THIS IS A commonplace but very important verse; “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right” (Eph. 6:1). This verse is important for it raises the question of obedience to authority other than the authority of being in the Lord. The tendency may be, “Well, I’m in Christ, I therefore obey no one but Him.” This verse answers that: you are to obey others, but you are to do it in the Lord. Just what does that mean?
A verse in the previous chapter is luminous in this connection: “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21). “To be is to be in relations.” Sometimes those relations mean that we have to be subject to others. What is the right attitude to take? Some would answer, “Submit for duty’s sake.” Good, but not good enough. You may submit outwardly, but with inner reservations or rebellion. “Do everything out of reverence for life,” said Cardinal Schweitzer—again good, but not good enough. Much of life, human and subhuman, is not worthy of reverence. The Christian answer: “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” That means that you surrender to Christ, primarily and absolutely, then having submitted to Him you can submit to others out of reverence for Him; you do it for His dear sake. Then you can save your inner self-respect: “I have submitted to Him, now I can submit to you for His sake.” That saves the relationship and saves your self-respect. You can do it with joy. Even submitting to tyranny and wrong can be bearable—with joy. A man threw a stone at a Quaker and said. “Take that for Jesus’ sake.” The Quaker replied, “I do.” Everything can be not merely borne, but can be accepted as an opportunity to accept it for Jesus’ sake. That brings you out on top—not under. Nothing can hurt you, for the balm of doing everything for His sake heals everything. It tends to heal the relationship, for it gets at the heart of the wrongdoer—appeals to him.
O Jesus, I submit to Thee, fully and absolutely. Now for Thy dear name’s sake I can submit to others. That makes me free from tyranny and oppression. In submitting to Thee all the wrongs done to me become rights. I thank Thee. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: Everything for His sake turns out as everything for my good.
