Why Do Christians Care So Much About Submission to Authority?
God Rules
The super short answer is that there is a God, and you are not him. You are a creature created in God’s image, called to image him, represent him, and show what he’s like. And so fundamentally, he’s the one with rule.
And we live into ourselves, we live up to our fullest humanity—in fact, we even grow into authority—as we submit to him, his law, and his rule in our lives. Now, that’s scary because Satan lies to us and says, Hey, listen, if you cast off this law, you’ll be like God.
And we think, Oh, that sounds good.
Authority
Jonathan Leeman
Through Scripture and engaging stories, Jonathan Leeman shows that godly authority is essential to human flourishing and presents 5 attributes of biblical authority.
But that’s a lie. In fact, God wants us to rule. He says to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. In other words, he wants to draw us into positions of authority and rule ourselves by submitting to him. And Satan’s like, No, no, no. That’s not how it happens. You do it by casting off his rule.
In that sense, Satan plays us as suckers. God wants us to rule, but rule by submitting. And Satan is like, No, you rule by not submitting. Look at the fallen world. How did that work out for us? So number one, this is hard for us because Satan lies to us.
Number two, this is hard for us because we see so many instances of fallen rule. We see how much authority has been abused.
Authority and submission are beautiful things when done under God.
In the fall, authority is often misused and abused, and we don’t want to do that. And so that makes us suspicious of the whole thing. But what do we do then? Well, we then confess that it’s not just rule out there that’s bad, but it’s rule in here and how I’ve used it that’s bad.
And that means I need to confess my sins, repent of my sins, follow after Christ, and learn to use the rule that God has given me like Jesus does. He came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.
So authority and submission are beautiful things when done under God. That’s what the world wants to pull us away from. That’s why we make a big deal of it, because we think you’re called to it. You’re called to be under God, but you’re also called to rule—which you do by following after Christ.
Jonathan Leeman is the author of Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing.
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