I would like to open a discussion on biblical headship and submission. This is not a debate. I am interested in hearing your point of view. There are no right or wrong answers. It's an opportunity for you to share your perspective and hear from other men and women. I will weigh in as well.
The two question I'd like to focus on are:
Q: What does biblical headship and submission mean to you?
Q: What do you struggle with regarding headship or submission?
I look forward to your comments.
Our example of headship is to be found in Christ. Christ, in his Earthly ministry, did everything he told us to do, he led by example. A leadership principle known to the Romans was that a centurion needed to be more ready to do what he was telling his men to do than he was to tell them to do it. I believe that principle is at work in Christ's example. One such example is in taking on the humble task of washing his disciples' feet. He saw humility was lacking among the disciples, and he did something about it (Luke 22:24-27, John 13:2-17). Philippians 2:1-8 gives us the overall ethic from which we operate in either headship or submission:
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
This is a core principle from which all Christians, married or single, adult, or child, need to operate from. It is not optional for the Christian. In the male role in marriage, that humility manifests as servant leadership. In the female role in marriage, it manifests as submission.