A Dirty Word
This last Sunday, I shared a “dirty” word with my congregation. Now that you are back in your chair and have calmed down…that word is submission. That’s right, S-U-BM- I-S-S-I-O-N! In our day, this has become a dirty word. No one wants to submit to anyone else. Everyone wants people to submit to them, but no one wants to have to submit to another. I have had some experience with just how vitriolic the protest over submission can become.
In 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention, of which I am a member, added an article to our statement of faith. The article covers what Southern Baptists believe about the family. In it, we quoted Ephesians 5 as follows: “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So, husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one every hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.” (Ephesians 5:22-30, NASB) The firestorm started almost immediately. The media portrayed Southern Baptists as trying to turn the clock back a hundred years. They accused Southern Baptists of abuse, chauvinism and much, much more. All we did was quote scripture, but submission had become such a dirty word for anyone, we were demonized for suggesting such a thing!
Sadly, submission is not a dirty word. It is by submission to the Lordship of Christ that we enter His Kingdom. Although the sinner’s prayer is fairly standard as the means by which we introduce people to salvation through Christ, it is not the pattern of the New Testament. In the New Testament, people surrender to Jesus as Lord, Master, King and that submission includes seeing ourselves as falling far short of His standard of righteousness for which we ask forgiveness.
In James 1:21-27, we see James reminding his readers that the true believer in Jesus will react to God by surrendering their past, which God forgives (21a). James calls our sin “dirt”, so I guess submission is a dirty word, but only in that we surrender the dirt of our past to God for cleansing in the blood of the Lamb of God. Jesus, the Christ, God the Son. He also says we are to surrender our desires (21b). He calls our desires “all that remains of wickedness”. The Greek is directly translated “superfluity of naughtiness”. That means that all of us sin. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and are falling short of the glory of God.” 1 John 1:8-10 says, basically, “If we claim we have never sinned, we are lying. If we claim that we are living completely holy and apart from sin now, we lie. If we confess to God (agree with Him) that we have this sin problem, He is faithful and just to forgive us for our sins and our desires to sin.” If we are to claim to be believers in Christ, we must show it by our increasing desire to live holy and righteous.
He also says we are to submit our pride to God (21c). He says we are to “in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” The problem with many people is that they do not want to give up control of their lives to God. They want the benefits of a relationship with Christ, but none of the responsibility or risk. They do not want to walk by faith. They want to walk in sight and in control of the outcome. They understand the sacrifice God made to set them free but think they can do a better job of managing their particular life and situation. This is what keeps many people from Christ, but the true believer understands this is the only way to Heaven and to Christ. Here are some questions to ask yourself to see if you have truly submitted yourself to God. Pray over the answers and consider them carefully:
• Have you surrendered your past to God?
• Have you surrendered your desires to God?
• Have you surrendered your pride to God?
• Have you surrendered your life to God?
• Have you admitted what you have done?
• Do you know what God has done for you?
• Have you admitted who you are?
• Have you confessed Who God is?
• Do you see any evidence of God’s activity in your life?
• Is that activity bringing about changes in attitudes as well as behavior?
If the answer to any of the questions is no…why not?