Many years ago I learned some valuable lessons in work related submission while working for my uncle as a tile setters helper. I learned to study my boss and anticipate his next move and have things ready for him so that he doesnt have to even wait, but he can carry on with his work. Small stacks of tile were ready. Mud was mixed to the perfect consistency and ready for him to spread to lay the tile on. At the end of the day tools were cleaned and put in their proper places for a smooth day of work the next day. Those simple lessons have helped me throughout my work life.
Somehow, in the USA, we heartily agree with the concept of biblical submission to a boss:
Col 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
We know that if we are going to work for a boss we have to submit accordingly. Thankfully, we are not actually slaves (yet), and if our work conditions get too severe, or do not meet our needs, we can actually change bosses. Similarly we know that if we are under church leadership and we come to realize that it is not what it should be, we are not commanded in the scripture to stay under any certain church authority . . . but while we are under leadership, we are to submit.
Feminism has been in the USA so long that such scriptures as these:
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Such scriptures are almost unbiblical to many Christians who consider themselves good standing Christians. Husbands in the USA find themselves having to coax their wives and woo their wives into submission and obedience. Instead of wives studying their husbands and trying to figure out the best way to please them, and prepare them for their agendas, most American wives are studying the best way to do their own thing and still consider themselves submissive.
Having worked amongst Hispanics for a while, I have seen a drastic difference in the understanding of wives submitting to their husbands. The word of the man is law. Once it comes out of his mouth it is as though the king has just spoken and preparations are being made for his orders to be carried out.
What about the bride of Christ in feminist America? Similar to the role of women in feminist America, the bride of Christ is very slow with obedience. Im not speaking of the whore church that is a 50/50 mixture of the world the Bible; Im speaking of those who consider themselves devout followers of Christ.
In many countries of the world where the concepts of submission are well understood, when you call for a prayer meeting or a day of fasting, or any other thing that calls for sacrifice, you get overwhelming cheerful participation. In America, Christ has to woo and coax his devout Christians into submission. We are like slow to obey donkeys that do not cooperate with our Master very well.
What will it take for the American church to learn immediate cheerful obedience to our Lord and Master? Our feminist ideas in the home are alive and well in our relationship with the Bridegroom. When He calls us to a deeper sanctification and separation from the world, we have to toss it around in our minds, and pass it by our cultural ideas . . . and maybe eventually, we submit. When He calls for unity amongst His people for the common cause of seeing souls born into His kingdom, we have to pass his orders through our theological systems of understanding and discuss it with him for many hours, and then maybe we will submit . . . The mindset of the King hath spoken, hurry to carry out His orders is simply not very common amongst His people in this country. We have our dogmas and our creeds, and we think that if we have fulfilled our checklist of dos and donts we are the perfectly submissive Bride of Christ. If He speaks to our hearts and tells us to bring a bag of groceries to a poor family down the street, we want to get a verification of income from them first, and discuss whether or not they have a real need.
Will we be ready when we hear: Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him? Will we be accustomed to instant obedience, and be ready to drop what we are doing and go? Will we even have the oil in our lamps for the occasion?
OH GOD HELP US! Purge us from our own ways!
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Michael Strickland
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