While submissiveness should be foremost directed toward God, it should also be applied to others in appropriate situations. For instance, Hebrews 13:17 commands, Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this were unprofitable for you.
While this verse commands submission to Christians (local church elders in particular), Scripture shows a number of situations in which Christians have a responsibility to submit even to non-Christians.
In 1 Peter 3:1, the Holy Spirit commands wives to be “in subjection” to their own husbands. He does not say “only if your husband is a Christian.” In fact, He specifically mentions cases in which the husband is not a faithful part of the Lord’s church. Notice the phrase, “that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of their wives;”
The “qualifier” placed around submission to others is “only submit if we are asked to do something that is in accordance with God’s will.” This is important, but what makes something according to God’s will in some situations is the very fact that it is asked by others.
For example, the Holy Spirit commands us to “be subject unto the higher powers” (Rom. 13:1). When the higher powers of a nation (or state or locality) demand taxes, God wants us to pay taxes (verse 7). It is not that taxes in themselves make one pleasing to God, but His command to be subject to the higher powers involves submitting to government requirements as long as doing so does not violate divine will.
This same principle can be seen when parents ask their child to clean his or her room. While God does not command children to clean their rooms at a particular point in time, He does command children to obey their parents (Eph. 6:1), and thus, the child is directed by God to obey.
All of life is about submission to God. But submission to God includes submitting, in some situations, to others. This cannot be taken too far to say that if someone who has authority over us asks us to sin, we should do it. Yet, we must not go too far the other way and assume that because we are Christians, we need never submit to others.
Instead of neglecting submission because of the imperfections of those we are submitting to, we should remember that submitting to others appropriately is required by the perfectly righteous God of heaven.
In Colossians 3:18, the Holy Spirit commands wives to submit to their husbands, and then says “as is fitting in the Lord.” In verse 20, He commands children to obey their parents, and then says “for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.”
May we fulfill what God requires of us in submitting to others, and thereby please Him.
– Michael Hickox