If we live in the Spirit of the Lord
Then let’s walk according to His Word
You and I can walk in love and truth
Live so they see
Our words and deeds agree
If we live in the Spirit of the Lord
Then let’s walk according to His Word
You and I can walk in love and truth
Walk in the light
‘Cause He is in the light
If we live in the Spirit of the Lord
Then let’s walk according to His Word
You and I can walk in love and truth
You say you do
Does your life prove you’re true?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Submit! Sit! Stay! Obey!
The Bible says that a wife is to submit to her husband. But how does that work in a godly marriage relationship? It would be easy to give a short, pat answer, but delving into that answer would not be quite as short.
Here’s the short, pat answer: Ephesians 5:22-33. That explains everything, doesn’t it?
The major element of that submission is that it is a willingness to do what the other sees as the best course of action. That statement can be badly misinterpreted, however, so I want to be clear what I mean by it.
It doesn’t mean that the wife is somehow inferior. It doesn’t mean that the wife should not protest the husband’s decision if she thinks it’s unwise. And it doesn’t mean that there are no areas in which she would rightfully carry authority; so in circumstances where her decision is appealed (by the kids, for example), there would be times when the only appropriate response from the husband would be “What Mom says goes.”
In the end, really what it comes down to is that while they would work side by side as equals – as one, and it shouldn’t be any other way – if anyone asked her “Who’s in charge?” she would point to her husband, and if anyone should say “You can’t do that. Who said you could?” she would point to her husband.
This submission doesn’t have to do with one of them having power over the other, or with the wife being like a servant to the husband. It does have to do with a recognition of how the authority structure in the family works, and it does have to do with the fact that God has created husbands and wives to interact a certain way, as a reflection of the relationship between God and men.
The marriage relationship is a joining of two into one, and so nothing really should be done by the one without the other – everything is no longer “yours” or “mine” but “ours” – and so that relationship is one where each wants the other to be a part of whatever task they have to do, as though they were the very best of friends (which they should be). But in that friendship, and in those tasks that they do together as one, one of them will generally need to take the lead, and scripture is pretty clear that that is the husband’s role.
An illustration comes to mind: There were a couple of guys who decided to go sailing, and since neither of them were “in charge” there were disputes about what they were going to do in some cases. Finally one told the other “Listen, I was the one who initiated this whole adventure, I was the one who let you come along, and you chose to join me – I’m the one in charge.” It wasn’t that the other guy was unfit to lead, but that he wasn’t the initiating force to begin with, and he had joined in with the understanding that he was joining, not leading – though he didn’t want to be mindlessly bossed.
Perhaps it’s a weak analogy for submission in marriage in general, but when a woman marries and has her husband as the authority, there is that aspect of willingly choosing to place herself under that authority. It is not that all of the sudden “Oh, I guess I have to listen to this guy now that we’re married,” but rather like how obeying Christ is part and parcel of becoming a Christian – not a sudden realization you have after you’ve decided to be a Christian – you choose to follow Christ knowing that that’s what’s involved. Submission is something that is wrapped up with marriage, not something that just kind of kicks in after you get married.
Submission doesn’t really have to do with “women being weaker vessels”, and there is no room for an attitude like
Above all things, godly submission must work with love, or else it doesn’t work at all. A wife must actively work towards her husband’s highest good, not just mindlessly doing whatever he tells her to do, and if she is going to work towards her husband’s highest good, she has to listen to what God tells her, not just what God tells him. She has to think for herself and share those thoughts, rather than just listening to her husband’s thoughts.
_________________________
[1] Steve Taylor, "I Manipulate"
Thanks to the friend (who remains anonymous) who helped me write this post.
Here’s the short, pat answer: Ephesians 5:22-33. That explains everything, doesn’t it?
The major element of that submission is that it is a willingness to do what the other sees as the best course of action. That statement can be badly misinterpreted, however, so I want to be clear what I mean by it.
It doesn’t mean that the wife is somehow inferior. It doesn’t mean that the wife should not protest the husband’s decision if she thinks it’s unwise. And it doesn’t mean that there are no areas in which she would rightfully carry authority; so in circumstances where her decision is appealed (by the kids, for example), there would be times when the only appropriate response from the husband would be “What Mom says goes.”
