"You made some comment that sounded like you might adopt the politically correct line these days," writes a subscriber. "Have you forsaken the biblical truth that women should submit to their husbands?"
* * *
If I was ever politically correct, I assure you it was an
accident. As Christians, we "march to a different drummer," and it is not the
beat of the latest worldly fad. As for whether wives ought to be submissive, why
should they be exempt from what is clearly a general Christian command for every
believer -- regardless of gender, age or station in the world? The word to us
all is clear: "Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ" (Eph 5:21). In
the following verses, Paul shows us what such a spirit of submissiveness looks
like in daily life, as he speaks to Christian wives (5:22-24), husbands
(5:25-33; saying three times as much to husbands as to wives), children (6:1-3),
fathers (6:4), slaves (6:5-8) and masters (6:9).
These were the people in a first-century household in the Roman Empire, which
consisted of master and slaves, with the master also being husband (of a wife)
and father (of any children). It was common in Paul's day for traveling
philosophers and teachers (such as the Stoics, whose writings remain) to set out
the implications of their philosophy by stating rules for their hearers in terms
of their respective position in the household. Paul's teaching differs from the
Stoics' teaching in two important respects. First, every believer -- regardless
of worldly prestige or position -- is to relate to others in a spirit of
submission, just as Jesus Christ himself did (Phil. 2:5-12). Second, each
person's own conduct is governed by that individual's personal relationship to
Jesus Christ.
This is exceedingly liberating, for it frees us to love and serve others,
putting them ahead of ourselves, regardless of whether they deserve it or not,
and without regard for the response they make to what we say and do. We serve
the Lord Christ, not human beings. If we do what is right simply because it is
right, we will always have our reward in that fact, even on earth. And we may
know, as we follow in His steps, that the One who took a towel and washed his
disciples' feet, will see and remember every act of service done in his name and
for his sake. Believers "submit" to Christ voluntarily -- and to each other in
the spirit of Christ.