Submission

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (Hebrews 13:17, NKJV).

There are repeated calls in the New Testament to be submissive; to Christ, to each other, to governing authorities, to parents, to husbands, and here, to those in spiritual authority.

But submission in the Bible cannot be forced. It is not submission based on the the superior strength of the party being submitted to, but on the voluntary obedience to divinely ordained roles and responsibilities. It is submission out of love. Any other kind is coercion, and true Christian doctrine sees coercion as an abomination.

That this teaching has been misused throughout the history of the church is undeniable. Human beings crave power over other human beings. It is a fundamental drive ignited into flaming sin at the Fall of Man, but that neither makes such behavior right, nor God insisting on its proper implementation, wrong.

Submission to one another as designed by God is founded on mutual humility

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (Philippians 2:3, NKJV).

Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. (Romans 12:16, NKJV).

This humility is not the false, pathetic kind used to manipulate others, but the honest acknowledgement of our strengths, weaknesses, spiritual gifts and differing roles in the church and home.

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:4-8, NKJV).

The brilliance of God's design for is people is unmistakable. If we in the church put into practice this plan with sincerity and diligence, harmony, effectiveness, stability and quiet joy are the results. We are aligning ourselves with what we are intended to become, and in so doing we advance individually and corporately toward that very goal. We become what we think and do.

That is why submission to those in spiritual authority is so important. The one prerequisite is that those pastors and elders must be first and foremost in submission to Christ. Then we, their congregation, are obligated to be in submission to them.

Leaders in the church are not to lord their authority. The rules of Christ's Kingdom on earth are quite explicit in this regard.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. “And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave-- “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, NKJV).

This then is the foundation of authority in the church – servant leadership. The example was established by Christ Himself.

All the titles of ecclesiastical authority in the New Testament reflect this pattern. Pastor, bishop, elder, and deacon are all derived from the concept of minister (Gr. diakoneo dee-ak-on-eh'-o), meaning “servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, wait upon; to attend to anything, that may serve another's interests”.

Do you see the counterintuitive beauty of that definition. It speaks to the way Christ rules over us.

In the world, authority is often heavy-handed and imposed from the outside with force or threat of punishment.

In the church, authority is based on love, godliness, and putting the other first. Disobedience has consequences, but these are the natural result of going against God's perfect design, like stepping off a cliff results in a calamitous fall, or putting your hand in the fire results in seared flesh.

The consequences are not imposed by force, but by the fundamentals of cause and effect of life in a fallen world.

For this to work as intended, the leaders in the church must ensure that their people are well-versed in God's Word. This, in turn, can only be accomplished by faithful exposition of the Bible verse-by-verse. It is the primary building block of godly living. It is what makes the body of Christ healthy and strong and able to withstand the inevitable assaults from the world, Satan, and our own “old natures”.

The saved have a purpose in this life, and when that purpose is done, we are taken home to be with Christ. The most effective means of accomplishing that purpose is to live life day by day according to God's revealed will. We are to be holding fast to what is good and abhorring evil. We are to be kindly affectionate to one another. We are to esteem others better than ourselves.

And we are to be submissive to those authorities God has placed over us.

If we practice this in humility and in an attitude of loving obedience, putting aside personal pride, and refusing to be conformed to this world, we cannot help but to fulfill God's purposes in our lives.

We cannot help to influence others for their good. We cannot help but be effective in our witness of Christ – by our words as well as our actions.

In short, if we obey the Manufacturer's specifications, we, as his creatures, will carry out what He intends intends, uniquely, for each one of us.

The joy and privilege of that is beyond measure.