JDL - Direction Ten - Wives

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:22 (ESV))

For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. (1 Peter 3:5-6 (ESV))

Perhaps it was not stated clearly enough, and so we want to try to state it more clearly. A Jesus-directed life is one that is not directed by self but is directed by Jesus. A Jesus-directed life is one that is not directed by culture or society, not by social norms, but by Jesus. Thus, for all intents and purposes, very often a Jesus-directed life will run counter to a culturally or societally-directly life.

To put it another way, if your life is directed by humanity, it is anthropocentric (literally human-centered) or if your life is directed by Christ, it is Christocentric (literally Christ-centered). How do you know if your life is anthropocentric or Christocentric? You know by the way you live, move, and have your being. An anthropocentric life is one in which one’s life is directed by human feelings, emotions, and directions by the cultural norms and ways even if they are contrary to any Biblical authority or directing. A Christocentric life, on the other hand, is one which is directed solely and entirely by Christ through His Word even if and especially in contrast to culture and society.

This distinction is important because, as we have been hearing, very often Christ directs our lives differently than society. Where society is tolerant, God is often intolerant. Where society pits men against women and talks of a battle of the sexes, God gives men and women to complement each other with each having different abilities, psyches, and roles. Thus, a Jesus-directed life means putting aside the norms of society and culture even if it means discrimination and persecution and instead doing what Jesus would have us to do knowing that He will help us to do what He would have us to do.

We talked about the role of the husband. What about the role of the wife? Interestingly enough, our Lord gives wives one important directive: to be submissive, or a better word is to be subordinate to her husband. Does this mean she is to be any less of a person than her husband? Certainly not, because as we remember, in God’s eyes we are all equally sinner and redeemed saints. To be subordinate is to put oneself in order under another. In other words, a wife is to put herself and her interest second to her husband. Of course, understanding our inborn sinful nature, this subordination is no easy task. And for one to live such a Jesus-directed life would almost certainly bring questions and ridicule from family and friends inculcated into the culture and society and its norms.

To follow the culture, a wife might be insubordinate trying to do a responsibility God did not give her on herself. But what happens when a wife does subordinate herself to her husband? She makes life easier for herself and for her husband as he no longer has to be concerned about his wife subverting his responsibility before God as the head of the family. The wife, also, is then able to be a model to others, perhaps her own children, but also to others in her own family and in her place of work and so forth as to what a loving wife is. And thus, keeping within the boundaries and borders, living according to the roles which God has given for the sake of order in the family, there is peace and harmony for all. And the focus can be seen to be a Christocentric focus, that is a focus on living according to the precepts of Christ instead of giving in to the preconceived anthropocentric notions of living according to culture and society.

Think About
How often and how many arguments are described as a “butting of heads”? Perhaps we would do well to remember who is responsible for what and to whom we are all ultimately responsible?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the boundaries You have so lovingly given as well as the order You give so that I might have peace. Forgive me when I become insubordinate to You by being insubordinate to those You have given to be accountable. Help me to be subordinate to You even as I am subordinate to those You have given ultimate responsibility. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.