Obey Them that Rule???

[MissBrattified]

Amazingly enough, I agree partially with:

Michlow
Coonskinner
Ronzo
ILG
Maybe Chan? (Not sure I know exactly what he's saying, so it seems hard to say for certain that I agree, but I think I do)

I agree with Ronzo that we decide who to submit ourselves to. I agree with Chan, that, generically speaking God has already decided who we ought to submit ourselves to (bishops, elders). I agree with Coonskinner that submission has no value until you have to obey in spite of a disagreement. I agree with ILG that we have a responsibility to place ourselves under godly leaders. I can't remember what I agree with Michlow about, but I read something I liked....I'll have to go back and find it.

I think that when you marry, you choose to submit yourself to your husband. It's your choice, but once you've made that commitment, God expects you to fulfill it. That is not to say, however, that you must obey your husband if he tells you to jump off a cliff, or if he tells you to do something that goes against God or something contrary to your convictions. However, there are smaller issues in which my will may be bent to submit to his will, and that's called "submission."

The relationship is not the same, but the principles are, IMO, when it comes to church government. When I choose to join an assembly, I believe that I am making the choice to submit myself to that leadership and "follow....as they follow Christ." That is not to say that, if the leadership were to instruct me in something contrary to God's Word that I would be required to submit, because my first allegience is to God.

However, there are smaller issues which are not a matter of disobeying God or violating my own convictions, but rather require me setting aside my own preferences, and bending my will to that of the church leadership, and that is called "submission."

If I have to submit on every matter, no matter what, no matter what the consequences, that is subservience, not submission. Submission is my choice to be obedient, within certain parameters and boundaries, keeping priorities clearly in focus. My choice is, of course, based on my ultimate submission to God, who is the One who gave me the command, and therefore the concept of submitting to my elders (and my husband...and my parents).