Church, submit

Ephesians 5:22-24

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the Husband is head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

So I asked a friend what the first thing she thinks of when she hears this verse. Her repines: "umm..Wives submit to your husbands.."

I think I may not have phrased the question in the best way, however I think this is a fair representation of what most people, (single/engaged/married) initially think of when they hear this verse. The church I am attending this summer covered this passage on Sunday, and approached again at the CityGroup on Thursday night. I didn't realize how much this verse means to me personally until mid-conversation Thursday night.

While others were talking, the meaning of the passage to me started overflowing my mind. The first phrase isn't necessarily the first thing I think of when I hear the verse. Well it isn't necessarily referring to me either, so obviously it doesn't convict me as it would others. (women in particular) The later part of the verses is what provokes most thought. "……..,as unto the Lord. …….., even as Christ is head of the church: and he is the savior of the body." Chewing on these verses resulted in a few powerful points (to me personally)

1) This world's view of marriage is screwed up.

This also stemmed from watching the show Two and a Half Men with my roommate earlier that day. In the episode, there was a couple who was about to get married. In this sitcom, along with so many others, they portrayed the man as the cowardly spouse, who would run to his fiance with his tail between his legs every time the woman would yell out his name. This portrayal can be seen in so many other sitcoms, and also in so many modern day young marriages (just go to your local grocery store and people watch) If you were to ask the guy if he's happy, most the time he'd say yes. But being a guy, I know this is simply degrading to a man's confidence. Also, although i know I am not an expert in women's psychology, you never hear a woman complain about her husband's role when he lovingly takes leadership in the relationship. Enough on marriage counseling, I really wanted to compare the world's view of marriage to the way you and I (the church) live our lives with Christ. 

When we, the bride, desire to take control, desire to create our own path, and attempt to establish ourselves on our own man-made foundation, we become the domineering controlling bride in today's worldly view of marriage. Ironically, does not our relationship with God result in the same dysfunctional and destructive outcome as those relationships the world portrays?? (I'm referring to the 50% divorce rate) Do we not find ourselves in places of depression, confrontation, and sadness? 

(to be continued…)