Day of Praise

Sa, 06/21/14, "Day of Praise"

Ephesians 5:21 - "Submit to one another out of reverence for Jesus Christ."

In my silly moments, thinking about today's Bible verse, I picture two people endlessly bowing in honor back and forth to each other. How does anything ever get done if all they're doing is bowing and submitting to each other? Doesn't someone need to take charge and make something happen?

However, in God's economy, submitting to one another is not an endless waste of time where people constantly bow and do nothing while waiting for the other to act. To the contrary, submitting to one another is a mutual affirmation and a mutual encouragement. Submitting to one another is a way to say to the other person, "I value the gifts that God has given you. Please use them so that we'll both be blessed. I value the perspective that God has given you. Please speak so I can see what I'm missing. And I value the work you do. Let's work together so we can do what needs to be done."

Mutual submission works when two people share Jesus Christ, because it's not about knocking yourself down, but, instead, it's about valuing, building up, and celebrating the other person. And when both people are doing this, as I like to say, "Everybody wins!" And so it is, when Jesus is in it: Everybody Wins!

So in our society where everybody loves to win, let's be found heeding the Great Coach's strategy for victory in Ephesians 5:21, "Submit to one another out of reverence for Jesus Christ."

Praise God!


Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson