The source of your beef

You want to set off fireworks outside the 4th of July?  Bring up the topic of "submission" in the church today.  A couple of preachers are in deep haggis for asserting that a number of the societal problems within Great Britain are due to women not submitting themselves to God's word by submitting to their husbands in marriage.  Color me startled that any churches remained within Reformation Europe that still taught out of the Bible.

...Three...two...one...BOOM!

One woman churchgoer said she was ‘disgusted’ by the sermon, adding: ‘How can they talk that way in the 21st Century?’  Another, who also did not want to be named, said: ‘We’re supposed to let our husbands talk for us and remain silent? What kind of medieval sermon is that?

From the rest of the news story, the Daily Mail didn't get it either (read it here).  In an era when women can be found most anywhere except an NFL offensive line (maybe the Lions?), the idea of biblical submission conjures images of doormats and servitude.  The one brief comment the article allowed in defense of the rectors was:

People misunderstand the word “submit”. In this context it means saying how can I be most beneficial in this relationship as a helper. To submit does not make you an inferior being.

Here's the deal.  That's what the Bible says.

• Ephesians 5:22 - "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord."  (Get full context here) 
• Colossians 3:18 - "Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord."  (Again, context here)

Peter did not counter Paul's writing, either.

• 1 Peter 3:1-2 - "Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct."

Now, my point in lighting this powderkeg is not to highlight what the Bible says about the role of men or the role of women within marriage.  I do so to highlight the absolute ignorance of those who claim to be Christians but think the Bible is some Burger King drive-thru menu from which they can pick and choose.  You don't like it, become a Druid, but understand this: rejecting the God of the Bible is a very serious decision, indeed.

God made us.  He knows how best we function as individuals, as societies, and as married folk.  He went so far as to take on human flesh and to undergo a most barbaric death to redeem those who choose to accept the free gift from the maw of hell.  Why do we kick against the goads?

There are plenty of churches across our country and across Europe that will let you have your religion your way.  In favor of homosexual marriage?  You can find a church.  All in favor of abortion?  You can find a church?  Women in the pulpit?  You'd be hard pressed not to find a church.

But to find an uncompromising, Bible-teaching church is becoming more challenging with each new day.

Let me encourage you to hang around a church that actually preaches and teaches from the Bible for a month or two.  You just might find your life changed...forever. 

If you don't like what you hear and if what you hear is coming out of the pages of Scripture, your beef is not with the man in the pulpit.