Mutual Submission is the Key

Unity in the church arises, not from submission to a power structure, but from mutual submission to each other, seeking each other's good above our own, in submission to Christ.

            The second key to the proper function of authority within the Church is mutual submission. In worldly power structures, the masters give orders, and the servants obey. No one would ever think of suggesting that a general should submit to a private; only the person of inferior rank submits. Indeed, worldly superiors frequently “lord it over” their underlings, showing off their power by giving orders that serve no other purpose than to humiliate or injure some of those under their authority, as a reminder to everyone of who is “in charge.” However, the Body of Christ is a body, not an army or a business corporation. Every member is equal to every other member, and important to the life and function of every other member. We are told clearly in three widely separated passages of scripture that we are each to submit to each other in the Church. For instance, in Ephesians 5:18-21, Paul describes the effects of being “filled with” (that is, controlled by) the Holy Spirit in the following words:

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5:18-21 (NIV).

Paul goes on to tie our mutual submission to each other to our submission to Christ, the Head. He instructs wives to submit to their own husbands in the same way that the Church submits to Christ.¹ In explaining this, he states, “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.” (Emphasis added.)² Thus, Paul explicitly reminds us that we are to submit to each other in the Church because we all first submit to Christ, the Head of the Church.

            Again, in Philippians 2:2-8, Paul reminds us that we are to submit to one another in the Body, counting each other more important than ourselves, because Jesus Himself counted us more important than Himself:

…make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

 Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

Philippians 2:2-8 (WEB)

Jesus is God, and could have claimed His equality with His Father and His right to avoid suffering and death. Instead, he counted us more important than Himself, made Himself a man like us, and died for us. He submitted to His Father’s will to meet our need, and, in that way, submitted Himself to us. Mutual submission is the very mind of Christ in us.

            Finally, Peter commands mutual submission in this way:

 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;  casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:5-7 (WEB)

We submit to each other in humility because we submit to God in humility. We submit to God, resting under His mighty hand, because He resists the proud, but gives His gracious provision and ability to those who are humble in His hand. Thus, when we resist each other, we resist God in pride, and He resists us. When we submit to each other, we place ourselves under God’s hand, where He is free to work in our lives.

            This principle contains its own natural limitation, in that we only submit to each other because we have submitted to Christ first. Thus, if other believers are leading us away from God, to do things opposed to His Word, we submit to Christ first. But, in matters of personal preference, business, or spiritual activity, we submit to each other, placing the needs and interests of others in the Body above our own. This is the mutual submission God seeks and commands, and it is the foundation upon which the proper exercise of authority in the Church must be built.

Next: Authority Figures in the New Testament–“Bishop”–Inspector and Model