Summer Sunday Series
“Christianish”
Part 4- Submission & the Christianish
Introduction:
A few weeks ago we kicked off this Summer Sunday Series by asking, “Are you Christianish?” And by Christianish we mean having the appearance of Christianity (in certain areas of your life), but not necessarily the substance of Christianity in your heart.
And we posed four big questions that you can ask yourself to help determine if you are Christianish:
• First, “Am I more concerned with being the kind of Christian others think I should be than I am with actually being like Jesus?”
• Next, “Have I compartmentalized my life to the extent that Who Jesus is affects part of my life, but leaves many areas essentially untouched?”
• Then, “Does my feeling of success as a Christian largely depend upon completing a checklist of rules and regulations?”
• And finally, “Do I think that by attending Sunday worship faithfully, paying tithe, and completing the checklist that I have fulfilled my Christian obligations?”
Then we learned that being Christianish doesn’t end well, and that it’s really important to measure our lives by the right standard, by the person of Jesus Christ.
Then we examined the concept of sin as it’s viewed by the Christianish, and we learned that though the Bible clearly teaches what sin is, that Christianish people take a different view.
We learned that most people think that there are certain big, bad, and terrible sins that should be avoided at all costs, but there are others that are other, smaller, socially acceptable sins. So, while the Big Six like adultery, fornication, homosexuality, abortion, denying the faith, and forsaking sound doctrine are to be avoided at all costs, we’ll practice the little ones with impunity. Little sins like pride & jealousy, gossip & backbiting, greed & materialism, lying & deception are seen as more acceptable, but they’re actually more dangerous. We’ll accept them and engage them and excuse them so readily because they seem like reasonable elements of real life…but they’ll destroy us.
Breaking out of the cycle of acceptable sin requires both the Word and the Spirit. We need to immerse ourselves in study of the Word, and not simply content ourselves with reading it. And we need the Holy Spirit to make that Word alive in our hearts and to empower us to represent Jesus in the world.
Then in the third message we continued by taking a look at the subject of Sacrifice & the Christianish. We learned that sacrifice is about loss, not gain...sacrifices and investments aren’t the same thing. And, we learned that the Bible teaches that sacrifice is about life, it has to be the best that you have to give, and it will hurt...sacrifice is costly. We discovered that from looking at the New Testament, it costs something to follow Jesus...and if following Jesus hasn’t cost you something, you’re probably not really following Him.
Today we’re going to be finishing up what has proven to be just an incredibly popular and widely acclaimed series by talking about Submission & the Christianish.
I. Culture & Ideas
We’re going to lay a little groundwork for this message by making the observation that as Christians in the world, we are both influencers and influenced. We don’t live in isolation from the ideas and systems of thought that are prevalent in the world, and whether we like to admit it or not, the world’s ideas affect the way we think about the Faith. This isn’t in itself a bad thing, but it can be…especially when an idea presented in the Bible is interpreted and applied using the world’s definition of the idea. (Which is why we’ve talked quite a bit about something called exegesis…or “understanding what it meant to them so that we can figure out how to apply it now.”)
So, the Church not only influences the culture, it’s also influenced by the culture. We can’t help it. It’s always been this way, and always will be. If you’re unsure, just think about the many different cultures that are represented at The Refuge, and how that in each of them certain cultural ideas affect the way saints view the Church, the way they think about the Church. While certain core elements of the Faith may remain the same, the expression of Christian life may be very different in each of these cultures. As Christians, part of our responsibility is to recognize and then carefully examine the ideas influencing us to see if that influence moves us closer to what God wants His Church to be, or farther away.
There’s one example of a cultural idea influencing the way Christians think about the Faith that’s particularly relevant to the North American church, and it’s the idea of freedom. In North American culture, the concept of freedom essentially means that each person determines his or her own destiny, and has a great number of personal rights guaranteed by government. Self-determination and constitutionally guaranteed rights & freedoms are powerful ideas in the West. So, whenever anyone in the West talks about “freedom”, our minds almost immediately default to thoughts of self-determination and individual rights.
There’s nothing wrong with these concepts in and of themselves...in fact, they’re pretty awesome! But we can get into all kinds of spiritual and theological trouble when we allow our cultural idea of “freedom” to influence the way we interpret what the Bible says about freedom. You see, the idea of freedom in Bible times wasn’t nearly as conceptual and was far more literal. Being free meant first of all that you weren’t a slave or a captive, and second of all that you were ruled in your own land by your own king. You don’t have to a real deep thinker to see how applying our cultural idea of “freedom” to what we read in the Bible could cause all kinds of confusion. When Jesus said, “The truth will make you free,” and “if the Son sets you free, you’re free indeed,” He wasn’t speaking to people about self-determination and individual rights. He was telling them that those who followed Him would no longer be slaves or captives, but they’d be under His rule in the Kingdom of God.
This is important because many people apply our cultural idea of freedom to what the Bible says, and come up with the idea that Jesus has made them free to do whatever they want, whenever they want. But, nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus has made you free from bondage to sin so that you may live under His rule in the Kingdom of God...you are not freed to determine your own destiny and claim your individual rights. You are freed to live according to Christ’s rule, according to Christ’s plan, by His grace and through His power.