In the end, really what it comes down to is that while they would work side by side as equals – as one, and it shouldn’t be any other way – if anyone asked her “Who’s in charge?” she would point to her husband, and if anyone should say “You can’t do that. Who said you could?” she would point to her husband.
This submission doesn’t have to do with one of them having power over the other, or with the wife being like a servant to the husband. It does have to do with a recognition of how the authority structure in the family works, and it does have to do with the fact that God has created husbands and wives to interact a certain way, as a reflection of the relationship between God and men.
The marriage relationship is a joining of two into one, and so nothing really should be done by the one without the other – everything is no longer “yours” or “mine” but “ours” – and so that relationship is one where each wants the other to be a part of whatever task they have to do, as though they were the very best of friends (which they should be). But in that friendship, and in those tasks that they do together as one, one of them will generally need to take the lead, and scripture is pretty clear that that is the husband’s role.
An illustration comes to mind: There were a couple of guys who decided to go sailing, and since neither of them were “in charge” there were disputes about what they were going to do in some cases. Finally one told the other “Listen, I was the one who initiated this whole adventure, I was the one who let you come along, and you chose to join me – I’m the one in charge.” It wasn’t that the other guy was unfit to lead, but that he wasn’t the initiating force to begin with, and he had joined in with the understanding that he was joining, not leading – though he didn’t want to be mindlessly bossed.
Perhaps it’s a weak analogy for submission in marriage in general, but when a woman marries and has her husband as the authority, there is that aspect of willingly choosing to place herself under that authority. It is not that all of the sudden “Oh, I guess I have to listen to this guy now that we’re married,” but rather like how obeying Christ is part and parcel of becoming a Christian – not a sudden realization you have after you’ve decided to be a Christian – you choose to follow Christ knowing that that’s what’s involved. Submission is something that is wrapped up with marriage, not something that just kind of kicks in after you get married.
Submission doesn’t really have to do with “women being weaker vessels”, and there is no room for an attitude like
If you want to build a happy home,Godly submission is a description of how the two can and ought to best work together – the husband loving his wife, the wife loving her husband – being one flesh, serving God wholeheartedly with one heart, rather than two individualistic hearts.
Have you sacrificed a mind of your own?
‘Cause a good wife learns to cower
Underneath the umbrella of power...[1]
Above all things, godly submission must work with love, or else it doesn’t work at all. A wife must actively work towards her husband’s highest good, not just mindlessly doing whatever he tells her to do, and if she is going to work towards her husband’s highest good, she has to listen to what God tells her, not just what God tells him. She has to think for herself and share those thoughts, rather than just listening to her husband’s thoughts.
_________________________
[1] Steve Taylor, "I Manipulate"
Thanks to the friend (who remains anonymous) who helped me write this post.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Such People as Quakers are Needed Today
Oh! Better were it to be stripped and naked of all, to account it as dross and dung, and become a fool for Christ's sake, thus knowing him to teach thee in thy heart, so as thou mayest witness him raised there, feel the virtue of his cross there, and say with the apostle, I glory in nothing, save the cross of Christ, whereby I am crucified to the world, and the world unto me. This is better than to write thousands of commentaries, and to preach many sermons. And it is thus to preach Christ and direct people to his pure light in the heart, that God hath raised us up and for which the wise men of this world account us fools, because by the operation of this cross of Christ in our hearts, we have denied our own wisdom and wills in many things and have forsaken the vain worships, fashions, and customs of this world.
For these divers centuries the world hath been full of a dry, fruitless, and barren knowledge of Christ, feeding upon the husk, and neglecting the kernel; following after the shadow, but strangers to the substance. Hence the devil matters not how much of that knowledge abounds, provided he can but possess the heart, and rule in the will, crucify the appearance of Christ there, and so keep the seed of the kingdom from taking root. For he has led them abroad, lo here, and lo there, and has made them wrestle in a false zeal so much one against another, contending for this outward observation, and for the other outward observation, seeking C h r i s t in this and the other external thing, as in bread and wine; contending one with another how he is there, while some will have him to be present therein this way, and some the other way; and some in scriptures, in books, in societies, and pilgrimages, and merits. But some, confiding in an external barren faith, think all is well, if they do but firmly believe that he died for their sins past, present, and to come; while in the meant time Christ lies crucified and slain, and is daily resisted and gainsayed in his appearance in their hearts.
