Day 3 - Week 55 - Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ."

We've talked about what it means to submit to one another, and probably are getting a good grasp (even if it may be an unnatural one!) on how we are supposed to surrender ourselves to humility and servant hood.  OK - but now we need to look at why Paul felt it necessary to add to this directive, "in the fear of Christ."  I have the tendency to react to this statement as some people do when they read an e-mail from a co-worker or a friend and they are attempting to read the motive behind the words.  The response you always hear is..."What do you think they meant by that?"  Most usually, they meant just about what they said, no hidden message buried behind the words.  Is that the case here?

Paul says we are to submit to each other in the fear of Christ.  Does that mean that if we don't do it we need to be afraid that Jesus is going to punish us?  That might be the first meaning that some people would take from these words, especially if they are new to Bible study and have not become acquainted with the many different meanings of the word "fear" which the Bible uses.  Let's look at the original Greek word used in this verse and how different translations render it.

The Greek word used is phobos - it is used 44 times in the New Testament.  The definition is fear, dread, terror, or....reverence for one's husband.  Well that sheds a different light on it, doesn't it?  The English Standard Version goes with that definition when it states the verse, "Submitting to one another in reverence for Christ, while God's Word Translation says, "Place yourselves under each other's authority out of respect for Christ." 

Why should our reverence or respect for Christ cause us to submit to others?  Because as we stated yesterday, He is the ultimate example of submission.  If we regard Him as the One we want to emulate, then we will follow His example.  By doing so, we show Him that we respect His lifestyle, that we revere His lessons to us and that we are not ignoring them.

Our respect for Christ also causes us to have a truer picture of ourselves, and reminds us that we have no reason to elevate ourselves to any position of haughtiness or superiority.  As Robert J. Morgan puts it,

True humility, the pith of godliness, doesn't mean developing an unhealthy self-image but a healthy image---not of ourselves---but of the Lord Jesus. It's thinking realistically of ourselves and optimistically of Him.  It isn't thinking little of ourselves; it's thinking of ourselves less and less and of Him more and more.

That's what Paul meant by that!  When we have an accurate view of Christ and of all He did for us, we increasingly diminish our need to make ourselves the one that others have to bend to...we would much rather give Him the glory by bending at any opportunity, showing the humbleness that He has taught us, and enjoying the moment of basking in His grace and mercy as we extend the same to someone else.  I think those are the moments when we truly understand. 

No hidden messages, no hidden agendas, just another way to carry out the mission of conveying God's love.  I can't close this without thinking of Mother Teresa, who in our lifetime, I think, exemplifies the kind of "submission" that Paul is pushing us toward.  Mother Teresa left her mother and sister in Albania at the age of 18, never to see them again.  She spent over 45 years ministering to the poverty-stricken of Calcutta, India.  She did not have to do this, but she felt she absolutely had to because of her respect for Christ..."I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith." 

True humility, true love for God, true submission.