Authority & Submission

             Submission is a distasteful word in our culture, and the correct understanding of authority is long lost. Nowadays everyone believes that their opinion, their desire, and their "truth" is the final authority in their lives and that to submit to anyone or anything else is offensive. Today we don't think we need to submit to authority, "Citizens do not have the same respect for government’s authority, students do not have the same respect for the teacher’s authority, children do not have the same respect for parent’s authority; employees do not have the same respect for their employer’s authority; people do not have the same respect for the police’s authority; and Christians no longer have the same respect for church authority".     

            It is in 1 Corinithians where the Spirit was teaching me what authority means, and our response in voluntary submission. I will share some of the excerpts of the studying I was doing in David Guzik’s commentary. This is a hot bed topic that immediately causes some to shut down, take offense, or misunderstand due to preconceived notions. But I think, if we approach the Word with humility and a hunger and thirst for truth, we will be filled with the spiritual “meat” of the Word and find our souls satisfied.

1 Corinthians 11:3 “The head of every man is Christ, the head of every woman is man, and the head of Christ is God”. 

With these words, Paul sets a foundation for his teaching in the rest of the chapter. Simply put, Paul makes it clear that God has established principles of order, authority, and accountability. The idea of headship and authority is important to God. In His great plan for the ages, one great thing God looks for from man is voluntary submission. This is what Jesus showed in His life over and over again, and this is exactly what God looks for from both men and women, though it will be expressed in different ways. 

It is essential to understand that being under authority does not equal inferiority. Jesus was totally under the authority of God the Father yet He is equally God. When God calls women in the church to recognize the headship of men, it is not because women are unequal or inferior, but because there is a God-ordained order of authority to be respected. 

A second reason is found in the order of creation: God created Adam first, and gave Him responsibility over Eve. Since one reason for male headship is the order and manner in which God created man and woman - something which was present before the fall - this passage makes it clear that before and after the fall, God has ordained there be a difference in the roles between genders, even in the church. The fall did not cause the difference in gender roles (in the church and in the home), and the difference in roles is not erased by our new life in Jesus. The woman is the glory of the man, created for the honor of the man, and for his help and assistance, and originally made out of man, so that man may glory of her, as Adam did of Eve, ‘This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.’ Simply put, Adam was not created for Eve, but Eve was created for Adam – and this principle applies to every “Adam” and every “Eve” through history. Genesis declares God’s intention in creating Eve: ‘I will make him a helper comparable to him’. Eve was created to be a helper to Adam, meaning that Adam was “head” over Eve, and she was called to share and help his vision and agenda. 

Genesis 2:22: “He brought her to the man”. 

Adam was not brought to Eve, but Eve was brought to Adam – her head. It is an idea offensive to the spirit of our age, but the Bible in this passage clearly teaches that (in the church and in the home) man was not made for the benefit of woman, but woman for the benefit of man. 

Significantly, none of these three reasons are culture-dependent. The order and manner of creation does not depend on culture. We cannot say, ‘Paul said this just because of the thinking of the Corinthian culture or the place of women in that culture.’ The principles are eternal, but the out-working of the principles may differ according to culture. And so, we see God has established a clear chain of authority in both the home and in the church, and in those spheres, God has ordained that men are the “head,” that is, that they have the place of authority and responsibility. But in our culture, having rejected the idea of a difference in role between men and women, now rejects the idea of any difference between men and women. The driving trends in our culture point towards men who are more like women, and women who are more like men.

It is important to note though, that the Bible is just as specific that there is no general submission of women to men commanded in society, only in the spheres of the home and in the church. God has not commanded in His word that men have exclusive authority in politics, business, education, and so on. It also does not mean that every woman in the church is under the authority of every man. That would be ridiculous! Instead it means that those who lead the church - pastors and ruling elders - must be men, and women must respect their authority, not because of their gender, but because of their office.

Some may say that the church cannot work, or cannot work well, unless we “get along with the times” and put women into positions of spiritual and doctrinal authority in the church. From the standpoint of what works in our culture, they may be right. But how can such a church say they are led by the word of God?

