As a woman who has been in church most of her life, I've heard the scripture about submission quoted a good bit of times. I felt impressed to write a blog post unpacking not only scriptures about submission but looking into the wholeness of the word and what God is teaching us as believers.
We will look to the Word first and read a few scriptures that include the word, "submission" or another grouping of words that means "submit":
Ephesians 5:21, "Honor Christ by submitting to each other."
Hebrews 13:17, "Obey your spiritual leaders and be willing to do what they say. For their work is to watch over your souls, and God will judge them on how well they do this. Give them reason to report joyfully about you to the Lord and not with sorrow, for then you will suffer for it too."
James 4:7-10, "So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet."
Ephesians 5:22-26, "Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head and Savior of the church, which is His body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it..."
I could list many, many more scriptures including the word submission or about submitting but we will definitely get the whole context from the scriptures I've referenced.
The first thing, and arguably, the most important thing we need to know about submission is that ultimately, it's acceptance. Submit in the dictionary literally means, "to accept". Just as with any issue, non-examples are important to talk about, too. In fact, when I was in college taking classes to become a teacher, we learned that we should provide more non-examples than correct examples. It's good to see what things aren't in addition to what they are.
Submission is not agreeing with someone else's opinion. Because you accept something doesn't mean you agree with the person's ideas- you can most definitely be submissive and still have your own opinion on the matter.
Everything, and I mean everything, needs to be backed by the Word. God has drawn clear lines in the Bible on important issues and when we're discussing the topic of submission, we need to know that the subject we're considering is within the context of God's character. God is love. That's who He is. He is kind but not soft. Jesus spoke very plainly while He taught people on the earth about every matter.
Submitting doesn't mean cowering. Sometimes, we're in a place where we have a very valid opinion but we aren't in the position to make the final decision. That's when we need to ask ourselves a make or break question, "Is my acceptance of this decision going against God's Word?"
We should never compromise the Word of God. But, submitting to authority is simply sometimes accepting even when we don't agree. Is a true moral dilemma that you know that you know God does not approve of or is it that you just don't agree with it?
These are the tough questions we have to ask ourselves when it comes to submitting. I once heard Joyce Meyer say, "When push comes to shove and a decision has to be made and you still aren’t agreeing, you back off and let the authority make it."
Like my mug says in the photo, "You Had Me at Woof" talking about my sweet fur baby, Bella who captured my heart, your heart doesn't have to be completely taken over to submit to a final decision.
Over and over we read that God wants us to submit to authority in the context that it isn't bumping the Word. If you have a clear conscience based on the Word about the issue being debated, then submitting to authority isn't compromising your beliefs or your stance.
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