Submission - A study on meekness - Amy Lawrence

Submission

A Study On Meekness

In my youth, I spent a great deal of time around horses. One of the first lessons I learned is that they are incredibly strong. Their size compared to my own had a great deal to do with their strength, and I quickly learned to respect both. I watched as well as participated in training these enormous beasts. I’ve seen a bucking stallion become a calm working steed. He lost none of his strength in being tamed. It became a controlled strength. That is the definition of meekness.

Moses is recorded as being the meekest man in all the earth, Num. 12:3. “Meek” is a term that is often misunderstood and misapplied. In this study, I’d like to discuss what it means to be meek. Let’s start with some rudimentary beginnings of meekness. 

We live in a world in which submission is considered a disdainful concept under most circumstances. “Slave” and “servant” are used as derogatory terms, and submission is looked down upon as a weakness or robbery of civil rights. How often we refuse to adhere to rules and regulations because we feel we shouldn’t have to submit to an authority! America is a nation that pushes the idea that if you aren’t the best, the first, the point of the pyramid, you have no value. We call ourselves a “free nation”, bragging of “equality”, but anyone that has a sensible brain can see that there will always be inequality in this life. Any functioning organization is a hierarchy of working individuals, each serving a purpose and doing an important job within the system. Each person and/or department is a stair-step within that system, underneath another’s authority. In these cooperative systems, every position is important and necessary. These systems work well when there is respect for each position. Often, though, there is not respect for each position. Those with lower positions envy the higher, those with higher are arrogant toward the lower. We as fleshly humans are naturally inclined to feel entitled. We see certain tasks as beneath us and often lack compassion for those who are given the tasks we find undesirable. Whether a servant or one in a position of authority, we should all both serve and govern with an affection toward one another; an affection the world snuffs out, if given the chance. God’s word commands that we serve one another, Gal. 5:13. God’s law and wisdom are paramount to achieving the best outcome for everyone involved…but His law is overlooked when the carnality of man is allowed to rule, Rom. 8:7. The psalmist wrote, “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in it he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf shall also not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Ps. 1:1-3) To defeat our own desires and point ourselves in the direction the Father has laid out for us - this is the heart of meekness.

Many times, the rules and regulations are tampered with by those who feel they know better than their superiors. They pick out and follow only the ones they agree with or alter precepts that do not meet their liking. Many even carry this over in their service to God, believing they are allowed to omit or modify the commands of God they are to follow. Then they have the audacity to call it obedience. James tells us that “whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10) We could compare this to any legal system; if you break a law, you’ve committed a crime. Some are considered less severe and are therefore not punished as harshly as others, but it is still a breaking of the law under any circumstance. Scripture defines sin as transgressing the law of God, 1 Jn. 3:4. No matter how we see each sin in severity, the price for all sin is death, Rom. 6:23. Failure to submit to authority is a direct disobedience to God’s will, Rom. 13:1, and therefore it is sin. (One must also understand that there are times when authority asks us to submit to sin. ONLY then does God allow us to resist, Acts 5:28-29.) 

There are several relationships listed in scripture that require submission in order for the relationship to function as God designed it. Let’s take a look at these relationships.

1.) Our relationship with God.

The ultimate submission in our existence is that to God Almighty. When we do not submit ourselves to God, by default, we submit ourselves to Satan, Rom. 6:15-22. Submission to God means that we do things HIS way, not our way…and the more you submit to God, the more you will realize that God’s way is infinitely better than our own, Jer. 10:23, Prov. 3:1-8. Unlike the horses that are tamed and are sometimes abused by those that have tamed them, we can trust God. He will never leave us nor forsake us, Heb. 13:5, and He is the perfect Caregiver, 1 Pet. 5:6-7.

2.) Our relationship with each other.

The kingdom which Christ established for His disciples has a jointed structure of submission. Children are subject to parents, Eph. 6:1. Wives are subject to husbands, Eph. 5:22. Men are subject to Christ, and Christ is subject to God, 1 Cor. 11:3. We are also all commanded, as children of God, to submit to one another, Eph. 5:18-21,1 Pet. 3:8-9.

3.) Our relationship with elders/deacons.

We have, in the church, men that care for the wellbeing of the flock that is their responsibility - as per Acts 20:28-31 and 1 Pet. 5:1-4. Elders that are shepherds over individual congregations of the Lord’s church have a great many things that require their attention. I, as an individual sheep of their flock, have the responsibility to make their job as easy as possible. There will be times when our spiritual health will need their internal attention…but I would also be remiss in not noticing and appreciating that they are also externally fighting off the wolves. We also need to keep in mind that they need encouragement as much as we do. Deacons are also often overlooked for the work that they do, much of it in preparation for later becoming an elder. We need to appreciate and build our relationships with these men that do the work of maintaining and cultivating the Lord’s church. Part of this relationship is knowing its parameters. We are to “obey them that have rule over us”, Heb. 13:17, the elders that “watch for our souls”. Submission to an eldership is commanded. 

When we undertake the practice of submission and the meekness that is required to garner the approval of the Great and Powerful God, we begin to see from the perspective of Jesus, Phil. 2:3-11. Christ gave us the perfect example of meekness and submission. Let us be like Christ. I hope that this study has brought about a curiosity in you to learn more about the subject and a desire to study scripture. Let us all strive to be pleasing to God, beginning with submission to His will.