What Does Subservient Truly Mean?
A lot of people have a real problem with a few passages in the Bible. Here is a big one:
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” - Ephesians 5:22-24
I never really had any concerns with this passage and let me explain why (and no, it’s not because I’m a guy). I have always believed in having a subservient attitude especially towards employees and loved ones. To be fair, I’ve failed at this in practice many times as my wife will collaborate but that doesn’t mean that I doubt it or don’t try.
What does it mean to have a subservient attitude. Well, the best example is Jesus, himself. Our God, creator of all the universe and everything in it, became human and gave life sinless life so that we could be saved and have life everlasting with him.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” - John 3:16-17
Too much to get your head wrapped around? Ok, let’s try a couple of practical examples. The first example is my employees. I managed a staff for many years and I tried to follow a few simple axioms. The first axiom is to never take personal credit for someone’s work. If I had someone work on something or even contribute to a task, I tried always to have them present the work, if possible, and if not give them credit in the presentation. Another axiom was, most of my employees were salaried, I encouraged employees to be fair to their family and the company. There are very few times that a work project is more important than a child’s performance for example. I had some employees that I was regularly reminding them to not work as long of hours as they did. I could go on and on.
Still too abstract? How about the sacrifice that each of us has made for a loved one over the years? Have you ever “asked” your child to help you do something knowing that it would take you longer to do but make him or her feel important? Have you ever offered to split a food item with a spouse or, more common, given your spouse the bigger half of something you agreed to share? Have you ever worried yourself silly because a child or spouse was sick? These and many more are all examples of caring (or loving) for someone in a selfless manner.
This is the meaning behind having a subservient attitude.
If my attitude is to care (or love) for someone so much as the head of the household, why would they be concerned? If there is a concern, it should be with the husband head because in assuming that role, he also assumes the responsibility for leading in a godly manner. This is similar to the additional responsibility placed on pastors.
