Submission anxiety

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21)

What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘submit’?
 
For me, I tend to think of wrestling. Not that I am a big wrestling fan or anything, but to win a wrestling contest you need two falls or a submission. A submission means your opponent is pinned down in such a position that they have no choice but to ‘tap out’ and concede the match. They have to submit.
 
That may or may not be what comes to mind when you think of ‘submit’ but submission is rarely, if ever, seen as a positive thing. More likely, ‘submit’ is used to give the image of power and dominance and oppression.
 
Which is why it is surprising that Paul tells us that a happy and healthy church community is one that submits. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”, Paul tells the Ephesians. We submit first of all to Jesus, which makes sense. But we are also then called to submit to one another.
 
What are we to make of this? Are we to come to church and get one another into headlocks, pinning them to the ground in a wrestling hold? It doesn’t sound very pleasant, or very welcoming!
 
I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise that Paul is using the word ‘submit’ here in a different way to a wrestling match. The word that Paul uses here literally means to “place under.” To submit to another person is to put yourself ‘under’ them, that is consider their needs more than your own. It is an expression of humility in the community of God’s people. It’s what Paul tells the Philippians to do when he says: 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves (Philippians 2:3)

 As followers of Jesus we are to have the same attitude as Jesus. We are to choose the path of humility as Jesus did, putting himself under the Father’s plan and going to the cross. As the church we are to put others first, putting ourselves under others, in humility lifting others up.
 
It is safe to say that many problems in churches come from someone wanting their own way (and that person can easily be the vicar). Submitting to one another, valuing others and their needs above our own, is a healthy way for a church to live. In fact, living this way would be revolutionary. Needless to say, we cannot do this on our own.
 
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit for his strength and power to live humbly, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
 
Photo by Chris Chow on Unsplash