Submission

Submission... Was thinking about it. When we say that word it seems all about power and control, submitting to someone elses will for them to do what they want. I have struggled with the concept. Easy to see it as one person being a doormat to the other, and I have acted that way in church because I have felt I have no value, that I am worthless, and that my needs are not important, and its all about pleasing the other person. But I now think its not like that. But in thinking like that I am assuming the person doesn't love or care. That God doesn't love or care, and that he will treat me like a doormat because that is my value. Reckon the truth is that God loves us, that he hates it when people exert control and power over each other in this way as it goes against the very nature of God being love. So what about submission, if its not this, what is it, can it be good?

 Catherine

Great question! I think this is a good example of how we should approach biblical interpretation. Catherine, in thinking about the above has come across a passage that read literally stands in stark contrast with what we know about God from the fuller context of scripture. What to do then? Either we doubt what we thought we knew, hold competing concepts of God (that leads to the double-mindedness that James warns of) or discard the difficult passage. If the broad context of scripture points in a particular direction, then what we should do is ask what is wrong with our understanding of the piece that doesn't fit. Maybe it's a piece of sky not a piece of sea!

So to submission. When we use the word it has the connotation of surrender, of one having power, control over the one submitting. Submission is a very negative word. Worse, it has been used in exactly this way for generations to justify the subjugation of women. Yet the word used does not mean this at all and the context in which it is used should make this abundantly clear. The word translated as submission means 'to rank yourself beneath'. It means that you consider others as valuable, as significant. It means you place yourself away from the centre, it means you are willing to lay aside your agenda for the sake of others. It does not mean you give others authority over you. It does not mean you have no choice, it does not mean that you become a victim.

In the light of Jesus' laying aside of rights, of His 'ranking himself under', we should all 'submit' - rank ourselves under, each other - as a worked example of what Christ has done. This understanding of submission is mutual - it demonstrates who God is, His character. As Catherine points out, far from control or oppression, it is loving, giving, joyful.

Re-reading the passage in this context we see that in verse 21 it points out that in the light of who Christ is, we should all submit to one another. In short, husbands should submit to wives, parents should submit to children, masters to slaves – as well as the other way round! The context is that those who have rights should be willing to lay those aside – because this is what love does – it is what the one who is love has done. Household codes of the day set out the rights of those who had power (men) over those who had none (women, children, slaves). But Paul radically says that for this submission to be Godly as opposed to abusive, it needs to be in the context of a love which is not conditional on that submission. With this context in place we read the passage not as a mandate for groups of people to lord it over others, but as opportunities in our relationships to demonstrate the love of Jesus:


Ephesians 5 then becomes:
Wives, demonstrate God's love by ranking yourself under your husbands in the same way as the church ranks itself under Christ. Husbands model your love of God by ranking yourself under your wives as Christ ranked himself under the church.

Children, model the Father heart of God ranking yourselves under your parents. Parents model the love of God by ranking yourself under your children as you give up your power to minutely control.

This is truely radical - let's give it a try!