Perspective: Mutual Submission

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Mutual Submission

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:21 (NIV)

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There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28 (NRSV)

We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand

We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand

And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love

From "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love" by Peter Scholtes

I've noticed that certain Christians like to stress the parts of Scripture that seem to privilege them over other people.  For example, a few days ago, a certain married male pastor shared the following verse on Twitter, describing it as a "command" that "stands on its own": "Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord."  He went on to claim that it does not need to be interpreted in light of the surrounding verses.  What this pastor does not seem to acknowledge is that this particular verse from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians is actually nestled within a larger discussion.¹

In my study of the Letter to the Ephesians, I've found that, in much of the letter, Paul describes what it means for us as Christians to live together as the Body of Christ.  At one point in the letter, Paul urges his readers to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ."  He then goes on to describe what this exhortation means for six specific groups of people: wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, and masters of slaves.

To wives, Paul writes, "Be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord."  He then writes, "For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior.  Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands."  It is important to remember that Paul is writing in a patriarchal society.  In a patriarchal society, the father is the head of the household, meaning that it could be rightly said that, in such a society, the father is to his own nuclear family what Christ is to the worldwide family called the Church.

To Husbands, Paul writes, "Love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..."  If a father in a patriarchal society is to the nuclear family what Christ is to the Church, and if the Church is the Bride of Christ, then a husband needs treat his bride in the same way that Christ treated His.  In the Gospels, we read that Christ washed His disciples' dirty feet,² touched unclean lepers,³ taught that the greatest of all is the servant of all, insisted that His followers were not to lord their authority over others,⁴ sweat blood as He surrendered His own will for the greater good,⁵ and then died a painful and humiliating death on a cross for the sake of the people He loves.⁶

Those actions sound pretty darn submissive to me.

It's worth noting that Paul spills a lot more ink when he is addressing husbands than when he is addressing wives: only three verses are dedicated to wives, while nine verses are dedicated to husbands.  It seems to me that he thinks husbands have a lot more to learn than wives about being "subject to one another."  Some Christian men enjoy harping on about how wives are supposed to submit to their husbands, but, if husbands are required to love their wives as Christ loved the Church, then they are actually called to an even greater level of submission than their wives.

To children, Paul writes, "Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right," and he goes on to remind them of the Commandment to honor their fathers and mothers.  Paul then writes to fathers, "Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."  Notice that Paul is basically saying that not only do children have an obligation to their parents but that parents also have an obligation to their children.

Paul then turns his attention to slaves and their masters.  To slaves, he writes, "Render service with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not to men and women, knowing that whatever good we do, we will receive the same again from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free."  To the masters of slaves, Paul writes, "Do the same to them.  Stop threatening them, for you know that both of you have the same Master in heaven, and with him there is no partiality."  Again notice that not only do slaves have an obligation to their masters but masters also have an obligation to their slaves.  Furthermore, they are equal before Christ.

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, instructs his readers to submit to one another and then goes on to describe what Christian submission looks like in a society marked by patriarchy and slavery.  What Paul says to wives, children, and slaves was nothing new.  Wives already knew that they were to submit to their husbands; children already knew that they were to submit to their parents; and slaves already knew that they were to submit to their masters.  What's groundbreaking is what Paul says to husbands, fathers, and masters of slaves.  Husbands and fathers are to submit to their wives and children, and masters are to submit to their slaves.  Paul's point is that Christian submission is not one-sided but rather mutual.

Throughout the years, Paul's words have been wrongly used to maintain patriarchy and slavery, even though they actually laid the groundwork to dismantle such hierarchies.  All of us are equal before Christ.  Where I live, overt forms of slavery have been made illegal, and patriarchy is in the process of being dismantled.  Whatever hierarchies exist in society today, Paul's overall point still stands.  The Church is a family of whom Christ alone is the head.  As Christians, we strive to follow Christ's lead as we submit to one another in love.


Notes:

1. A majority of this passage is based on Ephesians 5:21-6:9.  Quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version.
2. John 13:3-5
3. Mark 1:40-42
4. Mark 10:42-45
5. Luke 22:41-44
6. Matthew 26:47-27:56, Mark 14:43-15:41, Luke 22:47-23:49, John 18:1-19:30

Jesus Washing Peter's Feet was painted by Ford Madox Brown in the 1850s.