On Submission

One of the greatest lessons I've ever had to learn as a Christian has been the art of submission. Yes, I know it's not a popular term. In fact, in the culture where I live (U.S.A.) it's considered pretty nasty. It just isn't done. In fact, people will flee it at all costs. But the Bible is replete with very clear instructions that God's people are to be submitted.

God calls His people to submit to Him first and foremost. His ways are to be obeyed and followed acutely. He calls His people to submit to the spiritual authorities that He places over us (in churches). God calls His people to submit to the political authorities that He places over us (in government). And of course God calls His people to submit to the workplace authorities that He places over us (bosses).

This would seem to be quite enough submitting for God's people to do. But it doesn't end there. God calls husbands and wives to submit themselves to each other. He calls children to submit to their parents. He even calls sinners to submit themselves to other sinners as they confess their sins to each other (James 5:16).

I got into an argument in my church one time, with another staff member at the church. A deeply spiritual man, possessing considerably more spiritual maturity and religious experience than I, he ultimately told me that I "had a lot to learn about submission." At the time, those words hurt me deeply. I was offended by what he said. Ironically, I knew he was right. It was true. I did have a lot to learn about submission. It wasn't anything I'd ever done well.

Even as a child, I didn't submit well to my parents, teachers or others in authority over me. I manipulated well instead. I would scheme and connive to convince them that I was submitted ... all the while going about doing things my way. It never looked like outright defiance. (I was too good of a manipulator to allow it to look that obvious!) But this of course, is still far from submission.

Dictionary.com defines submission pretty blandly. In fact, its definitions leave quite a bit to the imagination if you ask me. But they do offer some word history that I find helpful.

Word Origin & History: submission
early 15c., "act of referring to a third party for judgment or decision," from O.Fr. submission , from L. submissionem (nom. submissio ) "a lowering, sinking, yielding," from submissus , pp. of submittere "lower, reduce, yield" (see submit). Sense of "humble obedience" is first recorded mid-15c. Mod.Fr. submission has been replaced by doublet soumission .
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Notice this act of yielding or deferring to a third party for the decision. It is allowing someone else to have their way with me. As defined for Christians, that would be allowing God, spiritual leaders in my church, government authorities, bosses at work, teachers at school, my spouse, and others to literally have their way with me. It sounds absolutely crazy when you put it like that. But I'm coming to understand that it is precisely like that. Anything less than that is simply not submission.

A few years ago, my wife and I felt led to join a different church. We had visited it several years earlier and it seemed innocuous enough. But this time when we showed up at the Sunday morning service, God spoke to me. Specifically, I was listening to the Sr. Pastor on the stage and God said, "Submit yourself to this man." That was it, the end of the discussion. I knew it was God speaking. And I knew it was His final word. I had no questions and I had no arguments.

Now for a guy who'd never excelled at submission, I also knew it was no small task what God was asking me to do. In the subsequent years, I've discovered that submission can be costly. It can be inconvenient. It can go against what I think is best. And it can require cooperation, compromise, sacrifice or other such things that modern day Americans don't take kindly to. Nevertheless, that's what God had said, "Submit yourself to this man."

It's a few years later now. Sometimes I wonder how I'm doing. Am I submitted to my pastor? Is God pleased with the level of submission that I have managed to accomplish over the years. Would my friend from the old days still tell me that I "have a lot to learn about submission?" Perhaps I do have a lot to learn. But to be clear, I have learned a considerable amount already!

I've come to a very clear understanding that being in a right relationship with God is not possible without a strong measure of submission. Similarly, I've come to a very clear understanding that having God-honoring, reconciled relationships with other people is not possible without significant submission on my part. Mind you, I'm probably not any more of a fan of submission with this knowledge. But I certainly recognize and concede its paramount value.

The thing that makes me wonder though, is why submission seems to be such a lost art. We Christians, we don't to it well. It doesn't seem that most of us really want to submit. It also doesn't seem that most of us know how much we need to submit. And even if we did, how many of us really know how to submit? Can't you just see it now, a church offering a new class on submission? I bet not too many people would be chomping at the bit to sign up for that one!

If I had one prayer for Christianity today, one wish for modern day Christians, I think it would have to be that each of us get a deep revelation from God about this whole concept of submission. Shift our paradigms about it. Teach us the art of it. Let all of us earn a black belt in submission. Perhaps then, we could truly be God's people - and He would truly be our God.

Submission Continued

So by now you've had a couple of days to ponder the fact that true love for Christ always results in obedience to Him. A loving heart is a submitted heart. Now let's talk about why it is that so many people think they love Jesus but don't back up that love with obedience to Him.