The issues of headship and submission should also be seen in their broader context, not just as a struggle between men and women, but as a struggle with the issue of authority in general. Since the 1960’s, there has been a massive change in the way we see and accept authority. As I wrote earlier, "Citizens do not have the same respect for government’s authority, students do not have the same respect for the teacher’s authority, children do not have the same respect for parent’s authority; employees do not have the same respect for their employer’s authority; people do not have the same respect for the police’s authority; and Christians no longer have the same respect for church authority". It’s important to ask: have the changes been good? Do we feel safer? Are we more confident in our culture? Have television and other entertainment gotten better or worse? In fact, our society is presently in, and rushing towards, complete anarchy - the state where no authority is accepted, and the only thing that matters is what I want to do. It is fair to describe our present moral state as one of anarchy. There is no moral authority in our culture. When it comes to morality, the only thing that matters is what one wants to do. And in a civil sense, many neighborhoods in our nation are given over to anarchy. Do you think that the government's authority is accepted in gang-infested portions of our inner cities? The only thing that matters is what one wants to do. I encourage us to see the broader attack on authority as a direct Satanic strategy to destroy our society and millions of individual lives. The devil is accomplishing this with two main attacks: first, the corruption of authority; second, the rejection of authority.

These ideas of authority and submission to authority are so important to God that they are part of His very being. The First Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Father; the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is called the Son. Inherent in those titles is a relationship of authority and submission to authority. The Father exercises authority over the Son, and the Son submits to the Father’s authority - and this is in the very nature and being of God! Our failure to exercise Biblical authority, and our failure to submit to Biblical authority, isn’t just wrong and sad, it sins against the very nature of God.

1 Corinthians 11:11-12, “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.”

On top of all Paul has said about male headship in the church, it would be wrong to consider headship as the only dynamic at work between men and women in the church. They must also remember that men and women need each other, so there is no place for a “lording over” of the men over the women. Paul goes on to stress even more directly the essential partnership of man and woman. Neither can live without the other. There is submission so that the partnership is more fruitful and lovely for both. Though Paul has recognized the order of creation, and related it to the principle of male headship in the church, he is also careful to teach and remind that there is a critical interdependence that must be recognized, within the framework of male headship in the church and in the home. Therefore the man who rules in the church or in the home without love, without recognizing the important and vital place God has given women, is not doing God’s will.

Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”.

“A man who can only rule by stamping his foot had better remain single. But a man who knows how to govern his house by the love of the Lord, through sacrificial submission to the Lord, is the man who is going to make a perfect husband. The woman who cannot submit to an authority like that had better remain single.” 

Some feel this recognition and submission to authority is an unbearable burden; that it means, “I have to say that I’m inferior, I’m nothing, and I have to recognize this other person as superior.” Not at all! Inferiority or superiority has nothing to do with it. Remember the relationship between God the Father and God the Son - they are completely equal in their being, but have different roles when it comes to authority.

The failure of men to lead in the home and in the church, and especially to lead in the way Jesus would lead, has been a chief cause of the rejection of male authority, and is inexcusable. 

As I set out to study this I was afraid that, coming from a male perspective, I would be improperly biased and hearing from only male commentators I would come away with only instructions towards the ladies in my life (I cringed even writing that). But, to my great relief, I come out with a clearer perspective of man’s (especially my own) failings regarding our role and responsibility. I think it’s long past time for Christian husbands to grow in spiritual maturity and to fulfill the responsibility that we were created for. To have authority, to submit to Christ, to grow in spiritual maturity in order to better know how to love our wives just as Christ loved us. And especially, to take on the responsibility to lead and care for our families. A responsibility that so many have pushed off and forced their wives to pick up. As if our wives didn’t have enough on their plate to take care of! 

This idea of personal responsibility for men ties into a wonderful book that I read about raising young men to be modern day knights. A topic that I hope to write about in the future.

If you enjoyed reading this you’ll find that most of it was pulled from David Guzik’s commentary: https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/1-corinthians/1-corinthians-11.cfm

The book I referenced is: Raising a Modern-Day Knight by Robert Lewis