Thus, from a sense of this blindness and ignorance that is come over Christendom, it is that we are led and moved of the Lord to constantly and frequently to call all, invite all, request all, to turn to the light in them, to mind the light in them, to believe in Christ, as he is in them: and that in the name, power, and authority of the Lord, not in school-arguments and distinctions, (for which many of the wise men of this world account us fools and mad-men) we do charge and command them to lay aside their wisdom, to come down out of that proud, airy, brain-knowledge, and to stop that mouth, how eloquent soever to the worldly ear it may appear, and to be silent, and sit down as in the dust, and to mind the light of Christ in their own consciences; which, if minded, they would find as a sharp two-edged sword in their hearts, and as a fire and a hammer that would knock against and burn up all that carnal, gathered, natural stuff, and make the stoutest of them all tremble, and become Quakers indeed: which those that come not to feel now, and kiss not the Son while the day lasteth, but harden their hearts, will feel to be a certain truth when it is too late.
To conclude, as saith the apostle, All ought to examine themselves, whether they be in the faith indeed; and try their ownselves: for except Jesus Christ be in them, they are certainly reprobates. (II Cor 13:5)
____________________________________
The above is from Robert Barclay's "Apology for the True Christian Divinity."
Surely, if those called by the name "Christian" have such a focus on outward observances and such a faith wherein they may sin daily and yet still believe they are bound for heaven, such men and women as the Quakers were are desperately needed today. I will be one of them. I must be, so long as Christ, who lives in me, moves me to urge people away from their sinfulness, off of their outward rituals, and down from their selfishness.
For these divers centuries the world hath been full of a dry, fruitless, and barren knowledge of Christ, feeding upon the husk, and neglecting the kernel; following after the shadow, but strangers to the substance. Hence the devil matters not how much of that knowledge abounds, provided he can but possess the heart, and rule in the will, crucify the appearance of Christ there, and so keep the seed of the kingdom from taking root. For he has led them abroad, lo here, and lo there, and has made them wrestle in a false zeal so much one against another, contending for this outward observation, and for the other outward observation, seeking C h r i s t in this and the other external thing, as in bread and wine; contending one with another how he is there, while some will have him to be present therein this way, and some the other way; and some in scriptures, in books, in societies, and pilgrimages, and merits. But some, confiding in an external barren faith, think all is well, if they do but firmly believe that he died for their sins past, present, and to come; while in the meant time Christ lies crucified and slain, and is daily resisted and gainsayed in his appearance in their hearts.
Thus, from a sense of this blindness and ignorance that is come over Christendom, it is that we are led and moved of the Lord to constantly and frequently to call all, invite all, request all, to turn to the light in them, to mind the light in them, to believe in Christ, as he is in them: and that in the name, power, and authority of the Lord, not in school-arguments and distinctions, (for which many of the wise men of this world account us fools and mad-men) we do charge and command them to lay aside their wisdom, to come down out of that proud, airy, brain-knowledge, and to stop that mouth, how eloquent soever to the worldly ear it may appear, and to be silent, and sit down as in the dust, and to mind the light of Christ in their own consciences; which, if minded, they would find as a sharp two-edged sword in their hearts, and as a fire and a hammer that would knock against and burn up all that carnal, gathered, natural stuff, and make the stoutest of them all tremble, and become Quakers indeed: which those that come not to feel now, and kiss not the Son while the day lasteth, but harden their hearts, will feel to be a certain truth when it is too late.
To conclude, as saith the apostle, All ought to examine themselves, whether they be in the faith indeed; and try their ownselves: for except Jesus Christ be in them, they are certainly reprobates. (II Cor 13:5)
____________________________________
The above is from Robert Barclay's "Apology for the True Christian Divinity."
Surely, if those called by the name "Christian" have such a focus on outward observances and such a faith wherein they may sin daily and yet still believe they are bound for heaven, such men and women as the Quakers were are desperately needed today. I will be one of them. I must be, so long as Christ, who lives in me, moves me to urge people away from their sinfulness, off of their outward rituals, and down from their selfishness.
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