Before I continue with more posts about submission, I must make absolutely clear that the Bible never states that all women should be subject to all men, or that any random man has authority over you as a woman. This is straight from the pit of hell, and it causes women to react so strongly that they refuse to submit sweetly to their own husbands, which is sexy and beautiful and has nothing to do with inferiority.
I got a furious comment from a man about my “What Men Can Do to Lead their Wives Spiritually” post. He basically said, where do I get off telling men what to do? He slammed me with random Scriptures that were completely taken out of context. My initial reaction was this:
“I am only a sister in Christ helping my brothers in Christ as friends. I am not standing up in the church and teaching anything, and I have my husband’s authority that he is in agreement with what I have written here. If men did these things, their wives would be facilitated in following their husbands. This is the truth, and I boldly proclaim it to the world, and I will not be intimidated by you. If your ears are plugged to half the body of Christ, you are walking in sin, my dear brother.”
He responded, Scripture, Scripture, show me the Scripture. Yes, sir. Here is my official answer:
By half the body of Christ, I meant women. Women comprise half the church, and God commands us to submit one to another in the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:21), that there is no difference between male and female (Galatians 3:28), and that we are each to regard the other person as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). Furthermore, we are COMMANDED to use our spiritual gifts in the body of Christ (I Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4). Miriam led the entire people of Israel in worship to God. God Himself chose prophetesses in the Old Testament, who were commanded to speak to the people, who included men. In all fairness, I believe that men were supposed to do this, but that there were NO GODLY MEN.
Scripture does say that women are to be silent in the church (I Corinthians 14:34-35). I will not ignore this Scripture, because I believe there was a reason for it. Women are easily deceived (I Timothy 2:14), probably because of emotion and hormones. Many times something seemed right to me, but after talking with my husband, I set my emotion aside and engaged my brain in a more objective manner. Then I saw the situation more clearly. Whether you believe this or not doesn’t matter, though. What matters is full obedience to the Word of God, and God’s direct command is for women to submit ONLY to their own husbands.
Men are commanded to be the spiritual head of their wives most clearly in Ephesians 5:25-27, but also in I Corinthians 11:3. Titus 2:5 says that we as wives are to be subject to our own husbands, and Ephesians 5:24 says we are to be subject to our husbands in everything, and that would include being washed by the Word by our husbands. Everywhere in Scripture where men’s and women’s roles are mentioned (Colossians 3:18 is another one), the husband leads and the wife submits to his authority. And actually, if a man cherishes his wife, this whole submission thing is WONDERFUL. It’s sexy and awesome and it works.
(Stay tuned for how my husband defended me from this bigot in “Shut Up, Woman!” Part 2…)
True, true, but something to keep in mind is that there are trolls everywhere on the internet who LOVE to jump into people’s comments and stir up controversy. People like this actually enjoy starting arguments! So don’t get too upset about a troll. They are also easily ignored. (And blocked, if you have a WordPress blog!)
Sounds like he had some guilt,talking.
I totally agree with Tina and Dawn. I love what you’ve written, Susan, and am grateful for your strong husband who makes YOU strong, too.