrender to the leadership of the body. Leaders stand before God and take full responsibility for those under their care. That is why it behooves all of us to give full cooperation to their guidance. Personal issues must be brought personally. The rebuke of a leader is to be unheard of. Fomenting a rebellion can be costly to the ringleaders. Our job is to obey so thoroughly, that with joy the pastors can go to God and give a good report, both now, and on that coming day.

General

James 4:7 puts it simply in summary form: Submit to God. What His Word, His Spirit, His leaders, His governments, His family representatives, His people's needs, tell you to do, do it. You are under all of them, all the time. Stay under.

In the Work Place

Where else does submission matter? Have we covered everything? In I Peter 2:18, the apostle mentions the work place. He talks of slaves and masters, but the employer/employee relationship can be taken from that discussion. What is his idea about those connections? Submission!

"Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh." Read it slowly. Think it out. The principle applies across the board, in all your other submittings! Submit. Submit with fear. Submit to the nice. Submit to the nasty. That opens a can of worms. I refuse to close it. I say to us all, deal with it. Just as it is written, deal with it. Stop trying to clean up Scriptures that are already clean before God.

"But I don't want to be a doormat." Be a doormat if that's what it means to obey this passage. Lay your life down, give it away, stop trying to defend your pride and follow your humbled Master to a cross, and die on it. And that, by the way, the cross of Jesus, is a doormat. A doormat with thorns and nails piercing.

Younger to Older

I Peter 5:5 mentions yet another form of submission that the Lord would certainly delight to see more of in our day: submission of the younger to the older. In many cases the young have overrun the church. Old music is out. Old musical instruments are out. Old ways are out. Old people are out. Very painful things going on in the name of revival. And who can fight it? The argument is made that if we don't change, the young will go to some other church. And we can't have that, can we?

The youth need to be told that they have great ideas. They need to put those ideas into practice, in many cases. But the youth then need to be told to wait their turn for full leadership. If the older leaders need fresh ideas, let the young ones come along side and whisper in their ears. But to turn everything over to a young person when qualified mature men are still in the congregation is a travesty and sends the wrong message to a watching world.

No, old is good. Mature is even better. Younger people still need to submit to the older ones, and encourage them to continue on when they get discouraged by the symptomatic ailments of older age. Consider the kings and prophets of Israel, the apostles and leaders of the New Testament. Their expertise and wisdom were called on until the end. It is unnatural for the young to rule the old, and can be a sign of judgment, not a sign of health.

Conclusion

So there you have it. The leaders of the Word of God have spoken, the conclusion is clear. God wants His people to submit, to be under. Those who rise up to be "over" will eventually be abased. Those who humble themselves under the mighty hand of God will eventually be lifted up (James 4:10).

The irony: Islam means submission. "Submission to the Divine will." Many Muslims believe, I am sure, that it is a personal submission, between themselves and their god. But the ones grabbing the headlines these days are those whose faith tells them that they must enforce this submission on all. This is not the Christian way, of course, but if Christians will not willingly submit to God's plan for their lives, if they continue to live in disobedience, as did Israel for those many years before and after the Kingdom days, is it conceivable that, also like them, believers will have to see God's hand turn against them, by a nation whose very name is "submission" ?