II. Kingdom Culture: Submission
Alright…I’ve taken over one-third of the message time to help you understand that cultural ideas influence the way Christians think about what God’s Word says. And sometimes it’s not for the better. This matters because our topic today is submission, and the way submission is thought about in western culture clashes with what the Bible says about it. In our culture, submission is generally thought of as a bad thing. In a society that values self-determination and individual rights above all else, anything that suggests that an individual’s will be yielded to another’s is tantamount to blasphemy.
In our culture, submission is only understood in the context of force. You must submit to those who have a badge and a gun. You must submit to those who can imprison you. You must submit those who can affect your ability to support yourself, those who can fire you. You must submit to those who are bigger than you, or more powerful than you, or more influential than you…but to willingly yield your will to an equal is unheard of.
But it’s undeniable that in the Scripture submission is presented as a good thing, as a truly Christian thing. In fact, it’s easy to get the impression from reading the Scripture that you can’t really be Christian without submission, but only Christian-ish.
Now, maybe you’re thinking or hoping that there’s some complex theological meaning to the idea of submission as it’s presented in the New Testament that effectively pulls its teeth…but there’s not. When you see the words “submit, submitting, and subject” in the New Testament, chances are they mean “to place in order under, to subordinate.” And no matter how you slice it, that involves yielding your will to another.
The Epistles speak a great deal about this, and present it in three primary contexts.
One; it’s presented in the context of families, of husbands and wives, parents and children, and of all to God.
Two; it’s presented in the context of churches, of leaders and saints, and saints to each other.
Three; it’s presented in the context of society, of masters and servants, of saints and sinners, and of Christians and government.
And if you take the time to study these three contexts, you’ll also notice that three assumptions are made by the apostles.
Assumption One; freedom exists…and by that I mean freedom in the sense we described at the beginning of the message. The apostles assumed the reality of the saints as free from the bondage of the old system, living under Christ’s rule in the New Kingdom. I know they recognized the saints as free people because you don’t have to instruct people who are already in bondage about “submission”. So, the apostles assumed the saints as free.
Assumption Two; order is necessary…and by that I mean order as opposed to chaos, structure as opposed to anarchy. The apostles took the view of submission as witness, that it was a powerful evidence of the life in Christ when the Free People of the New Kingdom willingly submitted themselves within their families, church structures, and societies. It demonstrated that believers weren’t about upheaval and riot and revolution; that they were about living a quiet and peaceable life in the sight of God.
Assumption Three; others matter…and by that I mean consideration, being considerate as opposed to inconsiderate. Freedom from the old bondages and liberty in Christ wasn’t to be used without regard to the thoughts and feelings of other Christians. Furthermore, liberty wasn’t license…you couldn’t use it as a cloak to cover sin.
Ok…I need six volunteers to step into the aisles right now. Great. Now, please come to the front, and space yourselves evenly across the altar area, starting at the wall. Thanks! Ok, now toss this ball from one person to the next up and down the row a couple of times. The object is for everyone to successfully catch the ball, and to complete two cycles of tosses.
Now, let me ask you volunteers a few questions;
1. Are you in any way less free now than you were before? Are there any chains on you? Are there any guns pointed at you? Are you being threatened or forced to be here? (Obviously, No.)
2. Is the order presented by the structure you’re in a bad thing? Is it possible that the order allows for a particular function such as tossing the ball up and down the line? (No, yes)
3. Does it matter how your neighbor tosses the ball to you? Does it matter if it’s gentle or hard, fast or slow, high or low? Would their consideration or lack of it affect the line’s ability to perform? (Yes)
This is how submission works in the lives of Christians: one; you know that you are free, and that submission is a choice. Two; you recognize that order and structure are necessary for effective function, and that submission doesn’t make you less than anyone else. And three; you know that a big part of the grace Christians have is in the form of consideration for their brothers and sisters.
III. A Different Society
It all boils down to this; as Christians we can freely submit to one another in the various contexts spoken of in Scripture because we’re part of a different society. Christian society has a different worldview...we see ourselves as part of a Different Kingdom ruled by a Different King. We have different motives and values than other societies have. To us it’s not all about gain and advancement and prestige and nice stuff. In our society it’s people over possessions. And in our society relationships are conducted differently; we recognize that what’s happening in the lives of our brothers and sisters is important, and that how they’re getting by is our concern.
Christian Society doesn’t consist of a bunch of individualistic narcissists bent on exploiting their own rights and freedoms. No. Christian Society is the Ekklesia, the assembly of called-out ones, gathered out to fulfil a larger purpose together than we could individually. And in the process of doing so we Christians freely and willingly yield our wills to each other, so that we may function in an orderly and effective manner, for the good of the Body, and the fulfilment of our mission.
Closing:
It’s time for us to leave Christian-ish thinking and conduct behind. It’s time to abandon radical individualism and recognize the significance of the Body. It’s time for us to realize that this is about more than me and mine; that it’s about us. It’s time that we start to understand that we are more than a collection of families...that we are A family.
