For years, we have heard about submission. Everyone has their own thoughts about what it looks like and why God decided it should be so. The problem with submission is that it is a biblical principle that only works if you are biblical person. Expecting every married couple to practice or commit to a biblical principal is useless- it's hard enough getting the church to do it! For many of us in church, submission has been the bad word that the church was used whenever someone wanted their point heard. Because it was used to control conversations or people, we never thought much more about what God intended when He told us to do it.
PUSH BACKS TO SUBMISSION
One thing we always understood as women, was that our men were not necessarily smarter or better leaders than we were, and it seemed difficult to submit to them. We had jobs that respected our knowledge and insight and it just seemed wrong that we should lay aside all of that when we got home. Another push-back is the mindset it left some men and women in. Teaching about SUBMISSION gave the impression to women that they had to submit to MEN. That is not what scripture said- it said WIVES submit to you OWN HUSBANDS, which made this word applicable only at home and in the covenant of marriage. For men, it gave many the idea that they were the rulers and ultimate decision makers, and their women had to follow them without any question. It also made mild mannered 'Clark Kent' men feel they had to have a Superman alter ego in order to manage their homes. All of these were wrong.
BIBLE WOMEN
If we really want to see how God views women, we can look in our bibles. Deborah was a warrior who the king would not go to war without her and Jesus had a group of professional and forgiven women who supported his ministry. Abigail was a strong woman who had influence and wisdom, that stopped the soon to be King -David from killing her husband- who was conveniently named "Fool". After God killed Nabal, David waited for her mourning time to be completed, then he made her his wife. So the strength of women is obvious, but so are the weaknesses... as seen in Eve, Bathsheba, Jezebel and Delilah. So being as there are obvious strengths and weaknesses- just like there are strengths and weaknesses in the men, what did God want us to submit to?
THE ORIGINAL MISSION
When we taught submission to married couples, we basically broke the word up to make it more understandable. Sub and Mission, which basically means to 'put your self under the mission'. We would ask them to seek God about what the 'mission' was and then as women who were called to submit, we would fall in line with the mission of our households. The area we miss it in our relationships is not knowing what our mission is. Most times when we marry, we think the mission to be happy, have 3.5 kids, get a house, be financially stable, and to enjoy life. That is OUR mission, not God's. In the Garden of Eden, the original mission for man was to 'Be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth and have dominion over it." according to Gen 1:28 we don't really think about that much when we marry. We don't even really know what it is supposed to look like to be fruitful or have dominion even if we feel we are replenishing the earth with children. The original mission was in the garden, the current mission is the world. Mark 16:15 tells us to 'Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every person'. We know not everyone is a preacher, but our lives are living epistles, our life should speak of God's grace and His goodness. When we talk to people, it should be as the oracles of God, not griping about what they do or don't do. Our main mission is to lead others to Christ- even through our marriages .
A DO OVER!
Since
a man and woman did not heed the original mission, we are basically getting a do
over. When God spoke to man, woman did not heed the directives, but man also didn't enforce it. This time we both get a chance to not just hear what God has said, but to obey it. The enemy fights our men so women will not heed their voice, so they tend to be more passive in spiritual things or overly aggressive, but if we want to see God's hand in our lives, we will have to learn how to SUBMIT to the MISSION. God has given our men back their original place of authority. If we genuinely want to see a difference in our homes and this world, as women we will need to submit to that role while also understanding that we too hear from God, and both of us must be about THE MISSION.
What will look different in how we handle life if we really understand that we should seek God's mission first, and then all these things will be added. Knowing we need to be about the same mission, will first change who we marry, then it will change how we submit to each other to see it come to pass. So submission is NOT a bad word, it is a word that empowers our women, and challenges our men. Let's seek to put our selves, under God's mission and watch Him work!
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