Submission Part 1

When I think of the word submission, I think of a conversation I had on a plane trip with a friendly, middle aged woman almost three years ago. This wasn't just any woman. This was a pastor and a feminist. She was quite concerned about me, because I shared with her some things about how I follow the leadership of my father and of my (male) pastor. She told me that she did not believe that the Bible commanded women to submit to men. I said. “Good, me either.” her face lit up momentarily. But then fell again when I went on to explain that I do believe that the Bible commands a woman to submit to her husband and a daughter (still under her parents roof) to obey her father. She asked what I would do if the Lord called me to be a pastor and I told her bluntly that I did not believe that the Lord calls women to be pastors. She asked me if I believed that she was not a Christian because she was a pastor, saying that many people had told her this. I told her that I didn't know because I couldn't see her heart, only God could. It may sound to you that our conversation was rather confrontational and would be an unpleasant way to pass the time between Seattle and San Fransisco. However the opposite is quite true. Her company and debate were most welcome and prepared me for several conversations that, unbeknown to me, I would hold in the all too near future. But that is a completely different story and I am getting quite off track.

The point is: The first thing I think of when I here the word submission is feminism against a woman submitting to a man. However I strongly believe that this feeling that many women hold is because of several misconceptions of what Biblical submission is and how it should be played out in ones life. Some common misconception that I have seen that, if one believed about the word submit would rightfully make one angry are: Submission of a wife to a husband is the same as obedience of a child to a parent, submitting to someone is becoming a “door mat”, only women are called to submit, it is acceptable for husbands to “teach” their wives to submit, and submitting to an individual makes the one submitting below that of the one being submitted to. With each of these I could tell you a story about when a misconception of Biblical submission was abusively misused by an authority or when an individual under the authority of another felt hurt or angry because of one of these misconceptions, but I won't wast your time with such things for now. Instead I will tell you some truths that I have found Biblical about the word submission that people frequently forget: submission is to be given to a LOVING authority, being in submission to someone means being under their authority and therefore also their protection, submission is something that every one on the face of the earth is called to and, Christians are all called to defer to one another in submission.

Note: Please feel free to make any comments you want. If you feel like criticizing you may but please take in mind that some things may be clarified in a later post.