Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Submission In An Age Of Distrust



Respect for authority is at an all-time low. Politicians, police, and leaders in general do not garner the same respect as they once did in years past. Part of the problem is that so many in authority have abused their positions and exploited those whom they should be serving with their position of leadership. However, this does not excuse the general distain for those in in authority who are really trying to use their positions of leadership to serve and aid others. 

The disdain for submitting to authority is very vividly seen on the A&E show called Live PD.  The show follows live police encounters and there are cameras recording their every move.  The police personal have total accountability due to the consistent camera presence.  This show reiterates that there is still a growing segment of the population who totally disrespect police and will not submit to their authority.  Some folks, when confronted about an issue the police are investigating, refuse to even give them their name when asked. 

Part of the problem is the idea of submission to authority is often seen as a bad thing, only for the weak.  However, even Jesus elected to submit to the authority of his parents. Tim Challies has a great article on how Jesus went through every stage of life in order to model submission for all humanity in every stage of life. Challies writes: 

To complete his mission, the Son of God had to live a complete life as a man. He had to be a baby, he had to be a toddler, he had to be a child, a tween, a teen, a young adult, and a grown man. He had to face and endure the temptations that come with every one of life’s stages. He had to be tempted as a toddler to defy his parents, as a teen to retaliate against sinful brothers and sisters, as an adult to be quick-tempered and sharp-tongued. He was tempted in every way we are, yet he never sinned (Hebrews 4:15)… Jesus spent his childhood, his teens, and his 20s in submission to his parents. Never once did he sinfully defy them. Never once did he rebel against their authority. Never once did he talk back in spite. To the contrary, he only ever joyfully and voluntarily submitted to them. He willingly put himself under their leadership, under their direction, and under their authority.[1]

Wow, the Creator of all submitted to His own creations! I am so thankful for the blessing of following and serving Christ, who loves us so much, that he actually stooped to love us!

Biblical submission is blessing and not a curse. Everyone has to submit to someone in the course of their life. However, we are not required to submit when those in authority are asking us to do that which will dishonor God. For example in the Book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar made a royal decree that all who heard his music must fall down and worship the golden image of his god. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to obey the law (3:16–18). So they were thrown into the fiery furnace, and God miraculously saved them and thus put his stamp of approval on their civil disobedience.

S. Lewis Johnson Jr. defined submission as “Voluntary yielding in love.” Submitting to the Lordship of Christ is, in essence, stating that you trust him to have your best interest at heart, even when it costs you and doesn’t make sense. It takes great love and faith to submit to God. As the writer of Hebrews  so succinctly says, “…without faith it is impossible to please God…” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV). And without faith, it is impossible to submit to God as well.


[1] https://www.challies.com/articles/advance-learn-obedience-through-submission

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