For All People

"Submission"

“God said ‘We will make man. Men and women will be like us ... So God made man. He made man to be like God. God made them. He made some males, and some females.” (Genesis 1:26-27 EasyEnglish)

WE GATHER like salt on an empty plate, clustered away from the food, and even worse, from each other. We divide by denomination, by culture, by skin color, and even, and most often, by gender. What is promoted as encouragement has become arrogance. Women’s groups, men’s groups, display lusts and physical desires more than the heart of God.

Why’s that a big deal, Suzanne? We’re not supposed to support woman, to encourage men? If I have to answer that, then you haven’t heard the Father speaking. The ministry is service, washing another’s feet, providing them with food and clothing, sharing the Word of God, which is all-inclusive. There’s no woman’s gospel nor man’s gospel. Trusting God for our everyday needs, knowing the love of God for our struggles, and showing Jesus to others applies to all people. Genesis to Revelation is for all people.

What of relationships then? Shouldn’t we specify teaching for men and for women? No. Good relationships come from time spent in the Word of God, putting it in the heart, and from spending time in God’s Presence in worship. These together make for healthy adults, and healthy, spiritually mature adults need no gender-specific training. Now, I’m mot talking about wisdom passed down from mother or grandmother to newlywed daughter or, even teenage daughter. The apostle Titus addressed this. He said that aged women “teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed (Titus 2:4-5).”

Here is where some rise up and call this old fashioned. I admit, in the Word of God, there are issues addressed specific to the times they lived in. But nowhere in this instruction does it say to push back against men. In fact, it says the purpose is to keep women (or men) from blaspheming the Word. Throughout the Word, the emphasis on marriage relationships and church relationships is submission. This applies to both men and women. The wife submits to her husband (Ephesians 5:22), but her husband submits to authorities over him, and to God most of all (1 Peter 5:5). Both men and women submit to people, showing the love of God, and displaying peace. The husband is told to love his wife to the extent Christ loves people, in that He died for them (Ephesians 5:25).

What the Father wants the church to let go of are opportunities for ungodliness. Not the honoring of mothers or fathers on holidays so-named, not tribute paid to those who gave their lives for the nation or their family, but gatherings which open the door wide for crass behavior. A crack becomes an entrance, given enough talk, and not an opportunity to make new friendships. Instead, it is the temptation to speak what should be between a husband and his wife, or a woman or a man and God. Because the Word is specific about the effect of our words. We have what we say because what we think about continually becomes what we say, and what we say becomes what we think about continually. Suddenly, we’re not praising God, we’re criticizing others. We don’t like how they dress, what they eat, where they work, how they drive, and “you should have heard what my husband said.”

Love takes a back seat.

Could you say that in front of Jesus? I know the answer. The Word says He knows every word we’ve spoken. We should live with this in the forefront.

“Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.” (Romans 14:19)

“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14)


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com