Consider if Jesus were here in the flesh and you could physically see Him, touch Him, even smell Him and audibly hear Him.

Let's say you go to Wal-Mart. As you walk through the aisles, pushing your shopping cart, Jesus is walking alongside you. When you pick something up, maybe an R-rated DVD, Jesus says, "No, I don't want you or your family watching that. Please put it back." You would do it.

Perhaps you have trouble with anger and frustration. Something (or someone) just sets you off and you let fly with some language your mother wouldn't approve of. Neither does Jesus. He pulls you aside and says, "Look, I don't want you talking like that. In fact, you can't belong to me and keep acting like that. Get it together. In fact, go apologize for what you've just said."

"But Jesus," you exclaim, "did you see what she did to me? She totally deserved to be told off!" Jesus reply? "Yes, I saw. Go apologize. Now." And you would do it. You would go apologize. When you finished, Jesus would say, "I'm proud of you. But don't do that again." And you wouldn't!

So what's the point here? The point is that our proximity to Jesus totally inhibits our sinful behavior. The closer one is to Jesus, the more likely we are to obey Him - to live life on His terms. But the further we are from Jesus, the less likely He will be able to influence our sinful choices.

Any good preacher or pastor will tell you that the solution for sinful behavior is closeness to Christ. And he (or she) would be right. That is the solution. As one moves closer to Christ, obedience becomes a natural thing. Submission feels good and right. It fits like a glove.

So when someone tells me they struggle to obey Jesus - or I see them living a disobedient life - not submitted to Christ ... then I know the problem. They aren't close enough to Jesus. He is too far away from them. His presence is to abstract to feel real.

Want to be fully submitted to Jesus Christ? Be in close proximity to Jesus Christ. You'll find that obedience is no longer a struggle!

Submission

There is something about the Christian life that seems to escape modern American culture. I'm talking about the art of submission.

It's an obedience thing, that seems to fly in the face of how Americans (and maybe most westerners) are taught to think. Our perspective just cannot seem to embrace submission. And yet it is required.

Most dictionaries will define submission in terms of yielding oneself to another. In other words, when I defer my will in favor of your will - I am submitting myself to you. The Bible has much to say about submission.

Ephesians 5:21 tells us, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ." What does this really mean? It doesn't say to consider ourselves inferior to one another, or to enslave one another. It simply says, "Because you love and respect Christ, you will yield your own will in favor of the will of another." It kind of shoots the "me first" attitude down right from the start. It would seem to promote unity in the family, the body, etc. (Consider, for example, whether your kids could argue over which TV station to watch ... if they were practicing Ephesians 5:21.)

And this is a commandment. It's not a suggestion. Jesus taught what God had already instituted --- that His people are to be submitted fully to God. Look at the Old Testament stories where God took drastic action to make His point about the importance of obedience.

Remember when the city of Sodom was destroyed? Lot and his wife were leaving, and God forbid them to look back. Nevertheless, as they were driving away, Lot's wife turned to look out the back window. Now God could have overlooked this. It was just a simple act of disobedience, and really didn't hurt anyone. Heck, maybe even Lot didn't notice. But God noticed.

Lot's wife was not fully submitted to God. She did not yield her will - or her curiosity - to the will of God. So He enforced the clear boundary he had drawn for them. Her earthly life was snuffed out immediately. Mrs. Lot may have thought she was submitted to the Lord. Others might have agreed. Certainly the reason she was driving away from Sodom in the first place was that God found she and her husband to be righteous. But as it turns out, her submission was incomplete. And the consequences were disastrous for both she and her husband. He now had a pillar of salt for a wife!

So here is the dilemma of submission. Our American culture, as well as many other western cultures, doesn't take kindly to it. We tend to view submission as a bad thing, something to be avoided. We self-righteously assert our "rights" and our independence. We simply don't want anyone telling us what to do. And we believe firmly in the inalienable right to pursue life, liberty and happiness on our terms. Folks, that may be constitutional --- but it definitely is not Biblical.

In order to please God, and qualify as obedient servants of Christ, we are going to have to become slaves of Christ. You and I must accomplish a vast paradigm shift, where we see submission and surrender as virtues to be aspired to. That of course will require that we stop seeing them as points of failure to be avoided at all costs.

Jesus said, in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey me." It's pretty succinct. It's pretty clear what He meant. So do you think you love Jesus? How is your obedience? Jesus didn't say, "If you love me, I'd like you to consider sometimes obeying me." Jesus didn't say, "Obedience is a great sign of respect when you love me." What Jesus said is that our true love for Him will be evidenced by our level of obedience and submission to Him and His ways.

Ponder that and I'll blog some more on this topic later.